Toy Review - RODIMUS PRIME (Kingdom)

[doublespy]

Got my Rodimus yesterday and he is a very solid figure- there is a lot of heft or density, reminiscent of the quality of Sky Lynx. The transformation threw me for a loop for a bit, even with instructions.

There are a few issues. The trailer doesn’t peg together with the cannon inside, and barely does even when it’s not in there. There also seems to be a bit of bad clearance for the head/neck and the collar area. It’s hard to get a good head pose. The silver face doesn’t bug me as much in person, though I would have preferred something similar to either POTP Rodimus or SS86 Hot Rod. I’m not a huge fan of the sacrifices made to accomodate the separating chubby car/cab either, as they make the transformation needlessly complex and the alt mode less cartoon (or even toy) accurate.

On the positive side, this figure has a much cleaner robot silhouette than the POTP leader, with better articulation and overall stability. It fits in well in terms of size with the WFC and Generations lineup.

Overall a nice figure with a lot of quality, but a bunch of small issues that hold it back from being a perfect rendition of the character. I definitely wouldn’t mind a cartoon-style Optimus Prime in this same vein for Commander Class. A full-painted trailer with all the bits, no sacrifices in bot mode and anime-styled paint all over would do wonders. I found myself turned off by the cheap-looking Earthrise leader Optimus, so maybe it’ll come in the next few years or so. Given the $20 or so in consumer price difference between those two figures, there is a world of difference. At the very least, this Rodimus Prime figure is a good experiment in what can be done with the Commander Class budget, instead of only big chonker figures like Jetfire and Sky Lynx. What other characters can be done in a similar way?

With the trailer not closing properly. Check if the blast shields on the turret are folded the wrong way. If they’re folded “down” like you think they would(and it’s how they’re packaged on mine), they bump against the treads but and prevent the main joint from folding a complete 90 degrees, which then prevents the trailer from closing properly.

[Krayt]

With the trailer not closing properly. Check if the blast shields on the turret are folded the wrong way. If they’re folded “down” like you think they would(and it’s how they’re packaged on mine), they bump against the treads but and prevent the main joint from folding a complete 90 degrees, which then prevents the trailer from closing properly.

Nah... up or down it’s the same

The cannon is just a bit higher overall than intended... and touches ridge lines in the roof.

I’ve been slowly sanding my ridges back.... keeps getting better, but I hate doing it

[christalcase]

Opened mine up yesterday and this is a solid figure, and I actually have a lot of fun with the trailer (all too often, Optimus' trailer feels like an empty box that opens with little additional play value so Rodimus' gun turret is really good in comparison). The vehicle minus the trailer is too chunky to look good, what makes it feel off for me is how the rear juts up compared to the rest of the vehicle, I'm just too used to the sleeker lines of Hot Rod. I didn't really like the transformation, there were several steps that I felt was needlessly fiddly, like they needed to add complexity, so that made it confusing. Otherwise, well worth the sale price of $109 (harder to justify at $149, but I think borderline worthwhile).

[Skyfire]

My copy's calf flaps don't want to clip in, just like my SS86 Hot Rod. Not the same mechanical issue (or fix like I discovered with Hot Rod). I can't yet make out what I'm doing wrong or the mechanical fault. I guess Rodimus really does evolve from Hot Rod...

Edit: well I figured it out - you've got to squeeze (apply pressure) right at the bottom edge of the calf flap, where it clips into the red, rectangular hole.

Christmas at Rodimus's...

[Eazy D]

I certainly think this figure is worth $109 on sale but I wouldn't cough up $150 for it.

The robot mode is fantastic. A small nitpick is that I'd have preferred a dark gray for the boots rather than black.
The space winnebago has pretty much been retconned into a space truck. I'm on the fence about this design choice. Its actually doesn't look bad but I think it was more to justify the price tag. MP-9 nails the space winnebago look.

Having a separate "Hot-Rod style" truck cab seems a bit like a justification for the price tag as well. The cab-mode doesn't tick any box properly. It's too chunky to resemble Hot Rod's sleek vehicle mode and its too car-like to look like a truck cab.
The transformation of the cab to Rodimus Prime also seems like it was made more complicated to justify the price tag and to bump up the parts count.
Altogether, with a little bit of dumbing down this figure could easily have been sold as a Leader which is what I think it should have been.

I'm still very happy to have it though at the Big W sale price.

I am somewhat concerned that in the future Hasbro will try to palm off Voyager/Leader figures as "Commander Class" by making them overly complicated. Seems like a big possibility given they've almost run out of the larger sized Transformers to do who would genuinely justify the Commander scale [Like Sky Lynx and Jetfire]. Fiddly, over-engineered transformers are what the MP line is there for!