Self-transforming Optimus Prime now has a $1,700 Dinobot friend

How much would fans pay for the ultimate action figure? Looks like a company called RoboScene is determined to find out – with Transformers toys change yourself Like they do in the classic cartoons.

First, it was a $750 self-transforming Optimus Prime robot, then a $750 transformative trailer to go along $1,500 in total to bring the leader of the Autobots to life.

Now, Hasbro and RoboScene are offering Grimlock so you too can own the King of the Dinobots – for only $1,700.

the result is Successful, 34 servo motors make a spectacular transformation – and let Grimlock walk, talk, attack and even pretend to breathe in both dinos And Humanoid Mode. He also comes with a light-up energon sword and a light-up galactic rocket launcher that is powered by his own button battery. as well as pre-programmed actions that use them to paralyze and destroy simulated enemies.

With over 150 “Me Grimlock” voice lines recorded by original voice actor Greg Berger, this robot plays the role too – and you’ll hear him talk about the Autobots and Decepticons, dance for his birthday and otherwise 42 voices Can ask to do your bidding with the command. It even has a “Start programming” line that lets Grimlock execute a whole series of requests in one line.

But my favorite is “Bite” — you get some solid T-Rex neck and chopper action, plus a fiery red belch at the end.

And did I mention this robot charges now over USB-C? RoboScene says the 2500mAh battery should take 90 minutes to charge and provide 90 minutes of play.

I’m just a little confused that two years later, at twice the price, RoboScene and Hasbro haven’t addressed one of the biggest limitations I had with that original Optimus Prime – its ability to stand reliably on a shelf while the robot is powered up. No – Discontinued. Unfortunately, this requires servo motors to operate in order to keep it from falling.

Like Optimus, Grimlock has little to no idea of ​​his surroundings – it’ll happily throw itself off a table, and my unit can’t move in a straight line or turn effectively . You still can’t use it on carpet without being faceplanted by a robot or, worse yet, on carpet, and it still moves with the same slight shuffling motion instead of taking actual steps. I wouldn’t dare let the kids touch it when it’s in action as it may turn out that one of its many joints is out of place, something that will always require a full reboot to fix. is required.

RoboSense’s apps also haven’t changed much in almost two years. It still seems half-baked. The direct remote-control interface is similarly slow, the robot is still really sensitive about which joints you can pose without triggering a reboot, and the block-based programming interface takes a learning curve without any tutorials. It is a big stage.

Mostly, I encountered the problem due to a lot of bugs and bluetooth disconnections, for each of which I had to reboot the robot again. I eventually gave up and decided to stick to voice commands, which are actually better than Optimus – not Alexa/Siri/Google Home grade, but it can listen to me as long as I mumble “Hey Grimlock” After that I wait for a long time. before proceeding further.

It’s still a hugely impressive toy, and I have to admit that RoboScene has a while before it launches this toy this fall. Mostly, I’m just getting sticker shock. The company told me that there are many factors behind the increased price, including 26 percent more motors, 46 percent more chips, more transformation steps in the program, more labor costs, more packaging, premium materials, etc. — but it’s hard to mine. Find out from the experience of using how much it costs. For now, RoboSense will start selling it at a promo price of $1,500.

I’d like to see the company make a new robot platform next time. As with Bumblebee, but even more… transformative.

I’m also really looking forward to trying the company’s Buzz Lightyear toy Story, If it is still working.