For perhaps one of the most recognizable characters from Armada/Micron Legend, Hot Shot's track record when it comes to toys has been a mixed bag at best; With his OG toy being somewhat of a fun but awkward clunker that almost everyone seems to hate, and his next major toy in Universe 2.0 while had some admirable ideas on-paper is, unfortunately, the exact opposite of the OG toy in all of the worst way possible.

With the rumor that Armada/Micron Legend Hot Shot getting another chance in Legacy and with all of the lessons that HasTak might've earned in the last 2 decades since Armada/Micron Legend come out, would this might just be the very best Armada/Micron Legend Hot Shot toy that CHUG can do? Spoiler alert... I say yes, but in some aspects also no. Let me explain why in a second...

Packaging

When it comes to packaging, it has a pretty similar aesthetic to Legacy's first-year packaging, with the exception that the Legacy Evolution logo takes the pace of the original Legacy log, and the color scheme as a whole now features more blue and green all over instead of Purple.



Robot Mode

In robot mode, it's obvious that this toy was meant to be another take on Armada/Micron Legend Hot Shot in a CHUG scale figure form. He's certainly recognizable as the character he was meant to be, and sculpting-wise there's quite a bit to like here. I especially really like how cleanly-done the silver trim on his torso's safety belts is, and unlike Armada/Micron Legend Starscream this figure doesn't suffer too much from having half of the vital paint apps omitted just straight OOB (Even if having just a tad bit more paint apps would've been nicer)





When it comes to posability however, there are some problems. Everything above the lower legs is pretty standard CHUG deluxe carbot fare, with a head swivel, universal swivel shoulders, bicep swivel, elbow bent 90 degrees, waist swivel, universal hip swivel joints, etc.... all seems good until you reach the lower legs.



To be bluntly honest, The way these lower legs were executed was a bit of a mess. Instead of having the entire top roof part formed from Hot Shot's arms, Hastak for whatever reason decides that for this figure, all of the top roof kibble was awkwardly placed at the back of the lower legs on ball-jointed struts, and in their supposed configuration as shown in promotional images the knees can barely bend beyond 50 degrees.

While they are ball-jointed in such a way that you can move the kibble out of the way at the sides to achieve a full 90-degree knee bend, looking at the back...the only way I can describe this is: does anyone remember that old FOC Deluxe Shockwave figure where the figure's lower legs only look good from the direct front and sides, and any other angles reveal all of the hollow spaces for the whole world to see?



Well, that's exactly what this reminds me of, and it ain't that pretty to look at.

As part of the so-called "Evo-Fusion" thing, Hot Shot's "Evo-fusion" trick was that just like his OG toy, the figure also has the character's signature "Axlezooka" which can be manually deployed from the back, as well as the visor which can also flip down ala the OG toy. I do like these touches, and seeing the axelzooka again on any kind of Armada/Micron Legend Hot Shot is pretty cool.



Another option that was "advertised" by the designers is that the axelzooka was connected to the back via a mushroom, and when removed you can combine it with his engine-blaster to form some kind of... eh, bigger "cannon" or sort.



I get the intent but TBH, this seems more like a fan mode that they quickly thought of straight out of their ass for their IG post because they're running out of stuff to talk about than anything intentional, and not even in a good way at that.

Size comparison with the other Legacy Unicron Trilogy figures we've gotten so far, which was Armada/Micron Legend Starscream (Left) and Cybertron Override (Right):



Speaking of Armada/Micron Legend Starscream, the other thing that the design advertised on their IG is that this figure can also use that figure's "Star Saber" like the show. I do admit, that pathetic excuse of a "Star Saber" doesn't look as puny with Hot Shot here, but it still doesn't that great size-wise TBH.



Vehicle Mode

The figure's vehicle mode while having enough characteristics to be recognizable as Armada Hot Shot's alt mode and the sculpting is good, has just enough flaws that hold it back. Proportionally, this vehicle mode is just all over the place, with the wheels that seem too small when compared to the rest of the alt mode, a weirdly-stretched side profile that looks like he's trying to morph into a limousine, and height-wise everything about this alt mode just looks like it's been flattened like a pancake in Photoshop.





I know what I'll say would get me crucified by the fanbase, but TBH I still think the OG toy has the much nicer and better-proportioned alt mode.

In the end, should you buy him?

Well, it really depends. For those who love Armada/Micron Legend and had wanted a brand new figure of the character, it's a decent update and would do its job as a new figure of Hot Shot on the shelves. There are quite a lot of things to like here, but he's unfortunately not the "definitive slam-dunk" upgrade over his 2 previous toys that he could've been, and there are just enough weird shortcomings here that I can only mildly recommend him at best.



Legacy Armada/Micron Legend Hot Shot is a decent figure, one that was a valid attempt but also could've been a lot better.

 

Nice review.

For me he’s a skip for a couple reasons. 1, no affinity to the character, 2, he just looks really cheap to me.

That said, hope he meets the need for those that want him.

 

I still prefer the two previous versions.

