Hasbro Transformers x Hot Wheels Collaborative Twin Mill Hasbro, 2025
Day #2,951: December 16, 2025
Twin Mill A New Series Begins?
Transformers x Hot Wheels Let's Say Deluxe Class Toy
Item No.: Asst. G1716 No. G1180 Manufacturer:Hasbro Includes:Removable engine pieces, two flame blast effects Action Feature:Transforms from Robot to Twin Mill car Retail:$29.99 Availability: November 2025 Other: The Platform Expands
Hot Wheels has offered a version of its die-cast metal car off and on in various colors for a buck for almost sixty years, and now Hasbro has a Twin Mill that turns into an Autobot. You can see pictures of them here. If it's an exact specific match to a Mattel car I missed it - there are a lot of blue cars with similar pin striping, but nothing seemed identical to me.
If you don't yet have this mold, this is a very good version to pick up. Until Hasbro comes up with a better one, and I assume that's probably five or ten years away unless Takara-Tomy finally does a Masterpiece edition of some sort. It has little Autobot symbols near the rear wheels, and a Hot Wheels mark on the back for maximum corporate bipartisanship. But is it fun? Yes, yes it's a lot more fun and original and generally pleasant to convert. If you hate gaps in toys, you won't like this - but if you've been collecting and are frustrated when parts pop off during pay or when joints are too stiff or too lose? This is so much nicer than some other recent toys.
I'm happy with the character selections made by Mattel and Hasbro. As a part-time baby not-serious Hot Wheels dabbler, the two crossover cars I wanted to see the most were Twin Mill and Bone Shaker - and here we are. After that we're talking toilets and the Sharkcruiser, and if they could make a Fig Rig that fits 3 3/4-inch figures I'd buy two.
It's a collab toy. If you're a long-time fan of form-shifting robot toys you probably bought Star Wars Transformers around 2006 through 2011ish. It's similar to those - there are elements that are overtly like the typical Autobots and Decepticons like the excellent head, the 5mm fists, the articulation, and the roughly-a-smallish-deluxe size. But the legs are super hollow, and the basic shapes on the lower legs are there but the layout is a little boxy and flat. The feet are small, so you might want to take care balancing him when he stands up. Everything in robot mode seems to lock in place and you can move his limbs without anything falling apart - that's good! It just feels like it's taking some design cues from a decade and a half back, while others feel more or less modern. I love the head, and the wheels have separately molded hard plastic black tires. That's great!
The wrist lasers are "partsformers" - you pop off the engines of the car and clamp them over the forearms. Without the blasters, half of the arm just sort of rotates strangely. I'm glad they found a solution to the problem, but it is a bit of an odd problem to have in the first place. The robot is much skinner than your average modern Deluxe, plus his back has a lot of exposed bits. You can see posts used in assembling the figure, and his back has nine visible posts and screws. It seems a silly thing to highlight, but I don't know that I've ever noticed so many in such a small space before.
The sculptor did a generally great job with the robot mode, ensuring it has enough vents and greeblies to fit in with the general line look. Other than mounting the flames on the forearms, there are no accessories to speak of or special features in robot mode. To your average toy robot fan this probably would be indistinguishable from a typical $28 Deluxe toy, but if you've handled enough of these things you can tell that the gap filler sellers are gonna make some money off this one. Given this came off the same desk as Energon Mega-Dinobot, I'd say it's shown a lot of improvement and is a generally pleasing robot toy for the price. I just wish he were a bit taller.
Transformation in both directions is actually quite pleasant. Everything folds and tucks logically, and minus the partsforming there aren't any bits that felt fragile or awkward. This might be one of the best deluxe transformation experiences I've had in years other than gems like Legacy United toy Optimus Prime. There are tabs and things, but nothing here gets in the way. And when it's done, you're left with a fairly gap-free car. Hasbro did a really nice job with a car-first design that gave us an entirely new robot with no specific requirements... this is the kind of thing I'd like to see more in the line. Fake cockpit chests or bogus chest windows stifle creativity, and in this case you just got to see a guy take a perfectly nice fake hot rod car and turn it into a robot that might remind you a little of Armada Silverbolt.
In short, converting him is a pleasant and satisfying experience.
It feels rare that we get a character in the "classics" design aesthetic that doesn't have to draw on existing design elements that sometimes get in the way. Siege Starscream, while a fun robot with a nice space ship mode, also has a chest hanging off its back bumper. That's just weird. Twin Mill just gets to be a car. Other than a little gap in the license plate mode, the entire chassis is pretty perfect with the obligatory seams between parts. You can't easily work around that, but they are obfuscated slightly thanks to some of the pin striping. The clear window looks nice, and the gray engines - while silly - look like they should. Unlike a lot of deluxe toys, there are painted lights. And there are molded black tires with molded gray spokes. I don't know how the swirly paint will hold up to time, but right now? This is a fairly nice toy and probably a good introduction/gift item for new fans.
It is fascinating to see Transformers grow as a platform. 25 years ago fans were hating on Animorphs toys in the brand, but we've since seen licensed cars in Alternators and a pretty steady stream of toys with alt modes from popular 1980s movies to varying levels of success. I feel like this is one of the better ones - it takes brands you know and makes an entirely new robot character that gets the job done. I'd give the designer an A- only because the legs look a little flat in the front, and the figure looks a little odd from behind, but the team managed to deliver a pleasant experience that I want to keep around on my desk because it's enjoyable, and not just because it looks like something I saw on TV 40 years ago. Good job. (I wrote this in November and I'm itching to open Bone Shaker next.)
Confidential to future Hasbro: consider repaints. Mattel has kept the original toy running since 1969. Sell him in purple and green as a Decepticon, or maybe neon G2 colors, or whatever makes sense. I think people will be happy to revisit this guy in other colors as time goes on.
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