Masterpiece Hot Rod

The Season 1 cars are still my favorite. Vehicle mode just doesn't do it for me. I think it's the tiny little tires because I don't really mind the weird, not-so-futuristic-anymore shape. The paint application looks to be very clean. He has translucent head lights and chrome engine block and exhausts. His translucent blue windshield is not tinted very much so the interior is easily visible. Although he rolls just fine on plastic tires, it feels like his underside scrapes against the floor.

Transformation is pretty straightforward. I enjoy the way in which the backpack is formed from his windshield, roof, and side panels. It's a nice touch how vents extend on the backpack. I do not like how his shoulders clip into the transparent plastic of his windows. His legs transform in a very similar style to the Combiner Wars jets, which I prefer over having to yank them out.

I like his head sculpt. He looks very youthful where Masterpiece Rodimus Prime's Hot Rod face still looks older. His build quality is definitely much better than Rodimus Prime. Panels stay in place and joints don't seem on the verge of exploding. The top of his head flips open to reveal goggles of transparent plastic that can rotate out. Unfortunately the hinge for the goggles is also made of transparent plastic so I won't be manipulating it too often. His chest also opens to reveal a compartment for Optimus Prime's Matrix. It's a gimmick that doesn't really make sense since he never carries the Matrix around in The Movie. I would have preferred the space in his chest had been saved for compressing his backpack. Since the backpack is so deep, his already too small wings appear even smaller because they are farther away.

His head is on a hinge and swivel. So are his shoulders. He swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs. His fingers are pinned and move as one unit. You can fake a butterfly joint at the shoulders by unclipping them. He definitely has double-jointed knees. I'm not sure about his elbows. They look double-jointed, but I can only get the lower joints to bend. He has an ab crunch, but like Maketoys Gundog, it does not lock into place. His thighs are universal joints. He has ankle tilts and rockers.

His accessories include two rifles, a circular saw, and a fishing pole. The rifles are not identical. There is no paint on either of them, but they have nice panel details. Although both use the annoying Masterpiece style tabs, I didn't have any clearance issues getting them passed the thumbs. They stay in place just fine. The handles rotate to change for pegs that fit in the roof of the car. The saw can spin and can peg onto nubs on either fist when they are rotated into the forearms. The fishing pole has no moving parts and is made of flexible plastic.

Hot Rod will go on my Masterpiece shelf. He's a great improvement over having to use Masterpiece Rodimus Prime as a Hot Rod. If only that backpack had been compressed into the chest cavity. Despite that I'm really enjoying his aesthetics. Now I need a Masterpiece Kup, Springer, and Arcee.