Arkvoodle
Member
Rodimus seemed like an unusual choice for the Masterpiece line. Bypassing a majority of iconic characters in favor of the second-rate Autobot Leader indirectly responsible for the death of Transformers' most prominent childhood icon? well WHY NOT?! 
But when the initial Takara release hit the market, fans were massively disappointed- in addition to 2/3rds of the release consisting of nothing more than a plastic flaming trailer, Rodimus suffered from several Quality Control issues ranging from scratching paint while transforming to some pieces actually being broken in package. Several people dubbed Roddy a "waste" of a Masterpiece slot because of these severe mold flaws.
Soon after the destructive reports about Takara's Masterpiece Rodimus, Hasbro developed a new plan for this new mold- releasing Masterpiece Rodimus (sans trailer) as an exclusive to Toys R US stores. This new version is now heading to shelves and digital storefronts, so let's examine it!
Discussing the Vehicle Mode is kinda pointless; its the same damn Vehicle Mode Rodimus always has- a concept for what people in 1985 thought cars would look like in 2005. Complete with garish red & orange colors.
Also I'm still not sure I have this transformation perfectly right; converting to Vehicle Mode is a huge pain because it requires near-perfect alignment with lots of smaller parts & pegs. I'd rank this above Sentinel Prime but below ROTF Optimus in terms of difficulty.
Thankfully transforming to Robot Mode is much easier; everything folds out into place without much difficulty and the design/structure is very easy to follow so you can recognize where everything is supposed to go just by looking.
Rodimus is pretty impressive in this form; reasonably articulate and very stable. There's no diecast in this release aside from the feet (which provides extra stability for posing).
I've transformed him a few times by now but none of the paint has scratched & nothing's broken off. Guessing that means Hasbro fixed those unfortunate issues with the early release! :thumbsup
Switching to Rodimus "PRIME" can be done by changing faces; Rodimus has one "youthful" face and one lined, scarred "veteran" face that can be swapped by lifting the head & pushing one over the other. Its unusual (especially since Rodimus Prime can't be complete without the trailer that Hasbro wisely left out to cut the price by more than half).
Rodimus comes with a rather large arsenal- his main weapons are two rifles that can be combined into one Super Laser. Holding the individual weapons is fine but the combined weapons is just a bit too heavy to carry at times.
And Rodimus retains his wrist-swap weapon: a saw-blade best used for chopping robo-squid while awesome 80s rock plays in the background.
Last but certainly not least, Hasbro included one new accessory with their release:
Offshoot! A Targetmaster that can link to Rodimus in Vehicle or Robot Mode.
I think I prefer the original rifles to this one but its still fun.
Finally Rodimus carries the Matrix of Leadership... twice over. There's a miniature Matrix stored in his chest and a full-scale Matrix included by Hasbro. Now you can keep the light more than one Darkest Hour!
I'm definitely satisfied with Hasbro's Masterpiece Rodimus- an excellent design that's generally fun once you figure out how everything works & plenty of extras too! Definitely worth the $60 asking price for this one. Strongly Recommended!
But when the initial Takara release hit the market, fans were massively disappointed- in addition to 2/3rds of the release consisting of nothing more than a plastic flaming trailer, Rodimus suffered from several Quality Control issues ranging from scratching paint while transforming to some pieces actually being broken in package. Several people dubbed Roddy a "waste" of a Masterpiece slot because of these severe mold flaws.
Soon after the destructive reports about Takara's Masterpiece Rodimus, Hasbro developed a new plan for this new mold- releasing Masterpiece Rodimus (sans trailer) as an exclusive to Toys R US stores. This new version is now heading to shelves and digital storefronts, so let's examine it!
Discussing the Vehicle Mode is kinda pointless; its the same damn Vehicle Mode Rodimus always has- a concept for what people in 1985 thought cars would look like in 2005. Complete with garish red & orange colors.
Also I'm still not sure I have this transformation perfectly right; converting to Vehicle Mode is a huge pain because it requires near-perfect alignment with lots of smaller parts & pegs. I'd rank this above Sentinel Prime but below ROTF Optimus in terms of difficulty.
Thankfully transforming to Robot Mode is much easier; everything folds out into place without much difficulty and the design/structure is very easy to follow so you can recognize where everything is supposed to go just by looking.
Rodimus is pretty impressive in this form; reasonably articulate and very stable. There's no diecast in this release aside from the feet (which provides extra stability for posing).
I've transformed him a few times by now but none of the paint has scratched & nothing's broken off. Guessing that means Hasbro fixed those unfortunate issues with the early release! :thumbsup
Switching to Rodimus "PRIME" can be done by changing faces; Rodimus has one "youthful" face and one lined, scarred "veteran" face that can be swapped by lifting the head & pushing one over the other. Its unusual (especially since Rodimus Prime can't be complete without the trailer that Hasbro wisely left out to cut the price by more than half).
Rodimus comes with a rather large arsenal- his main weapons are two rifles that can be combined into one Super Laser. Holding the individual weapons is fine but the combined weapons is just a bit too heavy to carry at times.
And Rodimus retains his wrist-swap weapon: a saw-blade best used for chopping robo-squid while awesome 80s rock plays in the background.
Last but certainly not least, Hasbro included one new accessory with their release:
Offshoot! A Targetmaster that can link to Rodimus in Vehicle or Robot Mode.
I think I prefer the original rifles to this one but its still fun.
Finally Rodimus carries the Matrix of Leadership... twice over. There's a miniature Matrix stored in his chest and a full-scale Matrix included by Hasbro. Now you can keep the light more than one Darkest Hour!
I'm definitely satisfied with Hasbro's Masterpiece Rodimus- an excellent design that's generally fun once you figure out how everything works & plenty of extras too! Definitely worth the $60 asking price for this one. Strongly Recommended!
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