Even though people like Hot Rod today, there's still a handful of people that get childhood PTSD whenever they remember seeing him be used as a distraction by Megatron to kill Optimus Prime. Still, I feel Hot Rod's a character that can be used in better ways beyond just acting as the next Prime. Maybe not as a care-free hippy as he was in IDW, but perhaps him wanting to be as great as some of Cybertron's legends. Either way, I'm glad HasTak has given him two new figures in the year of 2016. One is a Masterpiece toy that looks neat but I have no plans of owning, and the other one is a Deluxe figure that makes me want to buy the rest of Titans Return.
Here we have Hot Rod in his car mode. It's a much sleeker take of the original 1986 vehicle aesthetics that take Hot Rod from looking like what the Dome Zero is to looking even further like what a car in 2005 could have been. The spoiler, windshield, and pipes feel more like Hot Rod than Hot Rod did in the past, and it's so good that I added even more awesome to this toy. Originally, the figure didn't have painted rims, nor were the pipes given a sheen, so with a silver sharpie, I gave this toy the touch-ups it needed.
For a vehicle mode comparison, here he is next to the Classics Rodimus, which was the first version of the character to be a modern toy interpretation. Classics, despite being a filler line to keep shelves stocked after Cybertron ended and when the first live-action movie was delayed for 2007, was a massive success with G1 fans, and since then we have had Universe, and multiple forms of the Generations line. A decade after the original Classics toy was made, Hasbro has finally made a brand new mold for the character in Titans Return. Comparing the altmodes does seem hard to do because Classics Rodimus was already looked good for what he was. In this case, both altmodes look good, though I prefer the spoiler on Classics Rodimus. Now for those asking, Rodimus was not named as Hot Rod because Hasbro didn't trademark the name and had to use terms like "Rodimus Major" or "Rodimus Minor", though I feel Rodimus is good enough for a name when he's too young to be Hot Rod yet steps down as the leader of the Autobots.
Here he is next to Generations Kup. I don't have the Titans Return version, and I sadly no longer have Sargeant Kup. Shame too because he was pretty good. The two figures don't really match up that well. Kup just fits better with Classics Rodimus than he ever does with Hot Rod.
The Titan Master is Firedrive, and it's an underpainted robot that makes him look more like he's turned to stone. Also, he'd stand out even more in the head mode because of how red the faceplate is.
He can peg onto the small pegs of the robot mode, sit on the combined cannons, or can sit in the cockpit and have the cannons plug onto the sides.
Transforming Hot Rod is fairly close to the G1 toy, yet it manages to feel less slavish thanks to a panel that fills in the gap of the robot chest and the legs having the rear wheels hinge so they can add some beef for them. The way the backpack folds up and the chest being a bigger chunk of plastic than normal is expected due to the Titan Master gimmick making the engineering simpler.
In robot mode, Hot Rod looks like the 1986 character model with a modern twist, though not to the extent that Classics Rodimus makes. The design looks pretty good, and I do like how the waist below works well. The waist up does look a bit off. The hands aren't seen well enough from the side and back views, both the chest and backpack stick out a bit more than they should, and the spoiler isn't as prominent as it should be.
The faceplate attached to the Titan Master looks decent. That said, I wish the face looked a bit less washed out, as it'd look neat with some silver paint than white paint. The eyes look a little too small on his face, and as mentioned previously, the all-gray body of Firedrive sticks out badly from the rest of the head.
Hot Rod's articulation is pretty solid. His head is on a ball joint yet can't look up and down that well. Shoulders are on ball joints, bend at the elbow, swivel at the elbow, and the hands can sort of hinge inwards. The waist swivels, hips are on ball joints, and the thighs swivel, too. The knees bend 90 degrees, and the feet can slightly hinge.
Hot Rod's weapons consist of two twin rifles. They look decent save for the hollow parts and how unpainted they are.
Here we have Hot Rod next to Classics Optimus Prime and Generations Kup. He still doesn't look that consistent in terms of aesthetics as Optimus and Kup could fit in the same collection together, though Optimus has the dreaded kibble issues that made him feel dated compared to what has come since.
For a robot mode comparison, let's bring back Classics Rodimus. He certainly looks bulkier in the chest, almost like he's a beefier Rodimus Prime, but he felt a little too wide for a Hot Rod, and his leg articulation was somewhat weird, even for its time. Classics Rodimus may not be as sleek in some ways as Titans Return Hot Rod, but he's still a decent toy to keep.
The first repaint is Legends Hot Rodimus. It's got a much better painted Titan Master (this time representing himself and the larger body being his transtector as in Japanese fiction). Included with him is a Firebolt that's repurposed as Shaoshao Li, his Kiss Player. Yes, Takara kept that garbage canon intact. The deco's different here from Hasbro's, going for a more cartoon look than TR Hot Rod, and the chest is retooled so it can look flat as the animation model did. While the deco does look nice, I personally don't think it's worth paying double what the Hasbro version cost. Also, we don't need this Firedrive anymore, as we'll discuss later.
The second repaint is Street Fighter II X Transformers Ken/Hot Rodimus. This uses the same new tooling that Legends HR used, but now it's opaque than clear. Ken's the Headmaster this time. It's so weird to see a Transformer that's painted to look like a human, but how do you explain the broken knees Ken will have when he becomes a head??? Ken may have not appeared in it, but the Power Rangers/Street Fighter crossover seems more worthwhile, especially the Ryu Ranger.
Now, remember when I said that there's no real need to get Hot Rodimus? Well, we got Siege Battlemaster Firedrive! Compared to Takara's version, he's noticeably whiter on the limbs and barrels, while his torso is black. The solid white arms and legs do make him feel like he's gang molded from a repaint of his. IDK why, but I have that feeling. Some silver paint should fix that. At least he's better looking than the previous Targetmaster attempts, though both Fracas and Singe look better than this.
The articulation is what you'd expect for the little robot. Ball joints at the shoulders and hips. No knees, though that's replaced with the transformation joint at the waist.
The barrels of the weapon mode can become a blaster that mounts on Firedrive's arms with a 3mm peg.
Here we have the two Masters together! On the left, it's for a Titan! On the right, it's for a Battle! Yeah, I added a visor on the head version. You can tell where they got the inspiration for the design of the character, especially when Hasbro made the Titan Masters for those that were never Headmasters to begin with become their Targetmaster partners with new roles. Siege Firedrive has more colors on him, at least.
Weapon mode is what I expect: a robot that's folded up to vaguely resemble a canon. I kind of wish there was more paint added since I'm sure the gun mode can look cooler than it is right now.
But, what I do like about this toy and the rest of the Battlemasters are the effects pieces! You can now simulate Firedrive and your Transformers with 5mm compatible weapons to shoot or make massive blasts. There are also small dots for Siege figures so they can look shot for select effects.
Hot Rod can now have a Targetmaster partner as intended, and that happily sums up my review on Siege Firedrive. As for Hot Rod himself, I like him! He makes for a nice take on the G1 design despite some flaws, and considering how he captures the sleeker appearance that the Classics Deluxe doesn't have, he's worth getting for any collection! Oh, and I got him for 6 bucks and Firedrive for free, so that may seem a bit objective, yet that makes me like this toy even more!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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