Transformers: Lego Optimus Prime

Hasbro has been trying to get into building blocks for a long time. They started with Transformers Armada Built To Rule. Those toys mostly sucked. Then they did a very limited run of Transformers Energon Built To Rule toys, which were decent enough, much better designs than their predecessors, but produced in very limited quantities and that went nowhere. Then they tried Kre-O. Lots of great toys came out of Kre-O. Lots of crappy ones too. In my opinion the problem with Kre-O was they tried to do too much. The mini figures and Micro-Changers were pretty great, but many of the large building sets weren’t great. They should have stuck to Mini Figures and smaller building sets. And now, at long last, they have given up and licensed Lego to make an Optimus Prime. No idea if there will be anymore Lego Transformers. The only problem with this toy is that it is so damn expensive. Retail came out at $180, I think, but a lot of places have had it on sale for $145 in the last couple months. I see plenty of them at Target, so they certainly aren’t flying off the shelves.

Optimus Prime

The box contains ten bags (technically eleven, there are two #5 bags). I took pictures after each bag.

Bag 1

Bag 2

Bag 3

Bag 4

Bag 5

Bag 6

Bag 7

Bag 8

And here he is in all his glory. I was expecting him to be smaller, but he pretty big. He really looks great. He could have been much simpler, but they put a lot of design into him.

Bag 9

Bag 9 has an energon cube, his gun and energon axe. His gun looks great. The axe is kind of big.

Bag 10

Bag 10 includes a display sign and his jetpack. It also includes the only part that does not transform. His waist piece has to be removed to put on his front bumper to transform him. I have no problem with that. Pretty darn amazing that’s the only part that needs to be changed out.

He has a removable Matrix in his chest.  The frame is one piece, so it won’t fall apart.

He can hold his laser gun fine though it’s not super stable in his hand. It doesn’t plug in, you just close his hand around it. If you turned him upside down, it would probably fall out.

Every picture I took with his axe came out blurry. No idea why, but it wasn’t worth taking more pics. It’s fine, but the way it’s designed it is kind of awkward. It’s just too big really.

His jetpack looks great and is easily removable. Unfortunately you can’t put it on the bed of his truck.

Optimus Prime’s transformation is pretty much like any Optimus Prime with his arms folding in and his legs folding back. No surprises. He really looks great.

Overall: Lego Optimus Prime is very cool. When transforming him the only parts that popped off were parts of his feet. He’s very well designed. Is he worth $180? No. Is he worth $145? Maybe, but I wouldn’t blame anyone if they waited until he is on clearance, which given how many Target has on the shelves, seems inevitable. I got mine as a Christmas present. I couldn’t bring myself to spend the money on him. While I would like to see more, I think I would prefer a smaller scale that is less expensive. My guess is this was a test to see if there was a market for Lego Transformers. I hope the answer is yes, but they need to do it more like Kre-O, with lots of small sets rather than enormous ones. Having said that, I’d love a Lego G1 Grimlock at this size.

Thanks for reading!