The Energon Pub

I am wondering if I should buy Transformers Prime Optimus Prime Voyager? I've heard that he's much worse than First Edition, but I've seen him in a shop and to my mind he isn't that bad. And of course First Edition isn't easy to find.
I am just wondering if he's worth money.
Thanks for replies !!

Don't buy it for any monetary value. TF Prime Voyager Optimus is by no means rare, and will probably not appreciate much in value. Buy it only if you feel he is worth it to yourself.

I'm currently in the same predicament, but given First Edition Optimus Prime is rather hard to come by at the moment, the regular Voyager should do fine. The more I look at him in the stores, the more he doesn't seem that bad.

FE Prime is so awesome it hurts, especially Takara's.

That being said, I have the PRiD version, the Takara FE version and the Hasbro FE version.

The PRiD isn't bad if it's all you can get your hands on, but in my opinion, the FE is worth the aftermarket price, it's just that awesome.

I have the RiD version, and I like it quite a lot. It's a pretty good figure, and it poses well. The translucent plastic in the arms presents a minor complication, but I don't expect that it will be a real problem in the foreseeable future as long as you don't do something rude to it.

I'm perfectly comfortable recommending it for those of us who don't want to pay crazy aftermarket prices (whether the FE is worth it or not).

(Also, there's a peghole on his shoulder, and his gun looks pretty great as a shoulder cannon)

Prid Optimus has a pretty addictive transformation and looks the part in both modes. He moves where you want him to, except for a waist and is detailed all over. The feet and chest-windows look better than on FE. His transformation is pretty intuitive with only one step requiring Movie-style wiggling and fitting (the arms forming the hood) On his own, he's an excellent transformer whose only real downside is his crummy weapon.

It's like a DotM deluxe MechTech which can't stay extended on its own. And it doesn't look like a gun when folded up. I removed the spring and batteries so that the gun can stay in the preferred mode. It kills the light feature, but the LED was so weak I'm wondering why they even bothered with the translucent plastic in his gun and arms.

When compared to the FE, Prid Optimus is shorter and less complex, has bigger back kibble, lacks the red on his torso, has those translucent forearms and is armed with inaccurate weapons. He's also widely avaiable in a store near you and much cheaper than a FE would cost you. You should decide whether better aesthetics and show-accuracy are worth a considerable mark-up.

I, myself, really want the FE really bad. It looks a lot better in terms of show accuracy, but I have yet to get my hands on one.

That said. PRID Optimus isn't a bad figure, which surprised me because I was very much turned off by it once I found out FE weren't coming State side. As mentioned, the biggest things that hurt it are the weapon and translucent blue forearms. I took out the spring from the weapon like many others and it looks way better fully extended. His transformation is fun and simple. As far as just any old Optimus transformers toy, he's not bad at all. Once you stand him next to the FE though... he just pales in comparison IMHO.

Gabi1410 wrote:I am wondering if I should buy Transformers Prime Optimus Prime Voyager? I've heard that he's much worse than First Edition, but I've seen him in a shop and to my mind he isn't that bad. And of course First Edition isn't easy to find.
I am just wondering if he's worth money.
Thanks for replies !!

Shameless self promition: It you're interested, I've got a review of the figure that you can read. Bottom line, there are some disapointments to the figure, especially its weaponry, but it isn't the worst Transformer ever and I wouldn't flat out say to avoid it. If you want it, go for it.

I've never been in the presence of FE, so PRID is all I have to go buy, but it's a pretty decent figure in its own right. The major gripe I have with it is the stupid mech tech gun, that won't stay open as a gun unless you mod it somehow, so most of the time you have OP using some sort of block of undetermined "stuff", though he does also have a sword that's just a sword, so that's not too bad.

Optimum Supreme wrote:I've never been in the presence of FE, so PRID is all I have to go buy, but it's a pretty decent figure in its own right. The major gripe I have with it is the stupid mech tech gun, that won't stay open as a gun unless you mod it somehow, so most of the time you have OP using some sort of block of undetermined "stuff", though he does also have a sword that's just a sword, so that's not too bad.

It's completely trivial to remove the spring though. It's all packed together quite well, just unscrew the shell and pull the spring off the post the battery pack rotates on.

I don't have any one OP from the Prime line yet because it's been a conundrum for me also. But when I saw from the Botcon picture footage of the upcoming Weaponizer Prime it has my full attention. Now if you could consider this and don't mind waiting longer then of course by all means go for the one that currently pleases you. But IMO Weaponizer Prime has a greater cannon than the first PRID Prime and his gimick is cool looking. Naturally it makes me think what the Takara version will look like but it's something to consider so good luck dude!

