At last, the War for Cybertron trilogy comes to an end. While I do have plans to track down any repaints and the Titans and Commanders made in the past, it's safe to say that the line made its end once and for all. From a dynamic siege to the rise of Earth and the return of the animal kingdom, we certainly had a surprising good line overall, and what better way to end it off than the return of a shrunken Hot Rod? It's funny how the Prime Wars trilogy began with Legends Hot Rod before Titans Return made him a Deluxe and Power of the Primes a Leader, while 2021 had him in Studio Series 86 as a Voyager before Kingdom made him a Commander as Rodimus Prime and now he's a Core Class figure that ends this line while beginning Legacy much like Blaster has. So let's take a look and see what the final Core Class figure of the Kingdom line/first sneak peek of the Legacy Core Class figures have to offer.
Here is Hot Rod in his vehicle mode. You already know how these work; it's pretty much a miniature version of the vehicle mode he's known for in the past, there's not much else to say about it and it's something we're already familiar with at this point. It is a little more stylized here than the other vehicle modes, but the only complaint I do have is the lack of an Autobot insignia on the hood. Otherwise, the paint apps are good and the vehicle mode holds together well enough.
The sword can peg on top of the spoiler for weapon storage and it may or may not be as effective of a jousting weapon as one would hope. Who knows.
For a size comparison, here he is in-between Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, with the former being made for Kingdom in mind and the latter being a Buzzworthy release. These three certainly have been spoiled with WFC Trilogy toys of late, aren't they? Even Legacy has possible plans for them in the future, just watch! Butt yeah, the scale is pretty wonky but that was always the case with the Core Class crew overall.
Transforming Hot Rod is certainly different than what people are used to seeing, as it has nothing in common with either of his larger toys. The faux chest is there, but the real one is on his legs instead of being folded away, the arms have the wheels facing forwards instead of backwards, and no waist swivel is used in the transformation. The resulting robot mode certainly looks stylized compared to the other Autobots in the line. Between the proportions and lack of synergy between itself and his larger toys, he doesn't really feel like he's from the same line as the other guys do. He has more in common with the Legends figures of the past than he does the Kingdom line, with the Core Class figures before him aiming to be close to the already cartoon-accurate Kingdom figures (apart from Bumblebee the Wildcard) while the previous Legends figures were either based on the IDW comics or were closer to the not-exactly-spot-on looks of the Universe and Reveal the Shield Legends. He's not bad or anything, though I do find that the legs could stay together better while the chest should have more red paint so it can break up all that orange. And yes, he is hollow from the back, though while other figures were at least respectably hollow in certain areas, this guy can't take a break with his weirdness compared to other Core Class figures.
Head sculpt is done up nicely and is likely the one thing that helps him feel closer to the Kingdom Core Class figures. The paint apps are nicely applied at a small size, too! His articulation is mostly good but limiting in certain areas. His head can turn left and right, and his arms, elbows, hips, and knees are on ball joints. The spoiler does slightly hinder the head & shoulders (not the shampoo brand), but the latter is pretty restricted in terms of outward movement. Oh, and he has a sword, which is a very odd accessory for him to include given how he's usually associated with guns. I don't mind that perse, but I do know that the Legacy Core Class figures will have figures who come either with a sword or a fork/prong weapon that helps with combining them into a larger weapon.
Now with the spoiler, you can either remove it and turn this into some weird bow and arrow weapon or you can relocate the spoiler on his back so it can be accurate to the cartoon and free up the arm and head movement, and yeah, the back of the head is hollowed out. I know the other figures had their parts hollowed out on the back, but at least it was spread out evenly while still looking presentable. This, on the other hand, looks wrong.
And here is Hot Rod with the two other Core Class Autobots. Optimus Prime, despite being the same song and dance we've come to expect, does look good overall. Bumblebee's wonky proportions are odd but he's otherwise a nicely engineered Core Class figure. Hot Rod just feels a little lackluster compared to his two allies. Amusingly, he's shorter than Optimus but taller than Bumblebee. Still the weakest of the three.
And now, the entire Core Class line-up is here! I'll get around to ranking these guys in the near future, but it's great to have three Autobots, three Decepticons, a well-made Rattrap, and a shockingly nice new Predacon figure. Oh, and Dracodon exists.
Now then, let's get some Micromasters out of the way. This is the Astro Squad from Earthrise, paired up into an officially licensed NASA space shuttle. It's such a cool ship all around, and one that makes me so excited to track down Earthrise Sky-Lynx one day. The details are impeccable, and the paint apps, while simple, are generally applied throughout the figure (though the wings could be more flush with the front of the shuttle. In general, it's a great mini-shuttle.
The shuttle can be split apart if you ever wanted the duo to separate for some reason.
The transformations are not that great, with the chunks of the space shuttles combined with the limited space making them pretty frustrating in addition to the possibility of paint chipping. Their robot modes also have plenty of issues that clash with their redeeming qualities. Fuzer's a little better in spite of his lanky arms and thighs and I like that he has molded-on pistols, but the knees don't help him stay up that well while the kibble on Blast Master makes him look even worse than either the G1 Micromaster or the Thrilling 30 Payload accessory that came with Cosmos.
Articulation for both of them is about the same with ball-jointed shoulders and hips as well as hinge knees and a waist swivel for Fuzer, but they're not that great at posing because of the obnoxious kibble combined with the way they're molded.
And now we have the Race Track Patrol. On the left is Roller Force and on the right is Ground Hog. They certainly capture the feeling of 90s Micromasters but with differently sculpted details and worse rolling tolerances. While their colors are minimal once again, they do the job of capturing the looks of their vehicles pretty decently if you ask me. So there's not much else to say in that regard.
Their transformations are a little more straightforward. Roller Force is able to at least have his feet hinge down so he can stand up. The robot modes are what we've come to expect from them, they're the same song and dance we've seen in the past. Roller Force amusingly looks like an inverted color G1 Barricade, who was given a repaint from this guy and was renamed Runner since the bad-cop design from the Movies became the more popular depiction of Barricade, especially seen in Siege and Earthrise.
Their articulation is about the same so moving on.
Now for the weapon mode, it looks pretty bad. Like, there are times when they try to make the Micromasters work well as weapons but this really isn't the best way to do it. Especially when they look like broken-up cars. In any case, this looks so stupid.
You can have figures hold it no problem,, though the handle combined with the front of Roller Force makes it look even more awkward.
And finally, we have the Military Patrol. On the left is Bombshock and on the right is Growl. They make for nice little military vehicles, with one being the average tank with green and gray/silver while the other feels reminiscent of Animated Swindle thanks to the big cannon. They'll look cool with the effect pieces on them. They can also have the turret/cannon swivel around if you want.
Transformation is pretty similar to what we got before, with hinge-down arms and flip-out legs. But they at least look a little more original than the other guys, mostly due to Bombshock having a cannon on his back while Growl has his on his right arm. Pretty cool design choices if you ask me.
Articulation is the same as we've come to expect, though Bombshock has a waist swivel and neck while Growl can look up.
The weapon mode is a little more believable in terms of resembling what it's supposed to look like, and I'd say it's thanks to the militaristic designs and the use of the cannon underneath Growl's feet.
It's not too shabby when held on other figures, though they may need to have their joint tolerances in check so they don't weigh the arms down.
Final ranking (for Hot Rod): ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average Micromaster ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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