The Energon Pub

PotP Rodimus Prime may be my favorite Transformers toy of the last five years. I can imagine a more perfect figure, but I wouldn't want to be responsible for trying to engineer one. Few toys have tried to combine two figures into one, and other attempts like the MP combo are much more disappointing. I don't love the backpack, but it's easy for me to overlook based on the success of the other design choices made for the set.

I had a wish list to make a Hot Rod shrine, and this feature convinced me to act on it. I thank you @william-james88, but be warned, my wallet had made you its enemy.

I usually don't get non-transforming toys, but I'm going to seek out the Revoltech.

Great list! Gotta agree with pretty much all of them. I like my PotP Rodimus with the stipulation that I use it as Rodimus Prime with a super mode rather than Hot Rod evolving into Rodimus Prime, due to his smaller robot mode's height. I've never been too bothered by the slight bulkiness of the larger robot mode seeing it through that lense, but one thing that's always bugged me about it is the complete lack of upward motion in the shoulders. I wish there were third party replacement parts that turned that smaller mode knee/larger mode shoulder ball into a universal joint (swivel-hinge-swivel) instead of just a hinge/swivel so it could actually be used like a proper shoulder, but that would probably be difficult to engineer.

thesiege_2005 wrote:Not sure I understand why some people like Titans Return Rodimus better than the Classics one. I see how the Classics mold could have used an update but I don't personally think TR or even POTP really did it that much better. They just both look cheap and unfinished to me.

Well, let's see: Titans Return Hot Rod's face doesn't have the out-of-place Rodimus Prime jowls that Classics Roddy does, his car mode looks more like the G1 car mode instead of being arbitrarily changed to a DOME Zero, he actually has all three sets of external exhaust pipes and they aren't minimized like on the Classics figure, he's a little taller, he does a cool trick to deal with his car mode's rear wheels and fenders, he actually has 5mm compatible hands, he can mount his guns to his engine for a vehicle attack mode like the original toy had (instead of having to flip the spoiler over to achieve one), he has better proportions..

The Legends Hot Rod I feel would have a better place at #2. He has the streamlined design , Great transformation, but with the more toon accurate and striking paint job, Firebolt Targetmaster, the neat flipping chest trick with the additional port and the new face sculpt and Well painted Headmaster/Titan Master.

And Classics and Cloud Rodimus Should've had a place in the honourable mentions and somewhere in the list respectively. For its time despite its restricted articulation and the Flame effect missile that only really worked Aesthetically in alt mode he's still a solid,meaty figure with a great transformation

Not even having the pretty amazing and SOLID Classic Rodimus toy as an honorable mention?
For shame.
I'd kick out Movie Hot Rod from the list and put the classic/Henkei one at least at #5 or 4.

Unless the official name must absolutely be "Hot Rod" that is.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

Glarryg wrote:My only beef was that being a mostly black vehicle didn't seem very "Hot Rod"-esque; I know his traditional alternate mode always been more of a sports car than a true hot rod, but there's always been an ostentatious element of style to it. At least put more color on him than that tiny strip of orange/red along the bottom.

Glarryg

Perhaps so. Although black does fit the theme of heat/fire if you think about it.

I do think MP9 deserves an honorable mention for the ambition of the design.

The movie verse is well known for changing colour schemes around, like Drift, Ironhide, Sideswipe, Jazz, Jetfire and Ratchet. So going that route with Hot Rod just felt par for the course in terms of movie verse. And the alt mode and colour looked super sleek and sexy so I thought it fit the character enough as far as movie verse goes.
And I cant mention everyone, but I know MP9 is on everyone's mind so thats why I made him the thumbnail (along with the G1 figure)

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Nice list.

I don't own Animated Roddy, so I cannot say anything about him, but I have yet to hear a bad thing about him that isn't something I can see and disagree with immediately.

8.) MP-40 Hot Rodimus - I love the colors, but that's about it. The mold ended up being so lame and such a boring figure that he stands with Artfire on the MP shelf but Artfire and the other G1 MPs I have (Wheeljack, Sideswipe, and Prime in his SG form) vastly outdo him in every way. I won't get rid of him cause I am collecting MP Targetmasters, but he's definitely my most disappointing Rodimus and MP figure.

Thanks for the kind words (thanks all around to everyone). Yeah the only thing people have against Animated Hot Rod is the aesthetic. But its no different to discounting a movie prime toy due to it having a mouth (or First Edition Bulkhead not having a nose). Knowing your taste, I am pretty sure it would be your nummber 1 as well, especially since you like interesting transformations and sleek figures with a lot of presence.

I did not know you thought so little of the MP figure. Though aside from Shajaki I dont think many would argue that every MP figure you mentioned is better. I definitely think so too.

