Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Together with MG and HG First Gundam.
The bulk is something else..

Beefy upper body

Partial painting galore..

Head

Tomy Optimus Prime - That red bleed around the chest window.. is glue residue T_T I used plastic cement because the window pi

That red bleed around the chest window.. is glue residue T_T
The window piece wouldn't stay put, so I used plastic cement, and it bled into the painted area.
Be careful, everyone.. (sigh)

Tomy Optimus Prime - Back and rear end. You can really feel the life in it, like it just stepped right out of the movie. (1/3

Back and rear end.
You can really feel the life in it, like it just stepped right out of the movie.

Tomy Optimus Prime - Shoulders & Arms (1/3)

Shoulders & Arms

Legs

Feet

Intricately detailed soles

The face can be swapped between 2 different expressions.

Tomy Optimus Prime - The blade that attaches to the hand can be mounted in 2 ways — you can choose between fitting it directl

The blade that attaches to the hand can be mounted in 2 ways —
fitting it directly onto the wrist like shown at the top, or
securing it to the forearm armor like shown at the bottom — your choice.

The inner frame body, pre-assembled as included.

Tomy Optimus Prime - The detail and proportions are beyond expectations! (1/3)

The detail and proportions are beyond expectations!

The inner frame body assembled without the outer armor

Upper body frame, front and back.

Tomy Optimus Prime - The sculpt on the body frame is absolutely jaw-dropping. Even PG would be left in tears... (1/5)

Tomy Optimus Prime - The sculpt on the body frame is absolutely jaw-dropping. Even PG would be left in tears... (2/5)

Tomy Optimus Prime - The sculpt on the body frame is absolutely jaw-dropping. Even PG would be left in tears... (3/5)

The sculpt on the body frame is absolutely jaw-dropping.
Even PG would be left in tears...

There's no real inner frame to speak of in the head.

Arm frame

Tomy Optimus Prime - Leg and foot frame (1/4)

Tomy Optimus Prime - Leg and foot frame (2/4)

Leg and foot frame

The articulation on the frame is top-notch too.

The shoulder articulation mechanism — up, down, forward, and back — is excellent too

The knees feature a 2-stage linked articulation gimmick as well.

The ankles have a structure that tilts sideways quite a lot, similar to the 00 Gundam.

The legs spread wide open too.

Kneeling pose reproduced without any issues.

Tomy Optimus Prime - A wide-open pose that looks like nature's calling loud and clear.. (lol) (1/3)

A wide-open pose that looks like nature's calling loud and clear.. (lol)

Tomy Optimus Prime - Frame articulation shots. In terms of movement alone, it's right up there with Bandai Gunpla.. (1/3)

Frame articulation shots. In terms of movement alone, it's right up there with Bandai Gunpla..

Tomy Optimus Prime - The 2 parts on the top of the foot are an absolute nightmare to assemble.. I don't know if it's bad desi

The 2 parts on the top of the foot are an absolute nightmare to assemble..
I don't know if it's bad design or what, but they just wouldn't fit at all — I had to shave them down with a knife in multiple spots before they'd finally stay in place -_-

Once the armor is on, the articulation range gets a bit more restricted.

As you can see, the wheels and armor panels get in the way, so there's not much you can do about it.

Another look at the knee's 2-stage linked articulation gimmick.

Tomy Optimus Prime - Once the armor is on.. the shoulder forward/backward articulation gimmick that was pretty nice on the ba

Once the armor is on.. the shoulder forward/backward articulation gimmick that was pretty nice on the bare frame becomes almost completely locked up T_T

The armor restricts the ankle range of motion too.

Articulation of the shoulder covers and chest hatch.

Articulation of the back unit's transformation parts.

Tomy Optimus Prime - The fingers are fully articulated at every joint like a PG, but the way they're held in place is so bad

The fingers are fully articulated at every joint like a PG, but..
The way they're held in place is so bad that they pop off constantly. T_T
Seems like the biggest design fail of this kit..

The sole is articulated in separate sections across different areas.

The hip armor rotates to give you a bit more range of motion.

The armor behind the knee can also move slightly to allow for a greater range of motion.

There's a movable cylinder at the front of the ankle.

