For the third movie, Optimus gets a third crack at a voyager-class version of his movieverse self. In vehicle mode, he's a truck cab-- same as he's been since TF1, so no changes there. The proportions in this mode are generally pretty good, though his fuel tanks on the sides are oddly and noticeably inflated, for some reason. There are a few robot mode extras visible in this mode-- most of them from the rear half, where there's some noticeable gaps in the middle of the truck bed and a hollow back end to the cab. You can also see his feet underneath the fuel tanks if you look at him from a straight-on side angle, but that's a minor quibble at best. Optimus Prime's mold detailing is generally pretty good-- you can even see the little "rivets" on the side of this mode, as well as on the front grille and a neat pattern on his roof-- but Prime's paint detailing is rather lacking here, particularly when it comes ot the number of flame paint apps he HAS versus how many he SHOULD have to be movie-accurate. A few on the sides of the cab nose and the front of the rear wheel covers just don't cut it. What's even weirder are the solar panel-like transparent bits on the top of his cab nose and roof-- granted, they look kinda neat, but they're completely inaccurate to the movie for no logical reason that I can see, considering flames should be there instead. Another side note here is that the top halves of Prime's smokestacks are completely seperate pieces than the bottom halves.  They don't slide or lock into place, and thus they tend to be slightly askew-- a bit of a sticking point for an OCD guy like me. As for Prime's Mechtech weapon, it's neat in terms of how many parts fold around each other, but honestly it's all a bit pointless-- by pushing in on the back trigger, it can change from a gun to... a slightly different type of gun with solar panels. (Again, what's with the solar panels?) Like with all Mechtech weapons, it unfortunately can't stay in its "activated" configuration. There are five different Mechtech ports on Prime's vehicle mode-- two on each side and one near the end of the truck bed, the latter perfectly sized for the weapon he comes with, which helps to hide many of those hollow gaps in the back end of said vehicle mode when it's plugged in. Given all the other Mechtech ports, though, you could seriously arm up Prime in this mode if you so desired.
    Optimus Prime's robot mode is a bit simpler to transform than his previous voyager class attempts (though still not exactly easy), and unfortunately he suffers a bit for it. First, the positives-- his mold detailing is excellent, particularly on his "fake kibble" chest where you've got a nice paint wash. His head also looks great, but it appears that almost all of his paint budget was blown on those pieces-- his legs are lacking some important paint apps, like the fake wheels molded into his upper thighs (if you're gonna mold in fake kibble, I think you should at least paint it if it's not the correct color already...). The big fuel tanks on his back are a bit inaccurate to his movie model (and, again, way too big), but the way they're positioned they look a bit like a jetpack, so I honestly don't mind them much. What I DO mind are Prime's arms-- simply put, they're awful. They're full of unsightly kibble-- like his front wheels and the panels on the back of his hands-- that also hinder movement quite a bit, particularly at the elbows. They're also a little too short, and his chest way too small to boot. This is a side effect of roughly two-thirds of his mass going into his legs-- granted, Movie Prime's design is a bit "leggy", but certainly not to THIS extent. That said, taken by themselves the legs look pretty good and quite movie-accurate. As far as articulation, this version of Optimus can move at the neck, shoulders (at three points), elbows (at two points), wrists, waist, hips (at three points), knees, and ankles (at two points-- yes, he has ankle tilts). Now, this may seem like a lot, and in the legs, it certainly is-- however, keep in mind my earlier comments about all the kibble on his arms and how much it restricts their movement-- they really can't move as much as you'd think. (To make matters worse, his shoulders ratcheting joints aren't strong enough for him to point his Mechtech weapon forward.)
    While I appreciate the effort to make a voyager class Optimus that's slightly easier to transform, the DotM voyager is definitely the worst of the three attempts so far at this size class. The vehicle mode is generally good-- odd "solar panels" and some gaps in the back end aside-- but the robot mode is really misproportioned, with huge legs and an undersized chest and arms, in addition to having some kibble problems on the upper body. He's not outright BAD, but the other voyager-class incarnations of Movie Prime are both quite good, making this version pale in comparison.

Review by Beastbot

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