The first wave of Cyberverse deluxes, in my opinion, felt like a severely underrated set of figures. They're easily the best renditions of the characters in the cartoon, and I really looked forward to seeing the rest of the wave and completing the Maccadam Build-a-Figure. Hot Rod joins Grimlock as the next two figures in the series. Upon initial reveal, the figure was met with heavy criticism, and I hoped that impression would change upon having the figure in hand. Unfortunately, I agree with that initial impression, as Hot Rod seems to represent everything I disliked about the first wave.

To start, Hot Rod's vehicle mode is a plain sports car, with very minimal paint applications. The silhouette feels pretty accurate to the show model, but lacks detail. The most notable omission are the signature hood flames, which are present in almost every other Hot Rod figure in the Cyberverse line. The pinned wheels are also pretty egregious, as Bumblebee and Optimus don't show the pins that the wheels attach to.

The figure comes with flame effect pieces to attach to the exhaust pipes, which try to make the car look a little more interesting. There's even ports on the flames if you want to attach them to the various pegs featured in the Cyberverse Deluxe or WFC series of figures.


The robot mode is my main source of disappointment, as it's simply too red. While the sculpt is nice and pretty show accurate, a lot of the details present on the CGI model are unpainted. The figure is only comprised of beige and red plastic, and it shows especially with the back spoiler, which is unpainted, and the tires, which are only painted on the side that's seen in vehicle mode. The arm kibble is also pretty bad, as the exhaust pipes extend farther than they're supposed to.


The flames can also attach to the pipes in this mode, which only serve to make the kibble look even longer than they already are.


As a figure, he's actually pretty well articulated, notably having double jointed elbows and a pretty decent range of leg articulation. His shoulders stand as the only limited point of articulation, as it can collide with the backpack. I tried to showcase his articulation in this picture with Bumblebee.


I really wanted to be optimistic about this figure. There's actually a lot this figure does well. The sculpt is decent, articulation is good, and it's the best representation of Cyberverse Hot Rod we'll probably ever get. But the figure is just really bland as is. I feel like the look of the figure could easily be improved on with more paint, or even if they went with the black deco he has in season 3. As it stands, I can't recommend him unless you're really adamant about completing Maccadam.

 

Good review. I haven't gotten any of the Cyberverse Deluxes yet but was considering picking up Hot Rod and Grimlock. I agree that there's too much red and that he could be improved with more paint. If I see him in stores I might pick him up.

 

Thank you for the review. I don't have any figures from the Cyberverse line but as a Hot Rod fan, I had considered picking this up.

 

As it is, I just can't get interested. I'll admit, if they did a redeco in the Season 3/stealth force deco, I'd be tempted to pick him up.

 

IMO the paintwork is the biggest knock against this figure.

Vehicle mode - decent, but unexciting, like when a child draws his first car using a ruler and graph paper. Needs more paint detail.

Transformation: Simple, with a somewhat interesting bit here and there. The legs extend on sliding joints, which you don't see much on transformers today.

Robot mode: Looks pretty nice, and a decent match to his screen appearance. Needs more paint detail. The tires with only the outer surfaces covered are pretty stupid-looking.

Overall: If you got this toy just for a Macaddam leg, I don't think you'll feel too cheated, but the lack of paint does make it feel cheaper than it probably actually is. I think it's likely the best Cyberverse Hot Rod toy, but that's not a high hurdle to clear.

 

Yeah, of the 8, he definitely seems like the weak link of the bunch. I hate that his upper legs are painted and not just orange plastic.

 

Yeah looks way under-detailed for the price point. I’d love to see what he looks like once he’s all painted up.

 

Its like everyone at Hasbro loves Hot Rod but that one guy in the design department, either we get a great toy with no paint or accents like this one or a bad toy with great paint and coloring accents like TR Hot Rod

 

I think hot rod is my least favorite of the deluxes releases so far, and it really isn’t the colors, while they don’t do him any favors, the thing that hurts him the most for me is how utterly boring the transformation is, and how there is so much bad kibble as a result, the forearms are particularly bad in this respect, oh and the right leg doesn’t like to stay extended, I managed to fix it tho so It’s not bugging me too much



I don’t hate this toy, but it’s just so bland in every way, not just paint

 

Just got him in today, getting Grimlock tomorrow. While i love his design he definitely needs a good set of reprolabels right away! I also trimmed out some plasting in his armpits to let the shoulders go just a little deeper and i think it helps his look. Also his headsculpt is spot on to the show. He literally just needs some stickers to finish off what i consider to be a dam good hotrod. Also mine has a loose lock on the left leg slider. Anyone know how to fix that?

 

Hey, just want to check on what other people are experiencing, does most people's copies have a leg (left) that doesn't lock in robot mode? I saw on IG and some other news sites that this seems pretty common, but I'm debating about picking up another copy or the Japanese release to try to get one with two locking shins.

 

He’s not horrible, he just needs some Repolabels for the hood and maybe the Spoiler Wings.......

My Hot Rod’s seem also be a Target for abuse.......this one already took a Atomic Fire Breath, Gravity Beam and Null Ray point blank.......(yes, I’ve read Hot Rod: a 1000 ways to die)

You’d think he has a Bad Luck Curse)

 

yea mine was loose too and while I managed to fix it, my solution used some stuff that wouldn’t be just laying around for most, but I can explain the issue at the least, and there are certainly other things that can be used to fix it I just can’t give exactly what cuz I didn’t use them

so the issue with the loose leg Is the finger on the slider doesn’t engage with tooth on the interior of the calf


So I added some Self adhesive rubber Strips I cut out of a sticker sheet from a gundam kit to effectively make a new tooth, you could use anything in theory. U just need to make a bump big enough to engage with the finger but small enough that the finger can force past it

so u could get like foam tape, or glue a piece of plastic, even use like a small screw, there are many ways I can think of to fix this issue I hope you all figure some out too and share with the rest of us

oh one last thing, the two halves of the leg are glued together so be careful not to rip anything taking them apart after unscrewing them

I myself actually damaged mine a little bit defeating the glue

 

The cheapness of this toy is just surreal. Not even the worst of PotP was this bad.

 

Hah, I won't argue with you but I will add the qualifier "for a deluxe." This is the least I've felt like I've gotten with a deluxe since Fall of Cybertron deluxes, but those were certainly painted better.

 

does the plastic come off as cheap in person as it looks in these pix? cause it looks really bad. looks cheap and soft and kinda translucent, more like what you'd see on a no-brand set of beach toys then a near-mainline figure. (I realize Cyberverse deluxes are in a weird place between kiddie line and Main line)

 

Red plastic also has a way of exacerbating that effect.

 

If I didn't know any better, I would've pegged this figure as being the most well-designed Happy Meal toy ever.

 

I was aware of the general opinion towards this figure so I can't really blame anyone. I was hoping to find better tfs today but it was down to this one. Buying this only made me more disappointed that I couldn't find anything better.

 

Ugh. I bought this figure as my daughter's first Hot Rod toy. Wouldn't you know, the right knee joint snapped clean off after two transformations. Really disappointed us both. Trying to determine if I should get a replacement or go for a different Hot Rod.