Toy Review - RODIMUS PRIME (Kingdom)

ROADIMUS PRIME (Kingdom Come)
Series - Generations
Sub-line - Kingdom
Size/class - Commander
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 3
Released here - May 2021
Approximate Retail Price - $150
Approximate Size - 19cm to top of spoilers, 17cm head height
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Cosmic Winnebago
Main Features/Gimmicks - Dual vehicle modes, trailer (see below)
Main Colours - maroon, yellow & orange
Main Accessories - rifle, sword, Matrix

Car^Station wagon Mode

https://i.ibb.co/VpKFd4t/kingdom-rodimus01.jpg
In the future year of 2006, we'll all be driving station wagons with external pipes, painted flames and massive wings on the back that put modern aviation to shame. Can't wait.

Caravan of Courage

https://i.ibb.co/fC2TGfT/kingdom-rodimus02.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/rZV69ZB/kingdom-rodimus03.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/VVnLC2m/kingdom-rodimus04.jpg

I initially had difficulty in keeping the trailer closed. One tip; apply pressure on the side tabs towards the front of the trailer. I have found that these are the most important tabs in keeping the trailer securely closed.

https://i.ibb.co/0Y9515v/kingdom-rodimus05.jpg

The first Rodimus Prime toy with a functional trailer! <3 I love it! It has a door and ramp that can open, plus enough space to fit a Deluxe Class car or smaller. And similar to MP44, the trailer has a tray underneath to store accessories. This is so much better than Earthrise Optimus Prime's pitiful excuse for a trailer.

Is it cannon?

https://i.ibb.co/fXJXc8r/kingdom-rodimus06.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/5K55634/kingdom-rodimus07.jpg

Kingdom Roddy's cannon is mounted on a 5mm port, allowing it to swivel 360?, plus be removable. The blast shields are permanently attached and swing in and out during transformation, like the G1 toy where they're removable.

Robot mode

Comparison with G1
https://i.ibb.co/DR0sbp8/kingdom-rodimus08.jpg

By the power of Iacon!
https://i.ibb.co/pjHshkZ/kingdom-rodimus09.jpg

The way that the vehicle folds up into the backpack and into the legs is quite complex. The arm wheels also tuck in and fold over the upper arms. Unplugging some of these tabs can be a pain in the neck though, as some of the connections are quite tight.
https://i.ibb.co/6cKpfck/kingdom-rodimus10.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/X7QmytL/kingdom-rodimus11.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/4Sn21Wg/kingdom-rodimus12.jpg

Another comparison with G1
https://i.ibb.co/m62tMgv/kingdom-rodimus13.jpg

I haven't taken a photo of the toy with the Matrix or with an Autobot Car in the trailer yet (I'll post those next time).

OVERALL
In execution it's not as nice as Siege Jetfire or Earthrise Sky Lynx, but to be fair, this is a more ambitious design. This is really a Poor Man's Masterpiece, only that it's arguably better than MP09 Rodimus Convoy; at least in terms of dollar value. I don't have to worry about the back spoiler undoing itself or scratching the paint off the spoiler as with MP09.

I personally think that this toy is well worth the Commander Class price point. The core figure itself is nearly as tall as a Leader Class toy, but with a more complex transformation (and thus parts count) than a typical Leader Class toy. So I'd say that the core figure itself is worth more than a Leader Class figure; if they sold this toy on its own it might cost say about $120. Then the trailer itself is actually better than I expected. It's a good size, plus it has dual doors and the storage tray. If this trailer were sold as a separate accessory, we might expect to pay roughly $30. So in total, I do think that the toy is worth $150.

Whether you'll like the toy is a different question. It is much more complex than Jetfire and Sky Lynx, but to the point where some parts of the transformation becomes more laborious than fun. :/ I personally think this is a great toy and much better value than Power of the Primes Rodimus Prime. Recommended. :)

I just assumed that this would be an easy transformation: its hot rod, and I could handle the TR version. Plus its just a trailer that opens up. This would have been a big disappointment for me, to find its ?much more complex than Jetfire and Sky Lynx?.
Both toys that I just adore, but mainly because I can actually remember how to transform the darn things and can do so with enjoyment rather than frustration.

