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Zob's Thoughts on Leader-Class Holiday Optimus Prime
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Zobovor
Mar 22, 2023, 10:25:47 PM3/22/23
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I finally decided to pull the trigger on this guy. He normally sells for $55.99, but I got him for like $36 as part of the Hasbro Pulse warehouse sale.
So, Hasbro has done assorted Christas-themed toys in the past, but they typically tend to be existing molds that have been tweaked slightly. For example, I've got some holiday-themed Galactic Heroes, which are identical to the regular versions except somebody stuck stacks of gifts on top of their lightsabers, or holly wreathes hanging off their blaster weapons. For Christmas 2022 I also got a C-3PO figure decked out in white and red and green, which is ludicrous and silly. What's interesting about Holiday Optimus Prime is that the robot component is a completely new mold, which is comparatively rare.
I remember reading somewhere—not sure if this is inside baseball or just somebody speculating—that Hasbro originally wanted to do a Collaborative toy called Amazon Prime, and that this toy had been originally designed to resemble an Amazon delivery truck before the deal fell through. It's officially licensed by Volvo, and I do believe Hasbro intimated at one point during one of their livestreams that the toy will indeed get a redeco in the future. I would be completely fine if they colored it like G2 Combat Hero Prime and gave him a new missile trailer!
(As an aside, I have tried to think of a good jokey name for this guy and I haven't been able to come up with a really good one. The closest I can manage is "Optimerry Prime," which I freely admit is not very funny.)
So, the vehicle mode uses the same trailer from the Earthrise version of Prime, but the cab is all-new. Some people initially thought that they were seeing some Motormaster parts reuse in there somewhere. They arguably reused some ideas, but no actual Stunticon parts recycling. As a truck, the cab is about 6.5" in length, with the total vehicle length measuring about 10.5" overall. Rather than using the original hitch on the Earthrise trailer, there's a new add-on part which effectively blocks the original peg in favor of a newer one that's farther back on the trailer. This piece pops off easily so you can use the original hitch, which brings the total vehicle length to 12" even.
The trailer is all white, with red vertical stripes meant to evoke the colors of a candy cane. There's an Autobot symbol wearing a Santa hat painted on the trailer front, which splits in half when the trailer opens. The cab is largely white, with some red deco and a black wheel base. The windshield and headlights are translucent green. The sun visor reads "HAPPY HOLIDAYS," slightly off-center, because the second word is longer than the first. Unusually for Optimus Prime, he has only a single smokestack.
The trailer opens to reveal an entirely white, completely unpainted interior. Artillery robot, but no Roller. Nonnef Productions does sell a trailer kit with some add-on parts, including "Coaler" to help complete the set. No, I didn't get paid to shill their product, though at this point I feel like maybe I should be.
The cab transformation is Motormaster-style crazy. The robot arms, and head, are tucked away within the truck undercarriage. The front of the robot body is a folding panel made from the back of the cab. The front of the cab becomes the legs, not unlike the G2 Combat Hero toy, but a lot of parts have to swing open and out of the way in order to allow that to happen.
Also, unlike Combat Hero Prime, whose feet are formed from the roof of the cab, this version eschews that idea and the fronts of the robot legs are made of the underside of the cab. The rear wheel base ends up as a backpack, like Motormaster.
Robot mode is almost seven inches tall. The idea behind the color scheme is that he's decorated like Santa Claus—a red suit with white trim down the front and around the wrists, black gloves and black boots, a black belt a yellow buckle, and a white-painted mask to represent the beard. The Santa colors honestly translate shockingly well to Optimus Prime as a character (and he still gets to keep the blue helmet, so that's something). His rifle, also recycled from Earthrise, is cast in white with red stripes, so I guess it's his peppermint ion rifle.
The toy does have a Matrix of Leadership, accessible via a flip-down chest panel. It's got a red shell, silver handles and a translucent green core. I would describe him as mostly C.O.M.B.A.T.-ready, with holes in his forearms, tops of his shoulders, his back, and the bottoms of his feet. Nothing on his lower legs, but he does have pegs in the back of his upper legs, probably to make up for it.
Well, it would have been nice if they'd taken the official Roller toy from the Centurion Drone weapons back and included it here. But, the draw here certainly isn't the trailer, but rather the new cab/robot design. It's not the best Optimus Prime toy we've ever gotten, but it's certainly not the worst, either. It's the most experimental Prime we've gotten in a while, one that rather significantly deviates from the G1 look that we've all grown quite accustomed to. I think he's pretty cool.
