TOY REVIEW
Name: Black Rodimus
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Dark Knight
Vehicular Mode: Sports car
Price: 4980 JPY (limited series)
PACKAGING
The packaging for Black Rodimus is the same box design as the regular Hot
Rodimus, but instead of full color, it is washed over in blue and white.
Also, the "15th Anniversary" sticker which was stuck on to all the other
Generation One packages is printed in black, white and grey instead right
onto the packaging.
VEHICLE MODE
Length: 13 cm
In car mode, Black Rodimus' primary color is metallic black. The spoiler
is silver. The windows to the cockpit are clear plastic. The seats, dashboard
and headlights are silver as well. The engine and exhaust pipes are all
vacuum metallized silver. The rub symbol is there (and yes, it is a Cybertron/Autobot
symbol). Interestingly enough, the flame pattern sticker for the hood and
the smaller flame pattern stickers for the sides are both on sticker sheets
as opposed to being automatically applied as they are in both the original
Hot Rodimus and Crystal Rodimus releases. Presumably this is to help emphasize
the dark color scheme. I chose not to apply these stickers as the toy looks
fine without them.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Unlike most toys of the era of Beast Wars and beyond, Black Rodimus cannot
stash his weapons somewhere in his vehicle mode (yes
he can, in the hole on top of the engine! Although it can only hold one
gun at a time - Goktimus), so be sure you have both the guns
available to you. Begin the transformation by pulling back the rear of
the vehicle and flipping out the robot feet. Swing out the forward sides
of the car. Swing forward the hood of the car and turn around the waist
section of the robot mode. Now flip down the engine on the hood to reveal
the robot head. Lock it into place with the hood and then swing that entire
piece down. Using the tab at the center of the hood, connect it to the
waist area. Turn the lower arms of the robot forward. Rotate the section
with the silver spoiler around so the yellow spoiler appears right behind
Black Rodimus' shoulders. Place the guns into his hands and Black Rodimus
is in robot mode.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 14.5 cm
The metallic black color from the vehicle mode is the primary color
in robot mode. The robot face is silver and the helmet area of the robot
head is metallic black. The robot eyes are red. This is appropriate since
in the original Transformers series Autobots/Cybertrons had blue eyes and
the Decepticons/Destrons had red eyes. This silver and red combination
stands out very well against the metallic black. The upper legs and fists
are the same silver as the spoiler. The robot feet are die cast metal,
just like the original Hot Rodimus release. The weapons included with the
toy are both silver.
OVERALL
Although the black and silver color scheme succeeds in making this version
of Hot Rodimus look "evil", it is rather dull. Applying the stickers would
actually make the toy look rather odd since the toys have a lot of orange
and red colors on them. This toy was released as a limited edition (only
200 were made - Goktimus) for a convention in Japan in 2001
("ToyFes 2001" was held in Tokyo on
February, 2001 - Goktimus). B+
The back of the packaging has definitely changed. The illustration featuring
Metroplex and a battle scene is overlayed by the front and back of Black
Rodimus' tech specs. Also, Hot Rodimus' "C" designation is changed from
C-78 to C-78B (presumably for Black). Also, the lower section of the back
does not have the regular Japanese writing but rather the 15th anniversary
logo appears once again with (presumably) details about the toy.
This toy review was written by Benson
Yee.
Editted by Goktimus Prime.
Images and text used with permission
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