So here I am trying to get through the giant pile of toys that have taken over my parents’ living room. If you read my write up on the Lego Technic Compact Crawler Crane, you’ll know that one of the reasons I’ve been so slow with getting through the pile is because I’ve been wanting to make sure the photography on that stuff is as best as I can make it and honestly, that shit is really time consuming. I’m really fortunate that I had friends to teach me what they could and based on what I’ve learned so far I feel I’ve reached a good understanding of what I can do with a camera by itself. In an attempt to try to take my photography skills to the next level, I figured I’d try my hand experimenting with the lighting—more specifically I’ve been practicing my light painting.

For those who aren’t familiar with light painting, it’s pretty much taking a long exposure photograph while waving a light source around to illuminate the subject or space. While most photographers use this technique create cool shapes out of light, I’ve been using it to try make sure my subjects are lit evenly. Shooting this way is a long and intensive process filled with a lot of trial and error in trying to figure out what the perfect camera settings to use are as well as making sure to move the light the right way and at the right time. I think when I was taking the pictures for this post, each picture had an 8-12 second exposure time and I took about 150-200 photos of which I only used 25 because the rest were ones I messed up on.

I know there are other ways out there to get the results I need but given the resources I have this is best way to get the photos I need.

I also do want to point out that while some people who use the light painting technique will take multiple photos and just combine them in Photoshop to create their photos, none of the photos in this post were photoshopped in anyway. They all came straight from the camera like this.

So Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime, this is actually the second of four different Optimus Primes to come out for the War for Cybertron trilogy, and is the second of two different Optimus Primes to come out in just the WFC: Siege chapter. All these different variations of Optimus Prime remind me when I was a kid and into Real Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and how the toy companies would release so many different variations of the same characters. I’m a bit surprised Hasbro went this way since there are so many different characters in Transformers to go off of. However since Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots and a main character, it’s a bit of a no brainer that they’d make variations of him. As a leader class figure the Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime is probably the largest incarnation in the WFC toylines—at least as of this posting.

Here’s the front of the box, which whoever designed this didn’t do a very good job at making it look impressive. At a glance it looks so bland in the box. Getting this shot right was probably the hardest one in the entire post. I kept having to make sure to hold the light just right so that way the box would be illuminated with making sure the plastic bubble wouldn’t’ give off any glare.

The side of the box with the artwork that’s supposed to make this thing seem cooler. I really wish they did a better job at scaling the image to fit on the side, although considering how long those cannon things are I can’t really blame them for cutting them off.

While the front of the box doesn’t show much, the back of the box does a better job at selling this thing. You have Optimus in robot mode, the core figure underneath all the bits and pieces and the alternate vehicle mode all displayed rather cleanly.

The instruction manual.

All the steps to transform this thing. These are just the steps to pull the armor off and transform the core figure into vehicle mode.

There’s a backside to the instruction manual with 20 more steps detailing how to transform all the armor bits into the trailer. Man this thing is way more complicated than the Generation 2 Optimus Prime I had when I was a kid. At least this thing does a good job of keeping all the pieces together rather than setting them aside.

I like this fake diagram on the instruction detailing what all of Optimus’s different accessories are. In earlier posts I mentioned how I miss the days toy designers would BS these diagrams of what is on the toys. The rifle is actually a Gravity Force Laser. The trailer becomes the Twinblast Galaxy Pack in robot mode. And the black gun things are Magnetic Inducer Launchers.

Optimus Prime in vehicle mode where he’s some sort of futuristic fire truck. While Optimus Prime is usually depicted with a semi-truck alternate form this isn’t the first time he’s depicted as a fire truck either in toy or cartoon form. In both the Transformers: Robots in Disguise and Transformers: Cybertron animes and toylines Optimus transformed into a firetruck. In fact, I already pointed out that this version of Optimus has many design cues taken from the Transformers: Cybertron Optimus. My only gripe about this is how the ladders/water cannons are uneven. I know they did it so you had a place to put the Gravity Force Laser and keep all the accessories together but I really wish they came up with another way of integrating it into Optimus’s vehicle mode, this just looks really lazy on their end.

