Transformers: Masterpiece Shattered Glass Optimus Prime

The Shattered Glass concept is one that certainly has its detractors. There are people who think that the role reversal narrative of evil Autobots and heroic Decepticons is bad, or overdone thanks to the dearly departed Transformers Collectors Club, former purveyor of Botcon and all of its original fiction.

Those people are wrong.

But, this repaint of MP-10, the rebooted Masterpiece lines’ Optimus Prime, is the leader of the evil Autobots of the Shattered Glass universe. It is, plainly, a purple repaint of the MP-10 Prime, a smaller version of MP-01 Optimus Prime – the figure that launched the Masterpiece line – that was to signal the relaunching of the Masterpiece line. It is also the first exposure I have had to the MP-10 mold, despite it being a few years old by now and having been made available several times over. My collection contains MP-01 Prime, and I’ve just never felt much need to replace it. But, a Black Friday sale and a love of the Shattered Glass concept, and this MP-10 was in my hands.

Shattered Glass Optimus Prime comes with a bevy of accessories, but some of them are familiar to owners of the original MP-01. The Energon ax and blaster and Matrix of Leadership, for instance, are all parts that came with the original version, and the Matrix and ax here don’t differ that much. The translucent green ax is molded around the robot fist, as opposed to the original version which soft clipped into the wrist after the fist was folded away. This newer version turns the ax into a kind of glove that fits over the clenched fist. The blaster is all new, and it folds up into a smaller piece that can then be stored in that box that is always on Prime’s back. This mold has been used a couple of times already, and so various joints and parts are kind of floppy; one such is the blaster, which folds up fine and all, but does tend to spring loose at random. Aside from that, it’s a little hard to think that the blaster actually needed to transform, as it doesn’t serve much of a purpose once it does, and since this Prime comes with a trailer, it would have been totally possible to store the full sized blaster in there, rather than needing to do anything to it. The lines and springs do compromise the look of the part a bit, but how much or how badly ends up being a personal decision.

The other accessory of note is the trailer, painted black because this Optimus is evil. The trailer of course attaches to the semi cab, and has an opening door that will allow for current Masterpiece sized Autobot cars to fit inside in vehicle mode. The trailer also opens up into the G1 classic “Battlestation Mode,” complete with whatever that drone thing was, on the end of its adjustable arm. The drone has its own two arms, one a radar dish of some sort and the other a claw, and both of those parts are posable as well. There are little shelves inside for storing the ax and folded up blaster; however, converting the base to trailer mode generally causes them to come loose and knock around the inside of the trailer. The drone cockpit opens, just like the original, and a Titanmaster-sized figure can fit easily inside. Missing is Roller, the little buggy that would be launched from a spring bar, but it’s not that big of a loss, really.

 

(An aside, but when I was a child, I knew a kid at school who had Optimus Prime. I thought his trailer was the coolest thing, because it was not only part of his vehicle mode, but it was also his own personal headquarters. Many, many years later, like 2008, when I bought my first G1 Prime, I was still amazed by how fun the trailer was. And now, with Shattered Glass Prime here, I am still disproportionately enthralled by the trailer. –mr)

Truck mode is nice, but feels essentially the same as that of MP-01. It is smaller than the original Masterpiece Prime, but scales well with the current Masterpiece size. Not experiencing this version until now, this is pretty old news, but Optimus Prime was redone so as to establish the new scale of the rebooted Masterpiece series. The cab looks very nice in purple, and (importantly) features the “’Til All Are Gone!” motto above and behind the driver side window. The yellow windows kind of don’t look right, but honestly, that’s only cosmetic. They actually look better in robot mode, which is more important. They are just not very striking in vehicle mode. The long black cab looks great, and really, black is the only color that would have worked for the vehicle mode. Something that doesn’t work is the dull grey of the smokestacks, which makes them look unfinished, or like they missed a spot when painting. For all of the paint that went into the rest of this figure, it seems odd to have left the stack so bare. Had they been a darker grey, or even black, they would have been fine. But the way they are, they look unfinished, and it is probably the single most visual blemish on the entire package. It effects both modes as well.

The robot mode is really fantastic. A smaller, generally more posable Optimus Prime is much too quick of an assessment, but it is a pretty accurate starting point. There’s a lot of difference between this version and MP-01, and while it has been a long time since MP-01 got any hand time, some of the changes are very noticeable. Primes’ hands, for instance, do this great thing where they rotate out from the forearms, whereas on MP-01 they fold underneath some panels. This, and the fact that the leg-mounted tires are hidden by flip-over panels in robot mode, are the “wow” moments during transformation, as simple as they wind up being. But, how much more can really be expected out of an Optimus Prime, specifically a G1 Optimus Prime, at this point? Poor guy’s been done and redone and overdone to death. Arms and legs have basic elbow and knees joints, and the hands have poseable fingers. In general the figure is decently posable, even having a waist swivel, and is generally a good update of the MP-01 mold, a downsizing that really worked out for the best.It also looks good from all sides, unlike a mold like Road Rage, that looks crummy from any angle except a rather specific and posed one. 

 

Because this mold has been so overused, there are some floppy parts. The balljointed neck is one real loose part in particular, as the head flops back and forth with very little provocation. The waist is also very loose, and picking the figure up by the shoulders causes the torso to open up. This torso opening is something that happens to facilitate transformation, but one would expect it to hold together a little bit tighter in robot mode. The shoulders are also a slight bit loose, but this does not affect arm movement or posing at all. It is generally understood that these things are loose because of the life of the mold, and so can be forgiven. The price this was obtained for helps grease that wheel a bit as well: the figure was purchased for $99 thanks to Black Friday, and it is now apparently permanently that price at Big Bad Toy Store; but for the regular price of over $170, the looseness would be a real negative. It is loose enough to be a real blemish on an almost $200 figure, but the price of basically half of that feels like such a great deal that some flop is just taken in stride. It’s also forgivable because it doesn’t negatively impact anything, like posing or transformation or display, as it only occurs when picking up or moving the figure.

 

Shattered Glass is a pretty niche concept, and it wore out its welcome in TFCC fiction and figures fairly fast for most people. It is exceedingly unlikely that this figure is the start of a Masterpiece subline of Shattered Glass characters, but as a one-off, it is really nice. This may be nothing more than a personal feeling, but it is nice to add this mold to the shelves without it being “just” Optimus Prime, as the least appealing thing about it is that is an Optimus Prime figure. But evil Optimus, alright. Shattered Glass isn’t just bad versions of good guys and good versions of bad guys: it’s essentially all the positive values of a good guy stripped away and replaced with an equal measure of negative. So Prime isn’t just a bad guy: he’s a super intelligent, focused, powerful and practically unbeatable bad guy with an unwavering purpose and dedication. Take G1 Optimus and replace all the noble qualities he has with a lust for conquest and domination, and the physical and mental abilities to make it happen. Chilling indeed.