Action Figure Customs Blog

One of the iconic and classic Transformers of the last 20 years, Optimus Prime is the heroic leader of the Autobots. Although not like the original truck and trailer from the cartoon, Optimus has been reborn into a Peterbilt Semi with some attitude.

Jin Saotome, one of the most talented customizers I have seen, has take this Leaderclass Prime to a level many dream of. In his own words, he describes how he has customized this legend:

"This custom has been painted with an exceptional level of detail, and with paint that’s not going to rub or flake off. Handle it, pose it, just don’t give it to your little brother to play outside with. You’ll find that my custom figure designs are durable and look great as well. Now you can have the best of both worlds. You asked for it, you emailed me, you pleaded, and eventually I had to give in. Your Leader Class Prime is finished! It took a long time opening him up and taking out the gears, springs, and other parts to get inside his head. But it was worth the rewiring and now his eyes LIGHT UP BLUE! This was my #1 goal for the figure because his eyes are blue in the movie, however the store-bought toy featured yellow ones. So a high-powered blue LED was painstakingly installed just for you, the scrutinizing collector. But wait.. what’s Prime without his sword? Fold his hand back and attach the nearly six-inch long sword, powerful rare-earth magnets hold it firmly in place! The magnets are buried out of sight in the base of his hand and you can practically lift the figure up by the sword, they’re so strong! Do not get his right hand near your monitor, hard drive, or any other device that can be disrupted by high powered magnets.

Prime has been carefully repainted with various metalics, washes, highlights, and realistic details that bring out his robotic and vehicle form to their fullest. Screw holes have been filled and sanded smooth for a uniform look. Speaking of details you simply must check out Prime’s face! Not only are the inner sections of his eye painted but also you can see the Cybertronian hieroglyphics on his cheeks. All of Prime’s robot parts have various weathering and detailing done to make them look like real metal. In truck mode each of Prime’s blue lights have been detailed, the grille, rims, and whatever else needed to be painted in order to mimic the onscreen look of the vehicle. Prime has real metal smokestacks!! They can be removed for robot form and are slanted at the tip. Be careful you don’t put your hand down on them because they’re fairly pointy and will punch a hole in you. Now we know why Hasbro gives Prime short stacks each time, heh.."

If you want to own a piece of art, don't let this one pass you by. You can find this custom and others on eBay!

Labels: Custom Optimus Prime, Custom Transformers, Custom Transformers Action Figures, Custom Transformers Movie Figures, Jin Saotome, leader class, optimus prime, Transformers