Transformers Year of the Horse Optimus Prime

Presenting the Year of the Horse Optimus Prime AKA The Platinum edition Optimus Prime.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!! It's the Year of the Horse!

Alright, yes he is a recolored MP-10 with most of his silver trimming replaced with Gold to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Let's get that Elephant out of the way.

No I don't have an MP-10. I was kinda down-and-out when it was released. I really wanted one. When I finally recovered the MP-10s were gone from the market and quite frankly I don't think it's worth what people ask for it today.

So I was very happy when news of the Year of the Horse Optimus Prime started filtering through the internet. It was like that second chance that you only dream of.


The Platinum Edition Optimus Prime's blister card reads " For millions of years, noble Optimus Prime has led the Autobots in their war against the tyranny of Megatron and his evil Decepticons. His unwavering courage in the face of centuries of desperate battle is an inspiration to his comrades. He is an unstoppable warrior and a flawless leader, pushing ahead through the darkest times in the history of Cybertron and remaining unbowed, unbroken, and always committed to victory."

Get this, it also lists ALL of Optimus Prime's stats as 10s, i.e. Fireblast, Courage, Rank, Speed, etc... Making the Year of the Horse Optimus Prime the perfect Transformer warrior. Personally I think someone just got lazy. Optimus Prime isn't perfect. Even the Year of the Snake Omega Supreme did not have perfect 10 stats.


What's to like about the Year of the Horse Optimus Prime?

It's an MP-10. It comes with almost all of the articulation of an MP-01 or an MP-04 or a 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime with a markedly decreased chance of chipped paint in it's future (Thanks to most of him being made out of plastic rather than die-cast metal) and the loss of almost half the weight, making him far more playable than his predecessors.

Of course it also helps that he's smaller and far easier to transform.

As with the MP-10, the perhaps the greatest gimmick of the Year of the Horse Optimus Prime is its ability to store a folding ion-cannon into it's back - making him quite cartoon accurate since Prime always reaches to his back to pull out his ion cannon. No he can't really reach for it, but he does come close.

We're particularly fond how a bit of the ion cannon juts out of his back-pack. Check out how the cannon folds into a spring triggered state:

The Year of the Horse Optimus Prime's articulation is quite excellent, but he sadly lacks the ability to kneel.

Check out what the Platinum Edition Optimus Prime can do with his Battle Axe extention:

And just like his larger predecessors, Transformers Year of the Horse Optimus Prime can open up his chest to reveal the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Unlike his larger cousins though, this Autobot Matrix of Leadership will not light up. Though I am quite pleased with how hefty it is:

You were our leader Sentinel... oh wait. Not you. 

Don't you just love the sharper, more anime style of the Platinum Edition Optimus Prime's head? The Year of the Horse Optimus Prime's transformation into truck mode, as mentioned, is much easier and no less solid than his bigger counterparts. I love how his headlights and side bumbers actually lock the transformation into place:

And I especially love the Year of the Horse Optimus Prime's trailer - though I admit I initially had issues with it being translucent. It just grew on me:

The trailer comes with a tiny set of trap-doors on the top that allow you to bring out the trailer's gun-platform:

I'm particularly fond of the gestalt logo at the back of the trailer combining the Autobot symbol with the Chinese Character for the Year of the Horse. It also appears on Optimus Prime's right-shoulder which is traditionally bare:

As expected, the trailer opens up to form a Battle Station:

And it comes with a very versatile command station:

As expected the trailer can be stood up to form a docking/repair station for Optimus Prime complete with weapons storage:

What's NOT to like about the Year of the Horse Optimus Prime?

Well there definitely was a sacrifice in terms of articulation in favor of durability and play-ability, but I'm not really complaining. As mentioned, the main problem really of the Year of the Horse Optimus prime is his inability to kneel.

His hand articulation was also reduced and quite frankly he has some issues holding onto his Ion Cannon - his finger keeps popping off.

But personally I think those are fair trade-offs for the increased durability and play-ability.

This particular Year of the Horse Optimus Prime or Platinum Edition Optimus Prime was purchased from a friend from Cybertron.ph for PhP 5,000 (US$ 111 roughly). He is available on Amazon for US$ 178.99 (Roughly PhP 8,055 plus shipping).

A must have and a great way to kick-off the year!