Transformers Studio Series TLK Hot Rod review

This isn't the first time Hot Rod got a Studio Series toy. He previously had one in the first wave of 2020 Deluxes in his WWII form, being a pretty logical reuse of the Bumblebee figure from that same time period in The Last Knight; it was not a great Deluxe figure, though, as it shares the same problems that plagued Bumblebee. I guess you could say SS86 Hot Rod counts, but that's the G1 version. So in 2022 as a deservedly small bit of attention was put towards The Last Knight (since the far superior first movie turned 15 that year), Hasbro thought to give fans a version of the character that is much stronger in accuracy, engineering, and being easier to get than the previous Deluxe version back in 2017. So go beyond your Walmarts and get your chance to obtain Studio Series Hot Rod!

Here is Hot Rod in his vehicle mode. A Lamborghini Centenario, this guy will already have to win over the fans of the car brand. I think it's pretty successful. The details you'd find in such a car, including the subtle lining around the doors and bumper as well as the sculpt work applied onto the tires, doors, and headlights show Hasbro's devotion towards making their cars as accurately as possible with all the licenses they use. Maybe it's my lighting, but the shade of dark or possibly gunmetal gray looks slightly brown. I can assure you that it looks accurate in-hand, even though it's not properly black.

The side of his alt mode does feel noticeably panel-liney, but the windows on the upper side of the doors do not match the rest of the toy because of the paint on the clear plastic vs the opaque plastic. It's not terrible, but it's still something worth noting. One thing I like is that despite having snap-on wheels, he rolls very well! Why can't other Transformers do that?!

The time gun can be stored on the back with a tab going on a small slit, which is alright for what it is. It's also nicely sculpted and has some blue paint apps to make it less monotonous. 

For a vehicle mode comparison, here he is with his wavemate, Crosshairs. While he didn't transform next to him or remain in vehicle mode like with Bumblebee, Hot Rod and Crosshairs do scale pretty well as fairly small sports cars. Hot Rod's profile is slightly higher thanks to the rooftop being a bit taller than with. 

Transformation is very different from what I'd expect. After seeing the TLK Deluxe borrow the engineering of fellow Lamboformer Lockdown, specifically, the shitty AOE Deluxe. Also borrowing the same transformation scheme beforehand were Universal Ride's Evac and DOTM Roadbuster. But no, he's got an original transformation scheme! The arms are formed from the sides, yes, but they're much more proportionate and don't feel like they're etched onto the insides of the doors. The legs are made up from the back of the vehicle mode rather than having the legs just be independent of any car parts. The backpack is clean like the old toy, but we have door wings this time! And the chest is positioned accurately! The robot mode is outstandingly accurate to the CGI mode, as the toy designers keeping the Studio Series active ensured that they make the figures look as accurate as possible; Hot Rod does not fall short, with all of the sculpted details, key traits on the robot mode, and proportions being spot-on to the character design. While the legs do look a little hollow, it's mostly due to how far the wheels sticking out from the back that far (in addition to some fans likely mentioning that key details are a little inaccurate if they used promo renders). Either way, a very successful translation of our French boi.

His head sculpt is also accurately done, and I like how the orange is painted nicely onto the face without it overpowering the sculpted details he'd normally have as was the case for the dragon heads on Dragonstorm. His articulation consists of a ball-jointed head, shoulders that move front and back as well as in and out, bicep swivels, elbow bends, wrist swivels, waist swivel, hips moving freely on ball joints (though one of them pops off a little too easily), thigh swivels, knee bends, and a bit of ankle pivot despite it being limited ball joints. His time gun goes on his hand nicely so he can STOP DA TIME.

It's also interesting that the surrounding magazine of the weapon can unclip if you want to give it an entirely different look. It sort of resembles the other pistol Hot Rod used when his Time Gun isn't ready to work properly. By the way, was it ever explained how often he can make time bubbles? Like is it only possible every 24 hours? I know he used it twice in the movie, once against the TRF and again against Megatron, so maybe that's the explanation and he'd have to use it wisely? But yes, he's a much stronger take on the character than the TK Deluxe we got back in 2017! Maybe the matte black is better on the old release, but I'll take a new mold that's closer to the CG model any day over a slightly more accurate deco.

For a robot mode size comparison, he's pretty much on a good scale with the other Deluxes in the same size class, being comparable to Crosshairs and Bumblebee in terms of height. I kind of wish Bumblebee got a remake so he can be better proportioned (while also being as tall as this new Deluxe).  So yeah, definitely a good scale between these characters.

