I've got yer Hot Rod right here!

A little more birthday money was spent on the Toys R Us exclusive 'Transformers Animated 'Rodimus Minor' - F(*k you lawyers - from here on out he'll be known by his proper name: Hot Rod!
The Transformers Animated toyline has started pumping out some awesome toys, sadly most are hitting at the end here. Hot Rod, like Arcee before him, are exclusive to Toys R Us (and Toys R Us Express stores, where I found mine) so they are a little tough to come by.

He also cost close to $20, which is pretty steep for a Transformer his size, but well worth it to get this character in this style.

Hot Rod has an excellent, immediately recognizable robot mode and in true modern Transformer fashion he's as poseable and articulated as most modern action figures...

...unlike his stiff-as-a-board counterpart - still one of my favorite Transformers ever.

TFA Hot Rod's vehicle mode is pretty nice too - a great animated/modern take on the classic G1 Hot Rod.

It's also cool that the proportions/size of the vehicles are almost exactly the same.

Vroom vroom.

Due to my love of Hot Rod, this new take was a must have for me. But any Transformer lover would be keen to have him. He's a great new take on a classic character and makes a very good looking robot and vehicle. His transformation isn't overly simple nor is it overly complicated either.

Hot Rod rocks.

Kiss my Arcee

I was lucky enough to spot this Transformers Animated Arcee at Toys R Us the other day. I wasn't in the spot to buy her at the moment, so I hid her on the Tonka truck aisle and when I returned today she was still where I had stashed her; so now she's mine!

Although she first appeared during the G1 era in the Transformers animated movie, Arcee has not had a proper figure made of her until now. Sure, there have been a few Arcees released before, but never one that transforms into the vehicle and robot mode that so closely matches the character as she was originally presented.

Arcee's vehicle mode is very G1 Cybertoronian. She is reminiscent of Hot Rod with that futuristic vehicle vibe she's got going on.

Her robot mode is excellent. Even though it is representative of the stylized Transformers Animated look, she still very closely resembles her appearance in the animated Transformers Movie from the mid eighties. In addition, she's not overly sexualized, yet she's still very feminine. That's a plus.

This Transformers Animated Arcee is seriously the best we've gotten and likely the closest we Transformer fans will ever get to an "accurate" Arcee.

She comes with two swords that stow away in her shoulder mounts. Arcee is also super posable and an excellent action figure alone, regardless of the fact that she also turns into an awesome futuristic vehicle.

Her transformation is pretty simple, and the look of both the vehicle and the robot modes are excellent and convincing.

Arcee is a Toys R Us exclusive figure for a cartoon that is now defunct, so good luck finding one. When I spotted her there were two on the shelf. I hid this one and when I returned the other was gone. I doubt she'll be available in abundance or for very long, so if you see her and want her I advise you to get her on the spot...or find an excellent hiding spot to return to later!

The Brothers Grim(lock)

A trip to the not-so-nearby haunted Toys R US (more on that later) led me to find the new TRU exclusive Transformers Titanium Series War Within Grimlock! Here he is with...well...himself, from a couple different "universes."

This newest (oldest?) version of Grimlock represents his appearance from the IDW publishing comic book storyline "The War Within," which told a Transformers story set on Cybertron long before the Ark shot towards Earth.


Basically, this is Grimlock in his "original" Cybertronian form. I like this idea better than "we built him on Earth" as seen in both G1 and the current Animated series. Another aspect of the character I think is groovy is that he has a damaged vocal processor, which is why he speaks poorly. His iconic line "Me Grimlock" is phrased as such because of the vocal damage, not because he's an idiot.


Here's a close-up of the currently available Transformers Animated Grimlock.


And here's his original G1 self.

Titanium Grimlock comes with a sword as well as a laser rifle. A single glance at this guy screams "Grimlock." What a sweet design!

Now here he is in alt. mode. Of course, before coming to Earth, there were no dinosaurs to reference, so Grimlock was envisioned in the War Within comic as a Cybertronian tank.

He still has the design cues that reflect his later dinosaur mode, like the exhaust that will become arms...

and the length that is reflective of his Tyrannosaurus tail.

His gun also attaches to the back of his cab, and his sword is held on the side of his rear treads.

A brilliant Cybertronian design, I can certainly imagine Grimlock as a mean, heavily armed "take no prisoners" warrior from day one.