Revenge of the Fallen Optimus Prime

Series: Revenge of the Fallen
Allegiance: Autobot
Categories: Leader
Year: 2009

With the destruction of Megatron, Optimus Prime thought he was finally, after millions of years, at peace. Little did he know that the escape of Starscream would draw dozens of new Decepticons to Earth. The desire that burns brightest in his Spark is that the war will soon end. He is determined to see that end come, and so he works with his human comrades and the other Autobots to hunt the Decepticons that have come to Earth, and destroy them, one by one.

Prelude: The moment I saw the first pictures of leader class Optimus Prime on the Internet, I knew that I had to have him. Let's be honest, the Prime of the first Movie line was not exactly a good representation of the character we saw on the screen.

Vehicle Mode: Optimus, naturally, transforms once again into the Peterbilt 379 truck. Here, too, the new Prime just looks better. The sleeping cabine in the back is now closed, not open as it was in the first version. One small flaw, though: His wheels are plastic now. The headlights are transparent, no longer blue. Overall the similarity between the two trucks is pretty great, of course. But Prime no longer honks in truck mode, but rather gives off engine sounds. Oh, and everyone who thought that the first Movie Prime's transformation was complicated, you can now look forward to a new challenge. The instruction sheet goes over two pages.

Robot Mode: To put it short and sweet: The robot mode is just phantastic. A nearly perfect translation of the movie character. Optimus looks pretty dynamic, he's taller than his predecessor, and doesn't look as overloaded. Okay, he doesn't get by without a rucksack, either. Still, Optimus is very posable, especially in the legs and feet. His feet can pull off almost the entire range of human movement.

Prime doesn't carry a firearm this time, but rather two extending energy blades. Sadly these can't be tucked away fully. If you fold them in, they stick out a little at the back of the arms. Another small flaw: I find it unfortunate that Prime can't move his fingers, as I'd expect from a figure of this size class. Only the wrists can twist. The US-version of Prime supposedly says "I am Optimus Prime" here, mine just says "Optimus Prime", which is apparently the norm for the European release.

Apart from that I have no complaints about this figure, even though the price tag of € 59 is quite hefty. Even if you're not a Prime-fanatic, this figure is pretty much a must-have. It's nearly perfect. Thanks to his excellent posability and big feet Prime can pose with the best of them. If he had finger movement and could tuck his blades away properly I'd have given him an A+. As things stand it's still more than enough for ...

Rating: A