Transformers Studio Series 93 Deluxe Class Transformers: The Last Knight Autobot Hot Rod

The "Transformers The Last Knight" movie was a massive dissapointment for transformers fans, Paramount, and Hasbro alike. But it always managed to strike better with its toys both from the era before Studio Series, and even up to now, and Hot Rod shows just how much progression over time has occurred.

Movie toys have always struggled to figure out where to put the vehicle kibble, because many designs make too much of the respective vehicle modes disappear. Hot Rod has the same ammount of lack of vehicle kibble as his brother in arms, Bumblebee, having only the headlight sections, doors, and wheels visible on his robot mode; so when Hasbro would tackle Hot Rod many of us expected the same treatment as Bumblebee where he would have a big section of folded up panels hanging off the back. So when we got this prestine, sleek, and yet still exceptionally accurate and articulate figure even people who despised the movie designs had their interests peaked.

Hot Rod turns into an exceptional looking Lamborghini alt mode, hitting all of the sleek features and fascinating angles with incredible precision like one would expect from a fully licensed alt mode. The panel lines for the transformation are pretty well disguised along the existing natural line of the car, making it so there isn't a single angle one can view it from that is unsightly. However, like every figure that uses it, the use of clear plastic windows betray the face of the robot inside.

The transformation uses many moving parts, yet everything has a clear order of operation. Despite using many friction based joints, almost none of them are at risk of popping off during the conversion process. Except for a pair of panels located at the back of the feet. These panels, containing the details of the cars exhausts, only move a few degrees for the transformation, and have molded in stopping points. I have found these to have a massive tendency to pop off. These panels aren't even so visable in the alt mode, so I've just popped them off and thrown them in a drawer.

And the resulting robot mode is AMAZING! The windshield entirely vanishes thanks to the roof covering it up, resulting in a smooth and low profile backpack. And otherwise the wheels, doors, and headlights end up exactly where they need to be. The hood flips inside out and tucks into the stomach, which is the only case of inside out transformation on this figure so it's not nearly as annoying as many 3P products. And the robot mode is fully articulated, with the highlight being the feet as they contain no less than 3 joints each!

Overall a great figure, even if you hate his face, and it sets a new standard for SS that Hasbro had better live up to.

The car mode is good, but the robot not si..