Review: #616
Name: Hot Rod
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations - Studio Series
Year of Release: 2020
Size Class: Voyager (Wave 11)
Mold Status: new
VEHICLE MODE:
In order to make the 35th anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie, a wave of Studio Series was dedicated to characters from that movie. Hot Rod transforms into a futuristic red sports car.
The vehicle is generally pretty good, although the robot legs stick out the back, and the front doesn't tab in perfectly smoothly.
While Hot Rod is sold in the Voyager class price point, size-wise, he is closer to being a Deluxe, above is a comparison against TLK Deluxe Bumblebee.
In order to justify the higher price point, not only is Hot Rod a lot more complex than your average Deluxe, but he comes with a bunch of accessories, including: two guns, two flame effects, saw, Matrix, and an effect for the Matrix.
The flame effects, which is cast of soft plastic, can peg onto the back of the side exhausts.
The two guns and saw pegs together and can tab onto the hood.
Alternatively, they can peg onto the roof. Unfortunately, the Matrix and its effect cannot store in vehicle mode.
This is a fairly decent vehicle mode, it's just a shame that the pieces with the headlights don't tab smoothly against the rest of the hood.
TRANSFORMATION:
This is where Hot Rod helps justify his higher price point, as he definitely has a much higher parts count than a Deluxe. There are a lot of small panels that open and close, so the smaller size actually makes him a little bit annoying, this wouldn't be a problem if he was scaled larger. He is like a scaled down version of the Masterpiece figure, and transforms to how you'd expect Hot Rod to. The sides become the arms, and the legs unfolded from the back. There are a few twists required to get the hood as the torso, and the rest of the car shell folds upon his back.
ROBOT MODE:
Hot Rod's robot mode is pretty accurate to his appearance in the Movie, it's just the right balance of detail between the simple animation model and real life.
This is a thing that plagues nearly all Hot Rod figures, but he has a fairly substantial backpack formed from most of the vehicle. However, it compacts quite well and doesn't get in the way at all.
The headsculpt is really good and captures the character perfectly.
However, what is amazing that they managed to fit it at this size, and not having it feel fiddly at all, is that you can open the top of the head and flip out the visor. It works so well.
In terms of size, he's still roughly Deluxe size, given that Siege Sideswipe isn't that tall for a Deluxe. He's much shorter than your typical Voyager figure though.
As part of the Studio Series line, he comes with a display stand.
The stand shows off the inside of Unicron, during the scene where Hot Rod was just about to open the Matrix.
Articulation is another area where Hot Rod shines. He has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, hands, waist, hips, knees and ankles.
The hands even open up. He's also very stable even though a lot of the weight is above the legs.
The color scheme works well. Depending on tolerances, the red pieces behind his legs may detach, which can be annoying.
Hot Rod has a plethora of gimmicks, the visor was already touched upon earlier, but his right hand can flip back and reveal a blowtorch.
The two flame effects can peg onto the exhaust on his arms.
The flames look great on his arms and even work as blades.
His right hand can also flip back to reveal a peg, and you can then peg the saw onto it.
The saw is a tad bit big, proportionally. The blade itself spins though.
Thanks to his hands being able to open, he's able to hold the included Matrix of Leadership in his hands.
The effect part can peg on top of the Matrix, to represent the scene where he opened the Matrix.
And then finally, he is able to hold both his hands. Even though his hands open, he holds the guns very securely.
The guns and saw can store together on his back. Since the saw pegs onto the guns, this means you cannot store only the saw itself if you want him to wield his guns.
Otherwise, just like in vehicle mode, the Matrix and its effect part cannot store anywhere in this mode.
While Hot Rod can feel light in your hands, there are no visible hollow parts, and he just feels that he is built much more solidly than your typical figure.
A fantastic robot mode, although the shoulders are too close to the body so they don't have as wide a range as you would expect.
OVERALL:
Hot Rod is a really nice update to the character, and the best figure we've had apart from the Masterpiece versions. His vehicle mode has a few minor flaws, and the shoulders in robot mode can get in the way. However, the plethora of gimmicks and accessories, as well as a much more complicated engineering helps justify the Voyager price point for what is essentially a Deluxe sized figure.
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