Back in the 1990s, the original toy which inspired this Laser Optimus Prime was considered to be one of Hasbro's very best. And it makes sense - that's the era where new molds of toys tended to have ball-jointed elbows, knees, hips, and shoulders (and sometimes more) plus action features like spinning rotors, rocket launchers, or light-up swords. The original Laser Optimus Prime had an LED light fist which could shine through a sword or a blaster, plus disc launchers and an air-powered rocket launcher. It was an impressive toy that, while a little goofy, provided fans with one of the biggest Optimus Prime toys and had so much gear it was considered an essential purchase.
I'll get ahead of myself a bit and tell you the original 1995 Generation 2 releases is still is the best version of Laser Optimus Prime. Or Black Battle Convoy/Scourge based on the 1995 mold. You can't go wrong with those.
The 2022 edition is smaller, and borrows design elements from later releases. The mold itself is evolved from the recent War for Cybertron Trilogy molds, but the silver chest is clearly inspired by the Japanese reissue of the G2 toy. The blue sword was how the toys from Reveal the Shield and the second Titans Return versions of Laser Optimus looked. The trailer drops the fire-burning graphics, and the wacky stickers are largely completely gone. The toy also eschews any G2 graphical elements, like stickers featuring his name or the revised sigil. The Optimus Prime figure is loaded with articulation and a neat complex transformation, but everything that made the original toy fun and innovative is gone, squeezed through the "collectors want articulation, not fin" mold that a lot of toy companies seem to believe collectors want. It's an impressive toy on a shelf - but if they just reissued the original mold, you'd find it much more exciting.
The robot has painted blue fists and a painted blue helmet, so you'll need to be careful to not chip or damage it over time. The shoulders have some yellow and the shoulders and chest feature some silver. I love the added flip-up shoulder pylons that hide blue rocket launchers, but the bulk of the rest of the toy is bare plastic. The unique stickers to break up the grays and blacks are all gone, and no painted equivalents were added. The head doesn't have light-up eye ports (but his Scourge repaint does), giving you a toy that I assume fans that missed the original will enjoy on its own merits but anybody older will say "the original was better." I'm not saying to skip the 2022 release, but the big blue axe and disappointingly small blue sword may not deliver on the stocky powerhouse of the original design.
It's also worth noting that while the legs are standard fare, the arms aren't. The arms exist as skinny elements inside shoulder pylons that don't swivel - the arms move inside a cavity and have a good range of movement. Unfortunately, that's not how the original toy moves, so it's a little hard to be super enthusiastic for the redesign. The figure can't hold on to his sword with both hands either, so the revised design may still leave you feeling like things fell a little short of the potential for a total redesign. If anything, I'd say Hasbro will probably try again later.
The trailer opens up to make a very simple repair bay with a blaster, a claw tool, and a ramp. There are lots of 5mm holes to mount accessories, plus storage areas for the sword and axe. This was done pretty well, but the original was much meatier.
Transformation is much more involved than the original toy, which took seconds to transform. It was awesome. The legs form the back of the truck, the arms tuck behind the cab, there's a jetpack panel hidden in the cab, there's a fake chest that folds out, and you'll need to do a lot of swiveling and popping out of parts. They had fun with the design of the original toy, but it's a very "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of a situation. I'm having fun with this toy and Scourge, but I also know that by this time next year they'll be hanging out on the shelf and I'll be pulling out the G2/RID toys when I'm interested in touching these designs.
The truck doesn't do much, and it looks fine. I appreciate the flames, the painted hubcaps, and that the truck got some paint on the trailer. I miss the light-up headlights, the wacky mural on the original tanker trailer, and of course the disc launcher. This truck is a truck, it's smaller than the original but it's not like it does a whole lot less. Vehicle modes are rarely prioritized, and the wheels of the 2022 release don't roll terribly smoothly.
Looking on eBay, the Takara reissue of G2 Laser Convoy is over $150 and a US original is tough to cme by - but out of the box, isn't quite as expensive. If you have the funds, I'd say go after that first. If you can't get it, this new version is a little shorter, has more articulation, and is less of a toy than a collectible for adults. Once the transformation goes from "seconds" to "minutes," the fun starts to fade away - but you do get rocker ankles, swivel wrists, and additional articulation as a replacement.
Hasbro's current design philosophy results in toys that look impressive, but sometimes fail to capture the spirit of why adult fans of this stuff are still here. If you have the means or the inclination, the toys of the mid-1990s were genuinely impressive (if lacking in paint) because they straddled the audiences of the era. Kids expected fun toys that were durable and easy to transform, and the designers (along with the older fans) wanted something a little more complex than we got in the 1980s with articulation superior to a statue. Today's product seems to prize articulation above all else, and while that does have its place on some figures like Spider-Man I don't know if it's doing me any favors with this particular Optimus Prime. I'd love to challenge Hasbro to try one last time, but I think fans will find this 2022 release a lot more fun at sale prices. If you bought the leader-size Earthrise/Kingdom toy, it's arguably not enough of a departure to impress anybody.
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