Everyone at least set up their own rules when comes down to their toy collecting hobbit. For me, one of them is one character per line. That means, only one Bumblebee for the whole movieverse lines and one Optimus Prime for classics (that includes Classics, Universe, Henkei, Generations, RTS, PCC), etc. For kids this rule doesn’t apply so you can see my son already got couple movie Primes and Bees. So far I’ve ran this rule firmly without breaking it only until recently, I got another movie Optimus Prime called Lunarfire Optimus Prime. Yes, I definitely have no interest in adding another movie Prime. Yes, I don’t even care about a deluxe class Prime whether he is painted in silver or gold. But for what really made me break my rule is the weapon that comes with him.

No need to say Optimus Prim’s alternate mode. This version is a Walmart exclusive deluxe class and also a repaint from the previous store exclusive deluxe class. The blue is darker and pretty much all the silver color parts are now painted in gold. As a deluxe class, this truck is super detailed and Hasbro did a fantastic job (which I haven’t used this word on Hasbro for a while) on painting him. It rolls very well and every part connects together tightly unlike the voyager class one is easily falling apart. All robot parts are hidden very well except the hands are slightly being seen from the back. He has few MechTech ports in this mode and they don’t destroy the look that much, but I still have no interest in putting any weapons on him in this mode.

The transformation is fairly easy and the scheme is nicely designed. The toes and feet part was somewhat tight which I had the fear of breaking it or making stress marks initially, but it ended up fine and the plastic quality is durable. The head pops up when separating chest pieces and this is a very cool design. Using the side mirrors as connector for arm panel is brilliant. The only and biggest drawback is now the entire truck cab is hanging on his back. Amazingly it doesn’t cost any balance issue but only the look if you look from side or back. Considering this is the sacrifice part to simplify the process, which I think is reasonable, but this will make many collectors cry as they mostly care about screen accurate. But since when did Hasbro “really” care about screen accurate (and scale). So if you look from the front ignoring the back, Optimus Prime is amazingly detailed and colored. He is also very tall as a deluxe class. Articulation is amazing that he can draw down so many poses without parts interfering. And what really impressed me is there are no fake parts. On his voyager class, Optimus has fake chest plates and windows and fake hip tires. Here he has none. The chest plates and windows are really there from the truck and Hasbro simply removed the hip tires concept which makes the figure look much better overall.

While this figure is very nice overall, the real reason for me to buy it is the weapon. Yes, this deluxe class figure is carrying a voyager class weapon. It’s the same gun painted differently from the voyager Prime. I was very fancy about this weapon when my son got his voyager Prime and thought about it would look cool for leader class Sentinel to wield. Now since I got this, this weapon is definitely going to Sentinel Prime with minor modifications. Then you may ask what about Prime? Well, I will deal with him later plus right now he doesn’t belong anywhere in my collection even though he is a very nice toy. For some reason I really want to paint him black since he has red eyes, just an idea.

Transformation: 7 – With simple transformation that brings you two excellent modes. Only thing is the entire cab is hanging on the back.
Fun: 10 – A really nice truck; a really fun to play robot; a super sized weapon that is even okay for a leader class to hold, what do you think.
Display: 9 – The details and paint jobs are excellent, and Optimus can pose so well with good balance. And for some reason I can ignore the cab on the back while many people cannot.
Value: 8 - $9.97 Walmart store exclusive. Would be too expensive for that weapon only but this figure is well made.
Overall: 8 – I would give it a 9 or even 10 but think it would be unfair for other figures since he has a huge cab hanging on the back, so 8 should be reasonable. You may not like him initially like I did but once you get him, I believe you will like him.