Transformers Studio Series 86-31 Optimus Prime
Battle of Autobot City backdrop
After experiencing first-hand the destruction caused by Megatron and his Decepticons, Orion Pax is reborn as Optimus Prime and dedicates his existence to the protection of all life. Strong and courageous, Prime leads the Autobots with the wisdom of past Autobot leaders stored in the Matrix of Leadership.
Studio Series 86 Prime stands roughly 7.25 inches tall.
He’s a bit taller than Earthrise Optimus Prime.
The backpack on this guy isn’t too thick, thankfully.
I really wish Hasbro painted this section properly. The red section popping out of the sides of his leg just throws you off when you spot it.
Prime looks really good!! He easily outclasses other previous Generations versions in terms of show accuracy.
Articulated hands.
Naturally Prime comes with his iconic Ion Blaster rifle.
Thanks to his shoulder butterfly joints, Prime can hold his rifle really well.
It’s a shame they didn’t give Prime double-hinged elbows, so he can pull of his classic rifle-holding pose.
The Ion Blaster can be mounted on his back when not in use.
Effects parts can be plugged into the end of the rifle. Too bad Hasbro decided to make the end of the rifle a nipple, as opposed to an actual gun barrel so that the effects parts can be plugged in. Ah, well…
With some help from a Third-Party display base.
Yeah… it’s pretty impossible to not hum “The Touch” theme song while posing him like this. Lol…
Next up, Prime also has his trusty Energon Axe.
Lastly, as previously mentioned, thanks to the toy’s design, Prime’s butterfly shoulder joints can let him do the iconic “Never!” pose from the movie. So cool.
Matrix of Leadership
Similar to Studio Series 86 Ultra Magnus, Prime can only hold the Matrix by pinching the handles due to its puny size.
To commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Transformers toyline, Optimus transforms into his truck mode in 40 steps.
There were some issues with mis-assembly regarding Prime’s brake lights on early release batches which required disassembling the piece by removing the pin and resetting it, a lot of work is involved to fix it. Thankfully, I think I got the problem-free batch.
One way to tell if the figure was problem free, was by checking this file number on Prime’s right inner leg.
Prime’s rifle can be mounted on his cab mode, like so.
With his trailer
Annoyingly, Prime’s smokestacks do tend to rotate at the slightest touch.
To recreate the iconic scene from the 1986 movie, the set comes with “truck jump” effects parts.
Trailer- Prime’s trailer features two different sets of deployable stabilizers. Very nice.
The bottom of the rear section can be opened up to act as a storage compartment for the “jump” effects pieces.
Combat deck mode. Prime’s weapons and accessories can be placed on the trailer deck as shown. Do note that the effects pieces are just sitting there, not locked in place and can easily fall out when you fold up the sides of the trailer.
While there is an opening canopy on the Auto-Launcher repair drone, the seat is way too small to fit any figures in there, even Diaclone pilots.
It’s a shame the deck lacks any paint detailing. It’s just…. all grey.
Prime can be loaded onto his own trailer for repair and maintenance while in vehicle mode.
Beam effects parts can be plugged into the Auto-Launcher repair drone’s blasters.
Standing Repair Bay mode
Heh.. C’mon… who didn’t try to recreate Prime’s infamous death scene from the ‘86 movie using the trailer as a bed?
Roller
You can put in some Titans Return figures in the seats on Roller. I’m too lazy to break them out from storage at the moment. Perhaps I’ll do this one day when I have the time.
This time around, unlike previous releases, the Auto-Launcher repair drone can be mounted onto Roller so he can carry it into battle.
The firing Effects Parts can be plugged into the Auto-Launcher Repair Drone to make it even more visually interesting.
Likewise, Prime’s Ion Blaster can be mounted onto Roller as well, but be mindful of paint chipping due to the tight fit.
Roller can connect to Prime’s trailer to help tow it when Optimus isn’t around.
Interestingly, unlike previous iterations, Roller this time plugs into the Auto-Launcher repair drone front-end in.
Battle for Autobot City backdrop.
Sigh… annoyingly, the tape for the accessories bag got stuck and tore a piece of the print off the backdrop.
“You’ve got the Touch….”
Overall, easily the best Optimus Prime made for the Generations line! A lot of improvements over the Earthrise release and they are are done very well. The added butterfly joints so Prime can do the finishing blow on Megatron just like in the movie is a really nice touch.
It’s actually quite impressive how Hasbro/ Takara’s engineers can keep on improving Optimus even after 40 years of releases.
Now to hope they can manage to crank out a faithful Studio Series 86 Megatron somehow to pair up against our hero, with the gun laws limitations nowadays and all.
I really should break out all of the latest iterations of the 1984 Autobots soon. We’ve got pretty much everyone updated now, save for Windcharger, Powerglide and Seaspray.
Gold
