The Energon Pub

# V2976B 80541 (Box number)

#E1147 (figure number located just below Optimus' inner right thigh area).


Double dipping but heck, it's worth it!

Promise to put a cap on unplanned purchases ( preordered the entire line from my cheap source) but he was there....calling(first one I saw since december 2017). The single unit left at TrUS (curse you TrUS and available disposable change ) . I didn't get the luxury to compare two samples for any QC issues.

Vehicle mode. If released in 1988 as PM Optimus Prime, he would have been the recipient of toy of the year well engineered toy award. This is how the trailer and toy would/should have interacted/merged to form Optimus' PM form.

Fast forward 30 years, the implementation was awesome....to a point. Vehicle mode (cab part) has indeed suffered (shades of THS-02)

Vehicle mode.

The cab was made for Orion Pax. Hands down! If you watched War Dawn, this is him! No longer would I have to confine myself to E-hobby's Orion Pax with a modded head. The modern one is a Freightliner (sort of) flat nosed tractor while the E-hobby one is just a recolored targetmaster Kup. Any consideration for the vehicle mode was more or less secondary I guess.

Plastics used are surprisingly good. Glossy, smooth. Almost Takara JP centric quality. Though lacking the speckled sprinkles often seen in the JP focused products.

Trailer is passable as a trailer but nary the option of mini base and lacks Roller. It really is just a power armor for Orion.

Paint job: Subdued red, not the glossy type (mine had some paint bleeds on the sides of the chest chamber doors)

Stickers? . One of the side (right) trailer decals with the Autobot sigil had a different hue of blue (more of violet). While the left shoulder sigil was crimped.

Robot mode

This it where the figure shines...somewhat.

Face sculpt: 5/5 Not the derpy one used in the combiner war mold. Orion Pax So Floro Dery!


Body/power armor: 4/5. This would have been a 5/5 if(!), but we know, Hb is scrimping on the costs together with Takara with this unification business model. There must have been a lot grey when the mold was poured onto a single sprue as nearly all, not counting Optimus' shins are grey. The actual red molded parts are his elbows and Orion's torso.

The parts are highly detailed but ver monotonous. Adding more red on the shoulders, shiny aluminum on the pseudo smoke stacks would have help accentuate the details even more or some blue in his fists.

Another issue is the hollow parts.(Worst case was Legend's Jetfire's forearms). Iirc, the most overt hollow cost cutting in G1 was PM Optimus Prime. Especially on the cab/robot's thighs and the side panels of his superform.

Same can be said on those hollow parts on Optimus' side shins and thighs(the latter not so much an eyesore).

Same can be said with his ion blaster (good that they incorporated the original G1 design with the split 'em apart for Orion feature), hollow too.

In Orion, if you avoid looking behind him, a near carbon copy of the Orion we saw in War dawn. Though again, hollow lower shins are quite a let down.

Combined form

The selling point. But he suffers from some monotony of the paint job/plastic mold. If it was broken up or an extra effort to recreate the various colors of his actual G1 animation through strategic areas of the power armor were done, it would have been AWESOME!

Another issue is he's a bit back heavy. This could have been remedied if his ankles (which can be side tilted) were ratcheted. Instead, you have to depend on some yoga robot posing and praying in the hopes that the friction on the ankle/or his mileage don't give out.

Matrix gimmick. The panels of his chest chamber, when opened, don't follow flush. Especially the outer panels. They tend to split apart (maybe it's just in my copy) when you open them. Also, It's a bit of an effort to set the Matrix into the chest chamber.

Given all this nit picking I've done on this haaaaaaaaaaaaaard to find figure, whould I recommed him?

Yup! He ain't no MP -10! That's for sure but if you want an affordable (cost me US$57.85, the price point is already an indicator of what to expect) and near animation accurate representation of the iconic hero, I say get him (and if you're lucky to find two, leave it for the next collector to enjoy)

If your local store is lucky to come across some stocks that is.

Good luck!

Addendum:

I watched Death's Reviews and found out the biocard for each Optimus' are unique. Mine is Optimus Liege Maximo.