I thought it was a no brainer to get a light kit to accompany this LEGO set. Being my first, it took me a little while to install but as you can see from the images, the final effect is worth it. There are two versions of the kits available; a standard lighting kit and a more advanced one that produces sounds and comes with an infrared remote control.
The kit was reasonably straightforward to install, much to my surprise. I have zero experience with such things and yet the instructions (provided as a PDF) were fairly easy to follow. The kit comes with certain pieces, such as the shoulder lights etc, pre-installed inside replacement studs. Items like the eyes and circuit boards come with adhesive backings which are stuck to various parts of the figure and all are concealed well bar one connector piece, which needs to be adhered to the back of Prime’s ‘crotch’. Unfortunately, very specific wire lengths won’t allow for any manoeuvrability here. Speaking of manoeuvrability, I found that Prime’s head lost some poseability after the eye lights were installed, due to the wires on the right side of his head. This is unfortunate and of the very few downsides to this kit. Another problem I found was that the cable to attach the speaker to the circuit board was much shorter than as shown in the instructions. But with a little fiddling and some forcing, the connector went into the circuit board and all worked fine.
Another downside (which is also unavoidable from what I can tell) is that the circuit board and speaker needs to be fitted into the chest cavity where the Matrix would normally sit. Once those two parts are in, unfortunately there is zero room to house The Matrix. Finally, regarding gripes, the kit is supposedly designed in a way to have it fitted and still transform the figure. Unfortunately, this isn’t fully the case, as the jetpack needs to be removed for transformation, so you’ll find yourself unplugging the jetpack lights every time you wanted to transform Prime. Now, if you’re like me, you’ll likely just keep this guy in robot mode so there’s no need to worry about breaking the seemingly delicate connectors by constantly un-plugging and plugging them. The same goes with the Energon Axe but again I’m not massively keen on it due to the aforementioned weight of it hindering poseability. The Axe does look great lit up though but it’s not something I’d want on show with Prime, as the blaster looks cleaner in / on his Arm.
In terms of audio, there are a number of ‘tracks’ the kit comes with. There’s a combination of music and numerous sound effects but sadly, no voice. I feel not including some of Peter Cullen’s original, iconic lines is a missed opportunity. Instead, you’ll be able to play Unicron’s Medley from the ’86 film, the original ’84 opening credits theme music, the classic transforming sound, and a series of sound effects ranging from the backpack firing up and the truck’s turrets / engine sound. There are some various sound effects too which I can’t quite discern and will likely never use.
The volume can also be adjusted as well as the brightness levels, so there’s good functionality with this kit. Overall, I’d say it’s a worthy addition to the set, providing the minor hindrances I’ve mentioned don’t bother you.
This is by far one of the best kits I’ve bought in recent months and I’d be surprised if many disagreed. And the additional LeLightGo light kit will be the icing on the cake for many I’m sure. All we need now, aside from a little Energon and a lot of luck, is a G1 Megatron to face Prime off against so that fans can recreate the classic Sherman Dam fight from the original series and their classic face-off from the 1986 animated film.