The Energon Pub

Hi all,

I'm an old Transformers-fan who has an important question for the toys-experts.

Background:
As a kid in the 80's, my burning desire was to get the Optimus Prime G1 toy (I cried for it a lot of times).
Unfortunately my parents couldn't afford it at that time.

After some time they did get me the Powermaster Optimus Prime for my birthday (they didn't understand the concept of Transformers).
Recognizing their effort I didn't want to hurt their feelings and so I never complained about the toy (even though I didn't understand what it was at all. It wasn't the real Optimus Prime for sure. But it did resemble it and it sort of was a superior toy in size and transformations. I was very confused. Much later did I find out it was based on a Japanese cartoon...or on the Marvel comics).

But after all this time,...I still feel that hurting void in me for never having had that real Optimus Prime G1...and that pretty box it came in with.

I have checked the current prices, but the original Optimus Prime G1 with box is still too much for me (I'm not in the US, but in the Netherlands). It's over $150!

So I've decided to get a reissue or different variant that looks closest to the G1 toy AND G1 box as possible.
I've done some research and the list of Optimus Prime toy-variants is huuuuge.

Question:
Therefor I would like to ask the experts:
- which toyline is the closest resemblance of the G1 Optimus Prime and the G1 box?

I've seen the 25th Anniversary toyline and I think this is a very close resemblance to the G1 Optimus Prime,...but they box is very different...
If it is possible, I would also like to have a resembling box (the boy is pretty important to me, because that has stuck in my memories due to me staring at it in the toystore).


My deepest gratitude for your help,
Wesly

Nog een Nederlander? Hallo vanuit Amerika!

You're asking for quite a bit, especially with the boxes. The vintage US G1 style is especially hard to do, since as you may have seen, every reissue changes something to it (for good reason, but we'll get into that later). Plus, the toy itself is subject to Toy Safety Laws, hence the long missiles and short smokestacks. The only option I can really give you is to go for the very first US reissue which has a similar style, but is not an exact match to the original G1 box. The toy still has short stacks, though.

Before anyone suggests going the Japanese route: no.

Lastly, a dire warning. If you see a boxed toy, in vintage US box, and sold as a (Chinese) reissue, avoid it like the plague. Those are fakes!