In terms of sheer numbers, I think Hot Rod’s the character with the most reviews in my archive. Which makes sense, since they’re my favorite, and often my first choice if a Transformers line does a version of them. Still, after Studio Series 86 Hot Rod pretty much got their G1 iteration perfect, and Kingdom Rodimus Prime got their older, harrowed Leader form similarly right, it left me wondering where to go in terms of picking more of them up. The answer: Go small.
The original tiny Rod (or rather, the reissue of it).
So, back in 1991, at the tail-end of Takara’s Generation One line, they released a massive new version of Optimus Prime, reborn as Star Convoy. Part of that figure’s features were that it changed into a base for Micromasters, and, so you could use those features right out of the box, Star Convoy came with a tiny, Micromaster-sized version of Hot Rod. A few years back, Star Convoy got an update as a part of Takara’s version of the Generations Selects, and it’s a figure I own and love (review here), despite its weird jankiness. One downside to it, though: No small Hot Rod.
At the time the new Star Convoy came out, if you wanted a Small Hot Rod, your best bet was the Combiner Wars legend, which, while a good tooling, wasn’t a very good Hot Rod, thanks to being a retool of the Decepticon Blackjack, and including the bizarre design choice of giving Hot Rod an ax made out of their traditional spoiler, which for some reason, could not peg onto their back, despite the fact that there was adequate space on that back for some pegs and holes.
Also, the figure formed the chest of a combiner, but that’s neither here nor there.
But now, we’ve got a new Small Hot Rod, thanks to Kingdom. Or, Legacy. See, this was one of the last Kingdom releases, and thanks to how traditionally difficult it is to find tail-end figures from any line, it was repackaged into the first wave of Kingdom’s successor line, Legacy, with no changes save for the box, and instructions that include a QR code to a tiny, one-line tech specs. This was the version I would end up finding first, so, is this my first actual Legacy review? Kinda, but like Lift-Ticket, I don’t quite count it yet. Anyway, it’s once again time for More Hot Rod.
Robot Mode
Like Core Soundwave (reviewed here), this figure feels a bit shorter than the Kingdom Beasts released in this size class, like it’s part of a whole different line, which makes sense, since this is its own scale, whereas the Beasts are meant to go with the mainline.
Rod can still be a part of their whole Musketeer situation, though.
In terms of design, most of these G1 Cores are obviously scaled down versions of specific larger figures, or at least character models, but not so with Hot Rod. This is an original take on the character, rather than being based on a larger toy. It’s not a huge departure, though, it’s still recognizable as G1 Hot Rod. There’s the yellow spoiler, the flames on the chest (complete with Autobrand), and the triple-pipes on the arms, as well as details on the legs and arms that imitate the G1 toy specifically, but there’s a lot of details on the chest, head, spoiler and other areas that are unique, and don’t match up to pre-existing Hot Rods I’m aware of.
A unique member of the Rod Squad.
There’s a nice headsculpt at the top of it all, with one of those unique details in the form of a large, rectangular forehead crest, overtop of a fairly standard, “determined” expression. A lot has been made about the back of the head being hollow, making the figure literally brainless, but it’s not the only Core to do this, even Soundwave did so.
Head Empty versus Head Too Full.
Hot Rod’s a bit odd-looking, proportionally. Most of these Cores are proportioned the same way as their larger counterparts, but something about the size and thickness of Rod’s head and limbs read as slightly chibi-fied, slightly exaggerated. Dinky, as opposed to dynamic, though it’s not an inherently bad look, especially conceptualized as New Star Convoy’s Micromaster companion.
This is why I got them, basically.
Further odd proportions come in the form of shortened forearms, or low elbows. Mose egregiously, though, Rod’s boots are oddly kibbly in the back, with a ton of folded panels really obviously sticking out, looking kind of messy from basically every angle. I’m no engineer, but I wonder if there wasn’t a way to get those panels to compress into the hollow space next to the boots.
“You darn fool, you’re half their size!”
Kup’s early days of surrogate parenthood were, in some ways, easier.
For colors, they still won’t do a pink animation-style Hot Rod, so this one’s a deep red, like the G1 toy, with orange, yellow, and silver accents on top of that, and a gray face with painted eyes. The mostly-bare-red arms and legs look a little bit plain, to be honest, what with all the G1 sticker details sculpted in, and I wish there were some accents on them, like core Soundwave, but the colors still mostly work.
To be fair, most figures pale in comparison to Core Soundwave.
Stability’s a bit of an issue on this figure, mostly around the legs. Rod’s boots move sideways, away from the knees, for their transformation, and aren’t pegged in, so posing their legs frequently causes them to come out of place, though the joint is at least tight enough that they’re in no danger of just flopping out of place.
They keep wanting to do this.
On the positive side, that pile of folded panels at the back of the boots gives them a wide footprint, making the figure able to stay standing in a variety of poses really easily.
But Hot Rod can do this whenever they want.
Speaking of articulation, that’s another high point of the figure, which has mostly the same amount of jointage as the aforementioned Core Soundwave, almost exclusively done through balljoints. There’s knees, hips, elbows, shoulders, and a swiveling head. all over. I appreciate that the back-mounted spoiler is also far enough back that it doesn’t knock against the shoulders, when posing them.
Every Hot Rod needs a photo of them chilling out.
For accessories, Hot Rod comes with a well-sized (for them) sword, in what feels like a conversation with Commander Rodimus Prime’s sword.
It’s like a Pokemon evolution tree. The Pokedex entries would talk about the middle form deciding guns were better than swords, and the large form realizing both were good.