Tomy Optimus Prime - Striking some poses~ (1/5)

Tomy Optimus Prime - Striking some poses~ (2/5)

Tomy Optimus Prime - Striking some poses~ (3/5)

Striking some poses~

Tomy Optimus Prime - Trying out the coin-picking-up pose. It's a little tricky with the armor on, but it looks pretty natural

Trying out the coin-picking-up pose.
It's a little tricky with the armor on, but it looks pretty natural overall.

Blade action

Double blade action

Tomy Optimus Prime - Thrusting pose. The blade is surprisingly heavy, so the shoulder joint gradually starts to droop... (1/4

Tomy Optimus Prime - Thrusting pose. The blade is surprisingly heavy, so the shoulder joint gradually starts to droop... (2/4

Thrusting pose.
The blade is surprisingly heavy, so the shoulder joint gradually starts to droop...

Takara Tomy, who had only ever put out finished Transformer figures, has for some reason started releasing injection-kit Transformers. The lineup is called the Transformers Dual Model Kit series, and naturally the first one out of the gate is Optimus Prime (let's just call him Op). Probably looking for some kind of new angle to tie in with the release of TF3.

The ¥8,800 price tag was a bit of a shock at first, but looking at the overall parts count, it does seem worth it. As you can see from the runner shots and finished photos in the info section, a huge amount of pre-applied paint work goes into this thing, so even a straight straight build puts out an incredible presence.

As an injection kit, the advantages are clear — the level of detail and precision is in a completely different league from finished figures, and thanks to the impressive color separation and pre-applied paint, this is probably the most commanding Optimus Prime ever released. In particular, since they threw out transformation entirely and focused purely on proportions and sculpt, the look of this thing is genuinely the best Op we've ever seen. And as you can see, the sheer size of it feels almost PG-scale, so the satisfaction you get just from the size alone is considerable.

What's really impressive is that despite Takara Tomy having very little injection kit experience outside of Zoids, they've managed to pull off surprisingly solid joint strength and excellent articulation in something this big. It feels like they achieved in one shot what it took Kotobukiya years to build up in terms of joint and articulation quality. The articulation is on par with a decent MG or better, and the joints hold that big frame in place without much slop — genuinely impressive.

The biggest downside of this kit though... the build experience is really, really bad. You'll be swearing under your breath before you're done. -_-;;

Honestly, it's been a long time since I've had to bite parts into place with my teeth, shave things down with a knife to get them to fit, and break out the glue this much. ;; There are quite a few parts where you genuinely wonder if they were even designed to go together, and plenty of cases where even after forcing them in, they won't stay put without glue. Gluing fixed parts is fine, but when it's parts that are supposed to move, you're kind of stuck wondering what to do..

The most frustrating point is probably the fingers. They're PG-style with all three knuckles articulated, but they're just slid in sideways with no real locking mechanism, so they fall off constantly. There's no fix for it either — every time you try to pose them, fingers just go plop..plop..dropping off, which makes posing really annoying.. T_T. They don't click into place or anything — it genuinely feels like the design was done with someone's feet. The manual's assembly order also feels a bit off, and the parts layout on the runners is strange too, which adds to the headache. Bottom line: don't expect this to be a fun build.

On top of that, the foot cover won't go on at all without trimming it with a knife, and the tank section on the back also took some work to get to fit properly. And there are all sorts of other connection points that just don't line up, leaving you biting down and pressing hard with both hands. Kotobukiya's build experience is often said to be a step below Bandai's, but after building this Takara Tomy Op, I've come to realize that Kotobukiya is actually a pretty solid manufacturer. -_-

The second downside is that the molded colors look cheap — like candy toy quality. Bandai's molded colors are top-tier, and Kotobukiya's can be a bit hit or miss, but this Takara Tomy Op's molded colors are straight-up, full-on candy toy cheap-looking. They went to all the trouble of getting the color layout right, but the actual color quality feels so cheap it'll disappoint a lot of people. The red in particular is... pretty rough. They do include waterslide decals for painters, so if you've got the skills and the time, you're better off doing a full paint job.

To sum it up — in terms of molded color quality and build experience, this thing is probably among the worst you'll find in recent memory (;;), but the presence, proportions, articulation, and joint strength once it's finished are all excellent. The pros and cons are so extreme that it's hard to give a straightforward recommendation, but if you're an Optimus Prime fan who loves injection kits, it's probably worth taking on the challenge at least once. Whatever the ordeal of building it, there's no doubt this is a kit that'll have you going "wow" when it's all done. :-)

Optimus Prime | 2011. 6 | ¥8,800

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.