God, you are making me look forward to getting mine more. I need a helluva transformation to get my teeth into.

 

OK so i went out and bought another one. Yes, the grey piece that is connected to the front wheel assembly was mismatched. I couldn't close it because there was no matching hole for the tab....That thing is going BACK!!!

The new one was still a pain... unlatching the window parts of the cab is a bit scary, also closing the arm, hood cover past the gas tanks was a pain...but it's done. The wheels even line up thanks to that tip on the back fender tab...and the sliding hood mechanism makes a huge difference thanks for the FN directions Hasbro...

Though no one on youtube has a Robot to truck transformation, from what i found. No one that is tolerable and worthwhile anyway.

Although it's a pain right now I do see it getting easier and think the alt mode and robot mode are vastly improved, with the exception of those swords...damn articulation hinderances...waiting for a mod to take those off without damaging them.

thanks everyone...now 10 other ROTF figures to master...

 

He's tricky, but not impossible. Just needs patience, and a willingness to ignore large parts of the instructions to get the finer points sorted out.
Seriously. The instructions are atrocious, especially for the arms and truck nose.

Truck to robot, bro! Truck to robot!

 

took 15 minutes......i did it slow and for me i thought the instructions were dead on....the only part was the cab part lifting it all the way up..after that it was lining everythign up with the pics..  

 

They're quite easy to remove. Nothing but a screwdriver is required. All you have to do is take three screws out of each forearm, take the swords out (no cutting, they just lift right out), screw the forearm back together and you're good to go. It's a vast improvement.

 

LOL, he reminds me of Tom from 50 First Dates.

 

im gonna send you my medical bills, i think i just cut the inside of my throat on a Dorito after reading that

 

Yeah, the RotF Leader Prime is one of the hardest figures I've ever transformed. It's a combination of the design and the shit-tastic instructions.

I eventually had to watch this video for help YouTube - ROTF Leader Class Optimus Prime

I had no idea you had to actually pull those tabs OUT of his chest.

Something tells me that in the future they're gonna get worn out and break =/

 

  so true

I might do one soon when I get a better hang of him.

 

I was at Botcon Hasbro booth and one kid and her mom asked a Hasbro employee for help converting Leader Optimus Prime from truck to robot mode. The employee had to get help from one of the designers and then he took some time to figure it out. The instructions were not enough. That is how difficult it is to transform.

 

I just took the swords off...MUCH BETTER!!! Although the arms only collapse about 90 degrees at the elbow, although that is ok...I actually saw how easy it was to remove his hands and thought to swap it with TFTM OP but the TFTM OP's hands have a block on their end which won't fit.... Waaa waaaaa.


Anyway this figure really is just terrific and now I feel much better transforming him...

 

Eaaassssyyy there, big fella. 

 

Man, all these "OMG ROTF PRIME HARD" posts make me feel like a genius for having no issues.

 

sooooo true. i dig the movie toys and they look awesome (for the most part) but my son and i normally end up reverting to playing with all my g1 stuff...cause you can play and transform them back and forth and keep playing. whereas with some of the new ones, especially leader prime, you play, transform..................start playing again half an hour later and he gets to stay in that form the rest of the night.

 

im way late buying movie primes, i only just got a premium 2007 leader and i was suprised how easy his TF was like 2-3 mins to bot and 3-4 to cab and its fun too.

im going to pass on the rotf version for now, i prefer the look of the 2007 premium and i feel that the new prime actually looks a little cheap in comparison, the frustration factor makes him sound rather like masterpiece megs.

question generally to owners of 2009 prime. I find leader 2007 prime fun and even intuitive to transform (also no bits pop off), can you say the same about 2009 prime?

 

Other than the dis-connecting of the lower red "fire wall" parts from the abdomen i found the transformation straight forward. Not as bad as I was expecting.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. Trying to detach his chest panels in robot-mode always makes me cry for a few seconds, cause it always feels like I'm going to break it.
I'd say that is probably the one knock I have against the figure.

The only other downside I could think of would be "I AM OPTIMUS PRIME!"