Rating:  -
the kids love it but I'm a little "transformer inept" - have a hard time transforming them and the directions are not that clear
Rating:  -
He's been voiced by Judd Nelson, replaced Optimus Prime as leader of the Autobots, hated by fans, and called by a variety of names: from Hot Rod, to Rodimus Prime, to Rodimus Major. Through it all though, he still makes one sweet toy that longtime Transformers collectors will have a blast with. Since Hasbro no longer owns the rights to the name Hot Rod, Rodimus is here in all his glory in this Deluxe Classic figure, and he looks sweet. Looking pretty much like the futuristic sports car that debuted in the 1986 animated movie, Rodimus is, as a previous reviewer has already pointed out, surprisingly easy to transform back and forth from vehicle to robot. In robot form, Rodimus looks pretty good as well, albeit a bit bulkier than he ever did on the cartoon, but that's nothing new with Transformer figures though is it? He comes with a missle launcher that actually shoots and is easily put in his hands. All in all, Rodimus is a great Transformers toy that collectors young and old will love, and he deserves a welcome place in any collection.
Rating: -
I was a big fan of the original Hot Rod toy, and I've become a big fan of this rendition of Rodimus as well. The transformation isn't complete in the picture here, as the spoiler can be turned upwards as in the original toy. A lot of thought went into the design of the toy, and the detail on it is impressive. My three-year-old also loves playing with the toy. My only concern is that the legs lock into place when in car mode, and the tabs that hold it in place can bend the plastic on the outside of the vehicle if you're not careful. It's a great toy for a great price and comes highly recommended.
Rating: -
With the original Transformers The Movie being released again in a few weeks and with another brand new movie to follow, new and old fans alike are delighting at seeing some cool new Transformers action figures on store shelves just in time for Christmas.
Hasbro is wrapping up the Cybertron toy line and needed some new figures to release until next July when the new movie premieres. Their answer was to create a line called "Transformers Classics" which features exciting new molds of many classic Transformers characters that first appeared in the 1980's. I know a lot of us who grew up with and collected the toys of those characters are pretty excited to see them reappear on store shelves. It's a great chance for us to relive our memories and to also share them with the children that are now in our lives.
Having said that, meet RODIMUS. He has gone by many names over the years, including Hot Rod, Rodimus Prime and Rodimus Major, and even had a similar character loosely based on him in the Energon toy line, but whatever you want to call him, he's one of the more well known figures of Transformers lore. An old school Transformers fan like myself can quickly tell this figure was based off of the original 1986 toy which was known as "Hot Rod". Of course, Hasbro no longer has the name "Hot Rod" copyrighted so Rodimus is the next best thing.
I always like the Hot Rod/Rodimus character because I saw a lot of myself in him. He was young and bold and a bit reckless at times, but deep down all he wanted was a chance to prove himself. I think a lot of us can indentify with that.
As for this toy, it obviously takes a lot of its design from the original, especially the futuristic car form. There are a few differences but not a lot. The robot form is also somewhat similar to the original, but a little more streamlined. One cool addition to this toy is a missile launcher which will actually fire a missile in both car and robot mode. In car mode, the launcher doubles as a tailpipe, giving new meaning to the term "backfiring".
As far as difficulty of transformation, it's actually rather easy compared to many Transformers. The instructions they give you aren't the best, but once you change him back and forth once or twice, you'll see that he is actually much easier to transform than the majority of Cybertron figures and also classic Transformers.
I would definitely vouch for this toy on a few levels. $9.99 isn't a bad price at all, especially when you consider that to find the original in any kimd of decent shape would cost you at least 3 times as much. There has been a re-issued version of the original but it too has become rare and again, is near impossible to find under $30. This toy is also quite fun. I mean, who wouldn't want to drive a futuristic red race car with orange flames on the hood? Of course, for us "old timers", there's massive sentimental value as well.
My advice is to pick this up while you can as I fully expect them to fly off the shelves.
Rating:  -
Rodimus is an homage to the Generation 1 Autobot Hot Rod, who later became Rodimus Prime in the Transformers animated movie from 1986. The transformation can be a bit tricky, as a few of the connections have to be finagled back and forth before they become lose. One has to be careful when putting the feet in position, as it is not readily obvious it has stabilizers within the main part of the feet to flip out behind the robot. Once done correctly, Rodimus stands quite nicely and stablely. The gun does shoot it's missle, but does not have more than an 18 inch range. All in all, a nice solid toy.
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