The Energon Pub

Hi there I could use some help. Hi, I'm Julie by the way....I collect my little ponies, and know nothing about transformers.

My boyfriend is 27 years old, a huge transformers fanatic. He mentioned several months ago that when he was younger (1980's) he wanted to order some kind of Optimus Prime, or Megatron maybe? I don't know...anyway, he said it was all chrome or something, and could only be ordered by mail in the 1980's. I do not want to ask him for anymore info on this because I'd like to surprise him and track it down on eBay if possible to get him for X-mas.

Can anybody help me?
What is it called? How can I find this? Is it super expensive? I'm not looking to spend more than $500...but I have a feeling this is going to be a hefty purchase.

Also, if this is out of my league, I'm open to suggestions for other gift ideas. It'd be awesome if you could help. I already bought him the transformer that turns into a gun last year for his birthday. I'd like to get him something equally as interesting.

thank-you all in advance!

Hello Julie, welcome to Seibertron.


A Chrome transformer. Believe it or not Chromed figures aren't as rare as you might think.

So to identify this one we are going to need to know what it transformed into.

You mention you bought him the Transformer that turns into a gun. Well Assuming it was basically silver. That would have been Megatron.

So this chromed one may not be a Megatron.
Do you have any more information on the figure?

I'm not sure if there ever was a Chromed Prime or Megatron mail away figure offered at any point. Perhaps someone else here might know.

There weren't that many unique mail-away premiums. The ones that come to mind are the Omnibots: Camshaft, Downshift, and Overdrive. The were all three Autobot cars. The only one that was close to being chrome was Camshaft. There were also the Powerdashers. They were somewhat simplified transformers that came in three types, Drill, Jet, and Car. I doubt he is referring to these. Then there was Reflector. Which was a set of three robots that when transformed combined into a camera. These are highly sought after. None of these really fit the discription of all chrome though. Luckily if you are willing to spend $500.00 there are very few Transformers that will be out of your price range.

Hi,

I believe I can help here.

To the best of my knowledge, there was only one non-retail chromed Optimus Prime released in the 80s and no Megatron.

The standard release Megatron was chromed anyway and easy to find. Here is a link to a reissue:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Transformers-Takara ... 7C294%3A50

As far as Optimus Prime goes, if I am not mistaken, there was an employee give away of a Chromed Prime in 1987. A non-collector could easily mistake this for a mail-away as this was essentially the first Lucky Draw TF, and subsequent Lucky Draws have been mail away contests. The pic can be seen via the link below, it is the first pic. However, it would be almost impossible to find with an infinite budget, for 500 not happenning.

http://www.ultraconvoy.com/luckydraws.htm

Here is a much more reasonable and more fun option if you BF does not own this yet. In my opinion, this is the single most awesome Transformer ever made, bar none, and highly recommended. For every TF fan, this figure was love at first sight and fits easily into your budget. Link is below. If he does own it, get back to us and we'll find you something else.

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail

Good luck!

I didn't even get into the Lucky Draw figures just because they are so out of reach for the casual collector. I would second Bongers recommendation of the MP-04. Any TF would love this figure.

I'll third that. Mp-04 is the best Collector aimed Prime out there.

I realllly appreciate all your help

Some great ideas!

You know, the way we remember things as a child can sometimes get fuzzed out, so he might have been remembering something else completely.

I was also looking into getting this optimus prime mint with box (not in box, cus i'm sure he's going to want to assemble it), because it seems the highest it goes with the box is around $200. And he's a good guy right? Everyone loves a good guy lol

I went on eBay and saw so many, looks like it was released several times. Which is the best one? And on eBay, so many people say G1, but it's not really G1. It's a newer release made to look like the original. Very confusing to me!

lostinvast wrote:I realllly appreciate all your help

Some great ideas!

You know, the way we remember things as a child can sometimes get fuzzed out, so he might have been remembering something else completely.

I was also looking into getting this optimus prime mint with box (not in box, cus i'm sure he's going to want to assemble it), because it seems the highest it goes with the box is around $200. And he's a good guy right? Everyone loves a good guy lol

I went on eBay and saw so many, looks like it was released several times. Which is the best one? And on eBay, so many people say G1, but it's not really G1. It's a newer release made to look like the original. Very confusing to me!

Whcih one exactly? fo you have a link?

