We’re back to finish our extended look at Toyworld’s recent Freedom Leader release, which is their take on a Bumblebee movie-inspired Optimus Prime. In the last part, we ascertained that the vehicle mode was certainly a thing to admire in terms of looks, and that it made a dramatically better impression once I’d be able to properly transform it (perhaps not unexpectedly!).

Well, now it’s time to reverse that process and get this thing back into robot mode. Fortunately, it’s a lot easier than trying to condense him down for vehicle form, although some of the complaints I raised in my initial Unboxing video do remain. The clearances are still way too tight (at times, impossible), various panels don’t tab in very well at all, and a decent chunk of robot parts are going to pop off along the way. It’s easier, but I still don’t know that I’d describe it as “fun”, let’s put it that way!

Fortunately the result looks very handsome indeed (something which we’ll be sure to talk more about in a moment), but I do want to reiterate what I said last time, which is that the transformation is in fact so arduous that it’s actually enough to put you off ever wanting to go through it again, in all honesty. I think it’s worth saying as the fact that this thing *can* transform is often touted as its major advantage over the main competition on offer (again, more on that in a bit!), so it’s worth bearing in mind just how much you actually do need it to be able to do such a thing to begin with.

Still, I’m getting off on a tangent again, so let’s bask in the visual glory of this robot mode for just a second, shall we? After all, transformational woes aside, it certainly not a bad destination to end up with, is it? Freedom Leader looks pretty resplendent from just about every angle, with even a rear view being surprisingly faithful to his big-screen character model overall.

In fact I dare say that it’s the look of this figure that is its main asset, and certainly seems to be the major factor that a lot of collectors are taking into consideration when forming a conclusion on this release. That’s not a snide remark, mind – it does indeed look pretty exceptional, mostly on account of being quite chock-full of gorgeous detailing all over.

Firstly, the head is really quite something, and manages to capture the right look and feel of the character in a way that I think most fans will find appealing. Again, it’s loaded with moulded detail and is nicely finished on the whole, including moveable antennae and mouthplate. Unfortunately the latter absolutely refuses to stay in place on my copy and so repeatedly sags to what could be considered an open-mouthed position. Strap on in, mind, as that’s the first such grumble I am going to venture today, but not the last.

One good thing about the mouthplate though is that if you press it, the eyes light up. They look excellent when activated, with a beautifully-realised blue shining perfectly from his optic sockets and really bringing this thing to life somehow. Unfortunately the electronics on my copy seem a mite temperamental, so this feature doesn’t always work on first push… in fact it’s often more like eighth or ninth push, if anything. I had wondered if it was just the batteries, but the problem remains even after a swap-out for a fresh pair, so I guess it is what it is. At least it looks good when it works, eh?

Actually, “at least it looks good” could well end up becoming the subtitle for this review come the end of it, but again, I’m getting ahead of myself. Moving down a bit, we have the rather stunningly captured chest area which is similarly quite breathtaking in how in renders to life the character from the screen. I particularly like the weathered, battle-damaged paint going on here, with the finish making the most of the moulded-detail underneath. There’s a lot of diecast in this section too, so it feels good to the touch and seems very sturdy.

What I still loathe beyond belief are those rubber windscreen wipers (yes, I know I mentioned it a lot last time!). They never cease to be a pain during posing, requiring constant adjustment to make sure they haven’t accidentally been maneuvered into some errant position. It’s very hard to make them look good and not bent out of shape somehow, not to mention the challenge of then having them sitting in the same angle as one another.

On the reverse is the rather handsome spine section, which presents beautifully and comes very close to the look of the character from the film. The angled bits of bumper are a slight departure, but still I would consider this whole area remarkably clean and tidy considering the intricate nature of the transformation involved. Definite design props, there.

I’m also a big fan of the thighs, which honestly isn’t a sentence I type for a review of many toys, I can assure you. In this case they’re chunky, wonderfully angular, superbly detailed and all-round far-too-handsome not to mention. Just look at them, after all!

The abdomen section is also something to admire in terms of visuals, although again, it’s sadly an area that disappoints as soon as you handle it, and actually ends up being one of my major grumbles with this toy overall. Rather bafflingly, it’s all to do with the fact that the top half of the robot body doesn’t peg or tab in properly in any way to the lower half, meaning that during any kind of handling whatsoever, it will all come apart in your hands.

And believe me, that’s not hyperbole on my part. Everything from the chest windows upward will merrily flop backward with free abandon, leaving you to have to wrangle it all back into place as best you can. What’s really concerning here is that it seems to all be mostly held in place with friction alone, with various panels all butting and rubbing against one another in a way that never feels entirely satisfactory nor pleasant to any degree. It leaves me not really wanting to pose Freedom Leader all that much as he ends up being a bit of a fiddly prospect in hand, but sadly it’s not the last such grumble I have along the way, either.

OK, ok, the moans and groans are starting to become more evident here, aren’t they? Unfortunately yes, as although the toy looks rather stunning, even a cursory handling will leave you feeling a bit deflated, in my experience. Presents beautifully, handles awkwardly, you might say. That’s not to say that he can’t pose well, mind – he can; it’s just a bit of a ‘mare to get there.

Here’s the good news though – once you get him into a pose you’re happy with, he will hold it very nicely for the most part, and again, he does *look* really something, so if that’s your main criteria for a toy like this then perhaps you won’t be as disappointed as I have been. However, if fun, ease-of-design, fluidity or play value are things you put stock in, I suspect you’ll end up having similar quibbles to me.

