Toy Review: Kingdom Rodimus Prime

Two years ago the Transformers line saw the introduction of the Commander Class – a toy scale a size up from the Leader Class. In 2019 we got a fantastic Jetfire, followed last year by an equally great Sky Lynx.

This year with the release of Unicron, we are seeing a slew of figures based around the 1986 Transformers animated movie. One of these was Hot Rod in the Studio Series line. Now we get to see him all grown up as the Commander Class Kingdom Rodimus Prime.

Robot Mode

Extremely nice, and much better proportioned than the POTP Rodimus we got several years ago. He looks extremely character accurate, both in proportions and colour scheme and even has the trademark grimace he usually wore since he was always stressing he wasn’t Optimus. The figure has tight joints and numerous points of articulation.

Rodimus Prime also comes with his signature rifle, as well as the Sword of Primus that he wielded in the ReGeneration One comics.

Like most Prime toys, this Rodimus comes with a Matrix that can be removed. Can make for some great scenes from the movie such as his transformation from Hot Rod and his destruction of Unicron.

Vehicle Mode

Good luck trying to overtake this on the cyber-highway

Damn that’s big! Much bigger than the leader class POTP Rodimus we mentioned earlier. For the most part he is cartoon and toy faithful, though the front of the car sticks out a little too far for my liking. But perhaps there is no hard and fast rule as to what a Cybertronian Winnebago should look like.

This Rodimus has some features that most previous figures of the toy haven’t had. One is that you can open up the back of his trailer which is a nice touch. Another is that you can take the cannon emplacement from inside and put it on the top of the trailer for a sick battle mode.

What old people wish their Winnebago’s would do when other drivers honk

Rodimus can detach from his trailer and for once he still looks like Rodimus rather than Hot Rod. The vehicle mode is stockier and makes it look a beefier version of Hot Rod, which Rodimus himself actually is. In both modes you can attach what is shaped like exhaust flames, but coloured like exhaust fumes. Whether they chose this so as to not add more yellow/orange I don’t know but its an odd aesthetic choice.

Battle Platform

The original G1 toys trailer could open up to reveal a cannon platform and that has been recreated really nicely here. The cannon can swivel 360 degrees and can also detach with little tank tracks on the bottom. Personally I would have liked to see the ramp at the front be able to fold down to touch the ground, but that is rectifiable by the connecting of a Battle Master, which also allows the platform to hook up to other playsets.

Transformation

The trailer is dead easy. I found the robot mode a tad fiddly in places but everything locks together very tightly and there was no point I got overly frustrated.

Worth Getting?

This would be the best mass-release Rodimus that we have had so I would say yes, despite the larger than usual price tag. However if you already have the POTP version it’s pretty good and also has the option of turning into Hot Rod, so I wouldn’t trade in just yet. It will be interesting to see if the upcoming Galvatron figure scales well with Rodimus, then we really will see if this toy is capable of lighting ones darkest hour!