Thanks to a buddy of mine, I'm able to review a cool toy that came out years ago. Hot Spot is basically Inferno, but with some modifications that separate the two. This toy was released as part of Habro's Asia Exclusive line.
Vehicle Mode
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The entire vehicle is a sky blue fire truck decorated with a pair of fireballs and Autobot symbols on both doors. The details on this truck is fantastic, as they include some silver painted pipes, windshield wipers, grill, headlights, bumper, and pistons. Another benefit is this vehicles design mostly conceals the remnants of the robot mode quite well, and all wheels roll just fine.
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Hot Spot comes with a water cannon, which shoots a "water" missile through a spring-loaded trigger. This choice is a little disappointing, considering Hot Spot was always equipped with a ladder before. Perhaps the production team wanted to go this far, so folks today can point out the obvious differences between Hot Spot and Inferno? At least the gimmick is fun, much preferred over the pressure-launch missiles used today.
Robot Mode
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Hot Spot is an immediate throwback to how G1 Transformers were in the 80's, which is always welcomed. A robot mode with blocky proportions doesn't feel dated to this day. Hot Spot is mostly bulky, but he does look a tad awkward at his side profile, it's just a little flat back there.
Some of the cool details from the truck carries on to this mode too, such as the piston rigged feet, or the water cannon converting to Hot Spot's forearm cannon. There are some kibble on this toy, mostly above the waist, like those shoulder flaps and panel on the forearms. Fortunately, they do not drastically restrain Hot Spot's movement.
The head has been altered to sport an all new head and face sculpt. The head's silver and black tone match the color scheme of the fire truck perfectly. His eyes are rigged with light piping, but they are quite difficult to see because those eyes were painted red.
Regardless, there's a great contrast in color on this toy.
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Some of the cool details from the truck carries on to this mode too, such as the piston rigged feet, or the water cannon converting to Hot Spot's forearm cannon. There are some kibble on this toy, mostly above the waist, like those shoulder flaps and panel on the forearms. Fortunately, they do not drastically restrain Hot Spot's movement.
The head has been altered to sport an all new head and face sculpt. The head's silver and black tone match the color scheme of the fire truck perfectly. His eyes are rigged with light piping, but they are quite difficult to see because those eyes were painted red.
Regardless, there's a great contrast in color on this toy.
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Articulation
Figure Size
Conclusion
Asia Exclusive Hot Spot offers the same mold as Inferno, but the colors and tweaks are good enough to warrant anyone, especially Hot Spot fans, to buy one. The toy feels very solid in quality, and is suitable for play and display. I highly recommend this toy.
Asia Exclusive Hot Spot offers the same mold as Inferno, but the colors and tweaks are good enough to warrant anyone, especially Hot Spot fans, to buy one. The toy feels very solid in quality, and is suitable for play and display. I highly recommend this toy.
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