Takara Super Ginrai (Powermaster Optimus Prime)

It's hard to believe that the Transformers Masterpiece line started in 2003. I was there, I remember seeing the first pictures of Masterpiece MP1 Optimus Prime and staring in utter disbelief at the incredible feat of engineering Takara had accomplished. Arriving around the same time as the Binaltech die-cast line, it was the first time since G1 that I had desired a toy so badly.

Fast forward 22 years and we have the very final Masterpiece Transformer from the line - Ginrai. Or, as we know him, the core bot from Powermaster Optimus Prime, the 1987 base-former that I never owned on release, but badly wanted. Now, in the years since I acquired a lovely version of the original G1 toy, a  2003 US reissue that came with all the Japanese niceties - die-cast cab, translucent blue windows, chrome, darker grey plastic and retractable blue fists, not to mention the Godbomber add-on that made him even larger. So he's been around in my collection for a while and I'm very fond of him, bobble-headed brick that he is.

So originally I was going to skip this Ginrai Masterpiece release, partly due to the insane cost - £259 is a lot of money these days and every toy has to be worth its money. I wasn't entirely convinced it was worth the exclusive price tag, and after messing with him for a while... I'm still not.

But it is a very nice upgrade.

Powermaster Optimus Prime, in the UK comics, was always a pretty ugly design. I can see how he'd be a pig to draw, but honestly he always felt bloated and old compared to his more svelte original incarnation. I loved the art on the back of the boxes, which more closely resembles the Maketoys Thunder Manus, but until now we've never had an official toy that really felt proportionate and impressive.

The core Prime robot maintains the scale but adds an element of sophistication.

Now, Ginrai comes in two flavours - core bot for £129, or full fat with trailer for £259. That's a lot of money for a trailer, which makes it a little bit of a shame that the core bot actually maintains the most interest. It's a fun little bot, pretty much the same size as the original, but with a ton of clever transformation steps and extra articulation that make him both intuitive and fun to mess with. Ginrai has lots going for him - some lovely die-cast, beautiful blue windows and a dynamic, stylised design. Everything I could have wanted in fact, except that I don't think a Masterpiece car sized robot is worth £129. KFC's Raiden is twice the size and £95, so I'm hard pressed to justify this as a standalone purchase, despite how much I enjoy it.

Ginrai Past and Present

The trailer looks fine, if unconvincing as ever. It has the same large folding panels as the original along the sides, the arms up-front are obviously arms and the blue arm-connector (hitch) is a daft idea that really only works in service of the base mode. It's an ugly disjointed box, but that's accurate to the source material, so I guess that's okay. 

Transforming the trailer into robot mode is just a more complex version of the original - fold the panels onto the legs, rotate the arms, fold the connector back and, in this case, rotate the feet, and voila: rob-bod ready for the core robot. Once you transform Ginrai back to cab mode, you can fold his legs up (use both knee joints!) and slot him into the cavity. Once there, pull the head over the legs like pulling up a hood, and you have Super Ginrai.

All this is fine, except to say that Ginrai doesn't slide very smoothly into the torso - knowing that it would cost £129 to replace the cab makes every scratchy squeak a teeth-clenching experience. I'm terrified of scratching the paint but given that the core bot is the most poseable means I am going to want frequent access to it. I almost feel obliged to pay that extra money just to fill the torso - that's a lot of money for what is - essentially - filler.

But how's that Super Mode? Well, they've certainly made it look more dynamic, with everything in proportion (the thicc thighs actually look pretty awesome in hand) and he finally has some personality. It's about as attractive as I think this form can reasonably get, with excellent articulation (including butterfly joints in the shoulders and unbelievable foot/ankle movement given the design) that creates some fantastic poses. Yes, I think I like this.

While the core bot retains the scale, the new combined mode towers over the original

The designers have also gone out of their way to please as many people as possible. If you like the western version of the character you have access to an alternative head with red eyes, or a more angry looking blue-eyed version. You have toy-accurate stickers in the box to correct colours and even cover up the black outline insignias (which I covered up with tampos as they look sharper). You can swap out the red hands for blue too, and the standalone Ginrai release is toy accurate (red eyes, chrome on the engine, blue lights), so you can really go all in for that toy look if you have the extra cash handy.

There's also the little Ginrai fella (or Hi-Q in the west) who turns into the engine. Aside from ankle tilt he might as well be the original toy, so not much to really say on this. You also get two blast effects, two crackling multi-colour electric effects and two shoulder pieces if you don't like the shoulder guns. Who doesn't like the shoulder guns?!

On the desk, this is a really nice, bulky Optimus (he'll always be Optimus to me). In terms of scale he's MP accurate if you take the Japanese cartoon as your baseline, with the core bot always being the same size as the cars. For western collections he's under-sized, which makes him a tricky proposition for where he should go on your shelf. I don't think I'd want a larger one though.

Ready for action - ab-crunch, lots of range and butterfly joints in the shoulders

I'm sorely tempted to buy a standard MP60 Ginrai to prolong the paint on my cartoon version and because I think it's a cracking toy, but that price is a real barrier. I can't recommend both releases for almost £400, it simply isn't worth that money. I'm worried about the longevity of the paint given how crunchy the combining is, and little irritations like the flash at the base of the neck where they've separated it from the sprue is a real eyesore. Perhaps I'm spoiled by the fit and finish of Fanstoys (which when you look at their Magnus/Margh is far superior for much less money) but for a Takara release, it's solid. I'll be spraying some anti UV matte varnish on that white plastic asap too.

In summary, it feels overpriced compared to what others can do for the money, but for a Takara release it's fun, well built and surprisingly stylish. It's certainly my favourite looking of all the Powermaster Prime/Ginrai robots released recently among the third parties, so like the Masterpiece Optimus Prime that sold for a staggering £350 on release, it's among Takara's best. Whether or not that's good enough in today's market is more open to debate than perhaps it used to be.