uhhh... what? Rodimus kept the central piece in the show... unless you're talking about the toys, then that said, neither of them had the central tip on the toys.
I've been studying these pictures, and I think I see something odd. Compare the side window of vehicle mode to the side window you see in several of the side-view pictures of robot mode. The bottom of the window appears to have a completely different shape than the other one. Also, the bottom edge of that piece looks to be smooth and rounded in vehicle mode, but in bot mode, has several different angles to it. Here's something really interesting too. In only one of the pictures, there is a clear piece on the side of the chest that is actually overlapping part of the hood, you can see the distortion in the mold line underneath. This appears to be a mistransformation. That piece is not only missing in every other photo, but in every other photo, his chest is nice and flat against the body, but in the pic with the clear piece, it's sticking way out away from the body. He was mistransformed and someone caught it and fixed it. What this means though, is that there is some sort of clear piece hiding underneath the hood in robot mode. If true, it may explain why his crotch plate is clear, because it's part of another clear piece behind the hood. Also, if all the clear parts are from the same sprue, then I don't think it'll be blue in robot mode because the crotch plate would look odd. This rules out red too, no contrast against the car colors. So I'd expect his crotch plate and windows to either be clear or tinted. I'd go with tinted myself.
Too much extra junk all over him. No doubt about a multi changer prototype here. Think of a 'cape' on his back that folds out and covers all the junk under it. It's a Hot Rod car and his 'butt' transforms into the truck cab, with the front of the car hiding under the trailer.
You know, it is kinda fun. Edit: Been looking at the pics again,the windshield inside the robot mode is definitely different than the one in the alt mode pic. Might just mean they are two different versions of the toy (two prototypes, so one is the old version and one is the updated version).
I thought about that too. The 'front end' (windshield and roof) of Rodimus Prime are part of the trailer. Hot Rod's car mode is actually what the robot transforms into. Looking at the pics, I'd actually come close to betting hard cash that this is also Hot Rod. I'm almost certain of it now.
Here is a lot of stuff to chew on..... enjoy! Also look at the back of his legs in robot mode! Having some Rodi-gasm. *The only problem now..... is where is the Hot Rodded engine....... HRRRMMM!
This thread is awesome! First off Rodimus looks great whether or not he turns into Hot Rod as well. They finally got his freaking head and face right (something they've NEVER done in a toy)! Second, if the designers are reading this thread they must be laughing their butts off at all the speculation.
Eh, honestly, I still think it's JUST Rodimus Convoy, but i love how people are picking this shit apart... it's epic.
Holy Hell, you guys even have diagrams. Good Lord, tf collecting is serious business. (Thank you, btw)
http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers...01007301323374208065287562_004_1280468307.jpg What I want to see is an front shot of the trailer disconnected instead of only them from the back. That Rodimus mode cab windwhield and side pieces might be in fact stored in that front piece of the trailer (which looks like the back end of the gun platform. Perhaps they even tuck up under the trailer?
I really don't think there's another windshield. Where would the windshield, and roof that it's connected to, go when it's connected to the trailer so this other windshield can come out for truck-thing mode? just sink into the same physical space as the arms and legs and head and hood? no. the vehicle mode is just an early prototype, and that's why the windshields don't match. I'm sure of it.
Well, not actually disappear. But could in some way fold up under that huge part sticking off the gun platform.
well, there were theories that said maybe the underside of the battle platform tuns into Rody's legs, and this completely disproves that idea! HOT RRRROD!!
That colored picture of the prototype is of course a digibash done by a fan. Just wanted to note that as I think the lower legs will end up being red/magenta instead of black or grey since the front fenders of the known alt mode are the inner back of those parts of the legs. I wonder if the outer parts of the legs could end up forming part of a Hot Rod car mode.
Yeah, everyone moved on from that waaaaaay back. Not really. Something folding up from under the trailer would block that from happening. and the pieces would be way too big to fold up under there anyways. Anywhere the roof goes, it would take the spoiler with it. Keep that in mind. I don't think they'd do anything that would result in very wrong colors (according to the animation model, not the toy) being used for robot mode. the pieces on the insides of his legs will be red of course. But it doesnt matter what color the legs themselves are, since they won't be visible in any alt mode. The entire roof, and a decent bit of the sides of the cab/car are all in his back. What isnt there is taken care of by the arms, according to the animation model.