AcademyofDrX wrote:I had a wish list to make a Hot Rod shrine, and this feature convinced me to act on it. I thank you @william-james88, but be warned, my wallet had made you its enemy.

Haha, thanks and no worries I am ready for any wallet that may take arms against me. Especially yours since it wont be very heavy

Prime Target wrote:The Legends Hot Rod I feel would have a better place at #2. He has the streamlined design , Great transformation, but with the more toon accurate and striking paint job, Firebolt Targetmaster, the neat flipping chest trick with the additional port and the new face sculpt and Well painted Headmaster/Titan Master.

I feel the Hasbro version is sleeker due to the chest having that extra transformation bit where we see his abs. It makes him stand out more against other Hot Rod toys and makes him ever slightly more complex, and showing more exclusive robot mode detail.



But hey to each their own, they are similar enough that whoever preffers the Legends one can just replace one for the other on their list. In our case, it would remain in the same spot.

Glad to see TR Hot Rod get some love! Great toy!

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:As somebody who owns and is very fond of PotP Roddy, I don't find the Rodimus Prime mode's backpack to be that obtrusive (and if you like, you can split it into a couple of coattails to get it clear of the thighs for poses). Now, the Hot Rod mode's backpack, that is a problem. But not really because of your stated reason - after all, the Cybertron Hot Shot mold from which Excellion springs has a backpack that hangs down even lower:

While it does hang lower, it doesn't bother me nearly as much since it's just a better figure overall. Maybe I need to break out Prime Roddy and Excelleon both and really compare, but while Excelleon blew me away Prime just dissapointed. And a lot of that comes from the just-off-enough look Priems has.

Another disappointing thing about the backpack is that every Hot Rod toy has done it better since Classics. I mean except Cyberverse, which has to be the worst Hot Rod.

william-james88 wrote:Alternators Roddy would be in a top 10 for sure, but for my top 5 I didn't like the idea of having a repaint (and yes, it is a Mirage repaint). It's not just that, I am also not a fan of the transformation nor the overall look of the figure in robot mode, especially in the way the arms and legs connect to his body, it doen't look good to me.

As for Excellion, I thought of it, but to keep things less complicated I went with the more black and white approach of just going by name. It's a great toy which already got a lot of mentions on lists in the past (and will get more) but in the end its an homage and not the character himself being evoked. It wouldnt be fair to skip over a mention of an actual hot rod toy, I wanted to show as many hot rod toys as possible within a top 5.

In the end, this just shows that unlike Optimus, Bumblebee, Shockwave, Megatron or even Ravage, Hot Rod / Rodimus doesn't have that many good toys out there.

Wouldn't the same logic that goes against Alternators Hot Rod also go against Shockwave? Being a repaint, I mean, not that you just don't like it. If Alternators Shockwave can make a list, and the BB repaint get so high on the Cliffjumper list, I don't see why Alternators Hot Rod would get knocked for being a repaint.

I still feel like Energon Rodimus could be beat out by other toys. Sure, the alt. mode was a great idea. But that's like ... it. That's all it has, just a better alt mode idea than G1.

But if Excellion if off the table wouldn't Hot Shot (Hot Rod in Japan) still be fine? The homage is lessened because of the colours, but he's still a better toy than Energon Roddy. I mean is Energon Roddy really a better toy overall than Classics, Alternators, Cybertron, or even Cloud?

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Wouldn't the same logic that goes against Alternators Hot Rod also go against Shockwave? Being a repaint, I mean, not that you just don't like it. If Alternators Shockwave can make a list, and the BB repaint get so high on the Cliffjumper list, I don't see why Alternators Hot Rod would get knocked for being a repaint.

I still feel like Energon Rodimus could be beat out by other toys. Sure, the alt. mode was a great idea. But that's like ... it. That's all it has, just a better alt mode idea than G1.

But if Excellion if off the table wouldn't Hot Shot (Hot Rod in Japan) still be fine? The homage is lessened because of the colours, but he's still a better toy than Energon Roddy. I mean is Energon Roddy really a better toy overall than Classics, Alternators, Cybertron, or even Cloud?

Firstly, Alternators not being there is not just becuase he is a repaint, I wrote as such. And the logic stays the same since as I said, I would include him in a top 10, as I did in the shockwave list, but this isnt a top 10.

And energon roddy didnt make the list, he isn't good enough for a top 5, so I dont really understand the issue here.

Think I prefer ikkle hotrod that came with star convoy than the CW legends one. Interesting lists and kind of hard to determine if something that is both hotrod/rodimus can lose to a figure that is just one or the other. The bay us version doesn't count as hotrod to me and think the alternateors/binaltech version was better. I dread to even move my mp rodimus prime but I prefer it over the smaller mp hotrod, but it pretty much has 1 mode due to transforming it might break him or the trailer paint scrapes on the spoiler so I would have to give potp rodimus higher standing.

william-james88 wrote:I did not know you thought so little of the MP figure. Though aside from Shajaki I dont think many would argue that every MP figure you mentioned is better. I definitely think so too.

