I am very sorry for the delay, folks. I actually started writing this review almost two weeks ago... but then I got sick while at the same time having one of the busiest weeks of work ever... then I guess I needed some downtime to help recover which included keeping any web-using I was doing being of the more passive sort. But if I want to keep this website going, I've got to keep adding new content! So for the first posting in May, I belatedly continue April's Hot Rod month with...
Review #23: Classics Deluxe Hot Rod / Rodimus Prime
Classics Deluxe Hot Rod with Fansproject
Protector Armor, Sidearm, and Blesser
Howdy, folks! Well, things went well in Columbus, although sadly I was right in suspecting there would be no superhero encounters. Anyway, while I expect I won't finish this review until I get home (if for no other reason then I don't have all of the photos that I'll need) I thought while sitting in the airport enjoying a Johny Rockets milkshake might be a good time to start.
Well then, Classics Hot Rod. This was one of the very first wave of Classics figures back in the ancient past of '06. The vehicle mode, I think, does a very good job of taking the consept of the original Hot Rod and updating him. Originally, he was what the designers in '86 thought cars would look like in the far flung future of 2005. So obviously, the designers of the new version just had to make him look like sports cars from the previous year, which I think they did perfectly. |
Sorry, sorry, I can't keep that line of thought going and keep typing with a straight face. Obviously this is nothing like the average sports car you will see on the street, although if you remove the spoiler it does bear a resembelence to a concept car called a Dome Zero, so at least it has that going for it. All in all, I'd say that this updated design found a nice way to update Hot Rod's original asthetic, which while cool to a kid in '86 today to an adult might look kind of silly, and still make him recognizably Hot Rod while making him look... well... kind of cool.
There are some Reprolabels on this guy. There was an earlier set for Hot Rod that made different modifications to his deco, but I went for this set for reasons to become clear later in the review. This set pretty much just changes the side panels, which originally featured a flame motif right behind the front wheels on each side. Now there is just the orange detailing on the lower half of each side, as well as the small Autobot logo behind each front wheel. I will admit the flames may have been better for Hot Rod... but again, the reason for these stickers will be more clear later in the review. The headlights have also been covered up with stickers that present some much nicer looking headlight detailing, but unfortunately don't seem to photograph well!
The larger Autobot sticker on the hood is also a Reprolabel, although just a stand alone one I had added to this Hot Rod well before I had the dedicated sticker set for him. As like many of the other original Classics figures, Hot Rod had no faction symbols other then the one revealed on his rub sign (located on his roof). I frankly think he looks better with a nice big one on his hood like his G1 version had.
There are some Reprolabels on this guy. There was an earlier set for Hot Rod that made different modifications to his deco, but I went for this set for reasons to become clear later in the review. This set pretty much just changes the side panels, which originally featured a flame motif right behind the front wheels on each side. Now there is just the orange detailing on the lower half of each side, as well as the small Autobot logo behind each front wheel. I will admit the flames may have been better for Hot Rod... but again, the reason for these stickers will be more clear later in the review. The headlights have also been covered up with stickers that present some much nicer looking headlight detailing, but unfortunately don't seem to photograph well!
The larger Autobot sticker on the hood is also a Reprolabel, although just a stand alone one I had added to this Hot Rod well before I had the dedicated sticker set for him. As like many of the other original Classics figures, Hot Rod had no faction symbols other then the one revealed on his rub sign (located on his roof). I frankly think he looks better with a nice big one on his hood like his G1 version had.
There is a curious asymetricality on the Reprolabels stickers. On one side (as seen directly above) the second and third side pannels from the front both feature red diagonal slashes through the orange on the lower half of the stickers. On the opposite side (as can be seen in the photo at the top of the page) the second panel has solid orange, and the diagonal slashes are only present in the third panel. If this was a printing error just on my set of stickers, a design flaw present on all copies of this set, or some sort of unfathomable intentional design choice, I could not say.
