The Energon Pub

To commemorate a partnership between Takara Tomy and Japanese exotic car retailer Bingo Sport a new figure of live action Optimus Prime will soon see release. Thanks to a post on X by the official @TF_pr account we're getting our first look at the figure which appears to be a heavy retool of Studio Series 92 Crosshairs from 2022 into a Corvette C7 GT3-R. They're expecting reservations to begin in early summer 2024 and release to take place in the following winter. More information, such as how to order one, is coming soon. But as this is potentially a store exclusive it my require ordering through Bingo Sports, possibly even through visiting their store. Hope for the best, but expect the worst in this case. As you can see below the same deco is also being used in the real world for a future Japan Cup race.

Interesting, Studio Series Crosshairs makes a shockingly good Prime. If I am able to get a hold of this easily then I will. It reminds my a lot of the Alternity GT stuff in a way.

Would never have expected a AOE/TLK Prime retool of Crosshairs, but I’m totally here for it! Love that we’re getting some bizarre movie exclusives again.

Wishful thinking, they could have made this the same scale as Alternity/Alternators. You would certainly get the details in car mode to be close as the real car. Look forward to seeing more photos of this though.

SGM

Very, very interesting. Why did they go for the Last Knight / AOE Prime design?

The current RotB design may have been hard to pull out of a Corvette, but the AOE design isn't much easier I don't think.

Looks very cool. Somehow much, much better than Crosshairs. Not quite as good as the Not Tracks but Totally Tracks, Hot Shot repaint of the original Corsshairs mold.

Overcracker wrote:Very, very interesting. Why did they go for the Last Knight / AOE Prime design?

Probably because he's the most recognizable version of Prime without a truck chest. Sure they could have just made up a new design like they did in Alternity and GTS or whatever, but then it wouldn't have the recognition appeal.

Emerje

Noooo, the kibble, THE KIBBLE! I still have nightmares.

Emerje wrote:

Overcracker wrote:Very, very interesting. Why did they go for the Last Knight / AOE Prime design?

Probably because he's the most recognizable version of Prime without a truck chest. Sure they could have just made up a new design like they did in Alternity and GTS or whatever, but then it wouldn't have the recognition appeal.

Emerje

They have made new Prime designs from nee collaborations. like the Moon rover prime, so picking a 7 year old design, have not seen since in any thing else seems awkward at best.

I think more than likely the usage of movie molds is predicated on them being movie characters, so basically they may have had no choice if they wanted it to be Prime.

Knight Optimus cosplaying as a race car.

I never cared for the SS Crosshair mold, but DAMN, that Optimus is rocking it!

I'll have to wait and see if it pop up at Buyee or Mandarake at a reasonable price.

Realized I never commented on this, I absolutely LOVE this! I will do what I can to get this guy for sure!

Back in April we got our first look at Japan's Bingo Sports Optimus Prime collaboration with no real release details. It was speculated that it would likely be some sort of exclusive, but for those interested the good news is that it will be sold at mass retail in Japan! The extensive retool of Studio Series Crosshairs is now available for preorder in most Japanese online stores (not currently at Amazon Japan) with release in December 2024. He's priced at 6,600JPY or around $41USD, but will be cheaper in stores. The figure includes a removable spoiler and a new gun as well as Crosshairs' guns.

It's hard to say if something this specific will be sold by Hasbro Pulse but for the right fan it could be worth importing. Are you that fan? Let us know in the Seibertron Energon Pub forums!

Studio Series Crosshairs it's my favorite mold, but I like this idea a lot and it keep a eye on when the orders go up.

I find SS X-Hair to be bleh.
I don't care for the character and as usual, there's no paint.

But this Optimus.

This freaking thing...



It's expensive as hell, especially when factoring shipping and taxes. But man, I want it.

EDIT:

Amazon.jp link:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B0D8K9 ... s&sr=1-105

For me, it amount to around 10K yen shipped and taxed. 85$CAN if I'm lucky enough, depending if the exchange rate remains the same until December.

Kinda reminds me of binaltech but using a much cheaper mold to be sold at a loot more than the original use. Lots of paint though, it's nice and different even for me that doesn't want it.

I have placed my preorder, I need that thing

I was thinking about this but I remembered how fiddly the mold is.

I completely forgot that I ordered this thing.

I just got my shipping notice from Amazon.jp.

Let's hope it will be worth the total price.

-Kanrabat- wrote:I completely forgot that I ordered this thing.

I just got my shipping notice from Amazon.jp.

Let's hope it will be worth the total price.

Optimus Bingo.png

I hope that for you too. Take some pics when you get it, I'll make a news story

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:I completely forgot that I ordered this thing.

