Post by iacon45 on Jan 16, 2018 20:01:24 GMT -5
( I want to apologize up front. I had intentions of taking pics but the camera did not want to cooperate. I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow. I am also writing this from memory since I am at work and don't have the figure in front of me).
Transformers Power of the Primes Leader Class Rodimus Prime
After many "Hot Rod" themed figures we finally get a true Generations update to his matrix bearer form "Rodimus Prime". (I know we had the Titanmaster from the TR Velocitron set but I don't count that one ). POTP Rodimus is 4 toys in 1: Hot Rod in robot and vehicle mode and Rodimus in "evolved" robot and vehicle mode.
As with all POTP figures, they include 1 of 12 possible trading card variants, each corresponding to a different Prime. My trading card is "Rodimus Amalgamous" which says Rodimus can assume the form of previous Primes which seems kind of fitting for the "Power of the Primes".
Hot Rod
In vehicle mode, this is the most faithful representation to the original G1 cartoon model in my opinion. He also looks alot simpler than previous Hot Rods too. If you turn Hot Rod over, you can see his "faux hood" chest. Now one thing I will say here, yes, this figure has alot of Hasbro's new "cheap feeling" decals but one place they didn't cheap out on is the flames and autobot logo on both hood and chest opting for a good ole tampo and I really appreciate that.
Transformation is simple but for a few areas. You first have to unclip his legs in the back and the way the pegs are here, you can't just pull them straight out, you have to twist the leg a certain way to get it to peg and unpeg so watch out for that. The feet come out after opening his shins, the shoulders unpeg from the front of the hood and pull down a bit and you pull down his robot chest and rotate the bumper in revealing Hot Rod.
In robot mode, I really do love this Hot Rod. (I would gladly buy just this Hot Rod on his own if offered separately). Again, it's pretty simple, but he is articulated more than his G1 incarnation. The one draw back is his shoulders are a bit hindered and his legs can't go back far because of the car mode windshield. The pipes do stick out a bit further out than the hands. The biggest plus (especially over TR Hot Rod) is you can actually SEE his spoiler in robot mode. He does have a larger gun that can seperate to give Hot Rod two different guns to hold. One other drawback is when he is hanging around as Hot Rod, his trailer is just sitting there. I think a weapons platform would have been a good additional feature, but I have seen some fan modes that look pretty decent.
Also, if you have seen the Titan Returns Cartoon, he thankfully does not have the silly looking "Optimus Cosplay faceplate".
Rodimus Prime
To get to Hot Rod (in car mode) to Rodimus' space winnebago mode, you first have to unpeg the panels with Hot Rod's exhaust's and fold them forward. Then there is a peg hole between his spoiler and windshield that fits into a peg right under where he goes in trailer mode. There are also tabs on the back of his car mode that plug into holes where the back of Rodimus' hips are in trailer mode. Kind of hard to explain without pics at the moment. Then there are panels that fold over the sides of car mode and clip into the back of Hot's Rod's exhaust pipes and then there are vertical pipes on the trailer that come down and clip on too. NOTE - This part can be a pain to line up just right. It takes a few tries. Rodimus' rifle can split apart and plug into the two peg holes on top of the trailer near the back.
In vehicle mode, yea, he is definitely a "space winnebago" but, in my opinion, his winnebago mode is pretty clunky compared to the G1 toy. The cab is essentially Hot Rod parked under the "trailer" and he sticks out pretty far. The one big glaring point to me is his Rodimus Prime fists uncovered sitting right above the cab. I would've liked to at least see a panel that could have covered those. His flame details (decals) are also a bit smaller compared to his G1 toy but at least they are there. One other nitpick, is the detail ends on a horizontal line going toward the trailer's exhaust pipe's. I would have have like to have seen the decal go all the way back to the pipe for the illusion of flaming exhaust.
To transform into Rodimus Prime, you have to unplug Hot Rod. Unclip the legs from the back (watch out for those funky pegs). Bend them out to the side, and fold up at the knees. Essentially you are folding Hot Rod in half here and flipped his spoiler up and over. It's a little more involved than that, but as I write this, I am at work and I don't have him with me to be any more detailed. Once you have Hot Rod part ready to go and the trailer in "pants and gloves" mode, simply plug in Hot Rod and fold down Hot Rod's car hood until it clicks (it is in this area that rodimus' inverted colored Matrix goes). Then take Rodimus' arms and plug them into Hot Rod's knees and you have Rodimus Prime. I can see where other people have compared this to Fans Project...I think....add on armor for Classic's 1.0 Hot Rod.
