Someone has created an Optimus Prime action figure / toy / collectible that transforms on its own. It even responds to voice commands and you can drive it around via an app. If this interests you in the least, here’s a video showing it off:
I have to admit, that is really cool. It’s great that they used the original transforming sound effect and that they got Peter Cullen to voice the dialogue. So props to the maker of this for doing it right.
It contains over 5000 components, 60 microchips, and 27 servo motors, with more details at the official site. As you might expect, technology this awesome is not cheap. $700 is out of my budget for such things, so I won’t be able to provide a hands-on review. Hopefully in the future it’ll get a lot cheaper, because it would be a great addition to my desk.
The reviewer in the video declares this the coolest toy ever. Of course that’s debatable, but I’m not going to argue with that. It is indeed awesome. Do you know of a toy or toy-like collectible that is more awesome?
Buffet o' Blog 
Robert Mays
I have to admit that is awesome. I would not shell out 700 bucks for it, but it is awesome. I do wonder if it will roll when it is a truck, though. Of course, if you paid 700 dollars for it, you don’t want it rolling around and get damaged. My next hope is that they will come up with a Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons that will do all the work around the house for you, and still have some personality as well. Then we will have the best technology ever.
Thomas Wayne
It does drive around — you can give it voice commands or use the app to control it. Hopefully in the future it’ll get cheaper and also learn the ability to bring me a beverage. And like you said, a robot like Rosie (or any robot) that does the dishes will improve quality-of-life many times over! I’d pay quite a bit to never have to wash dishes again!
Are you wanting a robot with personality in hopes it will laugh at your puns? š
Robert Mays
Being as all my cool friends live too far away to laugh at my puns, that would be a feature I would add. I would also add a female translator to it (since I am the only male in my home) to translate various phrases, sighs, and emotional outbursts uttered that have more meaning than half a library (apparently) but are not spoken in any written language.
Thomas Wayne
I don’t think distance is the reason why people don’t laugh at puns… š But the female translator is a good idea. However, since any sigh or gesture can mean 5011 things (and they may not even understand how they feel), perhaps the robot could display a code with a simplified response like: stop talking, talk more, leave the room, meltdown imminent — prepare for impact. š
Thomas Wayne
Keeping in mind how awesome this “toy” is, try to imagine a future when the cost of production goes down a lot so more people can afford it. So then more Transformers can be produced like this. Then someone can script them to interact with each other wirelessly for some unique entertainment and/or play.
As voice recognition and synthesis improves, eventually they could be programmed with “AI” to carry on a conversation with you, in character from the show. How cool would that be?