I just got my shipping notice from Amazon.jp.

Let's hope it will be worth the total price.

Optimus Bingo.png

I hope that for you too. Take some pics when you get it, I'll make a news story

Will do!

Also, I saw it on preorder at Age 3 & Up for a reasonable 70$CAN plus taxes and shipping.
Expected released date: 4th quarter of... 2025!

I'm glad I ordered from Amazon.JP despite the high shipping cost.

I got my Bingotimus! How is it? Let's see.

First, the box is the smallest possible, without window, but brightly colored.








Unboxing...



The manual show a transformation that will be simple enough to do.




Despite the kibbles, the bot mode is pretty cool. However, I think it would need more paint on the head and chest.






Bingotimus is a obvious retool of SS Crossair. And he can sport the "trenchcoat" look pretty well too.



His neck collar prevent his head from turning more than just a bit. No waist articulation too.



Comparing him to his elders, Silver Knight Optimus, and the TLK voyager Optimus.



Now, remember that I said previously that his transformation look simple?
It is simple... In theory.
In reality, the transformation is a nightmare of annoying panels that keep pushing each other, the whole roof section keep popping off from its single balljoint, things go in, things pop out, panels massage, panels massage, then
SNAP!
Off a side-view mirror goes.



They could have made the side-mirrors as a separate part made out of rubber to prevent this. But NOOOOOOOOO. Let's make them fragile things that are like a model kit part on a sprue.


If you conveniently ignore the misaligned panels (I gave up), the painting of the car mode is magnificent. But what's the point of all that paint if the car looks like it crashed?






I tried my best to repair that mirror.



In the end, this whole thing is
OVERPRICED GARBAGE.
86$CAN into the trash.

Amazon.JP does not take any returns from foreign sales so I'm stuck with it.
I will put that waste of plastics back into its box, and in due time, I'll dump it onto my local geek store. I hope to get back at least 50% of what I paid.

TlDr; be warned. This thing is NOT GOOD even if it was a 30$ deluxe. Now imagine for double or triple that price. Not worth it.
At all.

Man, that's too bad. I really had high hopes for it, but they obviously only cared about the car mode as far as paint is concerned. The stock photos definitely had him as silver instead of flat gray. What a disappointment.

I'll have mine in a week or so from AmiAmi.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

I'll have mine in a week or so from AmiAmi.

Emerje

Don't forget those awful sideview mirrors. These can snap off like dry twigs.

We promise this coincidence is not intentional. While we wanted to warn you of the possible breakage issue with Takara's latest MP release, fellow Seibertronian Kanrabat also gave us a pictorial review of Takara's other recent release which also has a breakage issue. This figure is their exclusive Bingo Sports Optimus Prime figure, which is a Crosshairs retool. The mirrors are said to snap off really easily. You can read the full review below:

-Kanrabat- wrote:I got my Bingotimus! How is it? Let's see.

First, the box is the smallest possible, without window, but brightly colored.
The manual show a transformation that will be simple enough to do.











Despite the kibbles, the bot mode is pretty cool. However, I think it would need more paint on the head and chest.









Bingotimus is a obvious retool of SS Crossair. And he can sport the "trenchcoat" look pretty well too.



His neck collar prevent his head from turning more than just a bit. No waist articulation too.



Comparing him to his elders, Silver Knight Optimus, and the TLK voyager Optimus.



Now, remember that I said previously that his transformation look simple?
It is simple... In theory.
In reality, the transformation is a nightmare of annoying panels that keep pushing each other, the whole roof section keep popping off from its single balljoint, things go in, things pop out, panels massage, panels massage, then
SNAP!
Off a side-view mirror goes.



They could have made the side-mirrors as a separate part made out of rubber to prevent this. But NOOOOOOOOO. Let's make them fragile things that are like a model kit part on a sprue.

If you conveniently ignore the misaligned panels (I gave up), the painting of the car mode is magnificent. But what's the point of all that paint if the car looks like it crashed?









I tried my best to repair that mirror.



In the end, this whole thing is
OVERPRICED GARBAGE.
86$CAN into the trash.

Amazon.JP does not take any returns from foreign sales so I'm stuck with it.

TlDr; be warned. This thing is NOT GOOD even if it was a 30$ deluxe. Now imagine for double or triple that price. Not worth it.
At all.

At that price point the low level of paint/deco on robot mode and transformation issues are completely unacceptable.

Kyleor wrote:At that price point the low level of paint/deco on robot mode and transformation issues are completely unacceptable.

The breakage issue is the rotten cherry on top of that sht sundae.