If you want a G1 prime then Encore Optimus Prime is th ebest choice, and within your price range to boot. Heck it even looks cheap in your price range.:

Here:
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail

This is the Japanese, Re-issue for the Encore line. Its exactly like he was back in 1985 in all respects, only he's new. So he can open it up, and transform it without any fear of it falling apart due to age.

Overcracker wrote:

lostinvast wrote:I realllly appreciate all your help

Some great ideas!

You know, the way we remember things as a child can sometimes get fuzzed out, so he might have been remembering something else completely.

I was also looking into getting this optimus prime mint with box (not in box, cus i'm sure he's going to want to assemble it), because it seems the highest it goes with the box is around $200. And he's a good guy right? Everyone loves a good guy lol

I went on eBay and saw so many, looks like it was released several times. Which is the best one? And on eBay, so many people say G1, but it's not really G1. It's a newer release made to look like the original. Very confusing to me!

Whcih one exactly? fo you have a link?

If you want a G1 prime then Encore Optimus Prime is th ebest choice, and within your price range to boot. Heck it even looks cheap in your price range.:

Here:
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail

This is the Japanese, Re-issue for the Encore line. Its exactly like he was back in 1985 in all respects, only he's new. So he can open it up, and transform it without any fear of it falling apart due to age.

I think she means MP Prime.

There are several releases of him.

Here's a list:
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Optimus_Prime_(G1)_toys#20th_Anniversary.2FMasterpiece
Note that list goes only to Robot Masters which is a tiny tiny version and not as awesome as the Master Piece version.

You had me at "buying my boyfriend Transformers for Christmas." All girlfriends should be as thoughtful and awesome as you are when it comes to gifts. You said you wanted to get him Optimus Prime or Megatron and to spend $500 or under? Want to put a giant smile on his face?

Masterpiece Optimus Prime with trailer $220

Masterpiece Roller $50

Masterpiece Megatron $100 (unplugged)

Masterpiece Megatron's missing Silencer and stock extension upgrade kit. $55

Of course you can get them anywhere but they're all instock at TFsource for relatively cheap. And I want to help you put a smile on your boyfriend's face.

You can get MP Prime and Trailer for less than $200 if you buy them seperately. I paid £50 for Prime and am thinking about buying the trailer for £30something.

Mykltron wrote:You can get MP Prime and Trailer for less than $200 if you buy them seperately. I paid £50 for Prime and am thinking about buying the trailer for £30something.

The trailer that comes separately is a fan made product and inferior to the one that comes with MP04. Unless you mean to say you bought the MP04 trailer loose from somewhere like BBTS or ebay.

I also got to thinking if it might have been the Pepsi Prime that they released in the 980's (not to be confused with the more recent releases)

Either way, the fact that you care about him enough to spend generously on something you know he likes is awesome.

All of the figures people mentioned are pretty cool.

Let me also show you a great reference site.

http://tfu.info/1984/Autobot/OptimusPrime/optimusprime.htm

You can find tons of Optimus Prime figures on there, not to mention pretty much any other figure, US or Japanese.

I know which figure you might be talking about. To my knowledge, there were mail-away special editions of both Optimus and Megatron. The Optimus was part of a Pepsi promoation and it had pepsi related stickers for the trailer. The mail away Megatron was a special movie edition and came with a special set of stickers. I believe the one he wants may be the movie edition Megatron. It could be quite difficult to track that figure down though.

lostinvast wrote:I realllly appreciate all your help

Some great ideas!

You know, the way we remember things as a child can sometimes get fuzzed out, so he might have been remembering something else completely.

I was also looking into getting this optimus prime mint with box (not in box, cus i'm sure he's going to want to assemble it), because it seems the highest it goes with the box is around $200. And he's a good guy right? Everyone loves a good guy lol

I went on eBay and saw so many, looks like it was released several times. Which is the best one? And on eBay, so many people say G1, but it's not really G1. It's a newer release made to look like the original. Very confusing to me!

The original mold of the toy has been released many times. The best bang for the buck on those is the Encore release. However, the Masterpiece version is the awesome adult version of the original toy. It is bigger and badder. You will find this under the MP-01 and MP-04 designations. MP-01 comes without the truck trailer while MP-04 comes with it. I'd go with the MP-04 as it comes in kickass packaging and will make for a way more impressive gift. There are a few different links posted above to the toy at online retailers.