Toy Review - HOT ROD (Studio Series TLK)

Autobot HOT ROD
Series - Generations
Sub-line - Studio Series
Hypo-line - Le Dernier Chevalier
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 18
Released here - December 2022
Approximate Retail Price - $39.98
Approximate Size - 13cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Lamborghini Centenario
Main Features/Gimmicks - N/A
Main Colours - gunmetal grey with orange hightlights
Main Accessories - gun

https://i.ibb.co/nR3HWjh/studioseries-hotrod06.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/SPMX0jD/studioseries-hotrod05.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/DGXbxrS/studioseries-hotrod03a.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/25hC0wf/studioseries-hotrod03.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/TmcDh03/studioseries-hotrod02.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/0jyvL27/studioseries-hotrod01.jpg

A great looking figure in both mode. A bit lazy with the wheels tho, being the same color as the car. Will have get some silver and black paint to add some much needed color to them.

Vehicle mode

https://i.imgur.com/o0XFMDZ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mnGqOad.jpg

A charcoal black Lamborghini Centenario with orange trim. The charcoal plastic has a hint of brown to it, which I'm noticing that my photos aren't capturing, possibly due to a combination of the lighting and the camera. Gok's photos do a better job of capturing the colour. If you have Studio Series Sentinel Prime, the colour of the plastic is very similar to the colour on that figure.

The lines and details of the car are reproduced faithfully, but since Hot Rod has such an involved transformation, there are panel lines everywhere, so the look isn't a clean one.

The headlights and front grille are painted in a deeper black. I would have liked to see this paint used on the tyres to help break up the charcoal, and like Deano05, I would have liked to see some silver on the wheels.

The bottom of the car barely has ground clearance to allow the wheels to roll. I find that on my figure, the wheels don't roll as freely as I'd like, possibly because they are 'snap-on' wheels as opposed to pinned wheels.

Transformation

Hot Rod feels very involved to transform. The legs and feet in particular are surprisingly intricate for his size.

Pieces on his feet that form the exhaust on the back of the car are prone to popping off during transformation.

Robot mode

https://i.imgur.com/cOMamjo.jpg https://i.imgur.com/SwdlAsv.jpg https://i.imgur.com/BXcQZWo.jpg

Hot Rod stands just under 13cm tall in robot mode. The intricate transformation comes into its own here, as Hot Rod looks amazing. As Gok's side-by-side shot shows, the original figure from 2017 was alright, but this one looks far better.

The one real downside to the figure that I can see is that the knees are limited in their range of motion due to the car wheels' position on the lower legs, so very deep stances can't be achieved. That said, if you really wanted to, you could flex the wheels out a bit to get the knee to bend further. My particular figure also has hips that are a bit looser than I would like.

https://i.imgur.com/JYiTUQ8.jpg

Hot Rod has one accessory - his gun, which allows him to "stop the time."

https://i.imgur.com/QilFFE3.jpg

The included backdrop is the same shot of Admiralty Arch that comes with Studio Series Cogman. It's an unusual choice for Hot Rod, since he wasn't involved in this part of the chase. Surely one of the gates at Alnwick Castle - the filming location to represent Castle Folgan - would have made more sense for Hot Rod.

https://i.imgur.com/2XXFhrI.jpg

With Studio Series Crosshairs and The Last Knight Hound and Cogman.

Verdict

https://i.imgur.com/gIsVGwo.jpg

A fairly good vehicle mode and a great-looking robot mode. If you like your deluxe class figures with intricate transformations, Hot Rod is definitely for you.

It's fun, but I'm sure there will plenty of listing's in the future with Hot Rod missing his legs and all the other small pieces that like to pop off.

It's a beef I have with most Studio Series figures (Bayverse designs in particular): the amount of 'finessing' required to ensure a smooth transformation that doesn't involve bits bending/ falling off, is annoying and the figures themselves rarely feel robust. This new Hot Rod figure changes nothing.

/Disclaimer: my eyesight ain't what it used to be and I'm a whinger to boot ;)

Had to fix his bland wheels with some silver as soon as I got him.

https://dsm01pap009files.storage.liv...&cropmode=none

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bemblebuu

It's a beef I have with most Studio Series figures (Bayverse designs in particular): the amount of 'finessing' required to ensure a smooth transformation that doesn't involve bits bending/ falling off, is annoying and the figures themselves rarely feel robust. This new Hot Rod figure changes nothing.

---

It's the price of having more screen-accurate toys, especially with AoE and tLK TFs were are less easy to translate as toys. Besides, if you want a more solid and easier toy, just stick with the existing Deluxe Class TLK Hot Rod toy. If you want something that's more screen-accurate, then that's what Studio Series is for (it's literally in the name of the line).
https://i.ibb.co/DGXbxrS/studioseries-hotrod03a.jpg
Damn Hasbro for giving us choices! :p

Feh. I don't agree with that at all.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bemblebuu

Feh. I don't agree with that at all.

---

What makes you say that?

Studio Series at it's absolute best. Easily recommended.

There's been so many weak design decisions across the legacy line that I was starting to wonder if there were any genius designers left at Hastak, and then this guy comes along and shows they can still pull off a mini masterpiece every now and then.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sutton

Studio Series at it's absolute best. Easily recommended.

---

Agree. I absolutely love this figure to bits because of how clever the transformation is.
Not going to deny the feet panels popped off for me the first couple of transformations, but once you know what you're doing it's fine.

NGL, I ordered this just for Centenario alt-mode.

Update: Love both the modes, but its been a long since I hated a transformation as much as this. The engineering is ok, but its so fiddly and nothing seems to move or line up properly.

So I got one of these at the end of last year that was a floppy mess, and didn't really touch it.

I took a gamble on a second copy earlier this week because I love the alt mode.

Wow. Woooooow.

A really really like this figure. Both modes are quite solid, the transformation is fun, and the fire is very poseable. This is everything I want from the Studio Series.