“He was always on our wish list”: Agora Models’ James Franks discusses the company’s Optimus Prime build

James, thanks for making time. For anyone new to Agora Models, can you talk us through what you do?
Agora Models are experts in the luxury model kit sector. Our finished models are museum-quality replicas of some of the world’s most legendary icons, such as the Aston Martin DB5 from James Bond, Jaguar E-type roadster of the swinging sixties, racing sports car Shelby Cobra 427, Optimus Prime from the TRANSFORMERS franchise, and the technologically advanced Apache Longbow helicopter from Boeing.

Does the company have a history in licensing?
Both I and our other founding partner Liam White have been licensing brands for decades, counting product successes from the likes of Games Workshop, Lord of the Rings, Disney and LucasFilm in their portfolios. Since founding our own luxury big-scale model brand, we have had our sights firmly fixed on creating exciting products from brands that excite in both current pop culture and nostalgia brands of times passed.

Your Optimus Prime model looks fantastic. What made this character – and the TRANSFORMERS brand – one you wanted to bring into the portfolio?
All our models start from a passion to build. If we aren’t excited in a new idea, then why should our customers feel excited? From the initial idea, the Agora team will only progress a project if we can visualise the model and think “That would be so cool to build!”

All Agora Models creations are aspirational and have a strong story to tell. The G1 Optimus Prime is an icon of our childhoods so – on a personal level –he was always on our wish list. Nostalgia is also key for our customers’ choice in kits, so when combined with Optimus Prime’s classic and instantly recognisable visual design, he makes a true scale model super star.

What kick-starts the team’s design process on a project like this?
One of the fundamental and little talked about benefits of modelling is the mindfulness and improved sense of wellbeing offered by construction kits for adults, particularly men. Our market is 90% men over 35 years who traditionally find it difficult to embark on a creative hobby to help de-stress their minds. More and more research is showing the positive benefits of modelling in this age-group.

“All of our creations are aspirational and have a strong story to tell.”

So, we approach each model from a holistic point of view for the duration of the construction process. Right from the start, the model – which has over 1,000 separate parts – must be a pleasurable process to build, with clear points of achievement along the way. Our Optimus Prime model is fully pre-painted, so you are pretty much guaranteed to get a museum-quality finished model to feel proud of accomplishing and showing off to friends.

Terrific insights. Thank you. With that in mind, instructions must play a key role in achieving a pleasurable build. What are some musts when it comes to instructions?
Unlike the model kits we grew up with, we don’t try to cram all the instructions onto a single sheet of paper. Our content team come from an editorial background and understand the importance of clear, detailed instructions. We photograph every step of the build in house and write the instructions in parallel, including tips and alerts where particular attention is required as we undertake the build. Several drafts are then tested by our trusted network of experts to ensure no screw is left unaccounted for.

The end result is several hundred instruction photographs with accompanying text in a screen-friendly format that customers can easily follow on a computer screen, or even a phone screen. Our instructions are then translated into seven other languages to make our Optimus Prime accessible globally.

Great. Before we wrap up, were there any elements of this build that were tough to execute?
All our models contain an electronic system offering lights and sounds. For this model, it was important to have Optimus Prime replaying his most memorable quotes from the original TV series – with his mouth in sync with the words. To complete his action-poses, he comes with an Energon Axe and a Blaster, so we needed to ensure the balance and grip of his articulated hands was faultless.

Last question! What helps you have ideas?
Being scale modellers ourselves, it’s easy to visualise what would make a great model kit. Ideas can come from anywhere and are continual!

Thanks again James.