TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:
Alternate Mode:
Box Art:
Technical Specifications:
STR
INT
SPD
END
RNK
CRG
FPR
SKL

Galvatron91's review of: Hot Rod

Faction: Autobot
Function: Cavalier
Generation: One
Sub-Group: N/a
"My actions speak louder than my words"

"Hot Rod is an all-American-boy Autobot. He's a typical adolescent who dreams of being heroic and important. He tends to follow rules too closely. Although he means well, Hot Rod's impulsive actions often get him into trouble. He carries two photon lasers that temporarily electro-magnetize an enemy robot's microcircuits. Speed: 120 mph. Range: 4 miles. He can be hotheaded, but he's always a well-meaning, admirable lad and a brave and honourable fighter."

Alternate Mode: Hot Rod is a "futuristic" sports car of some sort, complete with an engine too large to jam into his hood and 6 exhaust ports to vent the gaseous, toxic waste his engine produces. (I take this chance to renounce the very idea that a Transformer would install an Engine into himself just for his Alternate form... it seems rather counter-productive) Hot Rod is a dark Maroon color, mostly, with some yellow flame designs on the hood and along the sides. The dome is a see-through blue platic and, looking in, there ARE 2 seats and a small Steering-wheel-like setup. Three grouped together ehaust pipes are on each of his sides and to top it all off, he has that simply HUGE Yellow fin on the back. the Autobot symbol is on his hood. His tires are, indeed, rubber and he will roll is you give him a little nudge.

In his alternate form, Hot Rod looks almost exactly like he does in the movie, and it'll warm your heart just to look at him and think of fonder days before Rodimus.

Robot Mode: Although I have no idea why you would want to ditch that sweet car-form, here's how you do it:
Look on the side of Hot Rod and see where the pipes jut out. Grab his rear section by there, and by the back, and pull backwards. Do that to the other side as well, then look at him from behind and flip his feet out.
Flip 'Rod over onto his back. Grab one of his front tires and push it outwards til the tire is pointing away from the main body. Repeat on the other tire, in the opposite direction, then swivel the lower arms into their correct position. Which is with the big hole in the orange fist up, should you find yourself confused somehow.
Turn him over in your hand again so your looking down on the top of his car-from and grab the very front of his hood. Pull it forward and up at the same time, and it should easily slide free. Turn him back over to face his robotic front and pulls the hood over and down so it's against his frame. Slide it as high as it goes and push in on the engine, then finish flipping his head over, snapping the base of his collar into place. You now simply have to slide what is now his chest down til the small nub at the bottom of it clicks into the groove on his belt.
Grab the sides of the fin and rotate the entire back section of his vehicle form around til the fin is sticking up over his shoulders as it should be. Jam weapons into his hands as you see fit.
And there you go. One Robot-mode Hot Rod. If you have his insructions on you, use those, since they make it easier... pictures are so much simpler than words sometime, aren't they?

Transformation: 5. Hot Rod is not too hard, nor too easy to Transform. I'd recommend you at least be awake when doing so, but you hardly need professional aide.
Durability: 9. The fellow is almost a brick. Just avoid putting too much strain on those shoulder-joints and elbows and he should be good for life. His vehicle mode is also neigh-unto indestructible and is great for ramming other Transformers into submission.
Fun: 7 Cruiseing him around as a car with a gun on his hood, slamming into things is the best part. Not quite as amuseing as most of the others in robot mode though, but he does have 2 guns instead of one and, as we all learned from Megatron, firepower counts for something.
Price: 6 The Original Hot Rod can and will set you back a hefty $130, at least if you want him in one peice. I've never seen one cheaper. BUT they are, for a little while anyway, re-realeasing him as a part of a Transformers Commemerative series. This is the same toy, useing the original molds from what I can tell, and you can land him for no more than $20. Thus, it's up to you to decide if you want a genuine collection of originals, or if you just want one to play with. Your call.
Overall: 8. An excellent all-around toy, far superior to his Rodimus incarnation. Solidly build, with only 2 parts you can conceivably lose, and being re-released dirt-cheap so you can play with him without feeling the guilt of possibly lowering his value, Hot Rod has it all.