In car mode, the two blasters can be mounted to the front, and the effects for the forearms now work as exhaust effects. The final transformed product looks not unlike the car modes on the other two Hot Rods I have, with the caveat of, of course, still having that more posable robot mode. Also of note about this transformation is that it involves the arms flipping sides, replicating the one notable transformation pattern not done by the toys. I guess it still counts as a little fiddly, but it just feels less so to me. The transformation process is a fairly involved set up with a lot of moving parts, but even so I found it to be a little more intuitive than other, more fiddly Studio Series figures. In the case of Hot Rod, it’s also pretty distinctive, since it’s stuck with the character over the years. It’s sleek and, like Kup, presumably pretty easy to animate. Hot Rod’s alt-mode remains consistent with the other G1-inspired versions of the character, being based on the futuristic sports car mode from the movie. Aiding in the all-encompassing feel are the aforementioned alternate saw hand, his two blasters, the Matrix of Leadership (borrowed from Earthrise Optimus, and capable of actually being held this time around), an effects piece for the Matrix, and two effects for his forearm blasters. It helps to really give him that all-encompassing feel. In addition to the basic robot mode, Hot Rod also has a few cool built-in features, including a visor that drops down from the top of his head (in the same fashion as the Masterpiece version), as well as hands that flip out for his welder and a 5mm peg allowing the mounting of the saw hand for his right and left hands respectively. Even his vehicle mode kibble has been streamlined further than prior releases, meaning he’s a Hot Rod that doesn’t have the whole top of his car mode hanging off his back for once. It’s got a nice, sleek feel to it that seems really right for Hot Rod. The sculpt proper is a pretty spot-on recreation of the animation design, and is just a generally clean looking piece of work. He’s even got hinged hands, meaning it’s a Hot Rod that can finally hold a Matrix. Unlike the last pair of Hot Rods I looked at, he doesn’t suffer from any major points of restriction, which is a real plus. He’s not only got more functioning joints when in his robot mode, but also has generally a greater range of motion on those joints. In particular, Hot Rod winds up with an articulation scheme far improved compared to his Deluxe Class companions. This is, however accurate for Hot Rod from a scaling standpoint, and more over, the higher price point of the figure comes less from sheer sizing of the figure, and more from the complexity of the tooling and engineering. Given he’s a Voyager Class figure, Hot Rod does seem a little bit on the smaller side, being more in line with Deluxe scaling. In his robot mode, Hot Rod stands 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 28 practical points of articulation. He’s figure 86-04 (because 86-03 is the last of the Deluxes, which is Blurrr, and I didn’t wind up grabbing him…yet…). But, with it being the 35th anniversary of the movie where he’s definitely the lead, it’s hard to say that it was truly a shock that he was included in some sort of capacity this year, now was it? THE FIGURE ITSELFĪutobot Hot Rod makes up one half of the Voyager Class component for the ’86-inspired Studio Series line-up. That being said, he has, as of yet, been absent from the latest incarnation of the line with all of its centralized scaling and such. Even without being the franchise’s lead, Hot Rod’s made out pretty well on the toy front. Obviously, this didn’t stick, but that sure was the plan. Transformers: The Movie introduced a whole new slate of characters, and at the center of this new cast was the new planned lead for the franchise, Hot Rod, who would become Rodimus Prime before the film’s end. We just picked up this Hot Rod figure and you’re already telling me he’s irrelevant? “Hot Rod embraces his destiny, becoming Rodimus Prime and defeating Unicron.” AUTOBOT HOT ROD TRANSFORMERS: STUDIO SERIES (HASBRO)
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