Black really does make things look better.

Did you guys know that Wei Jiang used to make straightforward KOs instead of improved ones? I didn’t but that’s exactly what this guy is… kinda.

Optimus is a straight 1:1 KO of the AOE First Edition Optimus that everyone loves and cherishes… it’s also not the first KO of the AOE First Edition Optimus that we’ve looked at.

And it probably won’t be the last.

I said he was a straightforward, 1:1 KO and that’s what he is… apart from the fact that they replaced the rubber tyres with regular plastic ones. That and they gave him a sweet black and silver paint-job.

FE Optimus looks good in black, red and silver. This colour-scheme does him a lot of favours and he looks so much better than the real FE Optimus. The colour-scheme is so good that it makes the chrome on Optimus’s chest, arms and legs work.

Wei Jiang managed to make the horrendous chrome placement look good.

One thing that hit me when I handled this guy; he’s massive. I keep forgetting that AOE FE Optimus is actually humongous. Holding him in truck mode is a trip whether you’re holding the real one or the KO.

He feels much better than the official AOE FE Optimus. He’s still not a great Transformer because the original figure was bad… but all the little annoyances are gone. All his joints are just the right amount of tightness and his truck mode pegs in much easier than my original copy.

Plus, once again, he looks cool in black.

I’ll be honest, I’m enjoying Wei Jiang’s First Edition Optimus way more than the official release. Getting rid of all the small annoyances, fixing a bunch of QC issues and giving him a fresh paint-job actually did improve him a ton.

I wouldn’t recommend hunting this guy down but if you do find him for cheap, he’s worth a shot.

Robot mode

Vehicle mode