In most cases a Goktimus review has me wanting to buy, but I appreciate the warning that it may be ?more laborious than fun :/?

Better it goes to fans that really want it when it hits Big W and enjoy the transformation, than someone like me that will get frustrated.

I don't agree it is more complicated than Jetfire. There are some parts that are tricky to do, but that's because of clearance issues, not because it's hard to work out what needs to go where.

Overall he is a lot of fun. I'd say the most fun I've had with a trailer since MP-44, and to be fair that's a $600 figure!
Not sure it's quite worth the $150 asking price, but that won't be an issue for those of you who plan on getting it during the Big W sale in a couple of weeks. He's easily worth more than a standard leader.

I wonder if there will be an opportunity to get the robot figure as a standalone down the line? Similar to how ER Optimus was available as a standalone in the Netflix set.

I think it's a great looking beefed up version of the Hot Rod alt mode.

I'd rather pay a Voyager prince for that on its own than whole set.

Why!!!!???!?!?!

Why do they have to make every Rodimus also a Hotrod? There was no need and never was...

The overly long car/cab just ruins the entire piece for me. Sure G1 looked stupid without the trailer... but you just made it work and played with it. We had Hotrod and Rodimus, and if I wanted to downgrade I’d park Roddy behind a door and Hotrod would come racing out for a bit.... kill some ‘Cons and then race back.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Krayt

Why!!!!???!?!?!

Why do they have to make every Rodimus also a Hotrod? There was no need and never was...

The overly long car/cab just ruins the entire piece for me. Sure G1 looked stupid without the trailer... but you just made it work and played with it. We had Hotrod and Rodimus, and if I wanted to downgrade I’d park Roddy behind a door and Hotrod would come racing out for a bit.... kill some ‘Cons and then race back.

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So you would prefer the alt mode of Rodimus to be like the G1 version that is useless it is connected to the trailer...???

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SharkyMcShark

I wonder if there will be an opportunity to get the robot figure as a standalone down the line? Similar to how ER Optimus was available as a standalone in the Netflix set.

I think it's a great looking beefed up version of the Hot Rod alt mode.

I'd rather pay a Voyager prince for that on its own than whole set.

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Isn't that what SS86 Hot Rod is for? :confused:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MayzaPrime

So you would prefer the alt mode of Rodimus to be like the G1 version that is useless it is connected to the trailer...???

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Don’t mind it.... as long as the proportions are better than this junk...

At least MP made it look like it all went together

Considering the effort that went into the transformation process, I feel this figure could have been better designed. Rodimus' bot mode looks good but his vehicle mode is boxy and flatter than I would expect. When the trailer is attached it lacks the cohesion of the G1 original and really looks like the trailer design was shoehorned to just work at the expense of aesthetics or clever engineering.

I think I would have liked a more G1-nny truck and trailer Rodimus Prime, but I don't hate this figure...just a missed opportunity.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tha_Phantom

Isn't that what SS86 Hot Rod is for? :confused:

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I can't stand the fake chest on the SS figure. It's a deal killer for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Krayt

Why!!!!???!?!?!

Why do they have to make every Rodimus also a Hotrod? There was no need and never was...

The overly long car/cab just ruins the entire piece for me. Sure G1 looked stupid without the trailer... but you just made it work and played with it. We had Hotrod and Rodimus, and if I wanted to downgrade I’d park Roddy behind a door and Hotrod would come racing out for a bit.... kill some ‘Cons and then race back.

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I get why that's annoying for some, but this isn't that. The detached vehicle is it's own thing, and not just another Hot Rod - the POTP version did that, while this is a chunkier thing that's clearly aiming more for power than speed. Hot Rod's car mode is all sleek lines and very flat, while this is chunky, taller and very different in a number of places.

