Here’s the thing with Optimus, he’s super susceptible to “fatigue”. I think the only other character that suffers from this is Bumblebee. You can blame the Bay movies if you want. I don’t get it. I don’t get “fatigued” by a character, however I do understand how other people do. Siege Optimus is a fantastic toy. He checks all the right boxes and looks great doing it. People argued that he looked too “Earth-mode”-ish which he does, but otherwise he’s top notch. Earthrise Optimus sees that bar, and vaults over it while “The Touch” is blaring in the background.
See, here’s the thing with Optimus Primes these days: the majority of the “fanbase” is never happy. Either he’s too G1 or, naturally, never G1 enough. Case in point, the wasps were swarming when this one was announced. He featured (which was sadly changed) yellow eyes, like the G1 toy, but had the unforgivable sin of having grey hands! HOW DARE THEY!? Of course, like all toy previews at Toy Fairs, it’s just a hand painted prototype and most people jump to conclusions way ahead of time. At his release, we see Optimus has blue hands (the world is saved!) and blue eyes. More akin ot his animation model.
The elephant in the room with this particular toy is the trailer. See, because the original toy came with a trailer, there’s about 50% of the fanbase that insists ALL Optimus Primes need a trailer. Usually it’s the same 50% that want a $150 MSRP toy priced at $40. Economics tend to go out the window. But lo and behold, Hasbro went all in for the Earthrise version and gave him a trailer! But of course it’s not big enough now. I kid you not, that’s the new issue with the toy that I’m seeing on my IG posts. Look I get that this write up is snark-filled but right now we’re on week four of this COVID19 Shut-down and it’s chipping away at me. Apparently because the G1 toy’s trailer was WAY too big for the semi-cab that pulled it, now too, the Earthrise trailer is just criminally too small.
This Prime is full of fun. The whole “WFC Trilogy” so far has been full of fun and the fact that we get a functioning trailer/base with Optimus has me still playing around with him over a month after opening him up.
He also includes a Matrix of Leadership, which pegs into his chest. His fist have articulated fingers as well, and if you wedge things just right he can hold it up, which, given his size, is pretty impressive.
While he shares SOME parts with Siege Optimus, others are completely reworked. While it might not be enough to impress some, I think the differences here warrent consideration of picking up both.
Bottom Line
Essentially this is a scaled down version of MP-10, which is, in my opinion, the end-all-be-all essential Optimus Prime. The toy is as near to perfect as you can get without breaking a $100 at retail, and I think that needs to be understood by some of the “adults” that buy these toys. So what’s my point here, other than complaining about the complainers? My point is, sometimes a toy is just a toy and doesn’t need to be perfect. Whether it’s a toy of a character that’s been your hero from 1984 or anything else, toy designers have limitations with what they can do. For me, this Optimus Prime is an effort by Hasbro/Takara Tomy to give Transformer fans the best Optimus Prime toy in years. Yes, we just got an Optimus Prime in Siege. Optimus Prime sells. Toy companies want to make money. So they make what sells. The minor negatives here are easily over looked. I think the trailer’s interior could have used a touch of paint detail, I would have preferred the yellow G1 toy eyes, that’s about all I can come up with. Paint adds to cost and there’s always a cost limit so I can look past it. If you’re one of the 50% who don’t feel Prime needs a trailer, Siege Prime works just fine. If you are one of the 50% who DOES feel he needs a trailer, then this is what you’ve been waiting for and stop nit-picking the little things. /Rant. Lol.
Pax Cybertron 
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