Hubcap (Autobot Alliance)
Vehicle ModeRobot Mode
Allegiance: Autobot
Size: Scout
Difficulty of Transformation: Easy
Color Scheme: Moderately light red, light milky gray, dull brownish gray, and some silver, black, light metallic purplish blue, and pale light red
Rating: 7.9

    Hubcap's vehicle mode is certainly one you don't see everyday-- it's an old-style hot rod car, complete with external exhaust pipes. There's no robot mode extras at all in this mode, and the proportions are pretty much perfect. Although his mold details are a bit sparse, they fit the alt mode-- and there are details where there need to be, such as at the doors, rear trunk, echaust pipes, front grill, and the like. However, the shade of light red used for most of Hubcap's plastic (particularly in this mode) is a rather flat color-- a bit of metallic flake really would've made this mode look better in that department, methinks. The major details are painted either in silver or (in the case of the windows) black, both of which contrast fairly well with the red, even if they aren't particularly dynamic. However, as far as the color scheme goes this mode still needs a little something more-- a flame deco, a painted trunk, some "worn metal" deco, just something to break up the big patches of flat red.
    Hubcap's robot mode design and transformation are very straightforward-- you can pretty easily tell what parts go where just by a casual glance at this mode. That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad-- this kind of transformation definitely has its advantages. Hubcap's proportions are quite good, and light gray and a dark brownish gray are added to his overall color scheme here, whereas those colors were completely hidden in vehicle mode. Although the colors certainly don't clash with the light red, they're pretty dull, too-- just more shades of gray. As such, Hubcap's overall color scheme is rather underwhelming. His mold detailing is very well-done, however, with his upper arms and legs looking like they're made out of pipes, while the lower parts have all sorts of intricate details in them. His headsculpt is also a nice mix between the movie style and "Classic"-styled Transformers, though I wish the paint used for his face wasn't such a bland shade of red. The car grill serves as a decent enough chest, and the tailpipes on the backs of the hands can double as blasters if you use your imagination, but otherwise Hubcap is literally wearing the entire shell of his vehicle mode on the back of his body. Granted, it's fragmented, allowing him a fair amount of articulation, but it's just on the back of EVERYTHING, and takes away quite a bit from the look of this mode-- it's definitely my biggest complaint about this figure, hands down. As far as articulation, he can move at the neck, shoulders (at two points), elbows, hips (at two points), knees, and ankles-- so nothing extraordinary, but good enough. The car shell bits on the back of his upper legs can particularly get in the way of movement, however (and are the most unsightly).
    Autobot Alliance Hubcap has a unique vehicle mode with good proportions, but that's the only real reason to get him. His transformation is very straightforward and has nothing remotely unique about it, and his robot mode has his entire vehicle mode hanging off the back side, really ruining a lot of its charm and restricting movement a bit, as well. Plus, his color scheme-- though not loud or clashy-- is pretty dull, and really needed some kind of eye-catching secondary color to complete it. He's not a bad toy overall though, just very boring excepting the vehicle mode selection.



Hubcap Bio:
Hubcap never liked the way Brimstone pushed other robots around, and he never made any effort to hide his disapproval. The two robots have clashed more times than either of them can count. Now their rivalry has moved to the urban drag strips of Earth. Brimstone may consider himself king of the road, but Hubcap won't give up until this so-called king is just another wreck.
Strength: 9.0
Intelligence: 6.0
Speed: 7.0
Endurance: 8.0
Rank: 5.0
Courage: 8.0
Fireblast: 6.0
Skill: 5.0

Review by Beastbot

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