Nemesis Destron wrote:I don't have any one OP from the Prime line yet because it's been a conundrum for me also. But when I saw from the Botcon picture footage of the upcoming Weaponizer Prime it has my full attention. Now if you could consider this and don't mind waiting longer then of course by all means go for the one that currently pleases you. But IMO Weaponizer Prime has a greater cannon than the first PRID Prime and his gimick is cool looking. Naturally it makes me think what the Takara version will look like but it's something to consider so good luck dude!

And of course it's larger. Somewhere between Ultra/Leader size with (I think) a $30-ish price point from what I recall someone saying or theorizing. I do recall it having a rather substantial backpack from botcon pictures, presumably due to the gimmick.

Haha, I think I'm the only one who will ever say this but I prefer AM01 to FE Prime.

I really like the head sculpt and stuffs, I mean overall the transformation is way cooler than the FE one and the backpack is not all that bad. I have to say the overall feel of AM01 works better for me.

If you're wondering, I have both but I guess I prefer the AM01 over the FE one but that's just me..

Nemesis Destron wrote:I don't have any one OP from the Prime line yet because it's been a conundrum for me also. But when I saw from the Botcon picture footage of the upcoming Weaponizer Prime it has my full attention. Now if you could consider this and don't mind waiting longer then of course by all means go for the one that currently pleases you. But IMO Weaponizer Prime has a greater cannon than the first PRID Prime and his gimick is cool looking. Naturally it makes me think what the Takara version will look like but it's something to consider so good luck dude!

You're right !!! Weaponizer Optimus really looks amazing!!!! But do you know when he will be available to purchase? Because I can't find any information yet.

RID Optimus Prime is a great figure. I personally like it better than the FE- it's like they fine-tuned little things regarding transformation, engineering, etc. The vehicle mode looks better than FE and if you really are off-put by the clear blue plastic and lack of red on his chest use a red sharpie and you can fix it yourself. Very fun toy and looks great with the rest of them.

Gabi1410 wrote:

Nemesis Destron wrote:I don't have any one OP from the Prime line yet because it's been a conundrum for me also. But when I saw from the Botcon picture footage of the upcoming Weaponizer Prime it has my full attention. Now if you could consider this and don't mind waiting longer then of course by all means go for the one that currently pleases you. But IMO Weaponizer Prime has a greater cannon than the first PRID Prime and his gimick is cool looking. Naturally it makes me think what the Takara version will look like but it's something to consider so good luck dude!

You're right !!! Weaponizer Optimus really looks amazing!!!! But do you know when he will be available to purchase? Because I can't find any information yet.

If I had to take a guess I would say in the fall but for anyone who knows for sure please give us the word! So in the mean time I will continue to wait patiently... .

I own R.I.D Prime and he's o.k. His vehicle mode is a little small in my opinion,but his overall look in both modes is pretty good. I ended up paying about 30 bucks retail down here... Which is not all that good.

I still think FE is better though, but not by much.

Weaponizer looks like the definitive verse though. And since I like my leader class figures, I''m sure
I'll pick him up when his released. For now R.I.D is a good option.

To its credit , he's quite pose able, although his weapon is garbage, his 5mm fist ports allow you to give him any gun you want.

Checkout siggy for weapons and pose.

I was skeptical when I got it because of all the flak it got. I needed a prime in my collection and FE was waaaay too expensive so when RID hit my walmart I just walked right to it and bought it without giving it a second thought. Once I got home and it was opened and in my hands, though, I was really pleased with it. It has great articulation, good proportions, intuitive transformation (especially no chest-cheating) and it's in scale with everything else.

But the blue forearms were too much for me. So I took peaugh's advice and took a red sharpie to some of the bits. Greatest thing I could've done to it.



And because the sharpie only set me back the price of a gumball, I'm thoroughly pleased.

Yes buy him. He is a great figure and easy to find.

I don't think the FE will be re-released anytime soon...
I kind of feel he's overrated; we might not be having
this discussion if the clear parts/gun crap nonsense
didn't happen. PRID has more articulation and a great
looking alt mode.

Definitely prefer the plastics on the FE though. Great
looking colors. The AM01 would be the figure to buy if
not for the lack of paint apps.

It's a great toy