Hot Rodimus is available under the Transformers Henkei line by TakaraTomy. In essence, the Henkei line basically is the TakaraTomy’s version of the Hasbro Classics line, which serves to provide present day collectors updated and modern rehashes of the well-loved Generation 1 toys. The main difference between the Henkei and Classics line is that the Henkei Transformers mostly come with an improved paintjob which sports chromed parts or metallic paint finishes.

Packaging wise, Hot Rodimus comes in a carded bubble. Unfortunately, I’ve kind of lost my carded bubble so I’m unable to post the pictures up here.

Vehicle Mode

The vehicle mode of Hot Rodimus is still a sleek looking hot rod, which features a gold chromed spoiler and metallic paint finishes to the orange headlights right at the front of the hood. The wheels, unfortunately are plastic and not made of rubber. The canopy is made of a translucent blue plastic and upon closer inspection, the interior cabin can be seen through it.

The rear of the vehicle sports an oversized exhaust pipe which looks pretty much like an afterburner. This afterburner is, in fact, the missile launcher for Hot Rodimus and comes with accompanying translucent blue flame projectile to create a hot jet of flame for that added look of raw speed and general coolness.

There is an attack mode for the vehicle mode. This involves flipping the entire spoiler over to reveal the launch button for the projectile launcher, which is that yellow tab that you can see in the picture below. Pushing back on it launches the flame projectile.

Robot Mode

In his robot mode, Hot Rodimus closely resembles his G1 counterpart, the head sculpt is similar, the hood still forms the chest and the exhaust pipes at the side of the vehicle mode still appear at the side of the forearms. Transformation wise, it’s pretty simple, though a few of the joints were rather stiff. The head sports light piping, which basically means that there is a blue translucent piece of plastic at the back of the head that is connected to the eyes and when viewed correctly under a light, makes the eyes glow blue as if they were lighted up.

Articulation wise, Hot Rodimus’ major joints are all articulated to some degree. The head rotates fully as does the shoulders. Though the articulation of the shoulders can be hindered by the canopy piece at the rear. The shoulder joint is also able to be tilt slightly to the front and rear in addition to being able to rotate. The elbows bend at a 90° angle.

The waist does not rotate. The thigh joint can be rotated forwards to some degree and is able to be swung out. The section between the thigh and the knee is double jointed. The knee bends almost fully but is hindered by the kibble at the back portion of the leg. The lower leg below the knee is rotatable. Lastly, the ankle features a certain degree of articulation.

Gimmicks and Accessories

Gimmicks wise, Hot Rodimus sports the chain saw that his G1 counterpart used in the 1980’s Transformers movie, which saw him rise from a young and brash punk who caused the death of the beloved Optimus Prime to become the new leader of the Autobots with serious self-doubting and confidence issues.

This chain saw gimmick is only available on the left hand and can be stored in a small compartment when not in use.

The chain saw can be flipped out as shown below, the entire piece is a moulded piece of plastic so that means no movable chain saw blade. Seriously, although the chain saw bit was a nice touch, it looks more like a Transformer-sized pizza cutter than a chain saw. The blade is pretty small, roughly about the size of the fist.

As mentioned earlier, Hot Rodimus comes with a projectile launcher as his main weapon. The launcher can be fitted into either hand and looks pretty good by itself. However, when the launcher is attached, the arm cannot acheive the full 90° bend at the elbow as the rear end of the launcher is pretty long and jams into the upper arm when trying to bend the elbow fully.

The accompanying blue flame projectile can be attached to the launcher. One thing I did not mention earlier was that the projectile does not end in a point, but rather, ends with a small rounded tip. Child-safety laws at work here again, but at least the projectile does not look oversized or just plain butt ugly like some of the other projectiles of the other toy lines. Attaching the projectile to the launcher ‘converts’ the weapon into a flamethrower for more ‘added’ fun and play value.

To end it all off, if deciding whether to get the Classics version or the TakaraTomy version of Hot Rodimus, the deciding factor is in the paintjob as the 2 versions share the same mould and do not sport any differences as far as the mould is considered.

If you are more of a player than a displayer, I would suggest going for the Classics version as the paintjob is not too susceptible to wearing off due to play.

The reverse holds true, as when displaying the TakaraTomy version as the chrome and metallic paint are more prone to chipping or tarnishing with extensive playing. However, it looks better compared to it’s Classics version when placed side by side for display.

This pretty much sums up what most of the people I know do, ie, they get one of each; The Classics version to play with and the TakaraTomy version to display or to keep MOSC (Mint on Sealed Card).

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