Toy Review - Earthrise Leader Optimus Prime

[Tha_Phantom]

I'd gladly pay more for one with paint apps, more still for roller. Grr!

I'd be willing to bet that Roller is either going to get his own weaponiser figure or he'll be an accessory included with another WFC Prime.

As for the figure itself, this is pretty much the CHUG Prime I've wanted since 2006. I'm aware of the setbacks mentioned above but I'm still looking forward to getting it.

[GoktimusPrime]

Thoughts based on Kyle's piccies:

• Cab robot looks great. I'm so glad that they went with the blue hands. I wish that they'd kept the yellow eyes though.

• Not convinced that this is worth the Leader Class price point. The Cab Robot looks great for a Voyager, so that justifies $50 of the RRP... but I don't think that that trailer is worth fifty bucks. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, per se -- the grey tower looks bland (it was blue on the prototype/promo images), but I don't see $50 worth of value in that trailer. I know that the Siege Leaders did the same thing by giving us basically Voyager size figures with bonus accessories that pushed it up to Leader Class price point, but as I said 13 months ago...
  

  basically a Voyager sized toy that comes with its own 1st Party add-on kit. Objectively speaking it's not really worth full Leader RRP but definitely worth it if you can get it at below RRP (say for about $70~80 or less)

  ...and Earthrise Optimus Prime strikes me as being along the same lines; might be decent for around an Ultra price point ($70) but don't really see it being really worth full quid

[Tha_Phantom]

Not convinced that this is worth the Leader Class price point. The Cab Robot looks great for a Voyager, so that justifies $50 of the RRP... but I don't think that that trailer is worth fifty bucks. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, per se -- the grey tower looks bland (it was blue on the prototype/promo images), but I don't see $50 worth of value in that trailer. I know that the Siege Leaders did the same thing by giving us basically Voyager size figures with bonus accessories that pushed it up to Leader Class price point, but as I said 13 months ago...

...and Earthrise Optimus Prime strikes me as being along the same lines; might be decent for around an Ultra price point ($70) but don't really see it being really worth full quid[/list]

I agree Gok, definitely not worth full leader RRP, but I will say it is worth closer to that RRP than the likes of Shockwave or Astrotrain, since we at least expect a Prime to come with a trailer anyway. I've preordered him at around $80 plus post, and I'm happy with that.

[doublespy]

Awesome review. Love the comparison shots!

[yoshi594]

Just got him today and I'm disappointed with the trailer. The battle station robot repair thing should have been blue but is all hasbro grey . The prime himself is nice but I feel he's not value for money even at a $90 price point...but seeing as he's flying for the shelves, do what u think is right .

Also got starscream and feel he's more value for money.

[GoktimusPrime]

Got this toy on impulse this morning. Thoughts:
The trailer is even more underwhelming IRL. It's puny and doesn't do all that much. But the robot is amazing. While the bot is a Voyager sized toy, this is beyond Voyager-level engineering. Really wish it had yellow eyes though.


In packaging and in tray: Certainly not the most flattering way to package and display a toy! The twist ties on the left leg of mine wasn't attached properly in box, but for most figures it would be with legs apart. Yeah. I feel that this would've been better packaged in truck mode (actually I prefer TFs to be packaged in alt mode).


The metallic electric blue eyes do look nicer in person, but yeah, yellow would've been so much better. But apparently it was due to loads of fans whinging online about the yellow eyes on the prototype so Hasbro listened and changed the eyes to blue. *deep.sigh* Although admittedly I was among the fans who whinged about the grey hands and I'm mighty glad that they changed the hands to blue. But yeah, yellow eyes would just look so much better.


Crouching battle pose.


"Make mine Marvel." One thing I'm really impressed with is how they've sculpted the hands to hold the 5mm post without relying on finger grip. The grip comes completely from the palm. This means that the fingers can open and close but still maintain a solid "Kung Fu Grip" on the gun which so many other TFs with finger articulation suffer with (including MPs).


Optimus Prime and his incredibly underwhelming Combat Deck. What gets me with this is that the trailer is treated as little more than just an accessory, similar to say Cliffjumper's bazooka - but canonically the trailer is Optimus Prime, or at least, part of him. The neat thing about Optimus Prime's 3 components is that they are all Optimus Prime, and whatever damage is dealt to one is felt by all (although the cab/robot is the sentient core and while he can survive without the other 2, they cannot survive without him).


♫ When Optimus Prime throws his mighty shield ♪


Ballet and fighting poses


The amount of detail on the rear of the robot is astounding.


Gun storage on back.


The combat tower can detach and become an accessory.


