Optimus Prime with Enerax and Sheeldron Recolor, Recolor, Recolor Transformers Generations War for Cybertron Trilogy Walmart Exclusive Netflix Voyager Item No.: Asst. E9490 No. F0707 Manufacturer: Hasbro Includes: 1 blaster, 3 transforming figures Action Feature: Transforms from Robot to Truck, also Robot to Shield, and also Robot to Axe/Blaster Retail: $39.99 Availability: December 2020 Other: Goofy, fun, and on my desk
PREVIOUS	RSS	NEXT

Nostalgia toys do a good job of filling a void in someone's childhood - but at a higher price, and as an adult. Hasbro has been particularly good at ensuring some key characters return to circulation, like this Optimus Prime with Enerax and Sheeldron. The red Autobot Commander started life as Earthrise Optimus Prime [FOTD #2,190] in 2019, and it's one of the best remakes we've seen in the "classic" line - and ensures fans who may have just returned to the fold because of Netflix can get their childhood hero with more knee and ankle articulation. I wrote this review late last year, and as of today I've never seen one in stores - I got mine in the mail.

While he drops the trailer, he's $10 cheaper and comes with Sheeldron (a recolor of Soundbarrier [FOTD #2,218] and Enerax (a recolor of Pteraxadon [FOTD #2,188] - both are clear energon-flavored yellow. It's worth noting that Sheeldron dropped the C.O.M.B.A.T. blast effect from Soundbarrier's single release, and both yellow figures have some opaque parts. The box shows them as completely transparent yellow.

Optimus Prime is one of those characters that demand inclusion in any decent toy collection. And now there are dozens of them! This particular version is a recolor of what is widely regarded as one of the better takes on the character, but with some notable changes from the last release and also the render on the box. The box has paler windows, no silver stripes on the forearms, no smoke on the stacks, some silver on the toys. The final toy had a lot of its grey plastic parts replaced with dark blue, the lighter blue legs and fists are now dark blue, the red is a little different, the silver front wheels are painted (previous release was bare grey), the blaster is all black, and the interiors of the Matrix chamber doors are now unpainted. Do any of these changes make it notably different? Not really.

The color changes are a bit desaturated, but it looks better overall. The wheels match more nicely, there are less weird grey elements that don't match the surrounding plastic colors, but the truck without the container is a bit of a letdown. It still looks good and is fun to transform. As a robot, it's still well-jointed with opening hands, rocker ankles, and exceptionally good leg articulation for a transforming mass-market robot toy outside the traditional boys 4-11 demo. It's not the toy on the box, it's not exactly like the original, and it's not unquestionably better - but it's different enough to be interesting.

Sheeldron and Enerax are redecorated from before. Sheeldron is a lot like Soundbarrier, but drops all color on the shield/ramp mode beyond the molded clear yellow. The robot has a bit of silver on the body and some grey on the face. As toys go, it's a great accessory but not an exciting purchase by himself. He's joined by Enerax, which is almost completely undecorated except for the eyes. The axe looks a lot like a blaster if you rotate it, plus there's a 5mm peg that works as a grip - presumably, this was intentional. The dino mode is cute, the axe works nicely, and it's a fun alternative stand-in for Optimus' built-in weapon from the battle on the dam in the original Sunbow cartoon miniseries. He also lacks the effect piece, which would have been nice.

If you missed the Earthrise Optimus Prime Leader-Class toy or its 2021 Kingdom reissue, this is a good one to get. If you have no use for the trailer, I'd steer you toward this release. The coloring is different - arguably not better - with slightly sharper eyes and colors that seem like someone ran them through Photoshop's desaturation sponge tool. It is by no means dirty or grey like the bulk of the first wave of Walmart Netflix exclusives, but it could fit in with a muted comic book's coloring. Since it's also available in standard colors, dead colors, Shattered Glass colors, and goodness knows what else they have planned, maybe you don't need them all. But if you do, this one isn't terribly different enough to warrant rebuying unless you're a completist or need his battle buddies.

Additional Images

Click here to see more Hasbro figures in Figure of the Day.

Click here to see more Transformers figures in Figure of the Day.

Want to buy this figure? Check Transformers availability at our sponsors:
Entertainment Earth

Featured Toy Video