Transformers Masterpiece Black Rodimus Convoy
I have never reviewed this mold before. It’s crap, partly due to design flaws and quality control issues, but all some really bad design choices, especially with Rodimus’s vehicle mode. I can’t even take pics of either vehicle mode because his knee joints are so poorly designed they break with one transformation. His left knee developed a crack as soon as I tried, so I didn’t want to do any more damage to it. He can be either Hot Rod or Rodimus in both modes. Hot Rod’s vehicle mode is pretty cool, but the newer Masterpiece Hot Rod is better. His Rodimus Prime vehicle mode is the most convoluted stupid design I’ve ever scene. You fold up the top of Hot Rod’s car mode and put him backwards under the trailer. The top of Rodimus’s cab flips out from under the trailer. The only parts of Hot Rod that are visible as Rodimus in vehicle mode are his front wheels and yellow fin. It was an idiotic design. I never could get it perfectly snapped together.
Trailer
His trailer is very faithful in design to the G1. It’s fine.
Hot Rod
Hot Rod looks pretty good in robot mode. My only complaint is that he has two pieces of plastic sticking out on the sides of his torso by the insides of his elbows. They really should have folded in. His two guns are pretty cool, and he has two other accessories from Transformers: The Movie, his Buzzsaw, and welder. He also has a flip down visor, but I forgot to take a pic of it. It’s really not that special.
Rodimus Prime
As Rodimus Prime he has a new face, his guns connect together to form one larger gun, and his hips are jointed as to make him slightly taller than Hot Rod. Honestly he isn’t that different. Rodimus looks pretty good.
Overall: Both the original and black version of Rodimus Prime have lots of quality control and design problems. For toys as expensive as these to be so flawed that they break right out of the box is unconscionable. Both versions of this toy are complete disasters. The Hot Rod portion was later released as an exclusive at Toys R Us in the USA with a Targetmaster weapon. That is a much better version of this toy.
Thanks for reading!