I know you said they should retire this thing's transformation, but I think this, as a base, would absolutely work as a Studio Series Bayverse Optimus version 3.

Giving Optimus  any form of wings immediately just screams oh yeah he's gonna be flying around the battlefield being a bad a**.  I would say he gives me digimon and gundam vibes...... Actually you know what that's perfect that fits this form very well.

The abs weren't battle damage, they were one of a few upgrades given to him between the movies, including his new sharper forearms. Bumblebee got the same treatment with his new stomach guard

Honestly i've always wanted the Stealth Force version of this figure, with the massive shield and all that, that becomes the Stealth force bits he has in the DOTM video games.

i think he was called "Striker Optimus" or something like that.

Optimus at his MOST prime form!

I remember emgo316s v8d on this when I was younger

0:55 Elita-1 "nosebleeding" by the gallons (of Energon) in the background

Shoutout the Asia premium exclusive version which is like a greatest hits album of all the versions of this mold sold as one figure with a gorgeous metallic paint job

Armada wheelja-

6:06 or grimlock kickin decepticon asses with skillet 🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥

0:25 "Maybe The Movie The Be-"

i'll honestly never get tired of seeing this mold. its really iconic.

5:14 god i love prop humor 😭

Dammit! I almost made it a whole day without crying over Chester Bennington

sad fact; the creator of skibidi toilet used to idolize Micheal Bay, but he got betrayed and deceived by him unfortunately

4:51 THANK YOU!! Someone besides me who says this all the time

The amount of nostalgia I have for the thing is pretty surprising. Maybe I’m just good at things, but I found the transformation. Super easy to the point that I could do in like two minutes or less.  😊

Actually the abs were added to prevent after the revenge of the fallen when the chest was not protected so in order to prevent that, he was modified to have the abs so he won't get stabbed again.

This era’s transformation was so amazing for its screen accurate transformation. I never noticed how the engine wall bit actually goes behind the am hood kibble when it all goes out of view anyways, that’s the stuff I loved about the time, they put transformation accuracy before final results or proportion accuracy.

Man that first time transforming this guy legit scared me. Took me a while to figure it out. But I did it!