I picked this up from Big W today, and I would say it is definitely worth the $68 but not the higher prices being charged elsewhere.

It is a very solid, nice looking, decently articulated toy, not the horrible mess some people are saying it is. To whoever said it looks like a McDonald's toy, I want to go to McDonald's in your town because they're giving away some cool shit.

The simplified transformation is not a bad thing, and in fact it feels quite intuitive and is much more fun to transform than puzzleformers. I really like the accessories. Unfortunately the lack of wrist articulation means some of the cooler sword poses are out, but other than that the articulation is good.

There are a few points that could have been improved. Some silver paint on the side windows could (and will, mwahahahahah!) have made it look a lot better - but the windscreen itself is blue so this isn't completely detrimental to the look of the toy. The two struts that extend down below the waist could have been made to fold up into the backpack somehow. The back end of the vehicle mode could have been made more solid, perhaps through more creative storage/transformation of the accessories.

The chrome looks great, especially in lower light situations - the paint on the chromed sections does look washed out and faded in a more brightly lit environment but it is vibrant and attractive with lower light. There's a good bit of paint detail elsewhere on the figure too. It's nice to see Hasbro avoided the use of Hasbro-grey for this product, going for a much darker shade for the unchromed grey areas such as the arms and smokestack. I'm not sure, but I think the logic here might have been to keep the chrome away from the areas that transform or rub against each other, and if so I appreciate the thought. The darker shade of grey isn't brilliant but at least it's better than that horrible shade they usually use.

Truck mode looks good, feels solid, rolls nicely. From the back it's a bit weak but the underside of the model of truck used looks from the pictures as if it is similiarly surprisingly thin, so in that respect the toy is accurate. The accessories all stow with the vehicle in ways that make sense; the sword goes underneath in what might be a nod to Laser Optimus Prime, and the shield attaches to the trailer post, giving a bit of extra bulk to that part. More perhaps could have been done with the shield such as having it fold up and store underneath, but that would have added unnecessary points of articulation and steps to the transformation which it's clear the designers were trying to avoid.

Overall this is a very solid feeling, nice looking toy, which is fun to transform. It's not ROTF Optimus Prime or any of its descendants but nothing ever will be - that toy could have been sold in the Masterpiece line without seeming out of place. But compared to some other recent releases, this is a very good toy which does not deserve the slagging off it's getting.

Animated Leader Bulkhead grade: Time for the big guns!