And here he is with his previous iteration, the WWII design. He's leaner, taller, and a much better toy than the other toy we got back in 2020! So yeah, if you're soured by the WWII figure, definitely get the TLK release. You won't be disappointed apart from the slightly annoying ball joint for one of the hips.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Legacy Inferno review

With the Kingdom line giving fans long-awaited Beast Wars updates, Hasbro was destined to give us an Inferno at some point, right? Well, they did, only it was G1 Inferno rather than the Beast Wars version. It as a cock tease considering fans generally prefer the Predacon fire ant rather than a red fire truck version of Grapple (though in his defense, the latter did have better pegs for the ladder base than his mold mate). However, fans are now more than happy to get their hands on the definitive version of the character considering how there is no other modern update of him (and Takara hasn't even completed the Season 1 cast for their Masterpiece line). So joining alongside Wave 2's Tarantulas is the protector of the queen and its ant colony!

Here is Inferno in his beast mode, which is a fairly solid take on the fire ant he turns into. Normally, these insects are not easy to pull off due to the skinny proportions they possess on top of their delicate legs. Remember in 2015 when Hasbro made a flying ant toy to tie-in with the Ant-Man movie and was riddled with some of the worst quality control due to its inability to stand on all 6 legs? This guy may not have as many points of articulation. yet by making the body lighter as well as adding fewer points of articulation, they succeeded in making the insect look accurate AND stable at the same time. Apart from that, the texturing for the body as well as the legs and antennae is nicely done, and the eyes being translucent is a nice touch. The pincers being bright blue is a little odd, but it is sort of accurate to the show. Oh, and his beast mode is actually of female appearance, similar to Tigatron and Waspinator.

The cannon is able to peg on the back, which isn't really the best form of weapon storage as I'd prefer he'd store it in the abdomen had it not been for the presence of the robot legs. At least it works as an attack mode.

For a beast mode size comparison he's the only Predacon from Season 1 to be a Voyager, as Megatron was a Leader Class toy and everyone else was a Deluxe. While he may seem oversized when put next to everyone else, it makes sense given how he's meant to be a larger-scale character that's only shorter than Megatron. 

Transformation is fairly involved, doing more than just the beast head chest schtick one would expect from a design like this. The arms and legs of the robot mode aren't necessarily used for the beast mode, as the arms instead make up a bit of the inner body of the throax while the legs are within the abdomen. In addition, I like how the beast legs are not as annoying to work with as they are with Waspinator, who weirdly has two insect legs on his legs rather than on the arms like with Inferno. As for the robot mode, his design is much closer to the cartoon than the original toy, down to his arms feeling rather small compared to the rest of the body. It is accurate to the design, and the ant legs at least add some form of additional presence. The body is predominantly red, but at least the metallic blue and some black help break it up. Also forgot to mention but I like the bacl.having a bit of dry brushing. 

Head sculpt is perfect for a character like him, being gnarly and sinister at the same time while remaining befitting for a guy who's loyal to royalty. I love the refined sculpt and metallic paint, especially as it makes for a striking identity as is the case with every Beast Wars character. His articulation is also great, as his head is not only on a ball joint but his jaw is able to open and close! His shoulders move front and back, in and out, butter fly joints, double-jointed elbows, wrists swivel, waist swivels, hips move front and back, in and out, thigh swivels, knee bends, and ankles can pivot inwards. He can hold his gun, which is actually not cartoon-accurate because...

...it's meant to go with his ant butt as the propellor mode he uses from time to time. Yes, the abdomen opens up and can rotate in order to grant him his flight mode! You can't store it when it's closed, but at least the panels are painted. And for a robot mode size comparison, he's the second-tallest Predacon in Season 1! While we had to wait for Legacy to go with the Kingdom Predacons to complete Season 1 rather than use the entire line like with the Maximals, I'm happy that we still got to complete this faction with an impressive addition to both the team and the Legacy line. Highly recommend this guy to help you protect the colony FOR THE ROYALTY!!!!!!!

I also recommend the repaint made for Antagony, as it not only makes the figure look cool in this color scheme, but it also comes with an alternate Transmetal Scavenger that helps make this look like a separate character! The purple also makes this repaint look as lush as the average Skywarp. So yeah, get this AND Inferno!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Studio Series Crosshairs review

Crosshairs was covered waaaaay back 3 years ago, which is a different time period if you ask me. Ah, what a different time period before COVID happened and during the seemingly large chance of WWIII happening. I apologize for making this sound political. Anyways, TLK Crosshairs was a pleasant surprise after the mixed bag of the AOE Deluxe, as he doesn't have the rubber trenchcoat pieces nor a weird-looking vehicle mode. However, a Studio Series update was inevitable, especially after the lack of presence for that movie in a good while. Granted, the film wasn't well-received, but it, along with the preceding movie, shares the least amount of figures representing them both. So we'll see if Crosshairs' Studio Series entry is worth the wait.

