Toy Review - Titans Return Hot Rod

[SharkyMcShark]

HOT ROD
Series – Titans Return
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 3
Released here – November 2016
Approximate Retail Price - $29.99
Approximate Size Pies - No pies included unfortunately
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode – Sports car
Main Features/Gimmicks – Headmaster
Main Colours – Red, Orange
Main Accessories – Two matching gun halves, Firedrive Titan Master

Hurray, they've reclaimed the Hot Rod name!

- Vehicle mode is very aesthetically pleasing. Curvy in all the right places. It's got quite a good size to it, it rolls well, and the weapon interaction doesn't look anywhere near as half assed as the Chromedome weapons. It feels kind of light though.
- Let's talk colours. The red is perhaps one tiny dash of orange away from being firetruck red. I like it a lot but then I'm one of those perverts who hates magenta/purple/pink/maroon Hot Rods. Otherwise there's not really that much grey on the figure. Most of the rest of it is orange and yellow. It's nice, and matches the IDW colour palette for this character.
- Transformation is simple but pleasing. There are a couple of nifty steps in there that didn't have to be but make for a much more pleasing figure, like the abdomen/car front folding in and the sides of the car forming the rear of the boots. Going back to car mode I also like how the knees become the back of the car.
- Firedrive is absolute garbage. Completely unpainted flat grey bot mode. The head is dying for a splash of any colour but red on the helmet. The dash of white on the face manages to clash with the rest of the figure's colours. I own eight of the twelve (thirteen with Brainstorm I suppose) released deluxes from this line and this Titan Master is the weakest deluxe head, by far.
- The robot mode leaves me with very mixed feelings. It's a perfectly functional robot mode, it has all the poseability you could want from a 2016 deluxe, it looks great proportionally with the long limbs, high shoulders and V shaped torso.... but I just don't like it as much as I should given all of the above. Objectively this should be one of my favourite releases from the last little while and aside from the hollow forearms () and lack of paint on the head I can't flaw the figure in any meaningful way. It just feels more light and rickety than I'd like. Subjectively, in hand it feels like the mutant child of a normal Generations figure and a PlaySkool Transformer.

I genuinely hope this is one of those figures that grows on me with time because theoretically I should be all over this.

[GoktimusPrime]

Poll?

[Megatran]

Poll?

Donald Trump is the US President elect with 306 college electoral votes.

[GoktimusPrime]

I voted for "Chocolate," which I can only assume means, "Not even interested."

I passed this toy but grabbed one for a friend. Yesterday the toy fell off his desk and the spoiler broke. That's pretty disappointing for a contemporary toy considering that a lot of BW figures can withstand not being just dropped, but being deliberately pegged on floors, across rooms etc. When I was shopping for the Wave 3 TR Deluxes, I was carrying TR Cerebros in my hand and as I was grabbing these toys off pegs I accidentally dropped Cerebros. One of Fort Max's "antennae" came off but it was easy to put back on, otherwise no damage. So yeah, a modern toy should really be able to withstand a simple drop (for child safety reasons if nothing else; this is why Hasbro can never reissue G1 Fortress Maximus).

Anyway, just be aware that the spoiler may be fragile.

[Deonasis]

I voted for Caramel because i think it is a quiet achiever of the desert flavours.

[BruiseLee]

I voted yes as i believed it would make me more attractive and successful though I'm having difficulty proving this as I'm not having much success when i ask people if they want to see my Hot Rod??

[Jellico]

Anyone else find HR has a very tight hinge holding his backpack and windsheild on?

I suspect the yellow hinge has lumps on it to make it stay in place in robot mode but it is already causing stress marks. I might have to file it back.

[Maruten]

I love this guy. Very happy with mine but yeah, Firedrive is criminally bland in robot mode.

[Dimi194]

My first Hot Rod (aside from the Blackjack redo last year, which IMHO doesn't really count) and I must say I'm really impressed!

Haven't found any of the proportion issues to be issues, I love the way he looks and the colouring.

Only issue with mine was the floppy legs, but that's easy to fix. Otherwise another awesome TR figure!

[GoktimusPrime]

Caved and got this toy for $15.

Actually quite impressed with this figure - it's a lot better than I thought it would be. It offers a lot for a Deluxe Class toy, particularly in the way that the backpack folds up and the fender folds in etc. There are neat tricks which allow Hot Rod to transform from a wide car to a sleek robot. My initial thoughts were, "Poor man's MP Hot Rod," and I mean that as a compliment to this toy. Cos I've reviewed both MP9 and MP28, and this toy feels like what MP Hot Rodimus would be if it were at a $25~30 Deluxe price point as opposed to MP38's 8000JPY ($95) RRP. So in terms of value for money, this toy gives you a lot of back for your buck.

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of how Titans Return is making Headmasters out of characters that weren't originally Headmasters in G1, and I'm still not a fan of this concept. One thing that I dislike about it is how it makes the robot heads look weird, especially with the Titan Master's arms and legs tucked on the back of the head. That's fine for characters that are originally Headmasters, because their G1 counterparts look the same, but I generally don't like it for other characters. Yet for Hot Rod it manages to work because G1 Hot Rod never had a proper back of the head anyway. It's the chrome engine block from the vehicle mode, and so having a grey back-blockhead actually doesn't look as jarring on Hot Rod as it does on other not-originally-Headmaster Titans Return figures. I still would've preferred him to be a true Targetmaster like Deluxe Class Cyclonus though.

The mufflers would look a whole lot better in chrome rather than dark grey, but the dark grey is much preferable to the dull "Hasblow" grey seen on other Hasbro toys, so I'm thankful that they at least went with a darker shade of grey. If TakaraTOMY does choose to apply chrome on the Legends version of this toy, I hope that the chrome isn't highly prone to chipping off as with MP38. Coincidentally the way that the guns can be wielded separately is reminiscent of the original 1986 Hot Rod (2 grey guns) and when clipped together it's more like 1987's Targetmaster Hot Rod, since G1 Firebolt transforms into a single double-barrelled gun.

I agree with what others have said about the horrifically plain colours on Firedrive. Zero effort put into the deco on this figure. Firedrive makes TR Stylor look good, and TR Stylor is - colour-wise - rubbish! The one incidental upside to Firedrive's One Shade of Grey is that from waist up he's more G1 cartoon-accurate in colour. My Hot Rod has some extra paint bleeding over on the left shin, but I should be able to remove it easily enough with rubbing alcohol and a cotton tip.

Photos