Hasbro once again held a Transformers Fanstream yesterday and while there wasn’t much revealed, what they did was more interesting than previous streams, at least to me. But first, let’s check out something that was officially revealed via an exhibit in China: Transformers Studio Series “Rise of the Beasts” Optimus Prime.
They made it clear that while it shares the same engineering and general transformation scheme from the Bumblebee movie version of Optimus Prime, it literally shares just the windshields and the tires. Everything else is brand new tooling, and this also explains why the windshield visors are just painted instead of separate parts as with the mainline Rise of the Beasts Optimus Prime.
Something we see for the first time in the stream is the vehicle mode where we get that demolition truck look. The arm cannon can also connect to the trailer hitch in vehicle mode. And speaking of weapons, the sword we saw being held in the China exhibit display is seen here directly connected to the forearms, which is more accurate to how we see it being used.
Also note that this is going to be released under Buzzworthy Bumblebee line, which is a Target exclusive in the United States, but should be to all stores that sell toys internationally.
What I really wanted to highlight is this next reveal. Hasbro has been releasing themed two-packs recently. We had the Legacy “A Hero is Born” and Legacy: Evolution “War Dawn” two-packs, both expanding on the G1 episode “War Dawn.” The next set of two-packs shift the focus into the IDW comic books, one of which also features Orion Pax in a form you might be familiar with outside of the comics.
I’m not the most familiar of the IDW comic book storylines, but this Orion Pax comes from the Legacy: Evolution “Humble Origins” two-pack where he’s bundled with Senator Shockwave in a deco most wouldn’t associate him with. Orion Pax is a deluxe class figure retooled from the Siege Hound mold, though his design also reminds me of Optus Pexus, which is supposed to be Orion Pax as well. I already got Orion Pax from the other two-pack so it would make sense for me to get this one as well.
We also got official images of the packaging, and I also like how Hasbro gives these two-packs the premium treatment with these great box arts. Now if zoom in on the upper right corner of the front illustration, you will see a shadowy winged Transformer lurking at the back. Fans have looked closely at this part of the image, and most are convinced this is possibly Nova Prime. He also appears to be using the same body as Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime from Siege, which is a good reuse of the mold.
This is purely fan speculation and having this shadowy figure in the box art doesn’t guarantee anything. But I do hope they proceed in doing this Nova Prime retool. Outside a couple of BotCon exclusives, I don’t think Hasbro has released an official retail Nova Prime figure.
In any case, if you want this two-pack, or the “Rise of Tyranny” set announced at the same time, you can hop to Amazon.com and secure your copies.
Transformers Generations – Legacy: Evolution “Humble Origins” 2-Pack
July 2023 / $69.99