Repair bay, lying down


Up up and away web!


Repair bay, upright


The trailer is so small that the robot can just sit on it.


Truck rear


Truck front


With trailer. Unfortunately there is no articulation in this articulated truck mode. I cheated in this photo by slightly lifting the hitch and then turning it at an angle before allowing it to drop back down again. But the cab is incapable of turning independently of the trailer; it effectively works more like TF toys that are solidly attached to their trailers like G1 Motormaster.


This is how the truck/cab mode actually looks like. And side on we can see that the trailer isn't much taller than the cab.


Rear view of trailer


Inside of trailer; 50 Shades of Bland


Here is Earthrise Optimus Prime next to Deluxe Class Movie Trilogy Optimus Prime, and as you can see the trailer for the Deluxe Class toy is larger ER OP's. In fact, let's compare sizes.
Deluxe trailer = 63mm(W) x 238mm(L) x 81mm(H)
ER trailer = 61mm(W) x 174mm(L) x 81mm(H)


The trailer is big enough to hold a Legends Class toy and not much bigger than that.


ER OP's trailer looks too small even for a Deluxe Optimus Prime toy!


Comparing the truck cab with the original G1 Optimus Prime. As you can see ER OP is a tad bigger.


And yet G1 Prime's trailer dwarfs ER OP's, creating an optical illusion that the G1 cab is also larger (which is why I took the previous photo to break that illusion).


Matrix chamber in the chest.


Light piping gimmick on Matrix.


Finger articulation allows OP to hold the Matrix (albeit not very firmly).

OVERALL
I was someone who was initially unconvinced by this toy. I skipped preordering it and consequently paid pretty much close to full RRP - as mentioned before, this was a bit of an impulse buy. But having gotten it I must say that I am thoroughly impressed by the robot component. The trailer is just utter garbage, but the robot is amazing. While the robot is a Voyager sized toy, it is above Voyager Class engineering. This does easily feel more like Leader Class engineering but in a Voyager sized toy - similar to how Cliffjumper is smaller than a standard Deluxe but features above Deluxe level engineering. And in both cases, the accessory set (Prime's trailer and Cliffy's bazooka) are there to help justify the price point - so in that regard I must say that, yeah, this IS worth the Leader Class price point. And for those of you who paid less, great! You guys are laughing. But as someone who was initially reluctant to get this toy, as someone who was - until now - really skeptical about this toy's value for money (and fully expecting to feel buyer's remorse), I must say that this toy has really changed my mind about it.

It's not the perfect toy; as I said before, the trailer is crap and I wish the eyes were yellow (and where's Roller?) - but in answer to the question of whether or not this toy is worth it's asking price? Yes. Yes it is. And I thought long and hard about this because I picked this toy up at 10:00 yesterday and after much erming and aahing and also not shutting up about it on the two Skype chat sessions I was in... despite some drawbacks on this toy, I do think it is an EXCELLENT figure that is well worth getting. The cab robot is easily worth the cost of an Ultra Class figure ($70~80 by today's standards), and the trailer is worth about $10~15 (again, if you paid less then that is fan-freaking-tastic). It's little wonder that this toy is selling like hotcakes right now and flying off shelves; people are certainly voting with their wallets.

Strongly recommended.

[Dimi194]

Oh no, I was super ready to skip this one because I have the Siege version, but all these photos are making me reconsider... :S

[GoktimusPrime]

As someone who was initially unconvinced about getting this toy who is now singing it praise - let me say that I cannot recommend this toy highly enough.
If you're in doubt, just get it. You can always sell it if you change your mind given how hard this toy is to find. I'm sure you'd find a buyer. And sure, you would lose some money as you'd buy it sealed and sell it loose - say if you pay $90 to buy it sealed but sell it loose for $75. But consider it as you having spent $15 rental on a toy.

[GoktimusPrime]

Deluxe Classics Optimus Prime with ER OP's trailer. Yeah, that trailer is absolutely undersized for the Voyager-sized ER OP figure!

[Dimi194]

As someone who was initially unconvinced about getting this toy who is now singing it praise - let me say that I cannot recommend this toy highly enough.
If you're in doubt, just get it. You can always sell it if you change your mind given how hard this toy is to find. I'm sure you'd find a buyer. And sure, you would lose some money as you'd buy it sealed and sell it loose - say if you pay $90 to buy it sealed but sell it loose for $75. But consider it as you having spent $15 rental on a toy.

I know, but now I've missed all the pre-orders so getting one is going to be interesting :P

EDIT: Just took the plunge and bought 2 from Myer, hoping there's a chance I get at least 1 OP-let's see hahaha