Transformers: Dark of the Moon Supreme Class Japanese and USA (Amazon.com) Jetwing Optimus Prime

Box

Japan:

USA (Amazon.com):

Vehicle Front

Japan:

USA (Amazon.com):

Vehicle Side

Japan:

USA (Amazon.com):

Robot

Japan:

USA (Amazon.com):

It took over a year, but we finally have a USA (Amazon.com exclusive) version of the Dark of the Moon Supreme Class Jetwing Optimus Prime.  In an unusual turn of events, the new USA version has a superior paint job to the original (at least the accessories).  More on that later.

The toy is based on the Japanese Revenge of The Fallen Leader Class “Buster” Optimus Prime, which was itself a remold of the USA Revenge of the Fallen Leader Class Optimus Prime.  The “Buster” version had its fuel tanks removed and detachable tanks added that could combine to form a cannon.  It also had a remolded head with a mouth rather than the faceplate.  Jetwing Optimus Prime does not have the remolded head, but does have the fuel tank weapons as well as a new flight pack.

Let’s start with the box.  The boxes are very similar.  The Mec Tech logo has been removed from the USA version.  It does not have true Mec Tech weapons, but the Japanese version had the logo anyway.  The Japanese text and Takara Tomy logos are removed from the top right corner.  Due to my awful photography you can’t see it, but the USA version does have the Japanese text to the right of the photograph of the vehicle mode on the front.  The USA version also has the batteries not included information.  I didn’t take pictures from the other angels, but most of the Japanese text is removed from the USA version, though there is a little bit on the back.

I’m not going to go over details about the Optimus Prime itself, accept to say that while this toy is impressive looking in both modes, it is one of the most difficult to transform toys of the entire movie trilogy era.  Maybe it’s just me, but it took me almost a half an hour to transform it.  (In fact, the pictures of the USA version are actually the Japanese one with the USA wings and weapons.  I couldn’t face having to transform another one.)  This is worse than some Alternators to transform.

The main added accessory is the backpack.  It has four wings that can be moved to a number of different angles.  The two guns clip on to the backpack.  They can only be held under his hands (similar to Transformers Cybertron Leader Optimus Prime).  It would have been nice if the guns could have been attached to the back of the backpack so he didn’t have to hold them, but that’s a minor thing.  There are compartments on the backpack to hold the two fuel tanks, which is great as eh can’t hold it while holding the other weapons.  Additionally there are two pieces that snap onto the back of his ankles to give him more stability in robot mode with the heavy backpack.  In vehicle mode, the backpack and foot extensions fold up and attach to the truck bed.

The differences between the Japanese and USA versions (other than the lack of a trading card in the USA version) are the paint jobs on the wings and guns.  The wings on both versions are painted silver, but the USA version has blue and white stripes similar to the sides of G1 Prime’s trailer.  SO AWESOME LOOKING!  Additionally, the huge guns on the Japanese version are just dark gray plastic.  The guns on the USA version are completely painted.  The tips are orange/pink.  The barrels are silver.  The handles are gold and red with light and dark blue highlights.

This is an impressive toy, and it would have been a shame if it were never readily available at USA retail (though Amazon.com isn’t exactly a physical store).  This is also the only way to get the “Buster” Prime version of RotF Leader Optimus Prime (though without the new head) at USA retail.

Thanks for reading!