Fancy Hands

Even with the great strides Takara has made with the Transformers Masterpiece line, one of the things that never really evolved along with the line were the hands of the figures. In fact, in a lot of ways, they've taken a step back. MP-01 Optimus Prime had individually articulated figures and thumb, though only at the first knuckle. In later figures in the line, the hands slowly gained a fixed thumb and fused middle through pinky fingers. While this works, it does limit posebility. Thankfully, unofficial, third-party companies have stepped up.

Original on the left. Replacement on the right.

Fused fingers on the left. Free moving on the right.

It's a bit of a wash when making a fist.

It's truly amazing that they can not only make hands with every joint, but at that scale. When balled up into a fist, those hands are about the same diameter as a penny.

Couldn't resist....

They provide a wide range of options for posing and really add a lot to the expressions of those poses.

In addition to the fully articulated hands, this set includes a larger, more cartoon-accurate rifle for Prime.

Original on top. Replacement on bottom.

One of the disappointments with this Optimus Prime release was the rather anemic rifle he came with. It's not without a purpose though, as it could fold up for storage.

Junk in the trunk

As nice as this set is, it's not without it's faults. It's a little hard to tell from the pictures, but the color match isn't exactly perfect. Another annoyance is that the finish on the plastic is a rougher, more matte finish compared to the smooth, glossy finish of the originals. Finally, the thumb on the replacement hands is shaped a little oddly. It tampers far too much, and seems almost like a talon, rather than a thumb.

Even with those issues, I'm really pleased with this set and will be picking up sets for other figures.

Very nice.

Masterpiece MP-01 Optimus Prime

In 2004, Hasbro and Takara celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Transformers brand by releasing an Optimus Prime figure that would be a perfect representation of the character.

The toy is highly articulated and with a great range of motion. Starting from the top, his head is on a ball joint that allows him to look up, down, and turn side to side.

Don't mind the dust...

His shoulders are universal joints that allow for front and back rotation, and outward movement. In addition, the shoulders can slide further out from the body to allow for greater outward movement.

It's like he's doing calisthenics 

His elbows are single hinges that allow about a 90 degree bend.

He can throw things

His wrists rotate and have a hinge that allows them to angle inward. Each of his fingers are individually articulated at the main knuckle and his thumb is on a ball joint.

Honestly not sure if those scratches are part of the mold or not

Moving on down, he has a ratcheted waist swivel. His thighs are are more universal joints, that allow for a 90 degree outward movement (he can pull off a full Van Damme), almost 180 degrees of front and back movement, and 360 degree rotation.

His knees are double hinges that allow for almost 180 degrees of movement, Finally, his ankles are ball joints and his toes are hinged.

Can climb stairs? Check!

Toe articulation is a huge deal

He can recreate some fairly dynamic poses, but his construction causes some issues. His chest and lower legs are made of die cast metal. He's fairly heavy, and unfortunately the ball joints in his ankles (at least on my copy) are not up to the task of holding him as soon as his center of gravity moves away from dead center. It's not uncommon for him to assume a "Smooth Criminal"-like front lean.

Tell us that you're okay

Surprisingly, because of the weight of his lower legs, he actually won't fall over. Another issue are his hands. While the articulation in the fingers is nice, they don't provide a tight enough grip to hold his large rifle very well. In certain positions, it's fine, but often it's a very limp-wristed looking grip. Future masterpiece figures would get around this by molding tabs into the handles of the weapons that sat in groove in the palm providing a much better grip.

Based heavily on the animation model from the original cartoon, the figure included as many callbacks to the cartoon as possible many of which only appeared in a single episode or in the animated movie.

First off, his energon ax. Used during a fight with Megatron in one episode very early in the series.

Flip up communicators in each forearm. One with Bumblebee and the other with Starscream... for some reason.

Ring Ring Ring. Banaphone!

Megatron in gun mode, which Prime wielded in a single episode.

Teamwork

Taken from the animated movie, his chest opens up to reveal the Matrix of Leadership. It even lights up when you push a button on his shoulder.

"You got the touch!"

Lastly, a button on the back of his head allows his mouth plate to move up and down as if he was talking.

In addition to all of his gimmicks, Optimus has some nice "working" details, such as pistons in his elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles.

Of course, it wouldn't be a real "masterpiece" of a figure if it didn't actually transform right? He transforms into cab-over-engine semi, featuring working suspension in his wheels.

Unfortunately, where the original toys strive for accuracy in the vehicles at the expense of the robot modes, MP-01's reverses that with a great robot mode and a pretty iffy vehicle mode. It's not horrible, but the way the front lights are recessed is a pretty gregarious oversight.

MP-01 was released by Hasbro in the US and Takara in Japan. They are mostly identical, with the main exceptions being the US version has some "battle damage" paint applications and shortened smokestacks (due to toy safety laws. I replaced mine with some third-party replacements). In Japan, MP-01 was followed up in 2005 by MP-02 Ultra Magnus, a mostly white repaint of MP-01. This was a reference to the "inner robot" of the original Ultra Magnus being a white repaint of the original Optimus Prime figure, though in most variations of the Transformers fiction, the inner robot of Ultra Magnus is never shown. Instead it merely merges with the trailer to become Ultra Magnus.

In 2006, the next masterpiece mold was released: Masterpiece Starscream.