I'll admit it: I thought turning Hot Shot from a Hot Rod-homage into a generic armored vehicle was a dumb idea. Seeing the figure in person changed my mind completely.

The Cybertron Defense Team (or Team Vanguard, as it's called in GF) is basically Hastak's homage to massive overkill. In Hot Shot's case, that means packing every square inch of the guy with anime-style multiple missile pods. His shoulders have missiles, his legs like missiles, the TOPS of his shoulders have missiles -- hell, even his GUNS have missiles. Think Scattorshot taken to the logical extreme. It's so completely over the top that it works.

He also has a short sword, which feels like an afterthought. It's stored between his legs.  

Transformation is very similar to Hot Shot's previous form, with a few tweaks, and the addition of some sharp edges on the door panels which you should be wary of. Parts are tighter and more difficult to pull out than his previous form, and there's a weird thing where you have to pull the shoulders up a fraction of an inch before splitting them which may throw some kids off. It's still pretty easy overall.

Both alt and robot modes look quite good. It's kind of shocking how close the old and new robot modes look to each other, if you ignore the missiles. Old Hot Shot had a nicer (transparent) visor, but otherwise they're really close.

Articulation is OK. He has all the articulation of the previous form, but his shoulders can't pivot inwards when the gun cannons are lowered around his head. Lowering the covers on the shoulder missile panels also blocks forearm movement. Basically, you have to choose between posability, and showing off all those missiles.

The Cyber Key is used to pop open the shoulder cannons, revealing ... more missiles. If it isn't pushed all the way in, it falls out -- making storage difficult. It's a generic Cybertron Autobot key, probably to reflect the new team status.

The faction logo on the shoulder is the Autobot Vanguard logo from GF. Kudos to Hasbro for not changing that.

Overall, a solid figure for the price. I'm a little miffed that the Cyber Key can't really be stored effectively, but I've never liked the gimmick anyway. It's definitely an upgrade that's better than the original.

Final Grade: B+

-XCN-

 

I found that in robot mode you can store the Cyber key in that odd holder thing on his left leg. I'll take a picture when I get a chance. It works great in robot mode. Vehicle mode not so great.

 

Picked him up yesterday, but was disappointed to see he was missing one of the foward machine guns, so I'll have to return him (maybe without that sword too...).

Otherwise he's a nice figure with many neat features. My one gripe is the color scheme. I know that they felt the need to keep it consistent so that the CD characters are identifiable, but the truth is I never like the color scheme in the original Hot Shot either. I just find that particular mix of those shades of red, blue and yellow don't blend very well. But as much as I disliked them for a sports car, they are even worse on a military vehicle.

 

He's a pretty cool figure. I do wish his hips were ball jointed like on the original Hotshot so he could stand with his feet angled outwards, though. Also one of his shoulder machine guns was loose when I bought him so I ended up super-glueing both of them in nice and tight.

 

In a stroke of great fortune, found CD Hot Shot today, and overall I'm impressed. I'm a really big fan of the design aesthetic, so the limited articulation and very un-military color scheme doesn't bother me TOO much, although the latter can be very easily improved. He's certainly no C-Sideways, but he's not C-Override, either. A little on the small side, though, but I don't feel cheated at all. Really nice little figure.  

 

He's great, I'm also impressed how much he looks like his old robot self. All those missle pods make him look badass when deployed.

He's almost a head shorter than his old self, it seems to me he should be bigger than before, but that's a minor complaint. They should have given him his clear visor back too. Other than that, he's awesome.

 

I found him almost a week ago at Wal-Mart. I kept him in his plastic prison, since I keep those figures MIMP. Although, by looking at him; I just wish that he is bigger.

 

I think you got it backwards; that weird bin works great in vehicle mode (where the key sits squarely flush in the bin), falls straight out in robot mode (where there's nothing holding it in place).

That said, it still looks ******ed to have a giant Force Chip randomly sticking out of one side.

-XCN-

 

I got my CD Hot Shot this week. He's not as good as the sports car version, but not bad. I think the muted blue works better than a red or yellow would for the military vehicle. I wish the visor on his helmet in robot mode was done the was it was for his sports car toy though. Just painting it yellow looks kinda odd especially when you place the two figures next to each other. Now if only we could see the episode where the CD team makes it's debeaut. C'mon already CN!

 

I picked mine up the other day, I was so happy to complete my Cybertron Defense Team. All 3 of them are great molds and armed to the teeth.

 

I got him today as well as scattorshot, and I must say he rocks! I DO have complaints though, no arm or leg rotation anymore (arms at least ) other than that he kicks ass, and in bot mode when you include his shoulders, he's almost as tall as the original.


andy

 

What a pain in the neck to find! He's not as articulated as I thought but still pretty cool. I like how he can stow the sword away in his alt mode. Like most, I don't like he's smaller than his previous incarnation. Still the guy is armed to the teeth and is definitely worth the $10+.

 

i found him today...but passed on him. as much as i think he looks cool and i'd prolly like him, i'm content to have his previous incarnation.

still waiting to find CD scattorshot  

 

I also found you can stick his sword in the hole next to his hand while in robot mode... give him sort of a Baraka from MKII look on that arm..

 

I imagine every incarnation of Hot Shot being a deluxe from now on. I too am upset at the lack of arm articulation, as the original Cyb Hot Shot could pull off the oh-so-gangsta pose.

 

CD Hot Shot is pretty darned cool. That mold is just begging for a Decepticon repaint/remold though, in some nice dark or military-looking colors.

 

with a shockwave head.

 

Who needs arm articulation when you have 86 missiles on your body?

 

Got it Thursday night, and I really like it. Not as articulated as the original Hot Shot, but thats ok...I love all the weapons it has stored away...lots of play value. The key gimmick is pretty lame, but it does add to the arsenal which is alright...Overall I'f give it a B+. Pretty fun toy.