It’s not much of a grail acquisition, given how commonplace this toy is, but considering that in the twenty-plus years I’ve been a Transformers fan, I’ve never owned an actual G1 Optimus Prime, this joining my collection seems significant. Although I’ve never handled one before, given how ubiqutous the imagery of this figure is it feels totally familiar: exactly how I imagined it when starting at the lenticular photo on the cover of Mark Bellomo’s Transformers Identification and Price Guide when I was five or six. Like meeting, for the first time, a distant relative you’d only heard about or seen in photos, the original Optimus Prime design is as familiar and comfortable as any novel encounter can be.

This is not a genuine vintage piece: it’s a reissue from the Walmart exclusive Vintage G1 reissue line from five or six years ago, but I’m given to understand that this is one of the most faithful reissues in a long time, complete as it is with the longer smokestacks and two different versions of Prime’s ion blaster from this toy’s storied history. Walmart had a sale earlier this week for a substantial (possibly 50%?) discount off their sticker price and I snatched one up: given what I have coming in the mail next week, it seems only appropriate that I try to get my hands on one of these before I get my hands on that. Doubtless if you’re familiar with what’s coming out in the Transformers franchise this year, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about, but for those of you who don’t, I shan’t spoil the surprise. Needless to say I expect I’ll have quite a bit to say about that figure when it comes in: watch this space.

I’ll write again soon.