They each have good stuff though and its a mixed bag all around. I will say this though, the way they are built, they feel more "toyish" than the previous generations leaders. The plastic is very light. Its not a KO feeling at all, but more of the feeling you get playing with toys made for younger kids, like anything from Imaginext or the Bandai of America Power Rangers Zords. Think of a Batmobile made for a younger audience and its that kind of feel I get. The fact that there is a ton of unpainted plastic adds to that notion too. They dont feel like collectables in any way (unlike, says, Titas Return Sky Shadow). It also doesnt help that the stickers are misaligned.
My main problem with optimus is how Orion pax is very very simple to transform. I think the G1 Optimus Prime toy has more steps. The cab mode is probably the worst we have ever gotten for an Optimus type vehicle, aside from some recent simplified RID toys (then again, its not better than those, probably on par). And there really isnt much to him connecting to his Prime Armour. Orion doesnt really convert much for that. There is nothing for his legs or arms to tab into so you can fold him whichever way you want or leave him be.
The good stuff comes with the trailer transformation. Now that is awesome. It is a really meaty and involved transformation of turning what is essentially a box into practically a full body. The box disapears away and you just use the panels to create different shapes. Orion contributing little to the full body means Optimus is very solid in his evolved form. The only part with isues are the feet. Not only are they quite unnatractive, but they are linked to his legs in an odd way, its not directly to his ankles. There is this extra ligament panel that is not very strong and will fold in different ways withouth you intending it to so the feet can give way and the robot would have problem standing.
Not onto Rodimus. The alt mode is excellent. Especially combined. Its a solid combination too, with several points to attach and there is even a slight transformation to do so it feels like its own mode rather than just the hot rod car mode and the trailer. And really cool exhaust conecting effect.
The Hot Rod robot mode is serviceable but I much preffer the Titans Return one. This one isnt as sleek and uses a fake chest. The worst part though is that the shoulders are limited in movement. I can handle the massive butt flap/kibble but shoulder artiulation is really key for me. The posing is thus quite limited, which isnt helped by the big guns which have a crazy long back section.
The combined mode is where I have most issues with Rodimus. The use of his thighs for shoulder connections looks more off than any image I have seen so far. The back is really a non issue compared to how bad this looks. Plus, it limits the shoulder articulation, here too
Also, the arms to tend to get undone and fall off since the thighs are not securely set on Hot Rod.So there you go, what one gets right, the other gets wrong.
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