When it comes to toys and cartoon characters from the 1980s, there were a lot of big hits at that time, but few have endured in the fashion that Optimus Prime has. The leader of the Autobots, this Transformers character helped to popularize the series at large and cement its legacy in pop culture.
Though his background has been retconned and rewritten several times over the years, Optimus Prime’s original backstory began with him working as a simple dock worker on Cybertron, where his name was Orion Pax. Orion would be rebuilt into the warrior Optimus during the outbreak of the civil war that was started by Megatron. Eventually, Optimus would make his way to Earth in order to establish the planet as a new base in the ongoing war against Megatron and the Decepticons.
Like his fellow Transformers, Optimus is able to transform into a vehicle, in his case, a semi-trailer truck. His combat abilities vary across the different forms of media in the franchise, but he generally has the ability to fire short-range blasts, and he’s also skilled in various close-range combat. He is also highly regarded for his leadership abilities.
Hake’s Americana & Collectibles has an old school Optimus Prime toy in their current auction – a Transformers Series 1 Optimus Prime, specifically the rare Pepsi variant, AFA 85 NM+. This encapsulated original window box contains a factory-sealed display box that includes Optimus Prime, and dates to 1985 as a limited edition mail-away offer by Pepsi. This is the standard U.S. release but comes with an attached label on header with the Pepsi logo and “Look Inside For Your Pepsi Stickers To Put On Optimus Prime” text. These stickers were to be placed on Optimus Prime’s trailer. Pepsi also issued a Canadian version with much larger stickers that covered the entire sides of the trailer.
Bidding for this item ends on July 12, 2018, so interested parties are encouraged to get their bids in soon. Hake’s is also offering a wide selection of various other toys from the ’70s and ’80s, so collectors should also take the time to check out the full catalog.