The length of the overall 'campervan' mode isn't because of the car, that's more of a stylistic decision. I'm glad they went with it too - most G1 Rodimus designs are too fat and stubby. Apart from the gap in the pipes, this is a great update.

Got this today at BigW toy sale. So far, I can say pretty happy with it. However, is it worth $149? Nope. Is it worth $109? Also no. Well, it depends....

Rodimus is one of those figs/characters that I like, but I don't know why I like. I mean, apart from the movie, what memorable stuff did he do? Probably something, but I don't... remember anything. I'm not a Hot Rod fan (he got Optimus killed!), so its not that. Dunno, maybe its just cause hes a Prime? Anyway, I really enjoy the PotP Rodimus, which I will concede is not a great figure. But it is a lot of fun, although it scales with absolutely nothing. But enough preamble, onto Kingdom Rodimus.

Everyone seems to agree that this bot mode is pretty spiffy. There's not much to complain about here. Transformation is good - complex but not difficult or frustratingly annoying. Everything folds away nicely for a clean transformation. No faux chest, and it holds a matix too (nice!). Little bit of backpack (with downward facing vents that equal prime-jets in my mind, although fairly sure there is no canon to support this), but certainly not excessive. High level of articulation, allowing him to throw some very nice dynamic shapes.
For me. the detachable vehicle concept is where this figure goes wrong. I get the 'play value' of having a separate vehicle, but this is the root cause of the figure's issues. I would have been happy with an alt mode that depended on the vehicle and trailer being combined (like the G1). This would have allowed for a more cohesive alt mode. The space Winnebago has been comprised by having to separate. When did this ever happen in movies or comics? Who would display Rodimus in alt-mode as just the front vehicle bit?
The trailer is ok, though mine doesnt seem to stay closed together very well. There's a bit going on, not all of it necessary. Quite happy with the 'battle-platform-with-big-cannon-thing' as per the G1 fig. Great posing and play value. Seems to fit cars better than ER Prime. The sword is a cool extra. Wished they kept the separating gun concept like PotP. Blast effects - all the odd ones seem a bit useless for this fig, but I guess the point is you can use them with other figs, so whatever. The blue is a nice change tho. The black exhaust ones are just dumb.

I find myself comparing this to ER Prime and ER SkyLynx. Not sure if that's fair, but hey, that's where I'm at. For me, SkyLynx beats Rodimus across the board. Figure wise, I think RP beats ER Prime, mainly due to a little extra engineering, articulation, and paint apps. Rodimus' trailer and accessories are better too.
Does any of this justify the (extra) price? Hard for me to say - there is only $5 difference between what I paid for the two WFC Primes (yes, I paid impatience tax for ER Prime!), and RP was the same price as SL. So that's all bit subjective, however I would have likely skipped Rodimus at $150. So I can't justify the price to you, but I do think that you will like the figure if you're happy to drop $109 clams on it.

Out of interested, weighed my two recent Commander Class figs: Rodimus is 620g and SkyLynx is 810g. If that's of any interest to you.

Another gripe: Rodimus' yellow wingthing is completely lost when in vehicle mode, where in the G1 original figure (and other figs), it was part of the design. They may as well have had it detachable in Kingdom Rodimus, and saved the trouble of accomodating the trailer design to deal with it, as it recedes too far into the trailer to be seen.

Got my Rodimus yesterday and he is a very solid figure- there is a lot of heft or density, reminiscent of the quality of Sky Lynx. The transformation threw me for a loop for a bit, even with instructions.

There are a few issues. The trailer doesn’t peg together with the cannon inside, and barely does even when it’s not in there. There also seems to be a bit of bad clearance for the head/neck and the collar area. It’s hard to get a good head pose. The silver face doesn’t bug me as much in person, though I would have preferred something similar to either POTP Rodimus or SS86 Hot Rod. I’m not a huge fan of the sacrifices made to accomodate the separating chubby car/cab either, as they make the transformation needlessly complex and the alt mode less cartoon (or even toy) accurate.

