Transformers: Masterpiece: Hot Rodimus (Hot Rod)
Takara
Retail: $74.99 @ BigBadToyStore

I am SUPER excited about this review! Takara’s Masterpiece Transformers line has been the Transformers collection of my childhood dreams. I never owned Hot Rod as a kid, so I love that I now have this one!

This Hot Rodimus, aka Hot Rod, is the second release of this figure from Takara. The first version was bigger and, with a few adjustments, became Rodimus Prime. I, unfortunately, do not that version yet.

This version is smaller and is designed to fit into the newer scale AND into Optimus Prime’s trailer. Sadly, he does not convert into Rodimus Prime.

The packaging is fairly standard for the Masterpiece line. It’s dark and sharp. The front gives great views of the figure in robot and car modes. The back is in Japanese and shows a lot of the figure features and accessories.

Hot Rod himself is pretty amazing. He’s fairly detailed in both modes.

In car mode, he is pretty screen accurate as far as I can tell. His colors are bright and vibrant. The chrome pipes, chrome engine, and orange headlights are really cool. The blue windshield is see-through and you can see some kibble through it.

Transforming into robot mode was easy enough I could figure it out without the instructions. He looks beautiful! His face looks really nice and I like the way he comes together to make a screen-accurate Hot Rod. My complaint here is mostly at the chest and shoulders. Some of the pieces don’t fit flush and stand out.

He has 33 points of articulation (these do not include articulation for transformation):

• Swivel joint at the neck (x1)
• Hinge joint at the neck (x1)
• Hinge joints at each shoulder (x2)
• Swivel joints at each shoulder (x2)
• Swivel joint mid-bicep (x2)
• Hinges at each elbow (x4)
• Swivel joints at each wrist (x2)
• Hinge joints at each wrist (x2)
• Hinge joints to each hand (x2)
• Swivel joint at waist (x1)
• Hinge joints at each hip (x4)
• Hinge joints at each knee (x4)
• Hinge joints at each ankle (x2)
• Hinge joints at each heel (x2)
• Rocking ankle hinges (x2)

He comes with a few cool accessories. He has two guns, a circular blade hand attachment, and a fishing rod. The guns can be attached in car mode in two ways.

To top things off, he has a couple of built in features. He has a fold down visor and his chest opens to hold the Matrix of Leadership (not included).

He looks nice next to the other figures in the line. He stands just a bit taller than the other Autobot car figures, but is smaller than Optimus Prime.

Breakdown:

• Playability – 5 out of 5. Hot Rodimus is amazing! His playability knows only the bounds of the imagination. He is easily posed and his transformation is fairly easy.
• Collectibility – 4 out of 5. The packaging is nice. The multiple images give some nice shelf appeal. It could only be improved by book-style type packaging displaying what’s inside the box.
• Paint Applications – 5 out of 5. Beautiful! The colors are awesome and they duplicate the screen character well enough that I can’t find any obvious differences.
• Standability – 5 out of 5. I love it! His rocking ankles make for easy standing and dynamic battle poses.
• Articulation – 5 out of 5. You can’t complain about 33 points! I like when a figure can move freely enough to be fun and life-like.
• Accessories – 4 out of 5. He only comes with 4 accessories. They are character appropriate, but he would have been awesome with his own Matrix.
• Affordability – 4 out of 5. $74.99 is a little more pricey than some might like, but this is a high-end, well-made figure. He’s worth it!

Overall impression: 32 out of 35. That’s a great score! Hot Rodimus is a good, solid figure. The upgrades the Masterpiece line give him are well worth the effort for collectors. Casual Transformers fans would be happy to have him too.

 

** Transformers and related characters belong to Hasbro and Takara. These images are for hobby only. Also, the background images were found on the internet. If one of the images belongs to you, I will gladly give credit.