Review: #681
Name: Rodimus Prime
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations - War for Cybertron: Kingdom
Year of Release: 2021
Size Class: Commander
Mold Status: new
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:
Rodimus Prime is the Commander figure for 2021 and he comes in a similar sized box to Sky Lynx from last year. The front has an amazing piece of artwork (all the packaging artwork of the Kingdom line is amazing, really).
On the back are you typical product stock images, and showing off the various gimmicks of the figure as well as the accessories.
Speaking of accessories, Rodimus has a ton of them: seven blaster effects, an effect for the Matrix of Leadership, gun, sword, and two flame effects for the vehicle.
VEHICLE MODE (COMBINED):
The default vehicle mode for Rodimus Prime is the cab with trailer mode (which is more like a caravan). The downside of this mode is that you can see the cab portion sticks out for far too much, and the spoiler is mostly hidden away.
The cab is big and long but looks pretty good. The vehicle doesn't have any unsightly gaps from any angle which is great.
This is a huge figure as well, and while he is a Commander, with the shrinkages and cost cutting these days, you can't expect them to be as big as they were before. Above is a comparison against a Leader sized figure to show off that Rodimus is even bigger, even if it is mainly the hollow trailer.
Of note are the black flame effects that peg onto either side. Not sure why they are molded in black even just the same blue as the other effects would have been nicer. The break in the side exhausts are due to the fact that transformation requires it for the car's spoiler to slot through.
Beneath the trailer is a slide out tray, which can store some of the additional accessories. While the gun and sword can store inside the trailer, the two flame parts and the Matrix effect can store in this tray.
Furthermore, at the back of the tray are two 5mm slots so that you can peg two of the blaster effects there to simulate NOS or something.
The back of the trailer opens up and a ramp can be folded down.
This is a fairly decent mode, even though there were a few compromises in this mode, it's still surprisingly fun and robust.
VEHICLE MODE (CAR):
To separate the "cab" from the trailer, you can just need to pull the car out. It's pegs in a few places but it is easy enough to slot in and out. The result is a standalone sports car.
Unfortunately, unlike the recent Studio Series version, this version is nowhere near as slim and sleek. It's actually too bulky for it's own good, with a weird back that juts higher, making the spoiler on top looking like some weird growth.
He's still approximately the size of a Voyager in this mode, but feeling slightly bulkier and heavier than one.
The sword attaches onto the bottom in this mode, although it may get in the way of the ground clearance.
The gun pegs onto the side. The wheels roll and that's pretty much all there is to gimmicks here.
The two flame effects can also peg onto the exhausts but again, being black, something just seems a bit off.
Considering that this is like a bonus mode to the trailer, it's not too bad. However, you can't help but feel that both of the vehicle modes are compromised because of this.
TRANSFORMATION (TRAILER):
To get the trailer into it's battle platform mode, you open up the two halves. Take out the gun emplacement, then flip down the ramps on one side and another piece on the other end. The gun emplacement then unfolds so that it can stand up.
TRAILER:
The trailer transforms into a battle platform, and the instructions has you leaving the red piece at the back untouched. It is basically a folded out trailer.
That said, it looks cooler and feels more sturdy if you flip the red piece at the back to act as another leg, otherwise that hinge is unused.
The gun emplacement can then peg onto the middle.
All of the accessories can store in the battle platform thanks to the multitude of 5mm ports situated everywhere.
Naturally, you can also display this mode with a vehicle on top.
Finally, and this is kind of weird, but the instructions shows off a mode where the trailer remains a trailer, but the gun emplacement remains folded up and pegged on top. It's billed as some sort of storage mode but looks pretty weird.
TRANSFORMATION (ROBOT):
This is where Rodimus justifies the Commander pricing. His transformation is much more complicated that you would expect, and at times, feels like the designer was making it more complex for the sake of making it more complex. The hood forms the chest, while the sides form the arms. The way the shoulders fold and unfold to attach to the torso can be confusing at first. Then the back of the car splits to form the legs, and once again, the wheels and other pieces fold together in a way that is more complicated than it should be.
ROBOT MODE:
Rodimus' robot mode is where the designer has put in their most focus because it looks the best.
He barely has any kibble in this mode, you might go so far as to say that there is none (since the big spoiler on his back is more of an iconic feature of the character).
The head sculpt looks really good, with a silver painted face and blue painted eyes. It definitely conveys the older look of the Prime version compared to the younger Hot Rod.
For size, he's a little big taller than a Voyager but is much shorter than a proper Leader, which is to be expected. That said, he feels way bulkier than a Voyager, it's like the mass of a Leader shoved into a Voyager figure (which frankly, should be how much a Voyager should be anyway instead of the lightweight hollowed figures we get nowadays).
Naturally, Rodimus has the works in terms of articulation. He has joints for his head, shoulders, arms, wrists, waist, hips, knees and ankles.
He's a well balanced figure and since all his joints are using swivel hinges or ratchets, they hold up his weight remarkably well.
As he is pretty much kibble-free, that also means his range of articulation is unencumbered.
To help make up the Commander price point, he is loaded with gimmicks. First off, his hands are partially articulated.
His chest can open up to reveal the Matrix of Leadership.
The Matrix itself is removeable and you can peg the effects part on it to mimic the opening of the Matrix.
Just like in vehicle mode, the two flame effects can peg onto the ends of the exhausts, this time in robot mode it's on his forearms.
This leads to a sort of blowtorch weapon or a flaming blade weapon.
He comes with two handheld weapons, a sword and a gun.
The sword is black plastic with the blade itself painted silver.
It can be held in either hand (there are 5mm grooves inside the hand, despite the hand articulation), and it's a really nice size, perfect for the figure.
When not in use, the sword can store by pegging onto his back.
The gun is folded in half for storage in vehicle mode but unfolds into a longer, two handed gun for robot mode.
Rodimus has just enough articulation to hold both handles of the gun.
If you fold the gun back in half, it can store on the side of his backpack.
The blaster effects can peg onto the end of the gun to show it firing.
The blaster effects are actually very versatile. You can combine multiple together for a bigger effect, or you can only use just the one. It works either way, although you have to be careful of the weight.
Pretty much all of the orange you see in robot mode is painted on, so you do need to be a little bit careful with chipping it.
Of course, Rodimus has the battle platform at his disposal in this mode.
From the back, you can see that the gun emplacement is pegged onto the platform itself, and has two handles for him to hold.
This means that Rodimus easily anchors himself when holding onto the weapon, and the gun emplacement itself can also swivel 360 degrees.
Blaster effects can also attach to the end of the two barrels, although practically, you can only use the two slimmer / smaller ones at the same time. This is a really fun figure thanks to all the accessories, and the battle platform compliments the robot mode a lot too.
OVERALL:
Rodimus Prime is a worthwhile Commander size figure. While at full price, it can be a little bit harder to swallow due to his smaller size, however, he does help make it up with more accessories, a more involved transformation and much more solidarity for the size. On sale, the figure is one hundred percent worthwhile.
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