Pictorial Review: Age of Extinction Optimus Prime (Leader Class)

Just recently the new toys of Transformers Age of Extinction has been launched. Being an avid fan some of my friends and I went to the launch sale at midnight last Friday (Saturday morning) for the launch. I'm not collecting the movie lines but as a fan of Optimus Prime I want to get the Leader Class and the Voyager Class Optimus Prime. This review here is on the Leader Class Optimus Prime.

Age of Extinction toys come in all new style packaging. Aside from the artwork, on the box is just plain simple vertical Transformers writing on the left side with plain red font and white background. There's not even a big writing of Age of Extinction except under the 4/Decepticon logo. Basic rectangular box.

On the back it has the picture of the figure in robot and alternate mode (as usual). Some biography and info. And apparently now it shows you how many steps are there from you to transform the figure. In this case 20 steps.

On the right side and left side of the box. That's it. Simple. Also on the bottom. Red and white are all you see

In Box View

This time around Hasbro doesn't use the annoying string like material to tie the figure. They have a found a more convenient way for people to take the figure out from the transparent packaging. Only a few sections uses the old bind type.

The instruction manual. A little improvement on the manual. Using the actual toy picture as reference for easier view and understanding to transform the figure.

Accessories





Optimus Prime comes with a shield and the sword this time. No blasters. As depicted in the trailers and promo pictures, Optimus Prime's designs now are loosely based that of a Samurai (we know Drift has that Samurai look too). So because of that there is no big blasters for Optimus to shoot the Decepticons. The sword is made of soft plastic but not that soft. However it still can be bent. The shield however is one solid hard plastic.







Robot Mode

All new design of the toy. No remolds or old parts of the previous three movie Optimus Prime are used in this new one. Also it is very much different than the so called "First Edition" AOE Optimus Prime that was released earlier this year. From the views here you can already tell that this Optimus is not difficult of sophisticated enough to transform. From the side and back view you almost can't see Optimus at all. A lot of large pieces cover Optimus' body.

stiff looking Optimus

As usual Hasbro will be the one with lack of paint jobs compare to TakaraTomy version. The grey part on his upper chest should at least have some colour or just a little silver paint would do. But the main chest piece is nicely done. Chrome silver, red and blue. Optimus' main colour scheme. But still there should more paint jobs like on the shoulder and the biceps. The grey is not even grey paint but rather the of the plastic itself. Unpainted plastic. 

Weird pose? Yeah. Reason I posed him like this just to show a few points of articulations. You have the normal shoulder, elbow, hip, knee joints. The side piece of his "samurai" armour can be moved so that there will be no limitations to the hip articulation. The front crotch piece also can be moved to avoid limitations moving the hip forward.  Shoulders, hips and knees are on ratchet joints. So get use the sound click-click-click when playing with him. :P

The elbow can be bent at 90 degrees. The elbow is on a ratchet joint. Unfortunately this time there are no joints on both arms. Bummer. The forearm and hand is one solid piece. The thumbs can move to make it easier for us to put his sword in his hands. If you can see there is a small peg in his hand to attach the sword to make it more firm.The forearm also can be rotated 360 degrees. The head is on a ball joint. He can look left and right no problem but looking up is a bit limited due to his head design. 

Posing Abilities.

Here are some of the pose he can do. Despite some limitations, he can do some nice poses. He also has a waist articulation so posing him is much more fun.

       

   

 everybody wants to do this kind of pose nowadays :)

The head is nicely sculpted. You can see a lot effort is put to design this small head. But again unfortunately lack of silver paint. The new Optimus has lots of silver on his head but this Hasbro version sticks to his old blue head colour scheme.







Size Comparison (Robot Mode)

We keep seeing the size of the toys shrinking. Well AOE is no different. AOE Optimus is a little shorter than the first movie Optimus. 

There you go. Look how small he is compare to his previous counterpart of Buster Prime from ROTF. 








Alternate Mode














Obviously a semi-truck. A redefined and slightly futuristic look. The design of the truck is nicely done. The truck mode doesn't show any of the robot parts except from underneath. Great paint jobs and nice chrome smokestacks, front grill, sidestep and gas tank (is it a gas tank on the side there). The downside of the alternate mode is that the back part of the truck have too many hollow area. Granted the hollow are is made due to its transformation but it would be nicer if it can be covered.

It used to be a red cab with some blue paints but now he is a blue cab with minor red paints. The yellow windscreen and window doesn't really work for me. I would prefer a semi-transparent or solid black. Reason is that when in robot form that are will be on the back of his legs instead of his chest like the norm. So there is nothing to show for when he is in robot mode. Unfortunately the front grill on my figure has smudges and not shiny. There is still the tiny Autobot logo on the top middle of the grill but it's not painter red so you hardly can see it. Nice Autobot insignia on the side of the truck. But I would prefer it on the roof of the cab or add another on the cab. The logo on the side of the truck will be on the side of his hip when in robot mode. It it was on the roof it would be on his shoulder in robot mode. 

The sword can be stored underneath the truck and the shield can be attached on the back part of the semi.

Size Comparison (Alternate Mode)
 

Side by side here with the first movie version of Leader Class Optimus Prime. A tad bit smaller. No comparison with ROTF Optimus as I think we all already know how it would look like. And I'm lazy to transform it too. Also worth noting that rubber tires are on this figure. 

Accessories Storage (Robot Mode)

The sword can be stored on the back. From the picture above you can see there is a small holder for you to slide in the sword. It is the same piece that you use to store the sword underneath the truck. The shield you can only attach to the side of his arms. No place to put on the back.

Overall this figure is a decent looking toy. It has all the basic articulations it needs (except the wrists) and still enjoyable to play with. However the cosmetic on it is lacking and from some angle it is an eyesore. If you are an Optimus Prime fan I would still recommend you to get it but if you would like just one version of Optimus Prime from the movie universe, I think everyone agrees to opt for ROTF/DOTM design. 

Starting from this review onward I will make a rating base on the figure. 
  
Robot Mode: 6.5 out of 10
Alternate Mode: 7 out of 10
Cosmetic: 6.5 out of 10
Play-ability: 7.5 out of 10 

That is all for this time. Until next time, Till All Are One!