Transformers Studio Series '86 Hot Rod: Turbo Revvin' Young Punk!

 Today I'll be having a go at a certain flame-hooded red robot that has caused quite an uproar in the Transformers community, here is Transformers Studio Series Transformers The Movie Voyager Class Hot Rod!

Aesthetics:

Looks-wise, Hot Rod is basically a mini masterpiece, with all of the details and colours on point to how he appeared in the 1986 movie (shade of red not withstanding) and the only flaws being some odd-coloured joints in the knees, elbow and spoiler hinge due to the nature of gang-molding. To create that perfect movie aesthetic, Hot Rod has a faux robot mode chest piece which is made to emulate the appearance of his car mode hood, but changed in a way to make his proportions better. Hot Rod has some very nice details picked out in colours such as orange, burgundy and a nice shiny silver (which thankfully hasn't been replaced by flat grey/white to mimic how the cartoon dealt with shiny parts. Hot Rod also has a very nice flame deco on his torso, which adds to his awesome 80's vibe. Overall, quite a great looking figure.

Articulation:

Hot Rod's articulation exceeds the standard for Voyager class figures in terms of articulation (even though he is a short one) which is definitely a good thing! Here's a quick rundown:

• Dumb-bell joint at the neck
• Can move his arms to do a T-pose
• Over 90' elbow movement, elbow swivel
• Wrist swivel
• Opening fingers(!)
• Waist Swivel
• Good forward, backward and outward leg movement
• Over 90' knees with a double joint
• Ankle tilt, plus some slight back-and-forth

Accessories and Features:

Hot Rod includes quite a few accessories and features to make up for his smaller stature that add quite a lot when it comes to fun factor. Hot Rod includes two different silver guns, a pizza-cutter-esk buzzsaw that replaces his hand, another copy of the Earthrise Optimus Prime Matrix but in slightly different shades of colour, plus two blue flame blast effects for his tailpipes and one big one to attach to the Matrix to light our darkest hour. As far as other features go, his hands open to hold the Matrix (like with Earthrise Optimus), his head opens to fold out a slick blue visor, and his hands flip around to reveal a welding torch and a 5mm peg to attach the buzzsaw. Definitely tightly packed with stuff. He also includes a movie scene background like the rest of the Studio Series figures.

Transformation:

Hot Rod's transformation is extremely smooth as long as you do everything in the correct order. Not too complicated while also being enough to be enjoyable, and includes the torso arm-flip from the beginning sequence in the movie, which is a neat touch. The vehicle mode is made up mostly of robot parts, apart from the faux hood in robot mode, and most of the back of the car unfolds from the back of the legs. In alt-mode, Hot Rod is a slick looking red hot rod car with an exposed silver and engine and large exhaust pipes (be careful with the clips), an orange hood with a large flame deco with the Autobot symbol in the middle. He also has a large yellow spoiler (which is responsible for a lot of the odd coloured joints) and a nice clear blue windscreen. The guns and buzzsaw can also combain and tack onto the car mode for some weaponizing action. Quite a good looking car overall, even with some of the weird colour placement.

Comparisons:

Hot Rod is quite short for a Voyager, standing at about the same height as taller Deluxe class figures like Ironhide and Hoist. Compared to the previous Hot Rod figure, being a Titans Return Deluxe, this Hot Rod has a much more complex transformation, additional articulation joints and much more cartoon inspired colours than the TR version's toy based deco. He also is much more well proportioned in robot mode, and the alt-mode is a bit more compact comparatively as well.

For comparisons with other characters, here's a comparison with some other Transformers figures, Earthrise Leader Optimus Prime, SS86 Deluxe Jazz and WFC Netflix Deluxe Bumblebee.

And here he is with some of the other characters that debuted with Hot Rod in the 1986 movie, Siege Leader Ultra Magnus and SS86 Deluxe Kup.

Finally, here he is with some other action figures from other lines, Marvel Legends 6" Gamerverse Captain America and HGUC Gundam RX-78-2.

Final Verdict:

This guy is probably the best Hot Rod we'll ever get (at least for a while). Well articulated, great looking and extremely satisfying to transform, I have to agree with everyone that has said that Hot Rod is one of the greatest mainline figures in recent times, and I really hope Hasbro continues to create more figures of this quality (although maybe not always bumped up to the next price point).

Score: 9/10