Shortly after completing the initial build, Fiduccia was contacted by a friend and North Carolina resident Thomas Blackstone. Blackstone had assisted Fiduccia during the build by providing some crucial information and images of the screen-used truck that he obtained from his travels over the road. 

"He called me up one day out of the blue and said 'Optimus is down here'", explains Joe. "You need to contact these people and get your truck here."

It turns out that one of the two screen used trucks had made an appearance at a local touch-a-truck event in North Carolina earlier in the week.  Blackstone obtained some contact information from the show and passed it along to Joe.

The screen-used truck was about to be placed on a cargo ship and sent to London for the premier of Transformers: The Last Knight.  But just a few days after that conversation with Cody, Fiduccia's dream became reality. He was side-by-side with the truck he had attempted to replicate just one year ago.

Joe tells us: "I was speechless. Our family lost almost everything because of this build. And I had personally entered a severe depression, wondering if our decision to replicate Optimus was the right one. But on that day...it felt right. On that day, I was able to show Ryan what life's rewards can look like if you just keep the faith."

Ania, Joe, and Ryan Fiduccia spent almost 4 hours with Cody and his team in North Carolina. The team was extremely impressed with their build. They were gracious enough to do an interview with Joe, which even turned into an unexpected viral video online. Before departing, they gave Joe a tour of the factory where his replica truck (the base Western Star) was built. 

"It was awesome", says his son Ryan. "I really enjoyed it."

"I am proud of Joe", says his wife Ania. "He worked hard for this, and our family needed a break."

Joe tells us the screen-used trucks had been modified slightly from his replica of the Age of Extinction version. And that there were some noticeable differences between the two.

"They modified their front end. Their hood scoop was much lower than the first version, and the Autobot emblem in the front changed in design. But those were the biggest variations. Most of the other differences in things like paint color, cab size, and custom mods I already knew about before coming here."

We invite you to watch the video below of a day that broke records in Transformers history. A day that helped breathe new life into the Fiduccia's, fueling them to continue with their journey into parts unknown.