 

I think keeping the hood halves on the arms would have done wonders for improving his design silhouette and decluttering the legs a bit. The main things holding me back from buying this are the legs, the stretched-out altmode, and the lack of Jolt. Like you said, it’s almost there, but not quite. I’ll wait to see how Megatron and Optimus Prime are done (although with Megatron I’d wait for a Galvatron redeco and maybe Megazarak).

 

Dam he really needed the roof to be his arm kibble. Thats been the biggest miss for me on this one.

 

yeah usually I would find the removing of kibble off the arms to be a positive but it’s a design element of Armada Hot Shot I actually like. Plus now it just makes the legs messier which sorta negates making the arms cleaner.

I wish HasTak would start putting a little more priority into vehicle modes. Awkward proportions and curvatures have resulted in car modes that just look off, like here with Hot Shot or with Studio Series 86 Ironhide.

I am interested in seeing this figure in his Powerlinx deco

 

At the time it came out, I didn't have much love for Armada Hotshot. I wanted vehicle transformers with BW/RID levels of articulation, and I didn't appreciate that Armada was veering away from action figures towards being toys; prioritizing gimmicks over posability. By the time Universe Hotshot came out, an un-fun mess to handle, I had begun to re-evaluate my feelings for Armada and appreciate the first Hotshot for its clever integration of the Minicon gimmick with the axelzooka. This version looks to balance articulation with the axelzooka (tho I miss it being automatically activated via a Minicon). While this version lacks a Minicon (which is a big problem, to be sure), I'm surprised at how much I like it in general. The weirdly proportioned car mode evokes the weirdly proportioned original in a fun way, and while the legs are a bit of a mess, they bother me (at least in pictures) far less than I would have thought. They feel like an acceptable sacrifice for such a tidy robot from the knees up. Overall, to my surprise, this remains my most anticipated figure of its upcoming wave.

 

The flaws are very obvious and I'm not super into some of the design choices, but I still think this guy looks fun, especially with SS's Star Saber. I've had the Universe mold (TFCC Dion) on my desk for the last week or so and while I love that toy for what it is, it is very much a fiddly, overdesigned mess. This toy does seem somewhat underdesigned in places, but I have no doubt that it will at least stand up and be able to achieve basic poses without parts jamming into each other.

There's also something about the proportions that are definitely off, but in a way that evokes the kind of off-model animation goofs that Armada was known for, which I find very charming.  

 

That is some very awkward looking leg kibble. That being said, great photography, and I am looking forward to him.

 

I have the OG one, which had terrible articulation. Never linked him. Gonna skip this one as well, and probably all future Armada releases.

 

i like it the car seems good i dont see him strectched or anything, the 45 degrees bend is not great but is not bad either, he can bend his knees something the original cant, i think the hate came more from been from the unicron trilogy that for the toy itself the universe version is horrible i got it and believe me this is a lot better than that thing, the axlezooka, the arm articulation, it got waist articulation , ankles , 45 degrees of knee bend are not bad , i got leader siege astrotrain it also got 45 degrees i dont see anyone hating it for that is not perfect but is good enough for me

 

Hasbro's affinity for backpacks the last few years has made it to backpacks on boots

Seriously though, thanks for the review. That shot killed what little interest I had left in this figure, I went to cancel my preorder only to find I already had   There are some things that look interesting, but I can't justify paying full price for the end result.

 

the biggest thing for me (aside from the obvious mess of the legs) is the head is just too dang big. I know they were matching to the OG, but I think if they'd given him a more "standard" sized head, his proportions wouldn't look so ridiculous. His arms also seem a tad undersized (some of that roof kibble on the forearms actually really would have helped that), but the overall effect is those slightly undersized arms look dramatically undersized because of his huge noggin'.

The alt mode is def. the worst of the three versions (and I don't like the originals at all, but at least it's cohesive)

 

Good review!

I'm skipping him mainly cause they gimped him of all the fun shit the old to could do with the springs, engine, and Jolt, and failed to replace it with anything substantial, along with falling into a lot of recent Hasbro pitfalls like painted clear plastic and bootpacks.

 

The weirdly designed legs and noodle arms kill the figure for me.

 

Yeesh... moving the roof kibble from the arms to the legs wasn't a risk that paid off in the end. Such a shame since I do enjoy his design aesthetic overall. I actually prefer his super robot anime proportions over Legacy Armada Starscream's.

As long as he's not a pain to pose and transform like the Universe mold, I think he'll be welcome in my collection.

 

It's been quite some time since I mess around with that mold, but one thing for certain this Legacy Hot Shot is nowhere as bad at the Universe 2.0 mold.

That mold does look nice at first glance, but even with the various changes done to the Henkei version it's still a floppy mess of a mold that can barely stays together in either of its modes without something popping out of place or parts clashing into each other.

This Legacy version isn't the best, but at the very least he's a structurally fine figure that works as it intended for the most part - I'm just not a big fan of how the legs are done.

 

I’m honestly floored the car mode looks as bad as it does.

 

I thought my kid would at least want this figure, but he was also like hard pass. That alt mode is difficult to get past.

Yeah, no one is going to crucify you.