The Energon Pub

Depending on what other accessories it comes with I just might use this to replace the earlier Hot-Rod

Sabrblade wrote:So just so it's clear, this deco is accurate to how Hot Rod looked in The Rebirth, in which he was colored in Rodimus Prime's animation-erroneous deco that AKOM made frequent use of in Season 3. So hes accurate to an incorrect color scheme.

The shin stripes, however, are a case of Takara treating the lighting/shading on Hot Rod's shins as literally as possible.

Just rewatched rebirth and Hot Rod has his legs like that in every scene they're visible in no matter what the lighting. So it really isn't a matter of Takara Tomy getting it wrong, but AKOM misinterpreting the lack of shading as a purple stripe on a black leg and consistently coloring him that way. If you look at the rest of the characters the shading changes from place to place like it should, even on the rest of Hot Rod, but those legs are constant. Can't really blame Takara Tomy for this. If anything this figure is exceptionally screen accurate, purple stripe and all. I guess Someone at Takara Tomy knows how to do purple right.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:So just so it's clear, this deco is accurate to how Hot Rod looked in The Rebirth, in which he was colored in Rodimus Prime's animation-erroneous deco that AKOM made frequent use of in Season 3. So hes accurate to an incorrect color scheme.

The shin stripes, however, are a case of Takara treating the lighting/shading on Hot Rod's shins as literally as possible.

Just rewatched rebirth and Hot Rod has his legs like that in every scene they're visible in no matter what the lighting. So it really isn't a matter of Takara Tomy getting it wrong, but AKOM misinterpreting the lack of shading as a purple stripe on a black leg and consistently coloring him that way. If you look at the rest of the characters the shading changes from place to place like it should, even on the rest of Hot Rod, but those legs are constant. Can't really blame Takara Tomy for this. If anything this figure is exceptionally screen accurate, purple stripe and all. I guess Someone at Takara Tomy knows how to do purple right.

Emerje

I don't know whether to call AKOM doing it that way in the first place, and Takara just following in suit, either better or worse.

ホットロディマスのターゲットマスター版がマスターピースとなって登場！
アニメ「トランスフォーマー　ザ・リバース」で活躍したターゲットマスター・ホットロディマスを再現
映像の中で活躍するホットロディマスのカラーをより再現しており、カスタムカーからロボットに完全変形します。
海外版アニメ「TRANSFORMERS THE REBIRTH」で活躍したターゲットマスターにパワーアップしたホットロディマス（海外名：HOT ROD/ホットロッド）の完全変形フィギュア。　
映像の中で活躍するホットロディマスの魅力を余すところなく再現されています。

Cyberpath wrote:

ホットロディマスのターゲットマスター版がマスターピースとなって登場！
アニメ「トランスフォーマー　ザ・リバース」で活躍したターゲットマスター・ホットロディマスを再現
映像の中で活躍するホットロディマスのカラーをより再現しており、カスタムカーからロボットに完全変形します。
海外版アニメ「TRANSFORMERS THE REBIRTH」で活躍したターゲットマスターにパワーアップしたホットロディマス（海外名：HOT ROD/ホットロッド）の完全変形フィギュア。　
映像の中で活躍するホットロディマスの魅力を余すところなく再現されています。

The target master version of Hot Rodimus comes out as a master piece!
Reproducing the target master · hot Rodimas who played an active part in the animation "Transformer The Reverse" reproduces
the color of hot Rodimas who is active in the image, and it completely transforms from the custom car to the robot.
Full transformed figure of Hot Rodimas (overseas name: HOT ROD / Hot Rod) which power up to the target master active in oversea version animation "TRANSFORMERS THE REBIRTH".　
The charm of Hot Rodimas who is active in the image is reproduced without any limitation.

That last line certainly is true.

Pre-orders are up in Japan, ordered one off AmiAmi.

Emerje

Gosh, he is so beautiful. No regrets with the pre-order. Those colors look amazing on that mold

Seibertronian Cyberpath has shared with us that MP-40 Hot Rodimus has even more images posted, courtesy of Takara Tomy Mall. These new images show us Hot Rodimus from several different angles in both robot and alt mode, and it shows us some new images of Targetmaster Firebolt! You can check out these images below, and let us know if you are going to order this new Targetmaster Masterpiece!

I think what most interests me is seeing how the gun handle has been modified. So I can also do that.

I have both previous version of MP Hot Rod so no I won't be ordering this.

The car mode looks a lot better than I originally thought - maybe even moreso than MP-28 - but that robot mode is still absolutely dire. One of the worst decos I've seen a while.

Kurona wrote:The car mode looks a lot better than I originally thought - maybe even moreso than MP-28 - but that robot mode is still absolutely dire. One of the worst decos I've seen a while.

How can you say that? He is owning that deco! Artfire had the best deco of the MP-30's, and this Hot Rod is right there with him. It is gorgeous and loud and I am in love with it

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Kurona wrote:The car mode looks a lot better than I originally thought - maybe even moreso than MP-28 - but that robot mode is still absolutely dire. One of the worst decos I've seen a while.