In robot mode, the biggest thing to notice is Rodimus Prime has been doing a bit of body building. Where in G1, he was still mostly thin and streamlined, in POTP, he is bulked up. Almost like Hot Rod is Prince Adam and Rodimus Prime is He-Man. That being said, for the most part, the bulked up look works and helps differentiate him from just a taller Hot Rod while in robot mode. The shoulders are pretty weird since his shoulder joints are essentially Hot Rod's legs. He does have a pretty good range of motion all over all things considered including ankle tilt. The one HUGE issue I would like to call out (and seems to be an issue for past red colored figures) there are distinctly two different shades of red. The Hot Rod component is bright red and the trailer is in a darker red. Where it clashes and is most noticeable is where the Rodimus Prime' "gloves" plug into Hot Rod's knees. He is also pretty kibbly, epsecially with the sides of the trailer just hanging off his back. I would have liked to have seen a bit more engineering where this panels could have folded this panel up a little more and make it a bit more streamlined looking.
Hot Rod's two pistols can combine here and form a larger rifle for Rodimus. As I mentioned earlier, Rodimus comes with an inverted colored Matrix compared to Optimus'. The crystal module can seperate from the harness and Prime Masters or Titan Masters can fit in it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
All things considered, I am ok with this release (especially the Hot Rod component) despite all the little nitpics I have pointed out. He is not perfect by any means, but considering this is the first attempt at a true Classics "Rodimus Prime", I think they did allright, especially incorporating the "evolution" gimmick and combining what was two different toys in G1 into one package. I think the design fell a bit short in a few areas (especially not giving the trailer some purpose other than sitting there when he's not in Rodimus mode and a few more hinges could have helped hiding the Rodimus hands in trailer mode and streamlining some kibble when combined). But all that being said, while he is an ok figure, imo, I don't know if I would pay $45-50 for this again. I know I won't be be getting the "Unicronus" repaint. But if you can get this set on sale or discounted to around $30, I think that would be a better price for this release. Also since Takara and Hasbro are "Unifying the brands" and Takara's initial Rodimus pics pretty much look to be similar to Hasbro's, I definitely would not recommend importing him at this point.
1/2 out of 5.
(PICS coming soon)
Transformers Power of the Primes Leader Class Rodimus Prime
After many "Hot Rod" themed figures we finally get a true Generations update to his matrix bearer form "Rodimus Prime". (I know we had the Titanmaster from the TR Velocitron set but I don't count that one ). POTP Rodimus is 4 toys in 1: Hot Rod in robot and vehicle mode and Rodimus in "evolved" robot and vehicle mode.
As with all POTP figures, they include 1 of 12 possible trading card variants, each corresponding to a different Prime. My trading card is "Rodimus Amalgamous" which says Rodimus can assume the form of previous Primes which seems kind of fitting for the "Power of the Primes".
Hot Rod
In vehicle mode, this is the most faithful representation to the original G1 cartoon model in my opinion. He also looks alot simpler than previous Hot Rods too. If you turn Hot Rod over, you can see his "faux hood" chest. Now one thing I will say here, yes, this figure has alot of Hasbro's new "cheap feeling" decals but one place they didn't cheap out on is the flames and autobot logo on both hood and chest opting for a good ole tampo and I really appreciate that.
Transformation is simple but for a few areas. You first have to unclip his legs in the back and the way the pegs are here, you can't just pull them straight out, you have to twist the leg a certain way to get it to peg and unpeg so watch out for that. The feet come out after opening his shins, the shoulders unpeg from the front of the hood and pull down a bit and you pull down his robot chest and rotate the bumper in revealing Hot Rod.
In robot mode, I really do love this Hot Rod. (I would gladly buy just this Hot Rod on his own if offered separately). Again, it's pretty simple, but he is articulated more than his G1 incarnation. The one draw back is his shoulders are a bit hindered and his legs can't go back far because of the car mode windshield. The pipes do stick out a bit further out than the hands. The biggest plus (especially over TR Hot Rod) is you can actually SEE his spoiler in robot mode. He does have a larger gun that can seperate to give Hot Rod two different guns to hold. One other drawback is when he is hanging around as Hot Rod, his trailer is just sitting there. I think a weapons platform would have been a good additional feature, but I have seen some fan modes that look pretty decent.
