Ultimetal UM01 Optimus Prime

[UltraMarginal]

Could be uranium metal? Or titanium parts.
Even so, Somebody could sculpt the same shape using less pricy materials or even do a model kit.

Uranium is dangerously radioactive with a soft soapy texture. no.
If there was a significant amount of this machined from Titanium, you'd be looking at probably $5000 to $10000 at least. but damn that would be cool, Titanium is one of my favorite elements.

Looking at some of the super crisp edges on this, it's possible that a fair amount of the structure has been machined rather than cast, this would add a significant cost to the finished product but overall might actually be cheaper than setting up a casting production run for what is most likely a comparatively small number of units.

Machined Aluminium makes the most sense to me. but I may be biased

RE: Action Masters
Unlike Ultimetal Optimus Prime, Action Masters weren't just non-convertible merchandise or a sub line of toys - they were part of the "mainstream" line of Transformers and they comprised a reasonably significant part of the toyline at the time. This Ultimetal Optimus Prime is a piece of Transformers merchandise, it's not part of the action figure line proper. Transformation is a significant part of the appeal of the Transformers franchise - the 'puzzle play' is a core part of the Transformers line's play pattern. The bread and butter if you will. I can understand that there will be 'peripheral' toys and items of merchandise that don't transform - we've had that since the 1980s (e.g. voice changer Ultra Magnus etc.), but I think that action figures that are part of the "main" action figure line ought to be able to transform. ROTF Combiner Class Devastator was another more recent example of how a toy that didn't "really" transform (i.e had no individual robot modes) wasn't received well by the market, as evidenced by it's incredible shelfwarming.

As Cat said, this is not a toy. It's a piece of merchandise. It's a very expensive piece of merchandise, no doubt... but that's what it is. And as he said, if we want something to play with, that's what proper action figures are for, like MP10. Action Masters sucked because they existed in lieu of proper transforming action figures. Ultimetal OP is personally not my thing (neither are busts or statues), but I don't begrudge it either. It's not a toy, and it's not trying to be a toy... unlike Action Masters who were very much marketed as being part of the core action figure line.

Well said.

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/p...06&mode=retail

$1300US at BBTS.

I don't even want to know what their shipping will be.

Based on the weight and assuming you have an existing POL, i'd suggest it will cost about US$30 or so. Without a POL US$60-64 depending on shipping method. they seem to have 136 of them in stock.

Instead... how about, a working fusion cannon?

And you thought it was hard to legally own a G1 accurate Megatron now!!

Though i admit that would be totally awesome!

I'm going to have to stop looking at this thread, the more I keep looking at the pictures of this "Merchandise" the louder the little voice in the back of my head is getting. "you can save up for this, easy just a few months of not eating. You can make room for it, just throw out the TV, Mrs UltraMarginal wont notice. much"