Adventure Time.

You get it? Cause Optimus’s a blue hero with a sword and a backpack. To be fair, the backpack on this Optimus is significantly smaller than the First Edition and Leader Optimus from AOE but it’s still there.

People don’t really seem to take too kindly to this Optimus for some reason. The new and improved Premier Edition Optimus Prime; aside from the backpack, what else is improved? Let’s find out!

Vehicle mode

Right off the bat, this is a bit of a downgrade. The molded detail is all nice and intricate but the paintjob just lets it down so hard. I understand not having chrome like the Leader but couldn’t they have at least painted the rims?

For playability, Optimus rolls on all six of his wheels. He also has storage for both his shield and sword on his trailer hitch and underside respectively. The trailer hitch is a 5mm hole and should accommodate any Voyager scaled trailer nicely.

Transformation

Now this is where the changes are; the transformation is very different on this Optimus and it’s a significant improvement over the first two cracks at this design. It’s more complex than the other two but it’s still a really fun transformation to do.

It’s really neat how so much of the truck folds into his legs. It’s not only fun to do it also significantly reduces his backpack.

Robot mode

Yeah, Optimus is definitely better looking in robot mode than the other two guys. Well, apart from one thing…

Just what is up with his eyes?

The AOE Leader had weird yellow light piping but here? Globs of Allspark blue paint on his eyes? It just looks bad.

Which is a shame because everything else looks great. All the molded robot mode details look fantastic and the painting apart from the eyes is pretty good. Seriously, if they just fixed the eyes, Optimus would look significantly better.

Optimus has pretty good posability. His head can look up and down as well as side to side. His arms rotate at the shoulders as well as go in and out from the body. He has bicep swivels and bending elbows. He has a waist swivel. His legs rotate as well as go in and out at the hips. He has thigh swivels and bending knees.

Gimmicks

None here, sir! And this time I mean it. There’s not even light piping this time! All Optimus has is his sword and shield.

Oh, I guess in robot mode the angled sheath is cool. But that’s not really a gimmick.

Toy or collectible?

Collectible.

Premier Edition Optimus is still pretty pricey. He’s not as bad as Megatron or some of the other TLK stuff since Optimus didn’t go up in value but he still costs about the same amount as when he was released. He’s cheaper used but not by much.

Closing

Optimus is legitimately miles ahead of his predecessors and is a pretty impressive Voyager. It’s just that Megatron was quite a bit better than him and people kinda don’t think of this guy too fondly. Hound, Nitro Zeus and Scorn all pretty much outshone Optimus Prime too; literally only the black repaint of AOE Grimlock was worse than Optimus.

Well, in a vacuum Optimus is a good Transformer. He’s got two good modes, a solid transformation and scales well with the Studio Series stuff but he’s seriously let down by his paintjob. You should give him a shot if you can get him at a reasonable price.