Here is his backdrop, depicting him getting his finger broken by the knockoff C-3PO called Cogman (sold separately!). Yeah, I kind of wish it was his more iconic parachute scene from Age of Extinction, but this is a Last Knight release so shrug.

Here is Crosshairs in his vehicle mode. It's the same 2014 Chevrolet C7 Corvette Stingray model whose name you probably read in a dull voice similar to Thew in his review of the character's Power Battler in 2014. As expected, it captures the look of the real model quite well, and it is also the first time we see the model better resemble the on-screen car in terms of proportions. The original toy's look was a little squished, and the TLK version, while closer, didn't quite land the mark in terms of the design of the vehicle, and the color scheme, while not metallic like the real car, does look closer to the proper car's paint job. The black on the vehicle is also applied onto the car nicely, and we'll see if it either adds or loses to the deco in the car mode comparison.

In general, it's a great car as one would hope for a movie character, and it's nice to see that he has pinned wheels, though the rims feel like a mix between the Age of Extinction use of silver and the designs of The Last Knight. Honestly, while Hasbro could have easily decided to just make a chase variant to depict him with slightly altered decos or rims, but I'm happy that they chose to leave it here. It's not like Hasbro has any other incentives to make him worth getting again like with Jetwing Prime. 

His spoiler is unusually removable, which stems from it being a part of the toy being made on its own rather than being integrated into the car. I wish it was molded on since there's no glue used to keep it in there on top of it likely needing to be painted in black rather than left in gray. Maybe they're saving this for the inevitable AOE variant.

For a vehicle mode comparison, here he is with the TLK release. The first thing that stood out to me was the different shade of green used on this release compared to the TLK Deluxe. While neither version is 1:1 with how the actual car's metallic sheen looks, the shade of green on the Studio Series release is closer to what the car would look like if it was in a very lit room, like a light showroom instead of a dark one. His deco on the back is a little more dynamic than on the TLK version.

Transformation is very different than what the TLK version had, utilizing a new sequence not seen on the character till now. While the bottom of the car mode would hide the front of the robot mode underneath, it now faces upwards while its car parts are in their vehicle mode configurations. His legs transform similarly but not exactly like the old toy, and the same also goes for the back kibble, as it goes over the torso and onto the back rather than shifting around the back. His resulting robot mode is much leaner and closer to the CGI model than ever before. Gone are the massive car parts that were on his shoulders and chest in favor of a cleaner design from the front view. On the back, it's a mess, and probably a bit worse than the original in some ways (but we'll get to that in a moment). His trenchcoat kibble now uses parts of the hood for the cloak while the doors go on the back. His arms are no longer part of the vehicle mode and have their own, defined sculptwork this time. His shoulders don't utilize parts of the back of the altmode, and the tires now stay on the sides of the ankles rather than the back, which is actually accurate to the model. I do wish his legs had paint apps applied onto them, especially the feet since they could use some gunmetal gray to go with this torso, arms, and face.

Speaking of, head sculpt is much closer to the CGI model and doesn't lack any of the major paint apps he'd need, including his goggles (though I feel his left lens should be blue instead of red). The back of the head is lightpiping, which is needless since his eyes are painted. His articulation is kind of frustrating, as his head still moves with the same limitations of his older counterparts, shoulders move front and back as well as in and out yet still feel limited in spite of his cleaner shoulders, swivels bicep yet they feel too stiff, he loses the wrist articulation, his hips move front and back, in and out, thighs swivel, knees bend, his trenchcoat hinges in and out as well as up and down on the front, and he has some foot articulation thanks to the transformation. His twin guns are newly made for this mold, and while they can store in the coat, the tabs suck. Now remember when I mentioned something about the back of the altmode? You can remove part of the figure with a ball joint in order to make his silhouette cleaner. While this is a great display option, I'm not too much of a big fan of when you have to remove a part of a robot in order to make them cleaner. At least it's only a ball joint.

