Transformers Studio Series: 44 Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime (Leader Class, 2019)
Movie: Dark of the Moon
Hasbro ID number: 44
TakaraTomy name: Jetwing Optimus Prime
TakaraTomy ID number: SS-39
TakaraTomy release date: August 31, 2019

Accessories: Trailer/Armored Weapons Platform/Omega Combat Armor, 2 cannons, Energon-axe, Energon Sword, Shield, Ion blaster, abs piece, ”Battle of Chicago” backdrop (2nd version)

This Optimus Prime is a redeco/retool of the second toy with a new stomach area that is molded to be accurate to his appearance in Dark of the Moon, complete with a new trailer forming his weapons platform and combat armor. He also comes with two cannons, an energon axe, a shield, an energon sword, and a slightly redecoed (de-decoed?) ion blaster from the second toy, losing its blackened barrel. His fellow Leader Class Autobot, Jetfire, comes packaged with a replacement Transformers and Revenge of the Fallen-accurate abdomen piece, allowing them to combine... though the piece is color-matched to Optimus’s first Studio Series 05 release, a figure that lacks this figure’s new molding and is thus incompatible with Jetfire. In addition to the new deco and molding, the hinges in his back that the panels with the fuel tanks are attached to now have pins, preventing the pieces from popping off when swiveling them into position during conversion.

In terms of deco, Optimus features gradient orange paint on his forearms/truck front which the Voyager Class release didn’t have, while the formerly transparent parts are now cast in opaque blue plastic, with both his real and faux windows painted silver. Meanwhile, the CG stock renders feature several color and deco details that are inaccurate to the final toy; notably, the joints on his grille section are shown to be orange rather than gray, the windows are shown to be transparent rather than opaque, and all the weapons are shown to be painted, even though the only weapon that actually features any paint on the final toy is the sword. Conversely, both the CG render and the near-final stock photo of the robot mode show the new abdomen piece as being painted in a single red color, while the final product (including the TakaraTomy stock photos) have the details in the center section painted in movie-accurate silver.

The CG render on the front packaging is a rather lazily-edited version of the Optimus Prime art (complete with Revenge of the Fallen-styled abdomen), with the Jetwing unit slapped on his back. There are also a few obvious design oversights, with no official instructions on how to store the Ion Blaster and no actual means of attaching the shield to Prime’s arm in a shield-like manner. And while Prime himself has been improved to prevent parts popping off, the dark grey ”shoulder straps” on the Jetwing have a frustrating tendency to pop off due to the raised rectangular details directly under them, meant to hold them in place with friction but instead causing the part to flex and deform under pressure.

Despite the figure’s size classification, Prime himself is Voyager-sized (obviously, seeing as he’s a retool of a previous Studio Series Voyager). The Leader Class price point comes from the extra accessories that he comes packaged with.

Studio Series: Dark Of The Moon

Hasbro / Takara Tomy

630509791255

2019

United States

2019-08-31

10 in

Studio Series

2020-07-12 02:23:08

~$397.84

2025-09-26

2020-07-12 02:23:08