The Energon Pub

william-james88 wrote:Great news for those who have yet to find Hot Wheels Optimus Prime. We are referring to the cab only casting which was released in the mainline in 2025 and that's been a real pain to get for any fan. Well, it seems Hot Wheels will treat this casting as they do their "screentime" castings where it will be on rotation for rerelease. Meaning that the exact same casting will be rereleased in the same deco, which you never see in the mainline for their more standard cars (ie: the same Lamborghini Centenario wouldn't get rereleased with the same colors again).
Thanks to this video below, we know it will be released in the B case in 2026, so we should see it hit shelves again in January 2026. There is only one per case but as with all regular Hot Wheels, it will also be made available in the next case (case C) too.

Basically, the supply of Optimus Prime will double in 2026, bringing prices down and giving everyone another shot at owning him or finding him in stores.

While this is a surprise & good news, I'm not holding my breath to find one next year.

Remember the Hot Wheels 1/64 Transformers set which included Drift, Barricade and Crosshairs? Well we are getting a sequel series to that in 2026.

This time, the cars includes will be:

- Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4, most probably for Lockdown
- Optimus Prime
- Chevrolet Camaro Concept, for Bumblebee from the first movie
- Mercedes Benz AMG GT R, most probably for TLK Drift
- Porsche 911 Carrera RS3.8, for ROTB Mirage

The fan who sent this image to us said it was scheduled for August 2026.

Which JKX36 Optimus Prime is this one?

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Wish Hot Wheels released more G1.

I'm not that familiar with Hot Wheels other than it was part of my journey as a child that lead me to Transformers (in no particular order ... Mego Superheroes, Smurfs, Hot Wheels, Care Bears, Dukes of Hazzard, Super Friends, Shirt Tales, Masters of the Universe, and then Transformers (the former two overlapped until I lost interest in MOTU after the 87 movie), followed by a brief GI Joe/Lego phase when I was 10, and then when Transformers comics ended in 1991, I had already been collecting Marvel Comics for a while. Fast forwarded to when I moved out at 19 and I had to make a choice to continue collecting comics or Transformers and I went with Transformers).

Tangent aside (and TMI I'm sure) ... I would like to get Hot Wheels Twin Mill and Bone Shaker for comparison pics, but I see there are all sorts of different versions and colors. I was trying to do a search for Twin Mill, landed on one from 1969 that looked the part, but none of them seem to have the same vehicle mode "striping" or "decals" / design on the top of the vehicle like the Transformers Twin Mill has. Is that design specific to the Transformer or am I just looking at the wrong Twin Mills?

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ho ... &_osacat=0

I didn't try looking for Bone Shaker yet because I'm assuming I'll have the same issue trying to find the exact variant of that toy as I did with Twin Mill. Hopefully one of you can help point me in the right direction so that I can do comparison pics when my arrive in the next month.

Speaking of which, where did people get them in advance?

Seibertron wrote:*snip*
I lost interest in MOTU after the 87 movie
*snip*

No one, and I mean no one, can ever blame you for losing interest in MOTU after that '87 movie.

megatran wrote:

Seibertron wrote:*snip*
I lost interest in MOTU after the 87 movie
*snip*

No one, and I mean no one, can ever blame you for losing interest in MOTU after that '87 movie.

Fair enough. Just to clarify ... MOTU and MCU movies is my other passion. Both of those are fulfilled with me having the Seibertron Store. If I wasn't colle ting Transformers, I'd be collecting MOTU. One day, I'll get Eternians.com off the ground!

The 87 MOTU movie isn't that bad, as long as you keep in mind that it was meant to be a New Gods film. Also, the line had basically crashed in 86. If it wasn't for Barbie Mattel would be a thing of the past.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:The 87 MOTU movie isn't that bad, as long as you keep in mind that it was meant to be a New Gods film. Also, the line had basically crashed in 86. If it wasn't for Barbie Mattel would be a thing of the past.