What becomes Hot Rod's weapon in robot mode can stow underneath the back end of his vehicle mode, and looks like some sort of jet engine spewing blue flame out from it. If you don't like the blue flame sticking out from behind Hot Rod, as it is his weapon's launchable missle, it can be omitted if you wish. Even if you do leave out the flame, I suggest still stowing the weapon itself back there, as otherwise it leads to his back end looking a bit gappy.
I still have a bit more to chat about on vehicle mode, but it isn't much longer before I need to get on an airplane, so I should go for now. I do have a layover on the way home, but not a long one... So unless I have some ungodly delay before my second flight, I expect I shan't get back to this again before I get home. So depending on my motivation when I get home, I'll be back either tonight or tomorrow night with the rest of the review. (Of course, as always, since I don't make this publically accessable until it is complete, the whole process should be painlessly instantaniously to you!)
What becomes Hot Rod's weapon in robot mode can stow underneath the back end of his vehicle mode, and looks like some sort of jet engine spewing blue flame out from it. If you don't like the blue flame sticking out from behind Hot Rod, as it is his weapon's launchable missle, it can be omitted if you wish. Even if you do leave out the flame, I suggest still stowing the weapon itself back there, as otherwise it leads to his back end looking a bit gappy.
I still have a bit more to chat about on vehicle mode, but it isn't much longer before I need to get on an airplane, so I should go for now. I do have a layover on the way home, but not a long one... So unless I have some ungodly delay before my second flight, I expect I shan't get back to this again before I get home. So depending on my motivation when I get home, I'll be back either tonight or tomorrow night with the rest of the review. (Of course, as always, since I don't make this publically accessable until it is complete, the whole process should be painlessly instantaniously to you!)
Oh god, it is good to be home! Not that I had a horrible time in Columbus, mind you. It was actually a pretty good time, or at least as good a time as any business trip can be. (Even if you have the best job in the world, being on company time is rarely quite as enjoyable as being on your own time.)
So anyway, I said I wanted to chat a bit more about the vehicle mode, yes? Well, spicifically I wanted to show off an additional accessory to go with the vehicle mode. In the G1 days, Hot Rod's original toy came with a regular ol' gun, but a year later he got reissued as a Targetmaster, which were Transformers with guns that were little Transformers themselves. |
The Targetmaster Hot Rod came with a partner named Firebolt, who turned into a gun that in vehicle mode could rather awkwardly be plugged into a hole on his engine block. I say awkwardly not because the gun didn't stay well when plugged in there... I just think it looked kind of silly. It was bad enough when you put one of the original Hot Rod's guns there. (Which you could do.) But at least they were somewhat sleek looking guns. Firebolt's gun mode was just a big blocky chunk of gun jammed onto the hood of a car, completely blocking the windshield. I suppose, technically, since Transformers drive themselves, that's not an issue. But it looked bad!
Now, this toy was not released as a Targetmaster, he did not come with an equivelent of Firebolt, and Hasbro did not intend there to be one. There was clearly not a way to plug anything onto the engine block. (Although for the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that a re-issue of this mold this past January by Takara did remold him so that his engine block could hold a mini-con.) So, what was popular third party manufacturer Fansproject (makers of the previously reviewed trailers for Classics Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus) to do when they wanted to produce a homage to Firebolt? Rather then have it plug into the engine block, they opted to have it attach to the spoiler via a little slot that would snugly hold onto it. (Caution doing this should be taken by anyone with a version of this mold featuring a chromed spoiler!)
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Since Fansproject is wise enough to avoid direct infringements on intellectual property, this Firebolt homage is named Sidearm. But, of course, once you buy him and stick him in you collection, you can call him whatever you want. Hell, you could call him Betty for all I care. But to me, he's Firebolt. Fansproject did a great job on him, he looks good in gun mode, and the unique soloution they came up with to allow him to attach to the vehicle mode both works well and looks good.
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Well, now that I am done with his vehicle mode, I have two main concerns... Home cooked food, and collapsing into my own bed! I eagerly anticipate both. Something is on the stove as I type this. But I should think, that while I cook and eat, I should hopefully have time to delve into Hot Rod's robot mode.
