CultureFly has released a new Optimus Prime popcorn bucket for Transformers: The Movie’s 40th anniversary, priced at $24.99 and measuring 10 inches tall by 8.5 inches wide and deep, with the character’s eyes lighting up in classic Generation 1 blue. It is available now for local pickup at Target, with shipping starting the 10th of September. This is a Target Exclusive.
The bucket is built around Optimus Prime’s head and shoulders, styled after his classic G1 color scheme rather than the live-action movie designs, with the whole top portion lifting off to access the popcorn well underneath. The real selling point is the light-up eyes, which glow a bright blue once it’s dark enough to notice, giving the bucket some real presence at a nighttime movie or on a shelf after the credits roll. Or, like us, it is going straight onto the shelf.
This is only the second major licensed popcorn bucket CultureFly has put out, after last year’s Demogorgon bucket from Stranger Things, and it’s an official piece of the 40th anniversary wave we’ve been tracking, including AMC’s own Transformers 40th anniversary tin, cup, and blanket and the Upper Deck and Hasbro trading card tie-in that launched alongside it.
Worth knowing if you’re comparing options: this isn’t the only light-up Optimus Prime bucket currently available. Universal Orlando has its own version exclusively at Supply Vault in the Transformers area, priced at $34.99 with a first popcorn fill included. The two aren’t interchangeable: different sculpts, different price points, and CultureFly’s take leans into the classic animated look rather than anything tied to the live-action film series.
Two buckets in, and CultureFly is building a real identity in this space. Both the Demogorgon and Optimus Prime designs center on the same idea: a face-forward sculpt built around a striking visual gimmick, glowing eyes here, an open monster mouth there, rather than just slapping a character’s likeness on a generic bucket shape. That’s a smart way to stand out in a category that’s gotten genuinely crowded this year. This is a Target Exclusive Transformers 40th Anniversary Popcorn Bucket.