On the positive side, this figure has a much cleaner robot silhouette than the POTP leader, with better articulation and overall stability. It fits in well in terms of size with the WFC and Generations lineup.

Overall a nice figure with a lot of quality, but a bunch of small issues that hold it back from being a perfect rendition of the character. I definitely wouldn’t mind a cartoon-style Optimus Prime in this same vein for Commander Class. A full-painted trailer with all the bits, no sacrifices in bot mode and anime-styled paint all over would do wonders. I found myself turned off by the cheap-looking Earthrise leader Optimus, so maybe it’ll come in the next few years or so. Given the $20 or so in consumer price difference between those two figures, there is a world of difference. At the very least, this Rodimus Prime figure is a good experiment in what can be done with the Commander Class budget, instead of only big chonker figures like Jetfire and Sky Lynx. What other characters can be done in a similar way?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bidoofdude

Got my Rodimus yesterday and he is a very solid figure- there is a lot of heft or density, reminiscent of the quality of Sky Lynx. The transformation threw me for a loop for a bit, even with instructions.

There are a few issues. The trailer doesn’t peg together with the cannon inside, and barely does even when it’s not in there. There also seems to be a bit of bad clearance for the head/neck and the collar area. It’s hard to get a good head pose. The silver face doesn’t bug me as much in person, though I would have preferred something similar to either POTP Rodimus or SS86 Hot Rod. I’m not a huge fan of the sacrifices made to accomodate the separating chubby car/cab either, as they make the transformation needlessly complex and the alt mode less cartoon (or even toy) accurate.

On the positive side, this figure has a much cleaner robot silhouette than the POTP leader, with better articulation and overall stability. It fits in well in terms of size with the WFC and Generations lineup.

Overall a nice figure with a lot of quality, but a bunch of small issues that hold it back from being a perfect rendition of the character. I definitely wouldn’t mind a cartoon-style Optimus Prime in this same vein for Commander Class. A full-painted trailer with all the bits, no sacrifices in bot mode and anime-styled paint all over would do wonders. I found myself turned off by the cheap-looking Earthrise leader Optimus, so maybe it’ll come in the next few years or so. Given the $20 or so in consumer price difference between those two figures, there is a world of difference. At the very least, this Rodimus Prime figure is a good experiment in what can be done with the Commander Class budget, instead of only big chonker figures like Jetfire and Sky Lynx. What other characters can be done in a similar way?

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With the trailer not closing properly. Check if the blast shields on the turret are folded the wrong way. If they’re folded “down” like you think they would(and it’s how they’re packaged on mine), they bump against the treads but and prevent the main joint from folding a complete 90 degrees, which then prevents the trailer from closing properly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by doublespy

With the trailer not closing properly. Check if the blast shields on the turret are folded the wrong way. If they’re folded “down” like you think they would(and it’s how they’re packaged on mine), they bump against the treads but and prevent the main joint from folding a complete 90 degrees, which then prevents the trailer from closing properly.

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Nah... up or down it’s the same

The cannon is just a bit higher overall than intended... and touches ridge lines in the roof.

I’ve been slowly sanding my ridges back.... keeps getting better, but I hate doing it

Opened mine up yesterday and this is a solid figure, and I actually have a lot of fun with the trailer (all too often, Optimus' trailer feels like an empty box that opens with little additional play value so Rodimus' gun turret is really good in comparison). The vehicle minus the trailer is too chunky to look good, what makes it feel off for me is how the rear juts up compared to the rest of the vehicle, I'm just too used to the sleeker lines of Hot Rod. I didn't really like the transformation, there were several steps that I felt was needlessly fiddly, like they needed to add complexity, so that made it confusing. Otherwise, well worth the sale price of $109 (harder to justify at $149, but I think borderline worthwhile).