Well, there he is in robot mode, and he's got two little friends with him. Wait a second, two little friends? The one on the left is Sidearm / Firebolt, so who the heck is the one on the right?
That, my friends, is Blesser. Who the heck is Adam Shadowchild? Er... Who the heck is Blesser, you may ask? Other then being an obvious pallet swap of Sidearm (with the grey and black plastics switched, and the face painted blue rather then red) he is a completely original character created by Fansproject. Why would they do this? Well, 2011 was an interesting year, to put it mildly, and one of the interesting things that happened was mother nature basically deciding to beat the crap out of Japan. And Fansproject decided to do a little something to help out. The first 1500 people who made a donation of at least $15.00 to the Red Cross for relief to Japan, and then provided proof of this donation to Fansproject, got this little guy in the mail from them completely free of charge. It was an awesome thing for Fansproject to do, and a nice little extra figure to add to one's collection that has some special meaning. |
Both Sidearm / Firebolt and Blesser are pretty much unaltered from how Fansproject produced them with the exception of a tiny Reprolabels provided faction symbol on their chests.
Oh god, yes. I don't care if it is crap out of a box, after half a week of nothing but restaurant food, even if it was good restaurant food, it is good to be eating something I cooked myself!
Anyway, Hot Rod himself looks pretty darn good. In my opinion, an excellent update of a G1 character to a modern design asthetic. His articulation feels like it is slightly lacking, but remembering that he was in the first wave of Classics dulls the disapointment a bit, as when he came out this was pretty good. And, in fact, it still is. His hips, while not ball joints, can move most any way you'd like on the joints he does have there, forward, backwards, or outwards. Knees bend a good 90 degrees, and there's a swivel right below the knee. On his arms, while the shoulders are a ball joint it is one that is mostly for rotational movement, with limited ability to move on other axes. Also, I must say that I've noticed some stress marks in the plastic around these ball joints, so you may wish to be careful with his shoulders. On the other hand, however, these stress marks formed fairly early in my ownership of this toy and it has been well over half a decade since I got him, so he's probably fine. His elbows can bend 90 degrees, and his head can spin around 360 degrees. |
Some might ask why he doesn't have more dynamic arm movement, or any waist articulation. Some might say that, and I would respond, "Yes, that would be nice. But he's just a Deluxe, not a Voyager, so I can live with that."
Sidearm / Firebolt and Blesser certainly feature better articulation then G1 Targetmaster figures. Of course, anything is better then none! Basically, their hips are on ball joints which without knees may seem pointless, but at least allows them to have slightly dynamic spread legged poses, and their arms have shoulder rotation and bendable elbows. You can get a few decent poses out of these little guys. Hot Rod does have one little gimmick in his robot mode. His left arm has a little flip-out thing that on the packaging Hasbro refered to as a "comm unit," but is clearly supposed to be the little circular saw that Hot Rod used at one point in the 1986 film. |
Hot Rod can hold in his hand the weapon formed from the flame spouting engine that was previously under his vehicle mode's back end. Or, of course, he can hold the weapons formed by either Sidearm / Firebolt or Blesser. (Although technically, Blesser isn't a weapon. He is described as a non-offensive, "Duel-Barreled Extinguisher Rifle," probably as a non-offensive device fits in better with his intent as a charitable aid.)
There is a slight issue with the Targetmaster companions, however, having to do with the size of the holes in Hot Rod's fists. Most standard Transformers these days have 5mm fist holes, and Hot Rod features 4mm fist holes. Fansproject wanted these guys to be designed to work with both of those sizes, and thus the weapon modes feature two pegs, one of each size! Problem is that the 5mm peg kind of gets in the way if you want to use the 4mm peg. A work around can be produced by partially folding Hot Rod's hand in, so that when you plug the weapon into his hand the offending extra post ends up against the inside of his arm rather then obstructively bumping into his arm. This works, and he can hold the Targetmaster companions much better this way, but while from most angles it isn't too noticable it can look funny from a few angles.
