Review: #296
Name: Optimus Prime Supreme Mode
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Adventure
Year of Release: 2015
Size Class: Supreme (TAV-33)
Mold Status: retool of Adventure Optimus Prime (TAV-21)
TRUCK MODE:
Optimus, naturally, transforms into a red truck but now with a splashing of black and silver highlights. The truck largely remains the same style as the normal RiD (2015) Optimus.
Featuring ten rolling wheels, they look a bit small proportionally compared to the size of the truck. What's really nice is the metallic blue paint used on the wheel rims.
The other neat thing is the back of the truck looks like it could be an actual truck, instead of obvious robot parts sticking out. If only TakaraTomy went one step further and added some painted details.
The cab looks nice as well, with some great painted details including the headlights, bumper and grill. The windows are also a smoky transparent plastic. Electronics and flashing lights can be activated here.
A quick comparison with it's Warrior version, this Supreme version is more impressive in size and detail.
Optimus is vaguely Supreme sized, he is definitely much better and heavier than a Leader classed toy though.
One of main play value is the interaction with Warrior classed figures in the line. His trailer has a big enough space for you to roll the Autobot vehicles up and store it in there, quite neat.
We'll get into it shortly but Optimus has a ton of weapons, all of which can be pegged into the truck mode for storage.
You can flip open the top to store more items underneath (those are his robot shins, yes, they are completely chromed and doesn't look very realistic as a truck roof). You can also place Warrior classed figures into the cavity as a sort of battle station (this is officially stated in the instructions, even if it sounds stupid).
There are a variety of ways you can place the weapons but one thing the designer didn't take note of is the additional thickness that comes from chroming of weapon. The giant sword is supposed to be a 5mm peg and peg onto the roof (or any other of the peg holes) but it is much too thick.
This is a fantastic truck mode, he's a big chunky size, with impressive detailing and good play value.
TRANSFORMATION:
Getting Optimus from vehicle to robot mode, or vice versa, is complex and interesting, as it should be for this size. It is not as complex as the Movie toys, which is a relief, no, Optimus Supreme Mode still has a fun transformation. It is heavily reliant on panels, as you can expect from the trailer but it isn't as bad as some people may make it out. It is clever in some aspects but there are equally other aspects where it could have been improved. Overall though, it is engaging and does not disappointing.
ROBOT MODE:
The robot mode... is just wow. It is based upon the powered-up version of Optimus that turned up in the final episode of the first season of Robots in Disguise (2015), and takes more than it's fair share of inspiration from Star Convoy.
The biggest flaw in this mode is the truck cab that hangs from his back. While it does clip in place against the wheels, it unclips fairly easily and the plastic feels weak and prone to snapping off or warping.
The headsculpt looks great, although his crest is way too long/tall. It's too long to the fact that when you view it from the side, it looks really weird.
The main new sculpting in this mode is the torso, with an added piece that covers the actual truck's windshield. It looks great, as is the subtle use of chrome for the window outlines. Pressing the chest grill also activates his electronics.
His arm guards are also new, with a huge chunk of chromed silver and blue, looks great, if a bit prone to fingerprints.
Optimus' shoulders are new too, once again the chrome highlights work. His had a gimmick where twisting a dial on the top of his left shoulder can swap the insignia, from a standard Autobot insignia to two variations of the Robots in Disguise scannable ones.
Lastly, his legs are also remolded and as can be seen from the truck mode, his shins are fully chromed, with only black paint added. The paint on chrome will raise fear that it'll chip easily.
A quick size comparison here shows that Optimus absolutely towers over Leader classed toys. Sure, while a lot of that height is his shins, that doesn't stop him from being impressive. Optimus also has a great heft to him.
Comparison against the smaller Warrior version, as well as seeing how huge Optimus really is.
To incorporate the trailer gimmick of allowing him to store vehicles, his legs had to be hollow. They are solidly formed though and doesn't look too bad thanks to the black. His forearms have a tab that allows you to connect RiD (2015) Minicons.
Optimus comes with a huge arsenal of weapons, an stumpy ax, two bazookas, Bumblebee's sword, Strongarms crossbow gun, a blaster, Jazz's lance, Drift's sword and his massive Decepticon Hunter sword which is completely chromed (this figure has chrome overload).
The smaller weapons are designed for use with Warrior figures.
Although you can combine several of the weapons into larger weapons for Optimus to use himself.
You can also store the smaller weapons when not in use in several pegholes of the robot, although they're a tight fit for some reason.
Optimus' hands are now retooled with 5mm pegholes so he can hold the weapons himself without flipping up any parts. Getting those weapons into his hands are a tight fit and more difficult than it should.
Optimus has wrist swivels which he can put to great use here. For some reason, the sword and handle are two different pieces and the connection between the two isn't that stable.
For such a big figure with huge shins, Optimus does well in being stable in poses (unlike the other big shin toy like Ultra Magnus). His has ankle tilts to help in this aspect but the feet are such an awkward sculpt make him wobbling (but not fall), an odd design choice.
He doesn't have many ratcheting joints but his swivel and hinge joints are very tight, holding up his weight well. His big forearms and shins can make posing difficult at times.
The weapons made from combining the smaller pieces actually work quite well.
He has the elusive waist swivel. The chrome does most of the speaking here since apart from the chrome, red and black, there's not many other paint applications.
Perhaps the most frustrating part is that the weapons (apart from the chromed sword) are soft plastic, which warps easily, especially straight out of the packaging.
Plugging in the weapons to various ports on the robot, you can get some really great attack modes.
A fantastic robot mode that actually improves upon the original by being more visually interesting.
OVERALL:
Optimus Prime Supreme Mode is a fun figure while also looking impressive on your shelf. Being a Japanese exclusive thus far with Hasbro showing no intention of releasing a version themselves, he can be a bit pricey. However, the attention to detail, good use of chrome and a huge assortment of extra weapons make Optimus Prime great value for money. Highly recommended for a great action figure and rendition of the character, go get yours now!
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