Zob (now to decide whether to store him with my Transformers toys or with my Christmas decorations)
So, Hasbro has done assorted Christas-themed toys in the past, but they typically tend to be existing molds that have been tweaked slightly. For example, I've got some holiday-themed Galactic Heroes, which are identical to the regular versions except somebody stuck stacks of gifts on top of their lightsabers, or holly wreathes hanging off their blaster weapons. For Christmas 2022 I also got a C-3PO figure decked out in white and red and green, which is ludicrous and silly. What's interesting about Holiday Optimus Prime is that the robot component is a completely new mold, which is comparatively rare.
I remember reading somewhere—not sure if this is inside baseball or just somebody speculating—that Hasbro originally wanted to do a Collaborative toy called Amazon Prime, and that this toy had been originally designed to resemble an Amazon delivery truck before the deal fell through. It's officially licensed by Volvo, and I do believe Hasbro intimated at one point during one of their livestreams that the toy will indeed get a redeco in the future. I would be completely fine if they colored it like G2 Combat Hero Prime and gave him a new missile trailer!
(As an aside, I have tried to think of a good jokey name for this guy and I haven't been able to come up with a really good one. The closest I can manage is "Optimerry Prime," which I freely admit is not very funny.)
So, the vehicle mode uses the same trailer from the Earthrise version of Prime, but the cab is all-new. Some people initially thought that they were seeing some Motormaster parts reuse in there somewhere. They arguably reused some ideas, but no actual Stunticon parts recycling. As a truck, the cab is about 6.5" in length, with the total vehicle length measuring about 10.5" overall. Rather than using the original hitch on the Earthrise trailer, there's a new add-on part which effectively blocks the original peg in favor of a newer one that's farther back on the trailer. This piece pops off easily so you can use the original hitch, which brings the total vehicle length to 12" even.
The trailer is all white, with red vertical stripes meant to evoke the colors of a candy cane. There's an Autobot symbol wearing a Santa hat painted on the trailer front, which splits in half when the trailer opens. The cab is largely white, with some red deco and a black wheel base. The windshield and headlights are translucent green. The sun visor reads "HAPPY HOLIDAYS," slightly off-center, because the second word is longer than the first. Unusually for Optimus Prime, he has only a single smokestack.
The trailer opens to reveal an entirely white, completely unpainted interior. Artillery robot, but no Roller. Nonnef Productions does sell a trailer kit with some add-on parts, including "Coaler" to help complete the set. No, I didn't get paid to shill their product, though at this point I feel like maybe I should be.
The cab transformation is Motormaster-style crazy. The robot arms, and head, are tucked away within the truck undercarriage. The front of the robot body is a folding panel made from the back of the cab. The front of the cab becomes the legs, not unlike the G2 Combat Hero toy, but a lot of parts have to swing open and out of the way in order to allow that to happen.
Also, unlike Combat Hero Prime, whose feet are formed from the roof of the cab, this version eschews that idea and the fronts of the robot legs are made of the underside of the cab. The rear wheel base ends up as a backpack, like Motormaster.
Robot mode is almost seven inches tall. The idea behind the color scheme is that he's decorated like Santa Claus—a red suit with white trim down the front and around the wrists, black gloves and black boots, a black belt a yellow buckle, and a white-painted mask to represent the beard. The Santa colors honestly translate shockingly well to Optimus Prime as a character (and he still gets to keep the blue helmet, so that's something). His rifle, also recycled from Earthrise, is cast in white with red stripes, so I guess it's his peppermint ion rifle.
The toy does have a Matrix of Leadership, accessible via a flip-down chest panel. It's got a red shell, silver handles and a translucent green core. I would describe him as mostly C.O.M.B.A.T.-ready, with holes in his forearms, tops of his shoulders, his back, and the bottoms of his feet. Nothing on his lower legs, but he does have pegs in the back of his upper legs, probably to make up for it.
Well, it would have been nice if they'd taken the official Roller toy from the Centurion Drone weapons back and included it here. But, the draw here certainly isn't the trailer, but rather the new cab/robot design. It's not the best Optimus Prime toy we've ever gotten, but it's certainly not the worst, either. It's the most experimental Prime we've gotten in a while, one that rather significantly deviates from the G1 look that we've all grown quite accustomed to. I think he's pretty cool.
Zob (now to decide whether to store him with my Transformers toys or with my Christmas decorations)
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