That mold is just so weak. The entire car is the torso pretty much, and he functions almost the same as a Combiner Wars Aerialbot with some extra steps. It's really lame for a Masterpiece, especially seeing as how creative and more fun the others turn out to be.

And his plastic seems to be of a different quality too. Those legs feel flimsier than an Aerialbot, and that shouldn't be a thing

I wasn't going to add my $0.02 because it's tough for me to make a list of the top 5. I like most of the Hot Rod/Rodimus figures that have been released, all the way to the 80s. Maybe my bias due to my liking the character blinds me to some of the figures' faults, but I just can't clearly choose the "best" one. I'll try anyway...

5. Energon Rodimus. - I like this figure because I think it has a unique look among Roddy figures in vehicle mode. I mean, no other Rodimus looks like him, right? They're all mostly cars and a few RVs. And I like the combiner gimmick. I used to own 2 of the figure and combined them to 1) get a bigger Rodimus and 2) give him 2 guns. In my head canon they were Duobots.

4. Titans Return Hot Rod. - This figure is nice, but next to most of the others, it looks like a cheap toy. I was never a fan of the lighter shades of red and yellow. But his poseability and weapon integration give him some pluses.

3. Animated Rodimus. - I agree with pretty much everything Willy J said about this figure, it's just not enough for me to put him at the top. I do own the BotCon Breakdown and Sideswipe versions as well, I like both the vehicle and robot modes, even if the transformation still aggravates me a little.

2. MP-09 Rodimus Convoy. - Yes, I realize that I'm in the extreme minority with this, but I love this figure. I own both versions and haven't had any problems with either. I guess I'm just lucky.

1. MP-28 Hot Rodimus. - A damn near perfect representation of a character, IMO. I don't own the Targetmaster version, because I found it unnecessary, and he can hold the G1 Firebolt figure perfectly, but this figure is all kinds of awesome in both modes. Definitely a home run on Takara's part.

Honorable mention #1: Classics Rodimus. - I like the colors and the transformation, but it just doesn't scream 'Rodimus' to me. It's like it's trying to copy Rodimus and doesn't quite get it right. Still a solid vehicle mode and a fairly posable robot mode.

Honorable mention #2: DX-9 Carry. - Yes, I know it's a 3P figure, but it does represent the character of Rodimus and I think the fact that the robot body turns into the entire RV is just genius. My only single complaint is that the spoiler is a bit too large in robot mode, but that was the only way to integrate the entire RV into the robot, so it gets a pass. And I think the Targetmaster weapon is also genius.

To be honest, MP9 is the Masterpiece I want the most, even with the frailty risks.

Ooouuuu boy, this list is now super outdated. But since we are getting an SS Hot Rod next year, I think I'd wait till then to do an update. Not sure if I should split between Hot Rod and Rodimus. Problem with that is if I do, I don't know where the animated toy ends up.

william-james88 wrote:Ooouuuu boy, this list is now super outdated. But since we are getting an SS Hot Rod next year, I think I'd wait till then to do an update. Not sure if I should split between Hot Rod and Rodimus. Problem with that is if I do, I don't know where the animated toy ends up.

Another SS Hotrod? Unless it's the TLK one who will finally have his own mold?

Also, I'd call a list with Hotrod and Rodimus Prime on the same list. For now, the contest would be pretty intense between SS86 Hotrod and Kingdom Commander Rodimus. Both are masterful mini MP on their own. Heck, both MPs don't deserves to be on the list at all.

-Kanrabat- wrote:
Another SS Hotrod? Unless it's the TLK one who will finally have his own mold?

Also, I'd call a list with Hotrod and Rodimus Prime on the same list. For now, the contest would be pretty intense between SS86 Hotrod and Kingdom Commander Rodimus. Both are masterful mini MP on their own. Heck, both MPs don't deserves to be on the list at all.

The MP Hot Rod I might be able to make an argument for, but not the Rodims Prime one. Especially not since one of his arms just went and fell off on its own!

-Kanrabat- wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Ooouuuu boy, this list is now super outdated. But since we are getting an SS Hot Rod next year, I think I'd wait till then to do an update. Not sure if I should split between Hot Rod and Rodimus. Problem with that is if I do, I don't know where the animated toy ends up.

Another SS Hotrod? Unless it's the TLK one who will finally have his own mold?

There's supposed to be both an SS86 Hot Rod repaint and a TLK Hot Rod in SS next year, based off the listings we have.

Nemesis Primal wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Ooouuuu boy, this list is now super outdated. But since we are getting an SS Hot Rod next year, I think I'd wait till then to do an update. Not sure if I should split between Hot Rod and Rodimus. Problem with that is if I do, I don't know where the animated toy ends up.

