Hot
Shot (Cybertron Defense)
Cybertron Defense Hot
Shot, like the other Cybertron Defense upgrades, has a military alternate
mode-- this one of a four-wheeled, dual-gun-mounted armored vehicle. This
mode is pretty good, with a great amount of mold detailing (love the rivets
everywhere, especially) and great proportions. My only BIG complaint is
that the robot mode feet pretty obviously stick out from the back end of
the vehicle-- it's really hard to ignore them. The color scheme is pretty
much the exact same as the original Cybertron
Hot Shot's-- it's certainly not terrible or overly loud, but it could
be better, as light blue isn't really the best color for a military vehicle.
As for Hot Shot's Cyber Key gimmick, it's rather self-defeating-- when
you insert the Cyber Key into the rear of his top-mounted guns, they both
flip up, revealing missle pods under them (non-firing at this scale, of
course)! It's certainly unexpected, but what's the point of gaining missile
pods if you can't aim with your guns anymore anyways? A more well-thought-out
version of this gimmick would have had slimmer pieces of plastic on the
top half of the guns hold the molded-in missile pods, so that those weapons
could be "fired" with the guns still pointing forward. What IS cool, though,
is that even more firepower can be added to the mix in this mode buy folding
open the front bumper, revealing two guns and another missile pod ready
to point at some hapless Decepticons! A very cool and unexpected feature,
that.
Hot Shot's robot mode
bears some big resemblances to his original Cybertron form-- certainly
moreso than the other Cybertron Defense upgrades-- and a similar transformation
to boot. Hot Shot retains the same general color scheme as his original
Cybertron version in this mode as well, with even the placement of the
colors being pretty much the same. He's definitely pretty beefed up this
time around, though, with a bulkier (though similarly decorated) chest
and frame, and even larger shoulders. His head design is pretty much the
same as his original Cybertron version's, but with more asymmetrical detailing
on the forehead visor. The proportions are pretty good overall-- the shoulders
and lower legs are rather overly large, but this was pretty true on his
original Cybertron version as well, so they're just carrying over the design
aesthetic. Hot Shot's articulation is great in this mode-- with the exception
of waist articulation and outward elbow articulation, he can move at all
the major points. He's not backheavy, either, so he can strike a great
number of poses. His elbows do have pretty limited movement even beyond
just outward movement, however, as they can't move backwards or inwards,
and only slightly forwards, which is a shame, but not really fixable given
his bulky alt mode and robot mode design. Hot Shot not sports two Powerlinx
ports on his armguards for some Minicon power-packin' goodness, and his
Cyber Key gimmick still works in this mode, with the gun/missile racks
now over his shoulders. What's REALLY cool is that he has FOUR more missile
pods that can open up in this mode as well-- panels flip down from his
shoulders to reveal two of the pods, and rotating the dark blue panels
on his lower legs reveals two more. Add to that the knife piece housed
between his legs that's attachable to either of his wrists in this mode,
and you've got one majorly beefed up Hot Shot!
Cybertron Defense Hot
Shot is a pretty good toy, but not quite as good as his original Cybertron
version, in terms of overall robot mode proportions and alt mode. He's
still a great toy though, with a ton of great weapons, and still certainly
recommended-- just not as much as his previous version.
Review by Beastbot