No, LEGO still hasn’t acquired the license for the Transformers. As such, you’re still not going to get a brick-built Optimus Prime and Megatron set any time soon. Instead, the new LEGO Technic App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle is just the outfit taking their stab at an object that turns into something else. You know… like a Transformers, but without the giant anthropomorphic robots or the branding.
Just like some Technic sets, it’s a motorized vehicle with actual working parts that you can build and drive like many Technic remote-controlled cars. Except, this one can shapeshift into two different kinds of vehicles, which it does any time it flips over, allowing it to simply continue running instead of having to flip itself back to the correct orientation.
The LEGO Technic App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle can switch between two types of rides: a sleek racer and an exploration truck. Truth be told, it doesn’t exactly morph the same creative way those Transformers do. Instead, it simply has two different set of cabs – one on top and one on the bottom, so it automatically becomes a different car as soon as it flips over, with no part of the vehicle actually morphing into something else.
On one side, it has a race-style aerodynamic pillars with a spoiler in the back. On the other, it has a truck-style cabin with a large bed for loading cargo in the back. Both versions of the vehicle run on the same tank-style treads that have actual spinning wheels on both top and bottom, so the treads operate, pretty much, the same way, regardless of how the truck is flipped. Truth be told, they could have simply put the same style of vehicle on either side and it will still work the same way, but then they have to call it a “flip car” instead of a “transformation vehicle.”
The LEGO Technic App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle has a working bogie suspension that allows it to drive over uneven surfaces, while a pair of shock absorbers handles the vehicle’s reorientation once it flips over. It’s powered by two motors, too, so kids can learn a good lot about the engineering behind motorized cars when they put this thing together. Dimensions are 4.5 x 10 x 7.5 inches (height x length x width), so it’s small enough to drive indoors, allowing you to wreak havoc in living rooms, bedrooms, and everywhere else inside the house.
You control the car using a companion app called CONTROL+ that provides standard driving controls, allowing you to easily maneuver it around furniture, drive it up makeshift ramps, or drive it right into a wall. Unlike other cars that will switch directions when it hits that wall, the vehicle is designed to immediately flip over, at which point it shifts into the other car type. The app controls reflect that change, too, switching screens to match the new vehicle, all while keeping track of driver stats and giving you fun challenges to perform.
The LEGO Technic App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle comes out March 1st, priced at $139.99.