Welp, it's official; movieverse Optimus Prime now has a unique toy mold for every single size category there is. Now as a deluxe, Optimus shares the same movieverse vehicle mode he's always had-- a Peterbilt truck with flames on the front. The proportions in this mode take a little bit of a hit due to the transformation and (relatively) smaller size, though-- the back end "bed" of the truck is noticeably too long proportionally, and thus the rear tires a bit too far apart from the front. The central section (which becomes his waist and upper legs) also dips down ever-so-slightly below the plane the tires are on, interfering with Optimus rolling along a flat surface smoothly. The front section of this mode looks great, though; Optimus Prime has the great flame paint apps he's always had along his nose, and the gold paint fade along the front looks particularly stunning on this version of the toy. His side steps, fuel tanks, smokestacks, and wheel rims are also painted silver, along with his front grill; lacking in paint this toy isn't. The mold detailing is also quite crisp, and the windows are clear (though you can't see seats or anything inside of them; in fact, they're mostly obstructed on the inside by gray plastic). There are some minor robot mode extras visible, like the fists partially visible from the back side of the main body of the truck, or the feet from certain low angles on the very back end (which is, unfortunately, partially hollow), but neither of these are that big of a deal. There's also a bit of a gap in the middle about two-thirds down the length of this mode, due to them separating into Prime's legs, but again-- not that big of a deal from most angles. Optimus Prime has two Mechtech ports, both next to each other on the top of the roof. His Mechtech weapon is pretty much a carbon-copy of deluxe Mudflap's, with the yellow a bit more orangish on the axe. It's certainly an appropriate Mechtech weapon for Prime given the whole "axe" thing, but I would've liked it if he had gotten his own unique weapon for this mold.
    Despite how many toys movieverse Optimus has gotten, this version still has a rather unique and fairly innovative transformation, being slightly more complex than it would look at first glance (but not what I would call hard, in any case). The result is a remarkably movie-accurate robot mode with half of a truck on its back. Now, there are of course limitations of how accurate the toy can be at this scale, and to "only" end up with a truck nose on his back at the deluxe scale is still pretty good; nevertheless, it is there and quite obvious, though it pegs into place on his upper back somewhat, isn't floppy, and stays out of the way of articulation. (Because it's merely a shell of his truck nose, it also doesn't weigh that much, so he's not as backheavy as you might think). Optimus Prime's core robot mode proportions are SLIGHTLY on the "leggy" side, but still quite good, with no other proportional maladies afflicting him. The excellently-sculpted head (with blue light piping) and chest pop right out from in between the truck windows, and his arms look quite good too with the blue flaps serving as "shoulder armor"-- though I do wish said arms had a bit more paint on them, as being solidly gray plastic they're the only part of this Optimus toy that looks rather dull. Optimus has excellent articulation-- he can move at the neck, shoulders, elbows (at three points), slightly forward at the waist (due to his transformation), and movement at the hips (at two points), knees (at two points), and side-to-side motion at the ankles to help keep him steady. It should be noted that due to his transformation, his knees can be a bit fiddly and don't lock into place all that well, though it's a minor annoyance at best. Prime keeps the two Mechtech ports (now on his shoulders), and his fist holes can hold Mechtech weapons, as well.
    Deluxe DotM Optimus Prime does a remarkably good job at replicating the movie design in both forms at the scale, with my only real complaints being that the back end of his truck mode is too long and his lack of a unique weapon for himself. However, as good of a mold as it is, I just question the need for it. At a deluxe scale, it's too small for "regular"-scaled movie TFs and too large for Cyberverse-scaled TFs. As such, if you really want this mold I'd get one of the more uniquely-colored later releases of it as opposed to this "normal"-colored version, which is bound to be redundant for the vast majority.

Review by Beastbot

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