Wasn't good either. Watched it again some years ago with adult eyes. Hasn't aged well.

william-james88 wrote:Great news for those who have yet to find Hot Wheels Optimus Prime. We are referring to the cab only casting which was released in the mainline in 2025 and that's been a real pain to get for any fan. Well, it seems Hot Wheels will treat this casting as they do their "screentime" castings where it will be on rotation for rerelease. Meaning that the exact same casting will be rereleased in the same deco, which you never see in the mainline for their more standard cars (ie: the same Lamborghini Centenario wouldn't get rereleased with the same colors again).
Thanks to this video below, we know it will be released in the B case in 2026, so we should see it hit shelves again in January 2026. There is only one per case but as with all regular Hot Wheels, it will also be made available in the next case (case C) too.

Basically, the supply of Optimus Prime will double in 2026, bringing prices down and giving everyone another shot at owning him or finding him in stores.

Optimus Prime is one per case (cases B & C). Yet there are 3 per case of some other vehicles. Urgh.

People are reporting finding Optimus at Walmart again as part of the 2026 B case. I've seen some "New for 2026" cars myself so the hunt is on!

Emerje

Emerje wrote:People are reporting finding Optimus at Walmart again as part of the 2026 B case. I've seen some "New for 2026" cars myself so the hunt is on!

Emerje

It's on!!!

Chances of HW collectors leaving reissue Optimus Prime cab alone???

megatran wrote:

Emerje wrote:People are reporting finding Optimus at Walmart again as part of the 2026 B case. I've seen some "New for 2026" cars myself so the hunt is on!

Emerje

It's on!!!

Chances of HW collectors leaving reissue Optimus Prime cab alone???

None at all! But there are a ton of them on eBay going for $5-$6 plus shipping so they're not exactly bringing in big money so it's not impossible to find in stores. I was lucky enough to find a yellow Bumblebee at Walmart and an Ultra Magnus at a local store so it can happen.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

megatran wrote:

Emerje wrote:People are reporting finding Optimus at Walmart again as part of the 2026 B case. I've seen some "New for 2026" cars myself so the hunt is on!

Emerje

It's on!!!

Chances of HW collectors leaving reissue Optimus Prime cab alone???

None at all! But there are a ton of them on eBay going for $5-$6 plus shipping so they're not exactly bringing in big money so it's not impossible to find in stores. I was lucky enough to find a yellow Bumblebee at Walmart and an Ultra Magnus at a local store so it can happen.

Emerje

For whatever reason, major Australian retail stores don't stock Track Fleet line. We have Big Rigs instead or whatever they're called.

megatran wrote:

Emerje wrote:

megatran wrote:

Emerje wrote:People are reporting finding Optimus at Walmart again as part of the 2026 B case. I've seen some "New for 2026" cars myself so the hunt is on!

Emerje

It's on!!!

Chances of HW collectors leaving reissue Optimus Prime cab alone???

None at all! But there are a ton of them on eBay going for $5-$6 plus shipping so they're not exactly bringing in big money so it's not impossible to find in stores. I was lucky enough to find a yellow Bumblebee at Walmart and an Ultra Magnus at a local store so it can happen.

Emerje

For whatever reason, major Australian retail stores don't stock Track Fleet line. We have Big Rigs instead or whatever they're called.

Yeah, I really lucked out finding UM at a local store rather than a national one. Only other place I've seen some Track Feet stuff is Target though some people have found them at Walmart. Either way they weren't widely available unless you bought online (though Target.com was just sending random trucks from the line instead of letting you pick one).

Emerje

Emerje wrote:People are reporting finding Optimus at Walmart again as part of the 2026 B case. I've seen some "New for 2026" cars myself so the hunt is on!

Emerje

Anyone else findng reissue mainline/basic Optimus Prime from the 2026 case?

Shouldn't be too long before they reach Oz. We tend to be a few months behind on releases.

None of the retailers near me stock the Semi Trucks, so I've never spotted UM or F.L.A.G.

Also never spotted BB or cab OP, too inconsistent around these parts. And likely not stocked well enough too meet demand.

Till-all-R1 wrote:None of the retailers near me stock the Semi Trucks, so I've never spotted UM or F.L.A.G.

Also never spotted BB or cab OP, too inconsistent around these parts. And likely not stocked well enough too meet demand.

You Stateside?

^ Yeah, somewhere in Oregon just outside major cities. So I only have a local Fred Meyer or Safeway and being it's somewhat of a retirement town a lot of collectors who know the drill. Even the Walmart in the next town is one of the older mall ones and they don't get very good distribution.