2014 brought the focus of Transformers to the new live-action film, Age of Extinction. As with all new toylines, the series was obligated to start out with Optimus Prime. Evasion Mode Optimus Prime transforms into a Marmon HDT AC 86 (although he takes a couple design cues from the Freightliner FLA 8664 used in G1).

Origins

Evasion Mode Optimus Prime is a clear homage to Generation 1 Optimus Prime, although the toy clearly reflects the real truck used to portray Optimus in hiding in the beginning of the film. Despite having a traditional cab-over-engine design, Evasion Optimus’s robot mode closely resembles the designs used in the previous Movie, Revenge of the Fallen, and Dark of the Moon series.

Description

Evasion Mode Optimus Prime transforms into a highly detailed Marmon HDT AC 86. The cab uses fairly accurate proportions for the truck, including such details as clear windows, molded rivets, silver window trim, and the trademark silver stripe around the mid level of the cab. The truck mode borrows slightly from notable features of the original Optimus Prime truck mode, such as the cab air vent above the grille shell. This may have been done because the Marmon truck mode is not licensed. The rear of the truck frame is more robust than previous movie designs, and features molded fenders, a fifth wheel, and side-mounted diesel fuel tanks.

Optimus’s transformation is complex in the traditional Movie-verse fashion, involving an intricate sequence that essentially turns the cab inside-out to from the upper body, with the legs being produced from the truck’s rear frame. The robot mode has similar proportions to many of the previous Movie Optimus Prime toys, despite the decidedly blocky truck mode. He has broad shoulders decorated with robot mode details that mimic those created by the earlier Peterbilt 379 alternate mode. He also features a faux-windshield on his chest, whereas the actual windshield of the alternate mode winds up on his elbows. Evasion Mode Optimus’s paint detailing is conspicuously absent in his robot mode, leaving large swaths of his body in one solid color. The entire legs from the knee down are solid blue, for example. In robot mode, he wields a long missile launcher with an additional curved grip that looks as though it was intended to be gripped by a different type of hand. The missile launcher can also be pegged in the center of Optimus’s cab roof in truck mode.

Collector Notes

Optimus is constructed primarily of joints that can be re-attached, and has no obvious design flaws or weak points.

Variants

Evasion Mode Optimus Prime does not have any known production variants.

Availability

Evasion Mode Optimus Prime was available as part of the first wave of the Generations Voyager Class in 2014.

Redecos & Retools

Optimus Prime’s mold has not been reused.