Optimus Prime Review (10302)

Transformers, more than meets the eye! Transformers, flying through the sky… Wait – my whole childhood has been a lie! Apparently “flying through the sky” should actually be “Robots in disguise!” I’ve been singing a lie for so many years. If nothing else, getting this set has already improved my life!

When this was first announced, I was absolutely pumped. Like many Transformers fans, so many hours were spent in front of the TV watching the battles with the Decepticons. The Autobots were amazing and Optimus Prime was the Boss – both literally and figuratively! As a licensed product, many thought it would never come, but the LEGO group came through with Hasbro to deliver this amazing collaboration. But no more chit-chat, let’s get into the review.

We start the build with Optimus’s cab. Almost immediately you can see the level of articulation that will be present in the build. The set has 19 articulation points in total.

Rotating the build we see the head and arm sections being installed. In the centre of the image below Optimus’s head can rotate within the cab to be hidden when configured as a truck.

It’s a little easier to imagine when looking at the set from the front. Imagine Optimus’ head attached to the ball joint. Or, be patient and you can see it in a few minutes reading time 🙂

You can also open the chest compartment of the cabin to access the Autobot Matrix of Leadership.

Next up is the start of the legs in OP (Optimus Prime) mode or the truck bed in truck mode. You can see more articulation joints are now added. These ones allow the rotation of the truck bed from vertical to horizontal.

And we’re finished the build!

Ok, bad dad jokes aside, after the legs are 80% completed, you can see the transformation start to take place. As an aside, the alloy wheels have the pattern printed directly onto the pieces and they look great. The build of the legs is a relatively simple affair. The use of simple 2×1 angled slopes creates a nice air vent effect without the need to be too fancy. The legs also clip together to provide additional structural rigidity in truck mode.

The set really starts to take shape with the addition of the fuel tanks. When standing they are as shown below, but once in truck mode, they rotate to be parallel with the legs. The feet also rotate when in truck mode to act similar to mud flaps. There is a few stickers in this set, but nothing that’s too onerous. We also add the final wheels for the set taking the total to 6. A respectable load bearing capacity I’d say.

The final steps for Optimus Prime is his head and torso. Fortunately, there’s no stickers for those eyes as they pierce your soul. Printed bricks for the win. The main torso doesn’t really have any standout features but works really well to wrap around in standing mode. The main orange “belt” 2 x 4 plate shown can also be swapped for a grey piece with a sticker for use in truck mode. The hands are well built with the ability to grasp items (or at least wrap around items that are pushed onto the studs on the top of the arms.)

On the rear of Optimus is a removable jet pack. (See, I knew they flew through the sky – An easy mistake to make right? Right…). Interestingly, when transformed to the truck this needs to be removed and sits separately to the truck model. It would have been nice to be able to clip this to the truck bed in some way.

It’s relatively rare that full size guns are included, but the Ion Blaster is a beauty. You can absolutely wave it around with a pew-pew as you imagine white hot energy spewing forth.

In addition there is also two other small builds – the Energon Axe and Energon Cube. Optimus can loosely hold the axe but not without any great force. It’s lucky the ion blaster is keeping foes at a great distance.

The final touch is the placard with the Optimus Prime’s details. Then we have Optimus complete in all his glory. As a display set, it looks fantastic.

You thought I was going to leave you hanging without even talking about the transformation didn’t you? Don’t worry, I’ve got you.
The process to transform is pretty good. Initially it’s a little fiddly, but once you’ve done it a couple of times, it’s relatively easy. I quietly admit to having Oscar show me the process the first time. There’s a few steps involved including rotating quite a few components, but considering the constraints of the LEGO model it’s quite fantastic.

Overall Thoughts

When we first saw this release, we were really excited. Building the set didn’t dissipate that excitement at all. If you were born in the 80’s, Transformers would have a special place in your heart. It was a different era with only one channel for cartoons normally, and Transformers was something to look forward to. If you didn’t grow up with it, it would still be a great set to get, but with perhaps a little less nostalgia present.
As a play piece, there’s not really many opportunities once the excitement of changing from Optimus the robot to Optimus the truck. As a display piece though it’s fantastic.

If you’re a fan of transformers, it’s one to get for sure. Kudos to the LEGO Group, Hasbro and Takara Tomy for making this collaboration happen!

A special thanks to our friends at Zavvi for supplying this set for review. They’ve also got it on sale at the moment with free shipping and a discounted price of $209.99 – a huge $70 savings!