Another SS Hotrod? Unless it's the TLK one who will finally have his own mold?

There's supposed to be both an SS86 Hot Rod repaint and a TLK Hot Rod in SS next year, based off the listings we have.

Oh, thank you for that. The repaint I'll pass on, but I want the TLK Hot Rod!

A SS86 repaint? Into whom? Or just a "premium" version, like Arcee?

And Willy J, as for your TFA Rodimus dilemma, if you were to split this list into Hot Rod and Rodimus lists (which IMO should be done), I think he should go on the Rodimus list, since that's his name.

Rodimus Prime wrote:A SS86 repaint? Into whom? Or just a "premium" version, like Arcee?

The listing just calls it "Hot Rod Variant", so I'm expecting SS86 Hot Rod but magenta this time.

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:
Another SS Hotrod? Unless it's the TLK one who will finally have his own mold?

Also, I'd call a list with Hotrod and Rodimus Prime on the same list. For now, the contest would be pretty intense between SS86 Hotrod and Kingdom Commander Rodimus. Both are masterful mini MP on their own. Heck, both MPs don't deserves to be on the list at all.

The MP Hot Rod I might be able to make an argument for, but not the Rodims Prime one. Especially not since one of his arms just went and fell off on its own!

You mean the very first Rodimus MP?
Hell... I once owned it and that thing was horrendous. Glad I sold it for the same price I paid years ago.

william-james88 wrote:Ooouuuu boy, this list is now super outdated. But since we are getting an SS Hot Rod next year, I think I'd wait till then to do an update. Not sure if I should split between Hot Rod and Rodimus. Problem with that is if I do, I don't know where the animated toy ends up.

That's a tough one. He has Rodimus in the name, but he's clearly based on Hot Rod.

But you might squeak by on a technicality since the American toy name is Rodimus Major. The Japanese Hot Rod was always Hot Rodimus anyway and Japan's Animated's isn't Rodimus Convoy, so just the Rodimus name alone may not be enough to make him a true Rodimus Prime.

I guess there's enough Roddys to make a top 5 list. Even if it's more of just a list. There's just Studio, Primes, Titanium, G1, MP, and Energon and, maybe, Animated. It's less of a "best of" and more of a "least worst". The only one worth writing home about is the Studio one. MP breaks too easily.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Ooouuuu boy, this list is now super outdated. But since we are getting an SS Hot Rod next year, I think I'd wait till then to do an update. Not sure if I should split between Hot Rod and Rodimus. Problem with that is if I do, I don't know where the animated toy ends up.

That's a tough one. He has Rodimus in the name, but he's clearly based on Hot Rod.

But you might squeak by on a technicality since the American toy name is Rodimus Major. The Japanese Hot Rod was always Hot Rodimus anyway and Japan's Animated's isn't Rodimus Convoy, so just the Rodimus name alone may not be enough to make him a true Rodimus Prime.

I guess there's enough Roddys to make a top 5 list. Even if it's more of just a list. There's just Studio, Primes, Titanium, G1, MP, and Energon and, maybe, Animated. It's less of a "best of" and more of a "least worst". The only one worth writing home about is the Studio one. MP breaks too easily.

Technically there's less Hot Rods than Rodimuses... err...Rodimii?

Everything up until Titans Return was called Rodimus or Hot Rodimus even Classics was Rodimus even though he is clearly Hot Rod.

If the issue is the name, then the Hod Rod list is only G1, MP-28, Titans Return, PotP smaller Robot and SS-86 and Movie Hot Rod.
Barely enough for a top 5 with an honorable mention.

If you are going by the alt mode, then Rodimus Prime only has G1, MP-09, Titanium, PotP and Kingdom.

A middle ground would be a Top Hot Rod / Rodimus list with the #1 spot going to the best representation of both characters. So Top 7? or Top 8?

But does that name oddity still occur if you use the Japanese name of "Hot Rodimus"? Or just No Convoy or Prime after the name? I feel like the name is just a linguistics barrier when we all know what character we're talking about and what state. Hot Rod as just a character VS Rodimus, the leader. Even Animated is just A leader and not THE leader (that's Ultra Magnus).

Plus there was a long time where Hot Rod, as a name, wasn't used. If you're really strict on the name then even a list of Hot Rods (not the leader, but before then) becomes a headache. I mean where does that leave Armada Hot Rod and Energon Rodimus? They're different characters, but based on the same G1 character. i guess they both get listed?

I feel like a list would probably include both Rodimus and Hot Rod since it's easer to define. But, as a fan, they occupy two different spaces that don't overlap. Hot Rod isn't Rodimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots. And Rodimus Prime isn't the turbo revvin' young punk Hot Rod. A complete movie toy collection would include both states because they're so different.