Tag Archives: Hot Shot

#3434: Hot Shot – Armada Universe

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

HOT SHOT — ARMADA UNIVERSE

TRANSFORMERS LEGACY: EVOLUTION (HASBRO)

Hey, remember back in February, when I was talking about Transformers: Armada?  Cool.  Well, um, I’m gonna talk about it again.  So, there.  Specifically, I’m talking about Hot Shot, a character created for Armada, who was specifically designed to fill a role somewhere between Bumblebee and Hot Rod.  Which makes sense, because he totally looks like a cross between those two.  Well, at least in his original incarnation.  Which is the one I’m looking right now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hot Shot is part of the first Deluxe Class assortment of Transformers Legacy: Evolution.  Evolution serves as the sub-branding for everything in Legacy‘s second year, and they started hitting in early 2023.  He’s the second Armada update in Legacy, following up on last year’s Starscream. This is our second update to Armada Hot Shot since the show’s tie-in line ended, following the Universe one from 2009.  In robot mode, Hot Shot is about 5 inches tall and he has 22 workable points of articulation, as well as the original figure’s moving visor for his helmet.  All of the Armada figures were pretty restricted in terms of articulation, and Hot Shot was pretty notable for his complete lack of neck movement, as well as shoulders that didn’t go forward and back.  This one addresses both of those points.  The neck is really just a swivel, but that’s better than no movement at all.  His sculpt was an all-new one at the time, but it’s already been tapped for a Powerlinx re-paint.  The sculpt does a pretty solid job of capturing all of Hot Shot’s key design elements, both from the toy and the show.  There are a few areas, mainly the lower legs, where there’s a slightly off construction due to transforming elements, but he generally goes together pretty solidly.  Also, it’s a minor little thing, but I miss the goofy smirk on the face.  Sure, the stoic expression’s more accurate, I guess, but I miss it nonetheless.  Guess it’s a good thing I have my old one still.  Hot Shot is designed to keep the original’s “axlezooka” weapon.  It’s not spring-loaded this time, so you just deploy it manually, but it’s still there, which is very much appreciated.  His color scheme mimics the original figure pretty closely, albeit with a few trade-offs.  He’s got more detailing on the face and head, but loses some of the details on his legs.  Certainly still looks very Hot Shot-y, though.  Hot Shot is packed with his gun, which he can hold, but cannot mount on his chest the way his original version could.  Still no minicon present for this one either, but there’s a Jolt coming with the Power Linx version later in the year.

Hot Shot’s alt-mode is the same stylized sports car as his original release. The transformation scheme is a bit more involved, as expected, but it’s not too terribly hard to figure it out. In car mode, he gets fancy clear windows, and he even has a Minicon port, a very pleasant change from Starscream. As with the “axlezooka” for the robot mode, Hot Shot’s vehicle mode includes a non-spring-loaded version of the original’s “driving claws.” Sure, it’s just flipping the feet out, but that’s all the original did, so, you know.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Armada is really the closest I get to having a thing that’s “my Transformers,” so I’ve got a real soft spot for it, especially when it comes to the three figures I had as a kid. Hot Shot was one of those, and I’ve held onto him the whole time. I got the Generations Select Hot Shot when he came out, and he was cool, but he was a placeholder for the real deal. This guy was a birthday present from my son Matty, who has also gained an appreciation for my old Armada figures. This one’s cool. I like him a bit more than I did Starscream. I wish he had Jolt, but other than that, I do really like him.

#2946: Hot Shot

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

HOT SHOT

TRANSFORMERS: ARMADA (HASBRO)

“Hot Shot is a young, heroic fighter who rushes into danger without regard to his own safety. He courageously charges into the middle of the fight to aid his friends in battle. He has taken charge in several battles, showing great leadership potential. But he needs the guidance of his elders before he can hope to lead the Autobots. Will he learn to be a leader who strives for good, or will his reckless nature ruin his promising future?”

As a child of the ’90s, as well as someone who sometimes dabbles in Transformers, it would be easy to assume that I’m into Beast Wars, but I’ve actually never had a particular attachment to it.  I mean, aside from Silverbolt.  That guy’s awesome.  Generally, I’ve tended to be more into the vehicle-based Transformers stuff.  I first dabbled with the franchise with 2001’s Robots in Disguise (which instilled in me a love of Ultra Magnus), but my first real investment in the franchise was during the show that followed in 2002, Transformers: Armada.  One of the central characters in Armada, and in fact the rest of the Unicron Trilogy, was Hot Shot, who I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hot Shot was part of Transformers: Armada‘s first wave of Super-Con Class figures, which were the line’s Deluxe Class equivalent.  He was the only Autobot in the assortment (which also included Cyclonus and Demolisher), and they all hit alongside the launch of the show in 2002.  In his robot mode, Hot Shot stands about 5 inches tall and he has 10 working points of articulation, as well as a moving visor for his helmet.  Emphasis was still very much on the transformations and vehicle modes at this point, so Hot Shot’s movement is rather restricted.  The legs do alright, but his head doesn’t move, and his shoulders move side to side, but there’s no forward and back.  For the time, though, he remained remarkably mobile.  Hot Shot’s sculpt actually does an okay job of matching up with how he looked in the cartoon.  His race car driver design is carried over well.  There’s a fair bit of kibble from his alt mode, especially on the backs of the arms, but it at least folds up to be out of the way.  Hot Shot got his own Mini-Con partner, Jolt.  Jolt is a much smaller robot, standing about inches tall, and having a whole 6 points of articulation.  Using Jolt (or any Mini-Con, really, but Jolt’s the best one), you can unlock Hot Shot’s built-in weapon, affectionately referred to as his “axlezooka”, which is spring loaded to deploy.  The springs on mine are a little weak, so it needs a little extra help, but it’s still pretty cool.  There’s meant to be a missile, but it’s missing from mine.  Jolt also has a rather big gun piece which Hot Shot can wear as chest armor.

