Playing with Hasbro’s ultimate toy, the $750 self-transforming Optimus Prime

I won’t be buying one of these. I can’t justify that $750 price tag, now that everyone knows the “it’ll teach my kids to program!” excuse isn’t sound. But I wonder if I’ll come to regret it, the same way I regret not snapping up an $800 Lego Ultimate Collector’s Edition Millennium Falcon when I had the chance — or if, perhaps, an even better version will come along that’s even truer to the ‘80s animated series, one that doesn’t have to turn around before it transforms and hopefully one with inertial sensors to balance itself.

I wouldn’t count it out because we now live in a golden era of glorious toys that kids could never afford: $2,200 hoverboard go-karts, $300 3D-printed Nerf blasters, $160 self-pressurizing digital water guns, $400+ portable gaming PCs, $1,000+ self-flying cameras and folding phones, and one incredible Star Wars toy after another (Radio Flyer Landspeeder, Razor Crest ship, Boba Fett helmet, Mandalorian Nerf rifle). And Lego’s R2-D2 is a perfect example of where such a toy has improved.