Lego has partnered with yet another popular franchise, recreating its IP with little plastic bricks. This time, it’s Transformers, the 1980s toy line of robots that change into vehicles and vice versa. The first set to emerge is none other than series hero Optimus Prime, leader of the good-guy Autobots. Incredibly, like the original toy, the Lego robot also transforms into the tractor half of a semi truck.
The Lego Optimus Prime is comprised of 1,508 pieces and stands 13.5 inches tall in robot form. Thankfully, it’s the original 1980s depiction rather than the needlessly complex version from the Michael Bay reboot movies. In robot mode, it has 19 points of articulation, which is probably more than what the original toy had.
In addition, Optimus comes with a ion blaster gun, an “energon” battle axe, and jetpack. It also comes with a (the?) Matrix, an orb that bestows leadership upon the holder according to series lore, and an energon cube, the glowing Clif Bars digested by the inhabitants of the Transformers universe.
In truck mode, the original Optimus was based on a Freightliner FL86. The Lego kit isn’t an exact match for it, but gets the COE form generally correct. In vehicle mode the Lego version measures 10.5 inches long. There’s no trailer like the original toy had, not even one you can buy separately. It’s probably just as well, because its appearance and disappearance in the cartoon was so nonsensical that fans have had to conjure an entire backstory to explain it.
Lego is certainly plumbing the depths of 1980s nostalgia, with kits for the Ghostbusters Ecto-1, and the Back to the Future DeLorean time machine comprising other recent releases. The Lego Optimus Prime will cost $169.99 when it goes on sale June 1.
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