Intro:
Optimus
Prime – the ultimate leader of the Autobots – and we all love him, don’t we?
There have been loads of other versions of Optimus Primes, ranging from
traditional trucks and fire engines, to the more unorthodox Nike shoes and
baseball caps.
This
time around, we are served with yet another version of Optimus Prime, which are
not affiliated to any series whatsoever. Takara-Tomy, apparently worked
together with Japan’s car manufacturing giant – Toyota – and released a version
of Optimus Prime, based on the hugely popular FJ Cruiser model.
This
set however is not exactly your typical Transformer figure. This time around,
some assembly is required. The set requires us to fix and assemble the chassis
onto an existing core robot, just like what we had back in 2007 with the movie
Trans-scanning sets. But unlike the Trans-Scans, whose robot modes looks like
something contraption from the Terminator movies, Optimus Prime’s core body
already looked presentable.
 |
| Optimus's Core Body |
We
are given the options of assembling the car in either two different variants –
white or yellow. For the sake of this review, I have only fixed up the yellow
variant of the car, thus leaving the white parts untouched.
So,
now that we got that out of the way, let’s get on with the meats and potatoes…
Alternate
Mode:
Well…
like I’ve said earlier, he’s a Toyota FJ Cruiser, any more questions?
I’m
actually that that this car was picked as Optimus’s alternate mode – it’s
actually one of my favorite cars. I just love four-wheel-drive.
Choosing your favorite color scheme is
essential before you actually assemble the car – decisions, decisions, hmm…
I
chose yellow, because it looks much nicer, but the white is quite nice too, so
it’s really up to your personal preference.
 |
| Kibbles |
The
roof of the car is still white though, which is very accurate to the real
thing.
The
car is quite tiny, which is about the size of your regular Deluxe-class figure.
It might be made from totally plastic, but I am quite pleasantly surprised by
the slight heft that the figure has.
 |
| Spare Tyre |
The
car looks good on the outside, but you can forget all about the undercarriage,
which is wreaked of kibbles; as well as its interior details, or rather their
lack thereof.
 |
| From left: Alternity Optimus, FJ Optimus, Alternity Bumblebee |
As
far as I could tell, the car is very accurate to the real thing. It even has
the word TOYOTA embossed onto the front grill like the real thing, instead of
the company’s emblem like in almost all of their models.
 |
| Unmistakably Toyota |
The
wheels are made from hard plastics and the front wheels don’t turn left or
right.
The
overall outlook of this car really reminds me of the now defunct Transformers:
Alternity, with the exceptions of detailed interior and rubber tyres.
Robot
Mode:
The
transformation can be surprisingly tricky the 1st time, if you
decide to go without the instructions. Half the time when you try to fold some
parts, you constantly fear that you might break something.
Yes,
some of the parts feel brittle.
After
some twisting and turning, you will end up with a 5-inches tall figure that
wields an axe. Yup, an axe formed by the spare tyre on car mode.
Despite
the non-traditional color scheme, this figure is unmistakably Optimus Prime.
The head sculpt itself is a dead-giveaway, although the “ears” may look a bit
funny.
Articulation-wise,
this figure has a bundle of it. The head is on a ball-joint, but can’t really
turn his head too far right or left, due to the designs of his chest/
shoulders.
The
shoulders are on universal joints, which can move in all directions. The elbows
are on nice ratcheting joints, while the arms rotate slightly below them. The
hips are on tight ball joints. The knees bend quite nicely, and that’s all for
the articulation.
Though
the articulations might not sound much, but it actually works for this figure,
and you can really get some nice poses out of this guy.
 |
| His Axe, formed by his own spare tyre |
Did
I mention that this figure really does remind me of Transformers: Alternity?
Well, the way how the legs are designed, they are almost similar to Nissan GT-R
Optimus Prime.
I
do wish, however, that the feet would’ve been more versatile, it would’ve added
more to the posing actions. Still, not a big issue at all.
Overall:
It’s a really
nice set that would probably appeal to both Transformers collectors, as well as
model kits builder. Now can we have Megatron, please?
Highly recommended.
Final
verdict: 9.5/10.
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