Important information:
Worth: $179.99/£159.99
Mannequin quantity: 10302
Items: 1,508
Completed dimensions (robotic mode): 13.5 x 5 x 11 inches (35 x 12 x 27 cm)
Completed dimensions (truck mode): 5.5 x 10.5 x 4.5 inches (15 x 27 x 12 cm)
Really useful age: 18+
It’s been one of many largest eyebrow-raisers of latest years within the toy trade – rivals the Lego Group and Hasbro teaming as much as produce the primary official Lego Transformer, and who else might this Cybertronian in brick type be however the valiant chief of the Autobots, Optimus Prime?
Simply in case you’ve lived beneath a rock for the previous 38 years, the story of The Transformers includes a species of sentient robots from the planet Cybertron who’ve the power to remodel from robotic mode into automobiles, units, and even mechanized animals. The 2 factions of Transformers, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, are at conflict, and that conflict spreads throughout the celebrities from Cybertron to Earth (and ultimately to different worlds comparable to Nebulos, however that’s one other story).
The toys had been initially produced by Japanese firm Takara within the late Seventies and early Nineteen Eighties, within the guise of assorted strains comparable to Diaclone and Microchange, earlier than Hasbro purchased the toys and relaunched them as The Transformers. Takara (now merged with Tomy) nonetheless make Transformer toys alongside Hasbro, which is why the Takara Tomy brand is on the Lego Optimus Prime field alongside Hasbro’s brand.
There’s a ability to designing Transformers, since they’re actually two toys in a single, so who higher to design Lego’s Optimus Prime than Lego Senior Designer Joseph Patrick Kyde, who beforehand labored for Hasbro on their varied Transformers’ strains. Have his efforts been price it? Is that this one of many best Lego space sets which you could purchase? Let’s discover out.
Lego Icons Optimus Prime: Construct
Earlier than we even get caught into the construct, we simply wish to point out the field, which is a trendy affair exhibiting Optimus in robotic mode towards a darkish background – we expect it’s certain to look engaging on the toy cabinets. The opening flaps are on the underside of the field, so for those who’re a collector who likes to show packaging, you’ll be able to stand the field up on the opened flaps and show it intact.
Out of the field come tumbling 12 baggage, numbered 1 to 10, with two numbered 5 and one bag, containing the rubber tires, not numbered in any respect. The construct is straight ahead however not thrilling, largely bricks on prime of bricks, with no actually intelligent constructing methods and what’s now virtually an ordinary SNOT (studs not on prime) end.
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Typically with these massive builds you’ll be able to spend a while constructing the core inside construction earlier than it turns into obvious what you might be certainly constructing, so we had been happy to seek out that from the very starting. With bag 1 it was evident that we had been setting up Optimus’ iconic chest fashioned from his truck windscreen, which is on hinges to permit us to open it up and place the Creation Matrix inside. Slanted bricks forestall the windscreen from shutting flat, thereby creating an angled chest.
Bag 2 provides the primary indication of transferring items that may come into play later to permit transformation – a swiveling neck block and a rotating waist held in place by Technic pins and rods.
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With baggage 3, 4, 5, and 6 we construct the legs and toes, and we discovered it pleasing how rapidly building was coming alongside. The legs are chunky and durable, with very satisfying ratchet joints. There’s some neat chromed bricks for constructing the gas tanks, which the directions level out is to imitate the chromed silver of the unique toy. Nonetheless, our coronary heart sank after we noticed there was a sticker sheet. Stickers might be infamous for being fiddly to use, and among the stickers go on Optimus’ thighs.
We’d have most well-liked printed items right here, however there are some nifty pink plates with printed Autobot insignia (‘Autobrands’) and yellow arrows that go on Optimus’ arms, and some printed items which are a part of his head construct. These embody his eyes, that are, unusually, printed on the skinny aspect of a 2 x 1 plate.
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With Optimus Prime absolutely constructed by the top of bag 8, the ultimate two baggage comprise the items for his energon axe (which Prime used to battle Megatron on prime of Sherman Dam within the second episode of the Nineteen Eighties cartoon sequence, Extra Than Meets the Eye Half 2), and his iconic ion rifle, which is principally constructed be skewering varied black cylindrical bricks onto a Technic rod, aside from one intelligent use of a blacked-out window cover to create the form of the rear of the rifle.
The set is completed off with a single energon dice that appears fairly extraneous however consists of some pretty pinky-purple plates, and the jetpack that Optimus borrowed from Sideswipe in an try and pursue the escaping Decepticons in Extra Than Meets the Eye Half 3 (he finally fails in his pursuit, however Mirage makes use of his invisibility powers to sneak on board the Decepticon’s spaceship and save the day).
