Hasbro and Robosen Robotics have teamed up to create an early contender for the product of 2021. It's a fully robotic Optimus Prime that can transform itself to and from truck form, can drive around in truck form, and is fully moveable (again, all robotically) in its figure pose, with programmable actions.
Slated to cost a cool $699 (A BARGAIN AT TWICE THE PRICE), the snappily named 'TRANSFORMERS Optimus Prime Auto-Converting Programmable Advanced Robot - Collector's Edition' is available to pre-order now at HasbroPulse.com, but we don't expect stock to last long…
The official press release says that it took 11 years of rigorous blah blah HERE IT IS DOING A SELF-TRANSFORMATION.
It's all app-controlled (naturally), with a load of presets in the app for some classic actions, including transforming, voice, and various light-up elements. But you'll also be able to control all the movements yourself, and program sequences to get this surprisingly mobile (in every sense) bot to do extremely cool things.
And apparently, this is just the start. "Now together with Hasbro, Robosen will be able to provide an unparalleled interactive experience for the millions of fans of the TRANSFORMERS franchise, with new products and collectibles being announced in the months to come," says the official release. Whether the future Starscream will actually fly or Soundwave will play tapes, they neglected to mention.
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Matt is T3's former AV and Smart Home Editor (UK), master of all things audiovisual, overseeing our TV, speakers and headphones coverage. He also covered smart home products and large appliances, as well as our toys and games articles. He's can explain both what Dolby Vision IQ is and why the Lego you're building doesn't fit together the way the instructions say, so is truly invaluable. Matt has worked for tech publications for over 10 years, in print and online, including running T3's print magazine and launching its most recent redesign. He's also contributed to a huge number of tech and gaming titles over the years. Say hello if you see him roaming the halls at CES, IFA or Toy Fair. Matt now works for our sister title TechRadar.