As leader of the Protectobots, Hot Spot holds a key place within the Transformers mythology, though like some other characters, he’s one I haven’t had much attachment to, even back in the 80s.
It’s a familiar theme. The original fire truck, Inferno, was a pretty key character to me back in my childhood, and as such, I never paid a whole lot of attention to Hot Spot. He was a part of a combiner team that I didn’t have any other figures to attach to, so unlike the appealing Stunticons and Aerialbots, the Protectobots all got left on a store shelf and I never really formed that attachment. Unlike First Aid, though, Hot Spot hasn’t played any especially key roles in recent comics, so I still don’t have a firm allegiance to him as a character. That doesn’t do a whole lot to diminish how I feel about him as a toy, though, and as a toy, Hot Spot is pretty good.
The Combiner Wars voyagers to this point have been somewhat hit or miss, though mostly hits. I love Silverbolt, and I like Motormaster okay, though his failure as a central piece to Menasor left me feeling a bit cold after using him for a little while. Hot Spot doesn’t have any of these drawbacks.
In vehicle mode, he’s a powder blue fire and rescue truck, a color that isn’t seen very often, but it seen from time to time. The long form of the vehicle looks nice, and the sloped front and back make him look sleek and quick, even as a potentially lumbering fire truck. He has six wheels, and a lot of play value, with a working ladder. The Defensor head even flips back to reveal a bucket for a tiny figure to stand in. I like the colors (even though the blue doesn’t match a whole lot of other Protectobot vehicles closely) and the design is pretty good. The mid-section of his vehicle mode is a bit thin, looking a lot like robot legs barely covered by a closed shell. It kind of resembles an elongated ladder truck, but not really, and that does take away, just a bit, from the vehicle mode.
His transformation works nicely and even as a newly tooled Voyager, I found it pretty straight forward and quick to get him from fire truck to robot. Separating the rear to create armored arms, and the front to create his large feet works nicely and the end result is a fairly sleek looking robot.
At least until you look at his back. Hot Spot is a great looking robot, especially head on, but before long you do notice quite a bit of ladder-based kibble strapped to his back, just kind of hanging off. I understand why, I mean it’s difficult to do a ladder truck without having this obvious slab of ladder hanging from the figure, and full credit to the design team for making it less visible from the front. I really like the large, wide shoulders, and the small spring-details in the forearms. In robot mode, there’s a lot more red to tie him into the rest of the team than he has in vehicle mode, with a nice allotment of blue and black, too. His head is somewhat reminiscent of Optimus Prime, I thought, but still looks individual enough to work. He stands tall among his teammates and looks really nice leading the team, with his dual laser weapons and impressive stature.
Combiner Wars Hot Spot
Character
Articulation
Vehicle
Robot Mode
Transformation
3.5
Summary
As the leader of the Protectobots, Hot Spot stands tall and proud among his teammates, weilding dual lasers and a great looking head sculpt. In fire truck mode he has a working ladder and a great look, even if some unfortunate robot kibble takes away from the overall look. In robot mode, if you can get over the ladder hanging off his back, he’s a well articulated and impressive looking Voyager scale figure ready to lead the Protectobots against the Decepticon onslaught and give their lives for the Autobot cause.
We first heard about it at JoeCon this year and now it’s available for your favorite mobile device. G.I. Joe: Strike by Backflip Studios!
Backflip Studios and Hasbro inked a big deal last year, which felt weird at the time considering DeNA/Mobage was currently working with them on Transformers and G.I. Joe based card battle games.
Now Backflip has released their first G.I. Joe themed game, featuring Snake Eyes ninja fighting hordes of Red Ninjas. Get your for free on Android and IOS.
While the folks at Fun Publications were ramping up for Botcon, they put FSS IV reveals on hold to focus on the task at hand.
Now Botcon is over and the latest Figure Subscription Service is open for business again. To celebrate the launch, the Club has revealed Interrogator!
A personal favorite character of mine (I still can’t believe in FSS 3 & 4 we got or are getting Hit & Run, Vypra, and Interrogator. Too cool.) I am pretty particular about how Interrogator should be represented. We’re fortunate enough to have a few good sources of inspiration for the character, from the awesome ’91 original to the Direct To Consumer “Viper Lockdown” version which is pretty amazing. Here, the Club is taking a different approach.
This Interrogator draws some inspiration from older models, but also adds some nice newness. Using Retaliation Cobra Commander’s torso and arms with Artcic Destro’s legs there is some nice armor and some great black and gray offsets. I’m not wild about the re-use of the 2010 Convention helmet (really if they’d used the Retaliation Cobra Commander head along with the torso and arms with a red faceplate it would have worked) but the rest of the figure surprisingly appeals to me. I like that he’s more combat ready, and goes in a bit of a different direction than previous versions. This almost looks like it could be a Plague version if the colors were darker.