Lego Icons Optimus Prime: Design
The completed robotic is massive, standing 13.5 inches (35 cm) tall and towers over his authentic 1984 incarnation. We expect it actually appears to be like the half, however right here is the place now we have to keep in mind that it is a building mannequin and never an motion determine. Posing Optimus Prime is restricted as a result of he has no knee joints, presumably for stability causes – he’s heavy, and Lego don’t have any believable connections of their stock that would act as knee joints and carry Optimus’ weight for lengthy with out sagging. He does have ankle rockers, which helps considerably with posing.
His higher physique has extra articulation – a 360-degree waist swivel, 360-degree shoulder joints, a 90-degree hinge on the elbow, wrist swivels, a neck swivel, and a neck joint that permits him to lookup, although that is a part of the transformation and isn’t notably aesthetically pleasing. The hinged radiator grill and flaps containing the headlamps create a tapered midriff, avoiding the design turning into blocky.
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One other broadly mentioned design characteristic is Optimus’ head – it has the right silhouette and all the best options besides that it has no nostril, which makes his face look a bit of odd. Nonetheless, for those who search on-line you’ll discover mods that rebuild Optimus’ head to present him a nostril.
From the rear, Optimus Prime is a little bit of a large number, although that is mitigated considerably by placing the jetpack on Optimus, which hides among the ugly elements. The addition of the jetpack does, nevertheless, make him a bit of back-heavy.
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Optimus’ ion rifle attaches to the studs on his arm, permitting his arms to loosely clasp the deal with with out the gun dropping from them. To wield his energon axe, his hand can swivel out of the way in which, revealing a gap into which the axe’s Technic rod connection might be inserted (this makes it appear to be the axe itself is emanating from the top of his arm, identical to within the cartoon). Nonetheless, the axe is just too heavy for his arm to carry aloft, inflicting his arm to sag, so Optimus can’t actually be posed with it raised above his head.
What actually hammers residence the truth that this isn’t an motion determine, however fairly a mannequin to be displayed, is that sections of it generally tend to crumble when moved. However, all of those points fall by the wayside when you think about the outstanding indisputable fact that Lego Optimus Prime transforms! And we don’t imply which you could dissemble the robotic and rebuild the bricks right into a truck. He actually – by the invocation of swivels, hinges, twists, and turns – transforms right into a truck, and the transformation is pleasingly extra concerned than we thought it could be.
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First, clip the legs collectively, after which carry up the arms and the hinged grill so that you’ve clearance to rotate the torso by 180 levels. Fold his legs on the hips by 90 levels, twist his gas tanks and fold his toes right down to type the bottom of the truck, after which flip Optimus’ head into the physique of the truck. His shoulders swing again, his forearms go beneath his truck cab, and by twisting his fists out of the way in which you’ll be able to push the grill flat towards the truck cab, and hey presto, he’s in truck mode!
We had been delighted by this truck mode – compact, chunky, and rolls nicely so to drive it throughout the carpet. Watch out when remodeling nevertheless, as we discovered that his fists and head have a behavior of falling off.
The transformation greater than makes up for any deficiencies in robotic mode, and we’d really show him in truck mode greater than we do in robotic mode.
Must you purchase the Lego Icons Optimus Prime?
When you’re a Transformers fan, then the reply is clearly sure. When you’re only a fan of toys basically, then the historic nature of this team-up between Lego and Hasbro can be a robust motive to buy Lego Optimus Prime. When you’re only a Lego fan with no connection to The Transformers, then it’s a tougher query to reply, however the truth that Optimus’ engineering permits it to remodel so easily is an progressive characteristic that no different Lego set gives, no less than definitely not in such a elegant vogue.
It ought to be famous that Optimus Prime doesn’t come along with his trailer or his car drone, Curler, however together with these may double or triple the value, so we perceive why they’ve not been deemed mandatory.
As it’s, we do really feel that at $179.99/£159.99 (opens in new tab), Lego Optimus Prime is a bit of overpriced for what you get, and also you is perhaps greatest ready for reductions and gross sales earlier than including this Autobot to your Lego assortment.
What different Lego kits can you purchase?
That is the primary official Lego Transformer, however as a part of the Lego Icons line, there are different related units that would additionally enchantment to prospects who purchase Optimus Prime. These embody the Lego Icons Galaxy Explorer ($99.99/£89.99 (opens in new tab)) and the Lego NASA Space Shuttle Discovery ($199.99/£169.99 (opens in new tab)).
Of for those who simply love all issues space then the best Lego space sets and best Lego Star Wars sets will certainly have one thing for you – we’re massive followers of the Lego Guardians of the Galaxy Ship and Lego Star Wars R2-D2 units.