But Rodimus’s was sculpted to be the Sword of Primus from the Rengeneration One comics, and this smaller one, as far as I can tell, is an original design. Whatever it is, it pairs with the figure well.
En garde!
The blade is painted bright blue, and sculpted with veins of crackling energy, above an ornate red hilt. It’s a good-looking weapon, and Hot Rod manages to pose with it in a way that really brings the whole figure together.
What’re the odds they don’t know how to swordfight at all, and just got it because it looks cool?
As shown in the Legacy release’s instructions, it’s meant to combine with weapons included with Legacy Skywarp and Iguanus to form an even bigger sword, but if you’re not interested in them (they’re not a priority for me) this doesn’t feel incomplete without them.
Boomerang? Double-edged blade? Shield? You decide!
There’s another big feature that’s, surprisingly, not mentioned in the instructions: The spoiler pops right out of Hot Rod’s back. It’s on a standard War for Cybertron port, so you can give it to any other compatible figures, though there’s a little protrusion on the peg designed to lock it into Rod’s back that means it’s a shallow fit in most other ports.
“Forget Skywarp and Iguanus, I got your combined sword right here!”
The other side of the spoiler has a smaller peg designed to fit into Hot Rod’s hands. It can be a fancy two-sided blade, or a boomerang, or an odd gun. Whatever it is, it’s neat-looking. You can also attach the sword on the top of the spoiler, or peg it into the front of it, for different kinds of gun-and-or-melee-weapon combinations, it’s surprisingly versatile.
For when throwing your sword isn’t powerful enough.
My one knock is that there’s some pretty bad paint scrapeage on the larger sword-port on the end (guess I’ll see if my yellow Gundam Marker color-matches this when I’m done with the pictures).
Hot Rod tries to reclass into a Red Wizard.
Actually, my second knock is, far as I can tell, there’s nowhere on the figure to stash the sword when not in use, but I can kind of slide it into the gap between panels on their backpack.
The sword’s there in case anyone says anything about their empty head.
Transformation
Whoof. This is way too complicated for how small this figure is. In summary, Hot Rod crunches their arms in, does a faceplant, and the whole top of the car unfolds from the back of those boots, like a convertible.
How it looks when it’s done, but getting there’s a journey.
The big issue is that this involves a web of tiny tabs you’ve got to click in, with the big problem at the end being that the roof-and-hood piece just won’t click into the body unless everything was perfectly lined up during every previous step, leading to panel-massaging, squinting, and undoing bits of the transformation to figure out where it went wrong.
Here’s how the back should look, though even at this point, the roof halves want to split.
I’m all for clever transformations, but in light of the issues here, I wonder if they wouldn’t have just been better off using the tried-and-true G1 transformation. Two or three transformations in, and I’ve got it mostly solved, but it still feels like more effort than it should be. My big tip is, at the end, if the two halves of the roof-and-hood-panel don’t naturally clip into each other, they won’t clip into the car body, and you need to futz with the legs until they stay together.
If you’ve done everything right, the last step should look like this.
Vehicle Mode
The tough-to-get result.
You can get it all pegged together, and presuming you do so, the final result, at last, does look pretty good. Again, this little car isn’t a specific downscaling of any one Hot Rod design. I see a little bit of the Titans Return/Legends Deluxe (reviewed here) in the angles around the front wheels, a little bit of Kingdom Rodimus Prime in the spoiler, but no specific design, outside if it still being recognizeably G1 Hot Rod, with the flames on the hood, silver pipes on the sides, and big yellow spoiler.
Kingdom Hot Rod is a part of this (definitely not) complete Rodimus Convoy!
Speaking of that spoiler, I appreciate that the trunk of the car is detailed enough that it still looks like a complete vehicle when it’s removed. I also appreciate the tiny, detailed engine block in front of the windows.
It still looks alright!
For colors, this mode introduces a set of dark grey windows, but omits the Autobrand on his hood, likely due to how it splits for transformation. The black wheels are block-colored, and really obviously on mushroom pegs, a bit of an eyesore. Plus, they’re on there tight enough that they tend to drag on the ground instead of rolling.
Riding with the dinos!
For features, you can fit the sword on top of the spoiler, or at the front of it, for a kind of attack mode.
Like so.
I imagine it shoots energy or something, it isn’t cutting anyone from that angle, unless you spin the spoiler to the side, or reverse it, for some anti-aero-dynamism.
“You know, I think you might be on to something.”
Meanwhile, removing the spoiler gives you access to that weapons port, letting you add larger guns, or other accessories, from compatible figures.
Searching for their haters.
TFW you find a hater.
This connection just barely fits.
Overall
No matter how you slice it, this is the weakest of the new Core-class figures I’ve looked at.
No amount of running over Soundwave will fix that.
It was always going to be this way, when compared to Core Soundwave, but Rod comes up short compared to Rattrap and Vertebreak/Dracodon, too, mainly thanks to a fiddly, oddly-proportioned robot mode, and a way-too-complicated transformation that makes the car mode hard to peg together.
Star Convoy still likes them, though.
It’s not all bad, though. The sword, and the removable spoiler are both nice accessories, the car mode looks good, and it still embodies the character well. I’d honestly call this the best of the Small Hot Rods, but that’s definitely a “by default” win.
More importantly, it does this specific job pretty well.
Still, if you’re not specifically a fan of the character like I am, or don’t need a companion for Star Convoy like I did, this is an easy skip, though not the worst figure if you do go in on it.
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