Hot Shot’s alt-mode is a modified Audi TT, which is a fairly generic looking sports car, really.  The transformation sequence is actually rather simple, so it makes it very easy to switch him back and forth without much trouble.  He also stays in the mode very securely.  In general, it just works very well.  Jolt has his own alt-mode; he transforms into a small helicopter through an even simpler transformation process.  Jolt’s gun can also be mounted to the front of Hot Shot’s hood, and Jolt can be mounted on one of the three Mini-Con ports on the vehicle mode.  The central one actually releases the springs on Hot Shot’s feet, to use as “driving claws.”  You know, as you do.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite how much I liked the show and kept up with it when it was new, I didn’t actually get any of the toys first hand when they were new.  Instead, my initial exposure to them was through my cousin Patrick, who had a small handful of them, and would frequently bring them over for both of us to play with.  During that time, Hot Shot was always my go-to.  Patrick decided fairly quickly that he didn’t need to keep them, so they were rather quickly gifted to me.  Hot Shot himself wound up getting lost at my grandparents’ house some time during my childhood, and it wasn’t until after I moved into their house a few years ago that I actually found him again.  He was missing all of his extra stuff, but fortunately for me, Max was able to help me out and get me set-up with Jolt and the gun.  I like this guy a lot, and he’s probably the most nostalgic I get about Transformers.

#2241: Hot Shot

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

HOT SHOT

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON: SIEGE (HASBRO)

Though Siege has overall been something of a G1 love-fest, that’s not all there is to the line.  Figures like the Galaxy Upgrade Prime give showcase to some of the franchise’s other incarnation, in that figure, and in turn today’s figure’s case, the incarnation being the “Unicron Trilogy”, a somewhat loosely connected set of shows that ran from 2002 to 2005 and that really brought the more classic vehicular Transformers back into the spotlight after Beast Wars and Beast Machines had shifted the focus for a bit.  One of the central characters within the Unicron Trilogy was Hot Shot, a character who was essentially a new creation, and who is one of the better remembered parts of that incarnation.  It’s fitting that he would make his way into some piece of War For Cybertron, especially when the Optimus he goes with was already there.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hot Shot is one of nine Transformers Generations: Selects figures designed to augment the Siege line at regular retail.  All of the included figures are slight re-workings of pre-existing molds, shipped in a brown cardboard box, and only initially available through online retailers. Like the Galaxy Upgrade Prime, Hot Shot is based on his appearance from Transformers: Cybertron, the last entry in the Unicron Trilogy.  While it might not be my first choice of Hot Shot designs, at least it’s not Energon.  It’s also a sensible choice given the parts catalogue they’re working with right now.  In robot mode, the figure is 5 inches tall and has 20 workable points of articulation.  Hot Shot’s largely a re-paint of Hound.  While the transition to Jeep instead of sports car is a little weird for the Armada fan in me, but it’s a respectable match for the Cybertron Defense Hot Shot figure from the Cybertron line.  In order to differentiate him a bit, he does get a new head sculpt (which was erroneously used as the basis of the illustration on Hound’s packaging…whoops), which is a nice recreation of the CD figure’s noggin.  Aside from that, it’s the same figure as Hound, which isn’t a bad thing.  I liked the sculpt the first time around, and I still like it now, especially with that new head.  Since the figure is more or less unchanged, so is his alt-mode, which is the same Cybertronian-styled Jeep.  Again, I thought it was pretty cool the first time, and it’s still cool here.  The transformation is still pretty simple, and fun to go back and forth through, so I’m down for it.  The whole figure is changed up by switching the colors from Hound’s muted green to a red, blue, and yellow palette, which evokes Hot Shot’s design nicely, and honestly hides the re-used molds pretty darn well.  I’m down for the drastic change in color scheme!  Hot Shot includes the same accessory compliment as Hound, but with the colors tweaked to match the new scheme of the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Beast Wars was on the air when I started to get into cartoons, and I was certainly familiar with it and how it connected to this whole Transformers thing.  I even had a few of the toys, but it never quite clicked with me.  What did click for me was Transformers: Armada, which I actually watched pretty darn faithfully when it was airing on Cartoon Network.  I had a small number of the toys, with Hot Shot being a personal favorite.  While Cybertron wasn’t quite so much my jaam as Armada, I’ll take pretty much any excuse to get a good Hot Shot toy.  And that’s what I’d classify this as: a good Hot Shot toy.  Of course, now I’m seriously contemplating third party pieces to make him more accurate, and that’s a very dangerous and scary road to go down.

I grabbed my Hot Shot figrue from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Transformers, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.