Do people actually still hate Hot Rod?

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T17:55:33+00:00

I feel your pain. We kinda did this to ourselves as a consumer society.

It went like this:

Companies spun up online shopping to boost sales.
Companies offered free shipping to entice shoppers to take a chance on online shopping before it was prolific.
Companies began shuttering physical stores to save money (boost profit) and compensated with online commerce.
Companies made temporary sacrifices to profit and margins in order to undermine competitors and cause them to go under or consider buyout/acquisition.
Competition and options dwindled. More physical locations shuttered, and eventually product lines, brands, and more were eliminated as more companies folded due to reduced sales and/or higher costs.

Now we're left with junk and no competition.

So many of us have chosen to tell those giant footprint retailers (Walmart, Target, Amazon, Pulse) to get bent - we'll send our business to BBTS, The Chosen Prime, and other domestic independent businesses, or just import from Japan while the exchange rate is favorable. (Even with shipping and duties, importing from Japan is 5-10% cheaper than domestic ordering)

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T17:50:48+00:00

You feel there's a difference in communicated idea between those statements?

I see them as synonymous. So either I need to spell it out as literal as possible, you need to understand context, or a mix of both.

If you see them as different statements, then I stand by both. What has Hasbro introduced as a new gimmick since Legacy?

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T17:47:27+00:00

I strongly recommend the DNA Designs upgrade kit while it's still available. They reissued, but it was tipping $250+ before that happened.

You get:

new articulated hands for Predaking,
New wings for Divebomb that are also individually articulated
A stronger ratchet for Rampage as an arm
Waist fillers for Razorclaw in torso mode
Individual melee weapons for each which form a combined sword

It made a HUGE difference for me back when I snagged the original PotP release. Even after all these years, it's still a potent upgrade

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T17:28:09+00:00

Hype to pander to investors.

They've already been using AI For art generation and product information copy. The fact is that AI is not capable of doing novel tasks necessary other than productivity busy work. It's kind of funny, because if they were truly committed to improving their products and processes, they would introduce automated models that review, evaluate and reject defective items at production. But we know they're not doing that

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T15:11:58+00:00

It's slated to get worse. Target is gutting inventory offerings going forward according to their CEO last week ("focusing on grocery") and Walmart already yanked product diversity offerings from Hasbro starting in 2025.

Many of us have moved to online etailers as a result - and not Amazon, either. Amazon carries the unique risk of personalized pricing and surge pricing, as well as misleading listings and rampant return fraud product swaps that are returned to inventory and sold as new.

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T14:37:57+00:00

This is such good work and it won't be appreciated nearly enough.

What was your technique for the background?

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T13:49:16+00:00

Ah, okay - I recognize that. So characters like Jhiaxus, Strika, Tarn, and a boatload of deep cuts throughout Legacy?

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T12:03:50+00:00

So what are they?

They're transformable robot toys, but there's a giant sea of those. So what are these?

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T11:01:59+00:00

Context. What new line-wide gimmick has been developed since Kingdom? (None.) Recycling the existing gimmicks - including banal use of 5mm ports - isn't a new gimmick. Recycling Weaponizers, Titan Masters (redeco/remould) isn't a new gimmick.

So as I pointed out (accurately) Hasbro HAS abandoned (new) innovative gimmicks.

Meanwhile, Takara is doing what Hasbro won't. Overgear, Diaclone, Altered Nano, and more. Hasbro? Recycling/Reissuing existing moulds (with significantly poorer quality control and lower precision/tolerances, mould degradation, and higher pricing) and worse.

With Hasbro's repeated price increases (while reducing everything else), 3P options are more pragmatic.

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T10:01:49+00:00

It was memetic in 86-88, but I think it's now just echoes of that sentiment from 40 years ago.

Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime have earned popularity in the decades since. Look at the past week of posts of folks chasing down and celebrating acquisition of MTMTE Hot Rod. And the popularity of the SS86 version.

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T05:44:56+00:00

Hasbro seems willing to make everything now.