Also, if you have seen the Titan Returns Cartoon, he thankfully does not have the silly looking "Optimus Cosplay faceplate".
Rodimus Prime
To get to Hot Rod (in car mode) to Rodimus' space winnebago mode, you first have to unpeg the panels with Hot Rod's exhaust's and fold them forward. Then there is a peg hole between his spoiler and windshield that fits into a peg right under where he goes in trailer mode. There are also tabs on the back of his car mode that plug into holes where the back of Rodimus' hips are in trailer mode. Kind of hard to explain without pics at the moment. Then there are panels that fold over the sides of car mode and clip into the back of Hot's Rod's exhaust pipes and then there are vertical pipes on the trailer that come down and clip on too. NOTE - This part can be a pain to line up just right. It takes a few tries. Rodimus' rifle can split apart and plug into the two peg holes on top of the trailer near the back.
In vehicle mode, yea, he is definitely a "space winnebago" but, in my opinion, his winnebago mode is pretty clunky compared to the G1 toy. The cab is essentially Hot Rod parked under the "trailer" and he sticks out pretty far. The one big glaring point to me is his Rodimus Prime fists uncovered sitting right above the cab. I would've liked to at least see a panel that could have covered those. His flame details (decals) are also a bit smaller compared to his G1 toy but at least they are there. One other nitpick, is the detail ends on a horizontal line going toward the trailer's exhaust pipe's. I would have have like to have seen the decal go all the way back to the pipe for the illusion of flaming exhaust.
To transform into Rodimus Prime, you have to unplug Hot Rod. Unclip the legs from the back (watch out for those funky pegs). Bend them out to the side, and fold up at the knees. Essentially you are folding Hot Rod in half here and flipped his spoiler up and over. It's a little more involved than that, but as I write this, I am at work and I don't have him with me to be any more detailed. Once you have Hot Rod part ready to go and the trailer in "pants and gloves" mode, simply plug in Hot Rod and fold down Hot Rod's car hood until it clicks (it is in this area that rodimus' inverted colored Matrix goes). Then take Rodimus' arms and plug them into Hot Rod's knees and you have Rodimus Prime. I can see where other people have compared this to Fans Project...I think....add on armor for Classic's 1.0 Hot Rod.
In robot mode, the biggest thing to notice is Rodimus Prime has been doing a bit of body building. Where in G1, he was still mostly thin and streamlined, in POTP, he is bulked up. Almost like Hot Rod is Prince Adam and Rodimus Prime is He-Man. That being said, for the most part, the bulked up look works and helps differentiate him from just a taller Hot Rod while in robot mode. The shoulders are pretty weird since his shoulder joints are essentially Hot Rod's legs. He does have a pretty good range of motion all over all things considered including ankle tilt. The one HUGE issue I would like to call out (and seems to be an issue for past red colored figures) there are distinctly two different shades of red. The Hot Rod component is bright red and the trailer is in a darker red. Where it clashes and is most noticeable is where the Rodimus Prime' "gloves" plug into Hot Rod's knees. He is also pretty kibbly, epsecially with the sides of the trailer just hanging off his back. I would have liked to have seen a bit more engineering where this panels could have folded this panel up a little more and make it a bit more streamlined looking.
Hot Rod's two pistols can combine here and form a larger rifle for Rodimus. As I mentioned earlier, Rodimus comes with an inverted colored Matrix compared to Optimus'. The crystal module can seperate from the harness and Prime Masters or Titan Masters can fit in it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
All things considered, I am ok with this release (especially the Hot Rod component) despite all the little nitpics I have pointed out. He is not perfect by any means, but considering this is the first attempt at a true Classics "Rodimus Prime", I think they did allright, especially incorporating the "evolution" gimmick and combining what was two different toys in G1 into one package. I think the design fell a bit short in a few areas (especially not giving the trailer some purpose other than sitting there when he's not in Rodimus mode and a few more hinges could have helped hiding the Rodimus hands in trailer mode and streamlining some kibble when combined). But all that being said, while he is an ok figure, imo, I don't know if I would pay $45-50 for this again. I know I won't be be getting the "Unicronus" repaint. But if you can get this set on sale or discounted to around $30, I think that would be a better price for this release. Also since Takara and Hasbro are "Unifying the brands" and Takara's initial Rodimus pics pretty much look to be similar to Hasbro's, I definitely would not recommend importing him at this point.
1/2 out of 5.
(PICS coming soon)