Over the past two and a half years, the Transformers Generations line has given us some of the best representations of their characters we’ve ever seen. Sure the masterpiece line with it’s larger scale and much larger price point is probably the very best, but it better be for the price you pay for them.
The Generations line is affordable yet still manages to give us iconic, and well crafted figures of the transformers we know and love. Some are even made so well they top the Masterpiece version in almost every aspect. Hot Rod here is a perfect example.
The new Studio Series 86 of the Generations line focuses on the characters from the 1986 Transformers The Movie film. Hot Rod here was of course one of, if not the lead character in the film. He was super cool, young and brash. He really appealed to eleven year old me, and his first few minutes of screen time blew me away. That is until he got Optimus Prime killed which left eleven year old me scarred for life. Over the years Hot Rod and I made peace, mainly because Prime came back, and Rodimus went back to being young and cool Hot Rod.
As a figure this guy is just about perfect. His scale fits right into the Seige/Earthrise/Kingdom series as well as the older combiner wars/war of the primes sets. His transformation is intuitive and there is very little kibble or transforming parts showing in robot mode. He really is a home run figure.
The new Studio Series Packaging is a little wider but still has a nice clear opening to see the figure. The Transformers the Movie logo is represented clearly on the package along with 86 theme.
As a figure, he’s just about perfect. He’s spot on design wise, and like I said before his transforming arts are very well hidden and there is little to no kibble on him. The engineering for his transformation is very intuitive and easy to do. I’m definitely not the best at doing the transformations without instructions but this guy is easy to do without them.
His car mode is slick and is seamless as well. It’s instantly recognizable as Hot Rod as they really nailed the look of it.
As for accessories Hot Rod comes with two blasters, the matrix of leadership, a buzz saw attachment, and blast effects that work for both his lasers or his turbines in car mode. He also come with an effect for his matrix that makes it look like it’s opening. His right hand can rotate in to reveal the torch tool he used to fix Kup up with from the film. He also has a cool little feature that allows to lift his helmet to allow his flip down visor to drop in.
His articulation is solid with excellent range in his legs and knees. He has swivel elbows with a joint that can go past ninety degrees, and his knee joint almost allows him to kick his own bot ass. He has a ball jointed neck, swivel wrists with opening hands, and feet that act as rocker ankles. He has a waist swivel as well. Plenty of articulation to get him into all kinds of action poses.
He fits right in with the other characters from the movie that I have so far as well as the rest of the generations lines. All these lines are scaled so well together. They really are allowing me to put together my favorite Transformer collection ever.
If you collect the Transformers Generations line or are a fan of Transformers in general you need this guy. Hell if you like fun toys this guy is for you as well. He’s really a great addition to my collection, and now I’m super stoked to se how the rest of the Studio Series 86 figures come out. Come on Grimlock!
You can pre-order him now on dorkside toys or big bad toy store.