Red Hot ... ...

is TakaraTomy's Masterpiece 09 Rodimus Convoy (Rodimus Prime)

Saw promo pics of this months ago but did not occur to me that I will purchase this. Nonetheless, it's stacked with the rest of my collection.

Packaging is moulded plastic tray that houses everything neatly and thank goodness; it's without twist ties.

Out of the box, Hot Rod stands at about 10 inches tall with 95% plastic and the only diecast are shoulder joints and feet. A far cry from MP-01.

Articulation wise, this is much better which allows for more poseabilities and with the heft at the feet, it gives the figure good CG.

Ok, this part I'm not too familiar where and when Hot Rod has this disc-like weapon.

The twin blaster is something that I have seen before and it's a bit tricky to put them on.

Hot Rod becomes Rodimus Prime after obtaining the Matrix of Leadership when Optimus Prime 'died' to lead the Autobots in the battle against the Decepticons.

Rodimus Prime!! But seriously. what's the difference?
1. Different Face
2. Extended hip joint to make the leg slighly longer (2 cm)
3. Wing at the back slightly higher (0.5 cm)
4. Twin blasters joined together to become a rifle

Rodimus comes with a trailer like Optimus which transformed into a battle station. Rodimus is installing his rifle to get things ready.

Transformation

It's a pain (my fingers) to get this done. The legs gave me a hard time and I took a good 30 minutes to figure out the whole thing. The Japanese instructions did not offer much assistance and I guess the instructions did not give more information about it as well.

The vehicle mode is really authentic but I fear the chrome on the exhaust will start to show signs of oxidization in years if not months to come. 

Combining with the trailer is another heart-aching process and a great disappointment as well. Firstly, due to poor manufacturing standards and QC, the slot in the trailer for the fins of the spoiler is too tight and it takes a lot of strength to squeeze it in.

It is really puzzling for the design to be passed through when there is a gaping hole on the top part of the roof of the vehicle. Something could have been done to avoid this and it should not take too much of an effort to fill it up.

Here's the aftermath of squeezing the fins into the trailer. It left multiple scratches on the fins with red paint stain from the trailer. Well, I would not be doing much to 'clean' it up but I will never transform it to that mode again.

Bottom Line

If you are not a Rodimus fan, you can forget about this. It's simply a joke for TakaraTomy to produce and sell it. If not for the intricate design, it looks cheapskate. It looks like one of the those bootleg item you can find in the market that goes for $19.90.