The Alternators line just wouldn’t be the same if Hot Rod wasn’t among them and thankfully he is, however sadly it appears as if he may be the last in the Alternators line thanks to Hasbro choosing to end the series after him, Nemesis Prime and Rumble and choosing to focus on other lines such as the movie toys, dumb arse move from Hasbro but maybe Takara can continue the series as Hot Rod shows that this line can be far from over.

The vehicle mode looks amazing and so beautiful, it looks so smooth and stunning and ever so beautiful to the eye. When you look at this compared to Alternators Mirage it shows just how a great paint job can change the look and feel for a figure/mould because while Mirage looks fantastic he just seems left in the shade when compared to Hot Rods vehicle mode.

The doors on vehicle mode open the same as Alternator Mirages and open out like normal car doors do with the added edition of what can only be described as a sort of mini-roof attached to the very top of them above the side windows. The wheels also sport the same design as all other Alternator tires and have ‘Cybertronian Radial’ written on the tires which seems to be a trend with all the figures in the line. The license plate on Hot Rod reads as ‘California – Too Hot’ which is basically like what Alternator Nemesis Primes license plate also read. The reason it says California is because that’s basically were they were sold as because they were both California DS Comic-Con Exclusives, obviously however you could also get them from import stores and Ebay and other online toy stores.

The boot also flips open at the back of vehicle mode and reveals the engine of the vehicle which is also the weapon for robot mode. The cool thing about Hot Rod’s engine is that aside from also looking like the real thing it also splits apart and becomes two weapons for the robot mode. The inside of the engine area does look nice but if you do compare it to the real thing it does look rather red in comparison and could have benefited from a small few paint applications in some area’s which would have been rather nice considering how much the figure cost people. The bonnet section also opens and flips upwards but personally I cant see any real point to this in vehicle mode, for robot mode it flips out like the original G1 toy design and is ment to be a type of homage to the original toy but for vehicle mode I cant personally see any actual reason for it and don’t see what its real function is ment to be.

Robot mode looks great and does look different when compared to Mirage even though the figures basically use the same mould and design. Hot Rod comes with a new face which was to be expected really but the thing is while all the other characters in the Alternators line have faces much like there G1 originals it seems like Hot Rod isn’t that accurate for some reason. The face does resemble Hot Rod but it appears different some how and not like how all the others have been portrayed. Hot Rod can also lift up the top section of his head and you can slide down a visor much like Alternator Swindle or Jazz’s visors and is transparent and can be flipped up and down very easily, I think this was ment to be a homage to Hot Rod from the original ‘Transformers The Movie’ were we see Hot Rod use a visor to scan the shuttle carrying Decepticons on board heading for Autobot City.

The weapons for robot mode come from the vehicle modes engine which splits apart and forms two smaller guns for each of the hands. Originally the Alternators version only shows the guns held like you would expect the guns to be held like but the Kiss Players version shows that the guns can also be held under the hands like a type of baton weapon set, this can obviously also be done with the Alternators version and does look nice and makes it feel like it adds a little extra to what you’ve gotten. Sadly however the Alternators version is missing the fishing rod that also happens to turn into the wrist blasters (another G1 character homage) and the pvc girl Syaosyao which were only included with the Kiss version of the toy.

The knee sections bend perfectly giving you lots of freedom of movement and give lots of moves available for posing and also the arms and elbow sections have slightly more freedom as well than most of the other Alternator characters giving yet more movement for various poses and stances. The only real problem with the figure is the chest section which doesn’t really hold into place massively well, the chest area folds out and down and is supposed to be held into place by two sections of the under cars vehicle mode but the parts do not really hold the chest area together all that well and most of the time the chest section can slip out of place and come loose very easily. It may be a small flaw in the design but still the figure seems to work well and stands firm and holds together well aside from the slight chest problem.

The paint work is fantastic on both vehicle and robot mode but I guess it depends on if you prefer the flames of the Alternators version or the racing stripes of the Kiss Players version on which you like best. The paint work for the vehicle mode is basically all over red on the Alternators version but the white stripes of the Kiss version also add a nice contrast to the look and design of the whole thing itself.

The annoying thing about the final batch of Alternator figures is that you can only get them by either A) Paying through the ass for the exclusives because you could only get them from the DS Comic-con-convention or B) Paying even MORE for the Kiss Players/Binaltech versions. Now thankfully Rumble was released in the main Alternators line and in the general stores but he was sold in low numbers which made him harder to find (remember the pain in the ass it was to find Alternators Hound was when he first came out) so some stores knew this and sold him and Alternators Ravage at a much higher price than average. BT Nemesis Prime and Kiss Players Rodimus do have slightly different paint scheme’s but then it’s a case of how much your willing to pay just for a figure with a slight different paint application.

With Alternators Hot Rod you get the figure and his fish bowl style box and that’s basically it. He comes with flames on the front of his chest/bonnet just like the Generation One original had. The Kiss Players version however comes with the PVC Girl Syaosyao, Fishing Rod, Audio CD, racing stripes on the car and a much better looking box and instruction manual. So basically it depends on which version you prefer because either way there both going to cost at least around $60 to start with which is pretty damn insulting considering the Alternators line characters were originally ment to cost around $20-$25 each but thanks to Hasbro killing off the line and making these exclusives you have to pay almost 3 times as much for something that originally would only have cost you $20 which leaves you with a slightly bitter taste in your mouth.

Which ever version of Hot Rod you choose then you wont be disappointed as this is by far one of the best figures in both the Binaltech and Alternators toy line. The figure may cost about three times as much as the standard figures but he is worth it and he will be a definite for serious collectors and those wishing to complete there Alternators toy line. A great figure with hardly any flaws and a really great looking vehicle and robot mode that obviously has had a lot of work put into the design.