Power of the Primes Evolution Optimus Prime

...And so it begins...

There's no point trying to say that I didn't expect to buy any Power of the Primes figures - as soon as they announced just the Prime Masters, simple variations on the Titan Masters, which would represent the 12 (or 13) Primes, I started debating whether or not to pick them up because I have a shelf in my collection that already has interpretations of several Primes. But when the 'Evolution' figures of Optimus and Rodimus Prime were revealed, I was instantly hooked.

Rodimus was going to be the less likely prospect as I already have a perfectly good Hot Rod from the Titans Return line, and the partsforming required by the new one - not to mention the floppiness of his joints, as experienced by several YouTubers - did not appeal, but a Leader class Optimus Prime figure that's also a Deluxe/Voyager-ish class, G1 cartoon-accurate Orion Pax? That has to be worth having... right?

Well... Once you answer the question "Do I really need another Optimus Prime in a trilogy that's only recently given us Titans Return Powermaster Optimus Prime/Legends Super Ginrai?" Come on, need I refer you to the Unicron Trilogy and its three unique versions of the Autobots' leader..? I'm not averse to skipping an Optimus Prime figure if it seems superfluous, and honestly feel that the character has been done to death (literally, in the case of Takara Tomy's Masterpiece 'Sleep Mode' repaint), but some versions are obvious must-haves.

Let's take a look, and see if Evolution Optimus Prime is one of those...