My copy's calf flaps don't want to clip in, just like my SS86 Hot Rod. Not the same mechanical issue (or fix like I discovered with Hot Rod). I can't yet make out what I'm doing wrong or the mechanical fault. I guess Rodimus really does evolve from Hot Rod...

Edit: well I figured it out - you've got to squeeze (apply pressure) right at the bottom edge of the calf flap, where it clips into the red, rectangular hole.

Christmas at Rodimus's...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...170d3aa8_h.jpg

I certainly think this figure is worth $109 on sale but I wouldn't cough up $150 for it.

The robot mode is fantastic. A small nitpick is that I'd have preferred a dark gray for the boots rather than black.
The space winnebago has pretty much been retconned into a space truck. I'm on the fence about this design choice. Its actually doesn't look bad but I think it was more to justify the price tag. MP-9 nails the space winnebago look.

Having a separate "Hot-Rod style" truck cab seems a bit like a justification for the price tag as well. The cab-mode doesn't tick any box properly. It's too chunky to resemble Hot Rod's sleek vehicle mode and its too car-like to look like a truck cab.
The transformation of the cab to Rodimus Prime also seems like it was made more complicated to justify the price tag and to bump up the parts count.
Altogether, with a little bit of dumbing down this figure could easily have been sold as a Leader which is what I think it should have been.

I'm still very happy to have it though at the Big W sale price.

I am somewhat concerned that in the future Hasbro will try to palm off Voyager/Leader figures as "Commander Class" by making them overly complicated. Seems like a big possibility given they've almost run out of the larger sized Transformers to do who would genuinely justify the Commander scale [Like Sky Lynx and Jetfire]. Fiddly, over-engineered transformers are what the MP line is there for!

https://i.ibb.co/dtVr0tc/2021-07-02-16-46-48.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/WBJKxWx/2021-07-02-16-46-31.jpg

Japan released their last weekend and I got mine on Saturday morning. I have a soft spot for Hot Rod and Rodimus. I just love the flamey awesome car design of HR and ponder at the thought process of thinking that a firey red camper van would make an exciting leader toy character dude.
So, ignoring Rodimus' character flaws in the G1 cartoon, I approach his Kingdom with a lot of my own head canon and I like it.
I see this guy as an appropriate upgrade for Rodimus. The individual vehicle mode looks suitably Hot Rod -esque, but with a butt-load of extra oomph! Him coming with a sword and being able to plug the rifle on the side of the car makes me think of this Rodimus as a Mad Max style character. A grizzled fellow who travels alone in a post apocalyptic world, making adjustments as he needs to. Hence the big beefy back end of the car as opposed to the sleek smoothness of HR. The trailer is his guns and weapon storage and back up. Sometimes he takes it with him, sometimes he doesn't. I should just let everyone know I've been watching a fair bit of Fist of the North Star lately as well :P

Transformation is there, but not frustratingly so. Although I extended the grey joint connected to his windshield wot swivel the arms around once. Don't do that as it took me about 2 hours work a way to force that sucker back in place again. Fingers were sore for the rest of the day.
However the end result is an incredibly well articulated Transformer with presence! Dayum it's impressive. In person the face doesn't look as depressed as I thought and the silver is pretty nice.
Like Bidoof said though, his head/neck is a tad too recessed behind his collar.

Accessories wise, the sword (based on a gladius?) is very nice and I have no idea about it except that it shows up in the last page of the Gens Selects comics. I like it though. Fits well, can be plugged into his back. His gun is a little too skinny for my liking, and maybe a tad too long. The main accessory being the trailer is pretty cool and its nice to see that its so easy to plonk Rodimus on it with minimal fuss. Unlike the Masterpiece.... The storage tray is nice, but he can't hold everything all that well, so effect parts are in a collective effect bag. One thing I find intriguing is that the sword can be held under the vehicle (car)and works when plugged into the trailer, but the only lace to stash the gun is under the spoiler. Now when plugged ino the trailer, the gun can't go there and despite all the plugs inside the trailer, there isn't room to place the gun in there, so you end up shoving it in somewhere loose. This baffles me a little bit.