How can you say that? He is owning that deco! Artfire had the best deco of the MP-30's, and this Hot Rod is right there with him. It is gorgeous and loud and I am in love with it

Artfire looked incredible, and I was hoping MP-40 would follow in his footsteps instead of being based on an animation error and having dumb red strips down his legs. All the power to you if you like it, but this just looks awful to me.

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Kurona wrote:The car mode looks a lot better than I originally thought - maybe even moreso than MP-28 - but that robot mode is still absolutely dire. One of the worst decos I've seen a while.

How can you say that? He is owning that deco! Artfire had the best deco of the MP-30's, and this Hot Rod is right there with him. It is gorgeous and loud and I am in love with it

Artfire looked incredible, and I was hoping MP-40 would follow in his footsteps instead of being based on an animation error and having dumb red strips down his legs. All the power to you if you like it, but this just looks awful to me.

Booooooooooooo

Artfire is incredible, and while I was hoping for a new targetmaster mold, it looks great to me, and it works. Sorry it can't really hit home for you too

Am I missing something? What does Artfire's deco have to do with the quality of this figure's deco?

Any idea if Firebolt will be able to attach at the wrist like Artfire?

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Any idea if Firebolt will be able to attach at the wrist like Artfire?

Not without any alterations to either Firebolt or Hot Rodimus. Which is just as well, as they never did that in the US cartoon, and Hot Rodimus never became a Targetmaster in Japan.

Sabrblade wrote:Am I missing something? What does Artfire's deco have to do with the quality of this figure's deco?

I was comparing them because I have no real attachment to Artfire as a character, but his deco was super sweet and made the figure look much better than his original 2 versions. To me, the same applies here: This deco on Hot Rod makes him so much better to me, hence why I want him so badly. It may be an animation error deco, but it is a deco that is better to me than the original version, and thus is enough to make me buy it

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Any idea if Firebolt will be able to attach at the wrist like Artfire?

Not without any alterations to either Firebolt or Hot Rodimus. Which is just as well, as they never did that in the US cartoon, and Hot Rodimus never became a Targetmaster in Japan.

I even expect this figure's bio to reflect the events of "The Rebirth", even if it's just an alternate timeline in Japan.

From his appearance at Tokyo Comic Con (which took place from December 1st to 3rd) and via Twitter users @7777_diver and @MASABON2011, we have a couple more images to share of Takara Tomy's upcoming Masterpiece MP-40 Targetmaster Hot Rodimus! The figure, shown off next to other Masterpiece figures including the recently-released and upcoming MP-12+ Sideswipe and MP-39 Sunstreaker respectively, sports the same deco seen in previously-released images.

The first photo appears to depict his colors as skewing closer to the last release of the mold rather than the darker maroon that MP-40 has been previously shown to be, but it's almost certainly just the lighting or contrast in that one image, as the second photo seems to show the more commonly advertised colors from this release. If you were wondering how MP-40's deco is expected to stack up against the previous version, MP-28, check out the comparison images from August this year!

Check out the images of the figure below, and take in all its glory in two surprisingly different sets of lighting! Seeing these images, do you have any more thoughts on how MP-40 stacks up against MP-28, or just how it stands as a toy on its own? Let us know in the Energon Pub!

So... this guy is like the ‘Animation Error’ edition? (+Targetmaster)

MagicDeath wrote:So... this guy is like the ‘Animation Error’ edition? (+Targetmaster)

Yes. He’s based completely off the AKOM animation from Rebirth...something that was never released in Japan. Even down to the windshield crotch.

It’s honeatly kind of amazing.

Randomhero wrote:

MagicDeath wrote:So... this guy is like the ‘Animation Error’ edition? (+Targetmaster)

Yes. He’s based completely off the AKOM animation from Rebirth...something that was never released in Japan.

Yeah it was. On Laserdisc, DVD, and soon on Blu-Ray.

Sabrblade wrote:

Randomhero wrote:

MagicDeath wrote:So... this guy is like the ‘Animation Error’ edition? (+Targetmaster)

Yes. He’s based completely off the AKOM animation from Rebirth...something that was never released in Japan.

Yeah it was. On Laserdisc, DVD, and soon on Blu-Ray.

It's worth mentioning that the Japanese dub of The Rebirth uses the US names for most characters, not the pre-established Japanese ones. In this case, Hot Rodimus was simply called Hot Rod (ホットロッド Hotto Roddo), something not reflected in the MP if I may add.

Still can't wait for this dude. Targetmaster MP's for the win!

We have, after a long stint of radio silence, a new image of the latest offering from the Takara Tomy Transformers Masterpiece line: the Targetmaster version of Hot Rodimus, relabelled as MP-40! The image, mirrored below from the Singaporean fan group on Facebook Planet Iacon, only really shows the box for the figure, with the Long Life Design Award label and very minor shots of the Targetmaster itself, only in weapon mode on the stock photography. You can take a closer look in one of our previous articles covering the set, here, and join the conversation in the Energon Pub!