 Protectobot Hot Spot
Asian Market (and U.S. Toys R Us) Exclusive
Transformers Generations Voyager-Class Toy
Item No.: Asst. 98573 No. 98895
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Includes: n/a
Action Feature: Transforms into fire truck, fires "water" rocket
Retail: $22.99
Availability: October 2012
Other: New head for the Inferno mold
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Here's a good one. Protectobot Hot Spot comes one per case, with 2 slots being a G2-inspired Megatron, which is the one you're likely to see sitting. Hot Spot goes first, and with good cause as he hasn't had a "normal" toy in years. Sure, we had a Legends-scale "Hot Zone," plus a Titanium Series toy, but this one is a real full-size plastic Autobot warrior that comes in bright blue and has a really good new head. Heck, it's so good you might want to swipe it for other toys like BotCon Spark (or Pyro, whatever.)
As the fourth toy based on the Universe 2.0 Inferno body, it's nice to see Hasbro getting some decent mileage out of one of its better designs. At almost 8-inches tall, it's a decent height but the mold seems to suffer from weak distribution in the USA. Inferno was tough to find, Pyro (aka Spark) was exclusive to BotCon, Solar Storm Grappel was practically exclusive to online stores and closeout chains, and now Hot Spot was introduced as an Asian exclusive but after much complaining, Hasbro brought it to Toys R Us. Who knows how hard it will be to get one? I've only just started seeing this batch locally. It's worth tracking down, though.
T
he truck is nice, and very similar to previous releases. Everything compacts nicely into a bright blue boxy firetruck, but there's some added deco on the sides which adds some color to this otherwise mostly blue vehicle. A bright yellow burning (some would say "hot") spot appears on the side with a trail of flames behind it, plus the traditional Autobot symbol. The windows appear to be all painted black, but most of them are actually really, really dark plastic. Shine a light through it, and you can tell it's kind of, sort of transparent. Inferno had clear colorless windows, so it's quite different in appearance here. Sure, it could use more color, but that's what Reprolabels are for if you're so inclined.
The robot mode is basically Inferno with a new head. It's not bad! The figure has about 17 points of articulation, depending on how you articulate, and has hands which can carry your 5mm weapons. The head is a new sculpt, an interesting hybrid of the original toy, the comic, and the cartoon incarnations of the character. I'd say it almost looks more like the comic version, though.
The box shows a co-sell of Brawn, a figure which (so far) seems to be not coming out. This is a great take on the character, another addition to the growing army of combiner "core" characters which, sadly, cannot combine along with Silverbolt and Onslaught. I love this one, and I think you will too. We don't get enough blue toys in this line, so it really stands out nicely.
--Adam Pawlus
Additional Images
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