Well, that's about all I have to say about Hot Rod. But wait... there's more!
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And I'll get to it in the morning. Where's that bed of mine? It calls to me!
There is a slight issue with the Targetmaster companions, however, having to do with the size of the holes in Hot Rod's fists. Most standard Transformers these days have 5mm fist holes, and Hot Rod features 4mm fist holes. Fansproject wanted these guys to be designed to work with both of those sizes, and thus the weapon modes feature two pegs, one of each size! Problem is that the 5mm peg kind of gets in the way if you want to use the 4mm peg. A work around can be produced by partially folding Hot Rod's hand in, so that when you plug the weapon into his hand the offending extra post ends up against the inside of his arm rather then obstructively bumping into his arm. This works, and he can hold the Targetmaster companions much better this way, but while from most angles it isn't too noticable it can look funny from a few angles.
Well, that's about all I have to say about Hot Rod. But wait... there's more!
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And I'll get to it in the morning. Where's that bed of mine? It calls to me!
And... so much for getting to it in the morning. As stated in the preamble, it is now almost two weeks later, and not even the right month anymore. But never mind that. I shall press ahead!
Now, the Hot Rods I have looked at thus far in Hot Rod Month have all been just that... Hot Rods. But as any fan of Transformers knows, when in the 1986 movie Optimus Prime died (for the first time... I swear, he dies and comes back almost as often as Dr. Daniel Jackson), and the leadership of the Autobots ended up falling upon Hot Rod. And when he took the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, he became Rodimus Prime. And as Rodimus Prime, he took on a new alternate mode, that of a futuristic space Winnebago! Lonestar would kill for this ride. |
For this version of Rodimus Prime, much like with Ultra Magnus it is Fansproject to the rescue! Of course, with Rodimus Prime, he isn't a truck with a trailer. His vehicle mode is supposed to be one single unit, making it a slightly tricker prospect to create using a third party add-on. But Fansproject has succeeded well. The "trailer" opens on the front end so you can slide Hot Rod into it, and then closes snugly around Hot Rod's vehicle mode to create Rodimus Prime's vehicle mode. The two pieces integrate together well and convincingly look like one unit, and you can even lift Rodimus Prime up and have him hold together.
Hot Rod's spoiler hides well inside of Rodimus Prime, and while it does stick out a bit on the sides it does fit in well with the flame pattern on Rodimus's side. The wheels that were Hot Rod's rear wheels are because of Hot Rod's transformation able to be extended out to the proper width to fit in as the trailer's forward wheels. Finally, Hot Rod's weapon, that in his vehicle mode was utilized as a flame-spewing engine, can be put to the same use by Rodimus Prime.
Some may complain that Rodimus Prime isn't supposed to have an exposed engine block. However, if I wasn't going to complain about Legends Class Hot Rod not having one then I'm not about to complain about the front end of a Rodimus Prime that was not originally intended to be the front end of a Rodimus Prime having one.
Hot Rod's spoiler hides well inside of Rodimus Prime, and while it does stick out a bit on the sides it does fit in well with the flame pattern on Rodimus's side. The wheels that were Hot Rod's rear wheels are because of Hot Rod's transformation able to be extended out to the proper width to fit in as the trailer's forward wheels. Finally, Hot Rod's weapon, that in his vehicle mode was utilized as a flame-spewing engine, can be put to the same use by Rodimus Prime.
Some may complain that Rodimus Prime isn't supposed to have an exposed engine block. However, if I wasn't going to complain about Legends Class Hot Rod not having one then I'm not about to complain about the front end of a Rodimus Prime that was not originally intended to be the front end of a Rodimus Prime having one.