Anyway, I’m excited for this one. Check out the image below and keep watching GIJoeClub.com for the latest info. Also, if you like what you see, sign up for the FSS, it’s only open until midnight of July 15th.
This is an episode G.I. Joe fans are not going to want to miss!
Dave, Barry, and Tod have been doing the Regular Joes podcast steadily for a little while now, but have suddenly rocketed forward to their 100th episode! I have no idea how it happened, but here we are.
To celebrate they brought on their close friend Derryl DePriest, who obviously works with the G.I. Joe brand for Hasbro, but more importantly has been a collector and enthusiast for his entire life. This episode focuses much more on Derryl’s “collector” role, and It’s a fantastic listen. Here Mr. DePriest, as well as Barry, Dave, and Tod, geek out about toys, films, and pop culture in ways you have likely not heard before and reassure yourself with the kind of person we have associated with our favorite Brand. I think you’ll find he’s as big a fanboy as the rest of us.
Rook is a nice change of pace in the Combiner Wars line for a couple of different reasons. First and foremost, he’s an entirely new figure, rather than a modification or reshelling of an existing figure, and secondly he’s a totally new character, so I don’t have to try and relate any past nostalgic attachment to his Generation 1 iteration. Many fans lament the fact that Rook apparently has replaced Groove (at least at the deluxe scale, considering a Legends Groove does exist, and works with Defensor in his own way) but my lack of attachment to past versions of these characters has allowed me to not care a whole lot about that.
With that in mind, though, the fact that Takara is producing a Deluxe scale Groove to work with Defensor makes me whimsical that we might see him stateside at some point, which I love just for the sake of getting a new toy, and not necessarily as a replacement for Rook. Honestly, Rook is cool enough that I don’t feel like he really needs replacing.
Where most of the Protectobots vehicles are very clearly rescue based, Rook is completely about defense and offense. As an armored SWAT vehicle, this new Protectobot certainly seems like the brick house of the bunch, a strong and powerful warrior as opposed to someone focused on rescue. His alt mode is pretty fantastic, with six wheels, a tough looking armored hide, and excellent transformation. There is no real visible kibble, and panels all fit together extremely well, leaving a solid tank-looking armored vehicle ready to stand strong against a Decepticon onslaught.
His transformation works well and contains a lot of similar mechanisms to other Combiner Wars figures, from the extending, flip down legs, to the pull apart arms. Everything flows nicely, and even though he is essentially a completely different toy than any others before him, I found the process as straight forward as others, which is appreciated to a Transformers fan with limited capacity for mechanical engineering.
In robot mode, Rook still exudes a sense of strength and stability, with exceptionally broad chest and shoulders. I love the fact that his tires are embedded in his chest, and the armored hide of the SWAT vehicle makes for some really huge looking shoulder pads. His arms are really short and stubby, with nice elbow movement. I do have some issues with the arms, though. The flaps hanging off his forearms that make up side panels on the vehicle look somewhat out of place in robot mode, though they could make for some great protective shields. Also, while part of me absolutely loves the built-in cannons in his fists, another part of me wishes he had some normal hand holes for weapons. His legs are surprisingly sleek and very well articulated, with great ball joint hips and very bendable knees, He stands well and looks very imposing, even at a somewhat squat Deluxe scale. Rook looks really great in either mode.
From a color perspective, Rook takes some nice blue elements from Hot Spot and Streetwise, with a healthy dose of black in his torso and white trim throughout. His complete lack of red does separate him somewhat from the other Protectobots, but even with that, I find him to be a great part of the team look and feel.
If I have any complaints, I’m not especially sure what to do with this weapon. He’s got some sort of forked prong that doesn’t seem to support his position as a thick and strong bad ass. I would have loved for him to come with some nasty looking chain gun or other weapon that might better support his place among the team.
Really, that’s a minor complaint, and along with Streetwise, Rook is my favorite Deluxe team member, and perhaps my favorite Protectobot overall.
Combiner Wars Rook
Character
Articulation
Vehicle
Robot Mode
Transformation
4.3
Summary
Stout and strong, Rook is the apparent powerhouse of the Protectobots team. As a replacement for Groove, he brings strength and raw power to the team, blasting away from his hand-mounted cannons, then transforming into armored vehicle mode and slamming through Decepticon defenses. He is a great figure in robot mode and vehicle mode, with a nice and easy transformation, and a solid armored bulk in both renditions. A totally new figure, and a great one to boot.