At this point I’m conscious that there are numerous other annoying elements that I haven’t even had cause to mention yet, such as the various bits that pop off Freedom Leader’s body if you so much as look at him a bit funny. Stuff such as the smokestack sections and front panels on the shoulders just aren’t up to the job and refuse to sit in place securely, with the stacks themselves also being very loose and floppy and requiring constant putting back into place.

Look, here it is. I’ve been taking pictures of robots long enough now that I know how to work around stuff like this, but even I found myself cursing as all these little grumbles added up over time. The thing may look nice, but having to pause to readjust at least a half dozen or more different elements before pressing the shutter button every time becomes a little waring after a while, not to mention that any kind of handling to re-pose him has the propensity for the chest region coming unlocked again, or the bits on his shoulders falling off, or… oh, you get the idea.

So, total write-off, eh? Well, no. Here’s the thing – despite all the groaning, there is still some appeal to be had here, and it’s not just the looks. I do wish that he felt more solid and robustly-held-together, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t entirely without enjoyment in-hand. Oh, and of course he does come with a rather massive stack of weaponry too, so that’s something!

He even features two sizeable crate accessories to store everything in, which feels like a bit of a first!

So, what’s in the boxes? Well, in the immortal words of Keanu, it’s guns. Lots of guns.

Well, ok, three guns to be precise, but they’re still fairly remarkable! Freedom Leader has two very mean looking handheld specimens that definitely make him out to be an Autobot not to mess with. Again, they have a very pleasing aesthetic with a nice weathered pattern to them, and really do look the business.

There are even some orange blast-effect pieces which can be pegged into the ends. They looks remarkably similar to equivalent accessories found on some War for Cybertron figures, but still, they work exceptionally well.

This is not your father’s Autobot, etc.

The third gun is a much larger rifle, which looks very imposing indeed. I do really like the way Freedom Leader holds the thing, especially two-handed. Again, it can be equipped with blast-effect pieces on the end and also features electronics to give them a light-up feature as well as some sounds. Sadly I did also find these a bit temperamental on my copy, but at least when they work it’s a bit of fun.

Oh, and that’s to say nothing of just what a beast this guy looks like with the larger gun in hand!

It also works especially well in a kind-of sniper pose, with Freedom Leader showing off a very special set of skills indeed.

Here’s the tea, though –  although all of the guns look great and are a lot of fun in one sense, they also expose another huge weakness of how this toy handles; that being that the wrists are simply not up to snuff *at all*. The hands are connected to the arms by tiny little ball joints that simply cannot cope with the weight of anything being placed in palm whatsoever, meaning that it’s a real struggle to get Freedom Leader to hold his weaponry without it flopping around aimlessly.

It’s perhaps another reason that the two-handed rifle look is arguably my favourite option here, as it’s really the only choice that isn’t guaranteed to fall out of place as soon as you cough mildly. It’s such a shame that a toy like this was quite obviously made to look amazing with his guns in hand, but can’t hold them very securely at all.

Sadly the problem is only worse with the dual axe weapons also found in his armoury. They’re heavier than the guns and so simply compound the effect to the point of almost being unusable, in my experience, which is a real shame as they do look incredible to the eye.

It’s just yet another example of how the in-hand experience doesn’t quite live up to the promise of the figure overall. The wrist solution is just flat-out poor design, no other way to describe it.

Rounding out the many, many accessories on offer here is a set of additional parts that can be placed all over Freedom Leader’s body to equip him with a much-more Cybertronian appearance. It includes additional tyres and wheel covers as well as new pieces for the arms and shoulders. I like the alternate look a lot and it’s a real strength of this release to allow both options with so simple a solution.

It also helps to set Freedom Leader’s look apart from that of his most obvious competition, that being ThreeZero’s officially-licensed take, as otherwise it’s quite remarkable how close their appearance comes, in many regards. Toyworld’s effort is a little bulkier in places, and you can certainly tell that a lot of that is related to it actually having to transform, whereas ThreeZero have the obvious advantage of recreating the actual movie CAD files for maximum screen accuracy.

Again though, that ability to transform is at the heart of it the major difference between these two. It’s been more than enough for many collectors to announce Toyworld as their preferred option and I can understand why that is, but I would once more like to suggest that if this isn’t something you place highly on a list of priorities, or if you realistically don’t expect to transform the toy all that much (especially considering what the process of doing so is actually like!), then ThreeZero’s take could well be worth some consideration. It’s ultimately a better produced, more stable and robust robot mode, and it poses with a degree of fluidity and grace that even Freedom Leader simply cannot claim. That’s just the honest truth.

If you do decide that Toyworld is the one true path for you though, then there is still some fun to be had here, as I mentioned, and he does mix well with a number of other toys. It’s perhaps obvious, but I do think he looks excellent next to ThreeZero’s other efforts, and with more and more Bumblebee-inspired toys on the way, I doubt he’ll remain a standalone affair for long.

But hey, even as a one-off, there’s no doubt that it’s a fascinating take on the iconic Autobot leader, right? The Bumblebee design is one that seems to be almost universally loved by Transformers fans, so if all you want is a transformable and pleasing-to-look-at take then maybe this one will fit the bill for you.

Ultimately I find myself wondering what could have been with this guy, myself. It was without-a-doubt one of my most-anticipated toys of the year, and had the quality been better I feel like he could have definitely been a shoo-in for inclusion on my “best of” list. As it stands? Well, at least it looks good.

WHAT’S HOT? Beautiful toy in both modes, with some excellent accessories and amazing attention-to-detail.

WHAT’S NOT? As soon as you start to handle this guy it’s hard not to be disappointed. Bits pop off constantly, the wrists are loosey-goosey, the midriff doesn’t tab in properly, the faceplate flops down… it’s just not quite there, quality-wise.

TTFN