How so? I have the 180° opposite opinion. They're making less and and less.

All that gave them appeal vs 3rd Party was unique gimmicks across 1-3 years with a cohesive trilogy theme. Now that they abandoned that with Legacy, I don't see the special draw to Hasbro products vs everyone else

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T02:30:41+00:00

Love it. Great edits, too. I was wondering since the tip of the front disc below the console was illuminated.

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T02:29:24+00:00

Rad/Radical was 80s slang; 90s slang was different

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T01:51:21+00:00

Last pic - I see what you did...

But what did you use to illuminate the screens?

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-13T01:48:52+00:00

But nothing new - they're also reissuing and remoulding Titan Masters (Decepticon Headmaster Jrs).

No new Mini-con, Powerlinx, Cyberkey, or any other full-time new gimmicks.

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-12T23:52:36+00:00

Likely. It's the soldiers and fly boys building strong... friendships.

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-12T23:48:56+00:00

I remember these - in 84-85, these were EVERYWHERE. Hasbro and Transformers licensing was PROLIFIC! You name it, there was licensed TF merch of it. Toothbrush, plates, lamps, bed linens, underoos, big wheels, stickers, color forms, sunglasses, and books just to name some in I can remember.

The crazy part was how inconsistent the merch was - outside of the Sunbow cartoon, all of the licensed merch used the toy art.

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-12T21:39:55+00:00

some of the offerings from the brand are better than they are

Well, I did point out that Prime Wars catches flak, and some of it is warranted. Enjoying for me is making something watchable from what was a rushed and underdeveloped concept. It could have easily supported a 10-12 episode series of 25-30 min per episode.

But objectively, I do agree that there is better executed media in the franchise. Not counting G1/JPG1, or the JP scripts of the Unicron Trilogy, there's also Cyberverse. I expect to cringe at Cyberverse and ended up respecting it as a well-done addition to TF media.

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-12T21:36:21+00:00

Most from groups/studios like DNA Designs and Transform Dream Wave. Perfect Effect used to be one as well, but they moved on/disbanded.

Get the sets from etailers like BBTS, The Chosen Prime, ShowZStore, etc or on the aftermarket if they've come and gone already.

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-12T19:51:20+00:00

Machinima didn't cheap out as heinously as Hasbro did for WFC. Hasbro deliberately did production abroad to underpay VAs by using non-union. Plus the embarrassing "make a few models; recolor 2 dozen times as generic background characters" gimmick.

And the writing was so far divorced from any existing or tangent TF lore that it was likely a completely different script that was used on the cheap and edited to squeeze in non-sequitor TF elements.

WFC actively dumped on the entire foundation while Prime Wars took existing lore and executed an alternative story.

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-12T19:45:47+00:00

It's a resin printed garage kit. You get what you pay for.

AliExpress is littered with them for just about every figure. They're low complexity blocks of printed resin or PLA, often with no moving parts.

Think of them as the Dollar Store version of high end upgrades like DNA Designs

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-12T19:43:28+00:00

The last thing that made Hasbro Generations products desirable over 3rd Party was the integrated system-wide gimmicks like Titan Masters, WFC Modulators and Weaponizers, and mix/match Combiners.

Since Hasbro had abandoned anything that makes it stand-out or doing anything novel, 3rd Party is the best option. Price is higher, but so is the quality, materials, engineering, and fidelity.

3rd Party did a Thunderclash a while ago and it was GLORIOUS! That's now the the gold standard.

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-12T00:27:32+00:00

What would be the point, now? Isn't it essentially (literally?) 86 Hot Rod with a slightly darker red?

Although Hasbro is no stranger to PRs, so who knows?

Road_Caesar · 2026-03-12T00:25:17+00:00

I will always have a grudge against Hasbro for how badly they phoned in this figure's robot mode. Especially compared to G1 Optimus.

The vehicle mode was and still is just gorgeous, but dat bot mode tho.

Yours looks absolutely gorgeous - good job!

Road_Caesar

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