Here’s the truck by itself. Despite the fact the entire War for Cybertron trilogy has the characters looking like they did in the original cartoon; this version of Optimus has been given a more futuristic look which makes him look a bit like how he looked in the Transformers: Animated cartoon or other recent incarnations. In fact, if it wasn’t missing a few details this would almost be an exact reproduction of the Transformers: Cybertron Optimus toy. From the front it doesn’t look that bad. The front bumper with the random pipes really bugs me though. It’s like are we to assume that the exhaust headers for this truck are on the outside?

I really wish they did a better job at hiding the arms in vehicle mode. Although I guess they assumed kids wouldn’t care and adult collectors like myself would have him with his trailer attached to him the entire time to cover it up.

The core figure in robot mode. At a glance this version of Optimus Prime resembles a slightly retooled version of the War for Cybertron: Siege Ultra Magnus with a few design cues taken from the Transformers: Cybertron version of Optimus Prime. I’m kind of on the fence whether I like this version of Optimus or not. On one hand he’s basically a partsformer, and like most Transformers purist I feel that it’s cheating when the transformation process involves pulling pieces off and sticking them somewhere else. On the other hand, whoever designed this thing did a really job of incorporating all the pieces in both robot and vehicle form. This is a vast improvement over the Generation 2 Optimus Prime I had when I was a kid. That toy Optimus transformed into a truck and trailer and while you could throw all the loose pieces in the trailer and attach the trailer to Optimus in truck form to keep it all together, robot form was a different story because it was always a question of how do you incorporate Optimus’s trailer and other loose piece into whatever game you were playing. The futuristic truck cab torso looks a bit weird because I feel it doesn’t match well with the OG Optimus head.

Having the classic Optimus Prime head really bugs me. I feel like this is a factory accident where they put the wrong head on him. I don’t know, the shape of the head I feel just doesn’t mesh well with the rest of the body. I feel maybe it’s because I’m so used to seeing Optimus with a square and flat torso while this incarnation is just so oddly shaped. Either that, or maybe I feel the head is too small compared to the rest to the body.

In robot mode the trailer hitch slides up and becomes this weird backpack thing that you attach the front bumper things to. While I do like how they figured out how to incorporate as many pieces as possible so that you can keep them all together, I really wish they figured out a better way of doing it. Maybe secure the trailer to the legs better? I just think Optimus Prime with a backpack looks weird.

Here’s the trailer transformed into the Twinblast Galaxy Pack along with all the other miscellaneous pieces that make up Optimus’s “Galaxy Upgrade.”

And here he is: Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime in all his glory. Due to the weight from the Twinblast Galaxy Pack the feet actually have little studs that unfold to give him more stability so it can stand on its own. The uneven cannons still really bug me and also make me question if it’s really necessary to stick the Gravity Force Laser at the end of one of them.

The Twinblast Galaxy Pack head I think looks really cool and is way better proportioned to the rest of the body than the core figure’s head is. I feel maybe they should have added a little more yellow detail on the side horns.

Looking at this now, making the Magnetic Inducer Launchers black seemed like a bad idea because it’s such a huge contrast from Optimus’s color scheme that it almost makes it seem like they’re not his accessories. I’m guessing though the designers made them black because they didn’t want this thing to look too much like the Cybertron Optimus Prime which I would have to say they’re about 80% identical to each other.

Since I don’t have a picture of the Cybertron Optimus Prime, here’s the video review from emgo316. After seeing the Cybertron Optimus Prime I’m wondering if that thing was also the inspiration for giving Optimus a flight pack in both Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon.

While the version used in the movies isn’t exactly the same you can’t help but think maybe there was some inspiration taken from the Cybertron Optimus Prime.

That’s it for this post. With the COVID 19 pandemic still putting a hold on conventions and noteworthy indoor events I’m trying to find a positive in the situation by using the time I’ve been given  to focus on all the toys and collectibles I’ve been hoarding over the years as well as all the movies currently in my streaming queue. So stay tuned as I crank out a few more TV/movie and toy posts.