Animated Elite Guard Optimus Prime

Prelude: Our worlds are in danger! To save them... no, sorry, wrong universe. So here we have Galaxy Force Op... no, sorry, Elite Guard Optimus Prime from Transformers Animated. Any resemblance he might have color-wise to a certain Cybertron figure I reviewed a few days ago is purely incidental. So welcome to the Animated universe, Takara version, where rare exclusive variants are a given, of course. As the seventh (and so far final) version of Voyager-class Optimus Prime, does this Elite Guardist have what it takes? Let’s say go!

Remarks: Well, I have already reviewed this mold five times before. Optimus Prime, Wing Blade Optimus, Motormaster, Black Optimus Prime, and Toxitron. So yeah, this mold is very well reviewed. So let’s just focus on the differences here, shall we?

Optimus gets a new paint job somewhat reminiscent of the colors of Cybertron Galaxy Force Optimus Prime. The bright red of the original figure has been swapped for a darker red and what was once blue is now black. Some golden highlights have been added, such as the Elite Guard symbol on his chest and the three golden stripes each on his shoulders, reminiscent of the Elite Guard wings, too. His face is also golden now. That’s it in terms of changes, really. Still an excellent figure with a pretty crappy weapon, just in new colors.

This version of the very repaint-prone Animated Optimus mold was a mail-order exclusive from Million Publishing, requiring a coupon from their Transformers Animated encyclopedia guidebook to purchase. As such it is not a widely available figure, rather one of the rarest Animated figures of them all. It’s also rather obscure, seeing as Optimus never joined the Elite Guard in Animated. Well, he did, on the final page of the Animated comic book “Trial and Error”, which replaced the never-produced fourth season of the show and tied up the storylines, but he still had his classic red and blue colors there.

So did we really need another version of this very good mold, wearing colors we never saw in the show? Probably not, no. Still, being the Animated fanatic that I am, this rare version here has been tickling my fancy for a long time, so I am very glad to finally call it my own. It was a birthday present from my mother-in-law (procured by my wife), which naturally adds bonus points. Still, it’s only a repaint and still hasn’t got a good weapon, so unless you are an Animated fanatic like me, this expensive rarity is probably not for you. Me, though? I love it.

Rating: A-

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