Overall I think this is a great toy. You can tell it's more than a leader figure, but I'm not sure it makes the stretch to commander as such, however, I do not regret spending my hard earned yennies on this guy.

I was excited the moment I saw his debut, and I wasn't disappointed when I opened the box.

I've had Rodimus Prime since late June, but I've only been playing around with the base figure and rifle, and haven't touched the trailer or other accessories yet.

It seems to me that with Rodimus, you're paying for the engineering R&D and the part count, whereas with Jetfire and Skylynx, you were paying for the size, even if they may or may not have more parts than Rodimus - they certainly aren't as complex to transform as Rodimus. It's kind of like how Studio Series '86 Hot Rod was priced as a voyager despite his size, because he's a more involved and complex figure than a typical deluxe. Speaking of which, I like the fact that although Rodimus shares engineering with Hot Rod, there are steps unique to this figure, so it's not just upscaled with a few mould changes.

I do have a few gripes:

I'm not a fan of the exaggerated cheekbones, sunken-looking eyes, and big chin on the head sculpt - sure, Rodimus is meant to be mature compared to Hot Rod, but this head sculpt looks wizened and gaunt.

The rifle is very thin, almost spindly. I get that it needed to be that thin so it could fold in half, but perhaps I got too used to MP9's weapon (which this is based on), which was chunkier despite being long.

The hands look disproportionately large. It feels like someone wanted Rodimus to have two joints for the fingers as well as an independent index finger, and these were the smallest hands the designers could make with that articulation and while making the hands durable enough to withstand play.

The effect part nubs on his forearm pipes are placed really close together for some reason, and this means that you can't attach effect parts besides the black smoke parts. It also looks weird, since the top nub isn't in line with the middle of the pipe and the middle nub is.

Maybe I'm just nitpicking, because Rodimus Prime is otherwise a great piece. Fear of missing out was definitely a motivator for me, with a bit of curiosity thrown in, but I'm nonetheless glad to have him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy

Like Bidoof said though, his head/neck is a tad too recessed behind his collar.

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The base of the neck is on a hinge, so you can move the neck forward and the head will come with it. The catch is that the collar will impede rotation somewhat once the neck is shifted forward.

Finally open Roddy. Awesome mainline version of him.

I explained to my daughter that he is the older version of Hot Rod. Rodimus has now been declared a Grey Nomad.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jellico

Rodimus has now been declared a Grey Nomad.

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I'd give a like to this if I could

It's my figure of the year.
A solid 200/10

Picked this up for $65 on Amazon and can't complain too much at that price. It's an above average figure packaged with a huge chunk of plastic to justify the price. I vastly prefer the previous two commanders, they felt like a size class rather than a price point.

I understand what they were going for (modern take on the original figure, trailer and all) but personally I preferred the POTP implementation where the trailer was part of the Rodimus transformation, which meant amoung other things it didn't take up extra space on the shelf. I would have rather seen this figure be somewhere between that and Siege Magnus, where the trailer broke down into armour with maybe some left over as a battle platform.

I'm also eternally salty that in the line that brought back Beast Wars proper, both the commander and titan class figures were just more G1 wank. Could have been the chance to do Depthcharge, Rampage, or a true Optimal Optimus. Or hell, a new Tripredacus.

Like I said, I got it cheap enough that I can't regret the purchase, but this figure really doesn't do it for me.

I got Rodimus for $79 from Target. For that price i'm happy with him. Didnt think I was going to get him but when he went on sale he was an instant buy. He doesnt feel like a "Commander" figure when I compare him to Jetfire, just a premium Leader figure.

https://dm2305files.storage.live.com...&cropmode=none