Rodimus Prime here is sporting a chromed spoiler. The Fansproject "Protector" add-on set used here actually comes with an orange one that matches the colour of Hot Rod's spoiler, but Sidearm came with the chrome pieces that would better match the chromed spoiler of the Japanese release of the Hot Rod toy. The spoiler is made up of three pieces, two of which will be utilized in robot mode to extend the robot's spoiler. While on one hand it is certainly always nice when you have as few extra pieces as possible to deal with, in this case I thought it might be nice to use the chromed spoiler for Rodimus's vehicle mode and just deal with having to grab the two extra non-chromed pieces when I wanted to make Rodimus into a robot.
This is a very good looking Rodimus. Especially nice is the flame detail on the sides of his vehicle mode, which are not just flat, painted on flames but are actually molded in detail. It is also kind of neat that, while the flame detailing and exaust pipes were both details carried over from Rodimus's G1 design, this is the first time that the two elements have been combined to make it look almost as if the flames are coming from the exaust pipes.
Reprolabels featured in this mold include all of the red and orange detailing on his vehicle mode's rear end, the tail lights, and the small Autobot logo on the center forward portion of the roof on what will become Rodimus's chest. Also, while not a sticker from Rodimus's own sticker set, I used an extra Autobot logo I had to put an off-center one towards the rear of the roof, in a location that the G1 Rodimus also sported one.
There were additional stickers that Reprolabels had available that, frankly, I was not interested in. Fortunately, they were kind enough to make the stickers available as two seperate sets, saving those not interested in both of them a bit of money. These stickers (which you can view here, if you are curious) basically alter Rodimus's (and Hot Rod's) flame detailing to make him have more photo realistic flames. Not what I think of as a good Hot Rod / Rodimus asthetic, but if you like them then more power to you, and I do like that Fansproject made buying them optional. Also, for those who missed out on getting the original Hot Rod toy and have to make due with the more recent, and very differently coloured, "Battle in Space" version, there is a unique sticker set to better integrate the two piece's differing pallets.
But that is enough of the space Winnebago. It's robot mode time! Various pieces that you pull off from the trailer become new arms, new lower legs, a new chest / crotch piece, and a new head. Attach them all, in addition to the previously mentioned spoiler pieces, and you get this:
This is a very good looking Rodimus. Especially nice is the flame detail on the sides of his vehicle mode, which are not just flat, painted on flames but are actually molded in detail. It is also kind of neat that, while the flame detailing and exaust pipes were both details carried over from Rodimus's G1 design, this is the first time that the two elements have been combined to make it look almost as if the flames are coming from the exaust pipes.
Reprolabels featured in this mold include all of the red and orange detailing on his vehicle mode's rear end, the tail lights, and the small Autobot logo on the center forward portion of the roof on what will become Rodimus's chest. Also, while not a sticker from Rodimus's own sticker set, I used an extra Autobot logo I had to put an off-center one towards the rear of the roof, in a location that the G1 Rodimus also sported one.
There were additional stickers that Reprolabels had available that, frankly, I was not interested in. Fortunately, they were kind enough to make the stickers available as two seperate sets, saving those not interested in both of them a bit of money. These stickers (which you can view here, if you are curious) basically alter Rodimus's (and Hot Rod's) flame detailing to make him have more photo realistic flames. Not what I think of as a good Hot Rod / Rodimus asthetic, but if you like them then more power to you, and I do like that Fansproject made buying them optional. Also, for those who missed out on getting the original Hot Rod toy and have to make due with the more recent, and very differently coloured, "Battle in Space" version, there is a unique sticker set to better integrate the two piece's differing pallets.
But that is enough of the space Winnebago. It's robot mode time! Various pieces that you pull off from the trailer become new arms, new lower legs, a new chest / crotch piece, and a new head. Attach them all, in addition to the previously mentioned spoiler pieces, and you get this:
Here we have a very commanding looking Rodimus Prime. He's taller, he's bulkier, he's more powerful looking. He is a Prime.
