First pic of USA Edition Masterpiece Rodimus Prime
No word on price or release date. It appears to come with all the accessories as the Japanese release sans trailer with a new Targetmaster figure.
More: Hasbro / News / Transforming Toy /
No word on price or release date. It appears to come with all the accessories as the Japanese release sans trailer with a new Targetmaster figure.
More: Hasbro / News / Transforming Toy /
Comments
7 comments postedI'm a little confused with the specifics of this release. It's a cartoon accurate toy now colored like the G1 Hot Rod toy, which means it is not accurate to the G1 Rodimus Prime toy so it's not really a good Rodimus Prime. It comes with the extra hand bits which have no where to store without the trailer. Also now it comes with the bigger Matrix from Masterpiece Optimus which to be fair is usable by Rodimus but can't be stored anywhere. Oh and now its red and not maroon. Eh...
I mean, sure, I approve of getting rid of the trailer for a cheaper release but... why not call it Masterpeice Hot Rod? I mean... it's HOT ROD, clear as day, especially with those leg stickers. Why even call it Rodimus and risk fandom wrath?
They can't use the name Hot Rod anymore. If you look at the classic line, they named it Rodimus Minor or something like that.
I'm out of this loop, but why not label him as they do other conflicting-named characters- "Autobot Ratchet", "Autobot Jazz", etc.- by calling it Masterpiece 'Autobot Hot Rod'?
Because adding a prefix title, such as 'Special Ops Jazz' or 'Decepticon Brawl', merely strengthens the existing trademark when it would otherwise be difficult to defend. They don't have the trademark for 'Hot Rod', and thus can not use that name at all.
I've also noticed that this version has excluded the shiny chrome for his exhaust pipe arm blasters & the handles for The Matrix. The glossy- white pearl finishing is also omitted from Rodimus' face. They all got dull-silver grey paints. This isn't G1 toy accurate.
Can he really be Rodimus without the trailer?
One simple thing they should have done but did not was to extend the legs to make him taller. He is not even transformed correctly to be Rodimus Prime
I have mixed feelings about this one. I'm glad I was able to scape the money together AND find a great deal on the Takara version.
The whole point of this toy was to make it show accurate not go back to the outdated toy design :(
They could have saved a lot of effort by just keeping the Takara version (minus the trailer) transform it into Hot Rod and just call it Rodimus Minor.
I would have gotten it then and keep it as Hot Rod or car mode but now I don't really care for it.
I guess I will look for the Offshoot figure on E-bay when it comes out.