30 years ago, every kid who was lucky enough to see Transformers: The Movie in theaters
must have had something stuck in their eye when Optimus Prime died. But if the Autobots had had access to a 3D printer, maybe Optimus wouldn’t have had to die before passing the Matrix of Leadership on to Hot Rod—they could have just 3D-printed a perfect duplicate like Bob Clagett did.
Source: io9 – 3D Print Your Own Transformers Matrix of Leadership So Optimus Prime Doesn’t Have to Die