For a robot mode size comparison, Crosshairs is certainly a marked improvement compared to the original toy, having a more refined design that had not been done well with the TLK release. The sculpt work is more accurate, the colors are closer to the CG model and car, and the trenchcoat is better handled; the only thing is that the back kibble is worse, though that's something you can fix if you really wanted to. Honestly, this guy is nearly perfect; had his shoulder articulation and parts of the kibble been better handled, he'd be even better. As it stands, he is still an improvement with a few tweaks needed here and there.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Legacy Transmetal II Megatron review

It's weird how we're immediately going to Transmetal II Megatron because of us starting Season 1 and then getting straight to Season 3 rather than 2. Maybe Hasbro wanted to feel reassured on how they'd tackle the Transmetals when very few characters were given Transmetal II upgrades. Maybe Hasbro was more interested in providing Optimal Optimus a partner, which reminds me that I don't have him yet. Or maybe it's because they need a Leader Class man right away. In any case, he is a pretty good addition to the line-up that can take advantage of the need for Beasties in the Legacy line even after the prominence of the Kingdom line. So let's give Transmetal II Megatron his review!

Here is Transmetal II Megatron in his dragon mode. This beast is gorgeous, and probably my favorite dragonformer I own, probably more than Predaking or Dragonstorm. Of course, they're both quadrupeds rather than being bipedal, but I like the jagged look Megatron possesses, complimented by the red, orange, and gold color scheme he possesses. And with the mix of metal and organic elements as is the case with the Transmetals, on top of his wings being pretty dynamic (if a bit flexible given the materials they're made of), this is a great take on Transmetal II Megatron. I wish he had some metallic red paint to convey his look a bit closer to how it is in the cartoon, and that'd be a better use of conveying that form rather than using chrome. As for articulation, the wings can flap, and they can also fold downwards for a retracted look if you want. The neck has 4 ball joints, a hinge at the base of the head and jaw, the tail has 3 ball joints, a hinge where the tail connects, dragon arms that hinge front and back, in and out, thigh swivels, elbow bends, swivels for the claws, hinges for said claws, hips being able to move front and back, in and out, thigh swivels, knee bends (if they're not already bent), and articulation at the feet where they hinge up and down and rock side to side. His sole accessory is a flame breath effect piece, which is a bit chunky and looks like a translucent Cheeto in a good way. It's great he has an effect piece since his Kingdom/BWS1 self was in need of an effect piece.

For a beast mode size comparison, here he is next to his Season 1 counterpart, and for anyone wondering, this guy is closer to the cartoon (for the most part) since the Season 1 characters had more realistic beast modes rather than being fully cartoon-accurate like the Masterpiece versions of some of the characters. Megatron's T2 form is much more reminiscent of the show model, but the wings are toy-accurate. It's also worth mentioning that Hasbro assembled in reverse, as they're facing the wrong way. 

Transformation is somewhat different from the original toy, as his legs mostly straighten out while the dragon chest is not part of the right arm like on the old toy; it's not as involved as the original Transmetal II toy, nor does it have the same layout of the transformation scheme. At least it doesn't have a needless transport mode. Megatron's robot mode is impressive, with its demonic influence, continued organic design elements on the torso, and asymmetrical traits, such as the shins and the arms (which are even more asymmetrical as he has a different shoulder on his already unique left arm (which is the neck and head of the beast mode similar to the T-Rex head hand of the original design). While there is less orange to break up the mostly red, purple, and gold, there is the orb in the center of the torso to stand in for the wings tucked away. And in comparison to his chunky original toy, this guy is lean and mean while still capturing the look of the show well.

Head sculpt is a little weird. Not because his robot head is underneath all that mass from the dragon's tail and the cap on the helmet, but because his face sculpt is toy-influenced rather than cartoon-influenced. The snarling expression he possesses is like a refined take on his old toy's face, especially with sharper teeth that contrast the more "pearly white" look he's normally got. His articulation has slightly better leg movement with them being straightened, but the head can turn left and right, shoulders move front and back, in and out, the right arm can move front and back, in and out, swivel at the bicep, double-bend at the elbow, while the left arm has the same first two points of articulation in addition to the already mentioned dragon neck movement. Oh and his flame effect can be a club on his right hand.

For a robot mode size comparison, he's taller than his original self,, which does make him more of a Leader Class figure than his previous design. Kingdom Megatron is a little further back, but take my word for it that he is still shorter than his original self. So yeah, Transmetal II Megatron is the best Leader Class figure introduced in the Legacy line. Scourge had a few things that made him feel incomplete, and Blitzwing was a case of you either wanting him because you want a version of him or not if you owned the Titans Return version. I'm impressed with this guy overall, and I do hope we see a Cryotek right away. That being said, where's Transmetal 1 Megatron?!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