Transformers are some of the most iconic toys in the world – an action figure and n motor! All in one! A real bargain! But as modern Transformators toys became more complicated, it also became a huge pain to change from car to robot and back again, which often filled several shames back to the trash where you threw it in a wave of hubris.
Hasbro is finally working to solve the problem. Not by simplifying the toy, but by making it much more complicated and expensive in the form of its new $ 700 Optimus Prime Auto-Converting Programmable Advanced Robot, which thanks to the power of true robot technology (in the form of 27 servomotors and a mobile app) can actually transform on its own.
The new Transformer is almost breathtaking in its complexity: Hasbro says that the 19-inch figure contains about 5,000 components, 27 patented servomotors and 60 coupled microchips to take away the automatic transformation function. In addition to a mobile app, the new Optimus Prime toy also includes voice commands that allow owners to control the transformation action or drive through the vehicle shape by shouting things like ‘roll out’ or ‘switch’.
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Image: Hasbro
The downside of owning the first Transformer that you can transform on its own is the striking price – for $ 700 the new Optimus Prime toy could better fight the real Decepticons to save the Earth.
The new model is being built in partnership with Robosen Robotics, which, as noted Polygon, made suspicious Transformer– see motorized robots for years. However, the new partnership with Hasbro gives Robosen the chance to transfer his skills to an official Transformer product instead of being equal.
The Optimus Prime Auto-Converting Programmable Advanced Robot is available for pre-order from the Hasbro Pulse website for $ 699.99. Orders are expected to ship on August 2nd.