Back in April, I took my first foray into Yolopark’s line of Transformers Model Kit Action Figures with their G1 styled Megatron. I had no idea what to expect, but I was pretty blown away by him. Naturally, I jumped on the preorder for his rival Optimus Prime and I’ve been sitting on him for quite a while now. These are billed as model kits, probably for licensing purposes, and yes they do require assembly, but there’s no paint or glue or any real modeling skills needed. It’s basically just an action figure that you have to assemble, mostly at the articulation points. It’s pretty easy and fun to do and in the end you get a fully posable action figure to play around with! Let’s check out Optimus!

The packaging is very nicely done and gives off a classic G1 vibe. There’s a sleeve that features Sunbow styled character art with some comic panels in the background. The box itself has a lovely foil line drawing and advertises the Diecast goodness that lies within. I knew so little about these when I bought Megatron that I wasn’t even sure these were officially licensed products, but they are indeed! Everything is collector friendly, but you’ll have to take the figure apart again if you want to store him in the box.

Inside the parts come laid out in a tray in an intuitive manner to help get a feeling where all the pieces go. It may look intimidating, and I’ll admit that I did have to consult the instructions a few times, but I probably could have figured it out without them. And yes, there’s a second tray nested under it with a few more parts, some weapons, and the base. The parts are a mix of plastic and diecast metal and the distribution feels well thought out to create a pretty well balanced figure, and when he’s all done he measures just a bit under 8-inches tall. There is a light up feature in the head, and you’ll need to provide some button batteries to make it work. OK, Prime, pull yourself together and let’s go!

As with Megatron, I consider this design a more realistic take on the G1 animated style. You get similar proportions, but the detail and paint are dialed up to give him that hyper-realistic look. Since he doesn’t transform, the figure is able to achieve the pinnacle of Optimus’ robot design with the long legs, broad and slightly bowed chest, and compact abs. Although, I’d argue with how well Hasbro’s design team has been doing lately, they’ve been able to come close with their transformable figures. There are no wheels present, and whatever truck kibble is here is all intentional, like the gas cans on the legs, the grill in his abs, and the smokestacks on the shoulders. The cut panels look great and most of it is panel lined to bring out the detail. The colors all really pop thanks to a gorgeous metallic finish in the red and blue and a mix of vibrant silver and matte gray. You get the bright yellow panels on the pelvis too! There’s some excellent weathering here, and while Megatron’s gave him some wonderfully ugly character, I think Prime’s just adds a little depth and credibility to the finish without stepping on his noble charm.

I love this head sculpt and I wouldn’t change a thing about it. Prime’s “helmet” is finished in a metallic blue with the headphone antenna extending past the horns on his “helmet” the grill on his forehead is painted in silver as is his mouth plate, which the bridge of his nose disappears into. The beautiful blue eyes have the same light up feature we saw with Megatron. The lights are activated by touching the magnet in his rifle to the top of his head with three modes to choose from: Lit, pulsating, and flashing. The lights are bright enough to be seen even with all the studio lights shining on him!

Just like Megatron, the articulation on this figure is off the charts and because most of the assembly revolves around those points, you get a good feel for it while you build him. Plus, if you accidently stress a joint too much, it’s probably just going to pull out rather than break, which makes the design even better. Probably the most impressive part are all of those shifting panels in the pelvis that allow not only wide stances, but Prime’s ability to go down on one knee and kick in or out really high. I also really like the side to side movement in the chest. The hands are fully articulated with the thumb on a ball joint, the index finger on two independent hinges and the rest of the fingers linked and sharing two hinges. It’s cool, but I can make the hands look a little odd when relaxed or in fists. I do wish we got a set of swap out fists for when you don’t need the articulation. The figure also feels fantastic in hand, with a nice heft while avoiding being so top heavy like the original MP Prime. *Optimus also has a flip up communicator in his arm, which I neglected to take a photo of. Ooops!*

The chest does open up to reveal a removable Matrix, and oh boy is the chest hard to get open. I think it’s because it uses two interlocking tabs to close up. I have had the best luck with inserting a pen or thin utensil in the gap underneath to pop it. Inside, you get a beautifully detailed chest cavity and a great looking Matrix accessory. I am a bit surprised there isn’t a light up feature in here, especially since Megatron got the extra lights in his Fusion Cannon, but for whatever reason, there are no electronics in the chest.

Naturally, Prime comes with his iconic rifle. This piece is all plastic with some nice silver brushed weathering and as mentioned it has a magnet in it to activate Prime’s eyes. There’s a long tab in the grip that slots into the palm of the hand and the fingers wrap around it similar to the Takara Masterpiece figures. It holds in place fairly well.

Prime also has an energy axe, which can be swapped out with either of his fists. This piece is cast in translucent orange plastic and attaches with a ball joint. It looks great and you can use it to recreate his fight with Megatron on Hoover Dam from More Than Meets The Eye.

Also included is Megatron in his gun form. I presume this is a nod to one of the episode of the cartoon where Prime used Megatron as a weapon to stop the Insecticons. If they don’t include the same accessory with Starscream, I’ll likely just wind up giving it to him when he arrives. Little gun Megatron looks fantastic and includes a removable stock. I was able to get Prime to hold him with the stock, but it works better without it.

And finally you get the same stand that we saw with Megatron, only this time with an Autobot insignia. I wasn’t crazy about this stand last time and I’m still not. The design of the hinges in the arm don’t seem all that well thought out, as you can’t angle it properly to support the figure when standing on the base. As a result the armature is useless unless you’re looking to suspend the figure in a leaping action pose. Plus, in the case of Prime, his backpack makes it tougher to get the claw in to grab him. It is, however, a nice sculpt and since Prime can support himself pretty well, I will likely just stand him on the base and keep the arm in the box.

Prime sure looks great displayed next to Megatron. Megs is just a hair taller and beefier, which is how I think he should be. Alas, the batteries are already dying in my Megatron and all the eye lights will do is flicker, so I’ll have to open up his head and replace them.

After how much i loved Megatron, I had high expectations coming into this figure and I’m happy to say I’m very satisfied. I may have had a little bit more wow factor out of Megatron, because there are so few figures that do his G1 design justice, but once Optimus was in hand, I had a big smile on my face and couldn’t put him down. I think it’s unfortunate that the term Model Kit probably scares some people away from these, because it brings up all sorts of visions of clipping sprues, fragile plastic, paint and glue. But in reality, these just feel like high end toy that you have to assemble. Once together it’s a fun and durable action figure that looks outstanding on the shelf, especially when he’s next to Megatron. I’m interested to see how far this line will go. Starscream is up next, and we’ll no doubt get the Seeker repaints, but I’d love to see some of the ’84 Autobot cars get this treatment too. As I’m writing this, Optimus is still available at the usual places and retails for about $60.