His articulation is unimpared by the additions, and in some areas even improved. His arms are the most improved, what with them being almost completely new arms. The shoulder joints are the original shoulder joints, but there are new joints just below them to allow outward arm motion. Below that there are upper arm swivels, elbow joints, and then wrist swivels. The head is mostly the same articulation as it is the same joint the original head used, but some slight, "looking up," motion can be sort of faked by altering the angle of the slip-on larger head. There is still no waist articulation, but it would have been rather impossible to add it where none originally existed. His legs feature the same articulation as the base figure, but the feet (because of a joint needed for transformation) can now be kept flat-footed even when in a spread-leg stance. The pieces all fit well onto the base figure and look great on him. A few minor things that might look like flaws in the photos -- the original head poking out ever so slightly benieth the new one, and the joining point between the base figure's spoiler and the added on extensions -- don't stand out nearly as much in person. One of the nicest details here are the flames on the chest. Much like the ones on the side of the vehicle, these are not just flat, painted on detail. They are a multi-layered affair, but unlike the recessed detailing on the vehicle's side here the flames actually jut out slightly, even though when the chest piece was part of the vehicle's roof, the flames were flat within the rest of the piece. |
In addition to the previously discussed stickers, to Rodimus's robot mode stickers have added detail to the outer sides of his upper arms, and to the front of his legs to help smooth together the detail between the base figure and the leg extensions.
The leftover bits can form one of two things. The first option is a somewhat awkward looking tank that either Sidearm / Firebolt or Blesser can ride in:
Or, for the second option, if you pull off the wheeled part, extend down the base, flip out a few side pannels on the base, fold out a few little handles, and make a few other minor adjustments, you get a free standing gun battery that Rodimus can man, and which is highly remenicient of the one that was inside of G1 Rodimus's trailer.
As a bonus, the wheeled portion that you just pulled off becomes something that no past Rodimus has had... his very own equivelent of Optimus's little pal, Roller! |
When it comes to hand held weaponry, Fansproject had an interesting quandary on their hands. They wanted to incorporate Hot Rod's gun, but they wanted Rodimus to have the more standard 5mm holes in his hands rather then Hot Rod's 4mm holes. What to do? Create a gun that uses the base of Hot Rod's gun, but replaces the flamey missle bit with a new gun barrel and a new 5mm post. The left over flamey bit? You can stick that onto the back of Roller.
Of course, Rodimus can also wield either Sidearm / Firebolt or Blesser. As mentioned above, these guys feature both 4mm and 5mm pegs, and the 5mm ones are certainly better positioned for holding. Roller has a peg hole on his back that any of the above mentioned weapons can also be pegged into. Also, to make sure that Roller can be as versitile as possible in wielding the weapons that are available, the panel with the peg hole can rotate around, and has either a 4mm or 5mm hole depending upon which side is up. |
Comparison photo time! From left to right: Rodimus and all of his accessories compared with a Sailor Moon DVD case, Sailor Moon again helping provide a magical split screen shot to compare Hot Rod with Rodimus Prime, and finally a group shot of all of the guys I have with third-party trailers that form armor for them. (Optimus with Battle Tanker, Rodimus, and Ultra Magnus.) The group shot so big I didn't have enough white to house it in and you can see table peaking around the edges!
Well, there you have it. Hot Rod, a decent, dare I say pretty good, but not necessarally outstanding offering from the original Classics line up. Fansproject Protector, turning him into Rodimus Prime. A good figure. A great upgrade. I would definitely recomend this to adult collecters. The base Hot Rod toy would be a fine toy for child Transformers fans. The original version of him might be a bit pricey for a child's toy at this time, but while it is a bit on the scarce side now itself, you may have better luck finding the more recent "Battle in Space" version... if you don't mind a somewhat more "cartoony" colour scheme. (Of course, Hot Rod technically is a cartoon character.)
But bottom line: good toy, great add-on accessories.
Review added 34 April (it's still Hot Rod month, damn it!) by Yotsuya. Please comment!
But bottom line: good toy, great add-on accessories.
Review added 34 April (it's still Hot Rod month, damn it!) by Yotsuya. Please comment!