Energon Hot Shot

Robot Mode: Hot Shot in robot mode is a very good likeness to his cartoon counterpart and a pretty decent robot altogether. His huge lower legs look a bit out of proportion, but it doesn't take away from an otherwise good look. His face is an acquired taste, he looks pretty upset all the time and a bit chubby. The arms are a bit short and sideways motion at the shoulders is restricted, but that still gives him much more posability than most G1 toys. All in all a decent robot mode.

Alternate Mode: Hot Shot transforms into a yellow sports car and looks good doing it. His rifle can attach to the back of the car, giving him firepower in this mode as well. A nice feature is that, if you open the hood of the car, you get an engine block with the Autobot logo on it. Kudos to the designers.

Combiner Mode: Hot Shot can combine with Inferno or Rodimus (or other Deluxe-sized toys, but I only had the three at the time of this review) into a powerlinx robot. Each can form either the upper or the lower body, the one forming the upper one giving his name to the combined toy. Generally speaking Hot Shot makes for a very good lower body, even though he can't bend his legs at the hips. The combiner modes Powerlinx Inferno (with Inferno as the upper body) and Powerlinx Rodimus (with Rodimus on top) are very good.

Unfortunately the other variants, Powerlinx Hot Shot (with either Inferno or Rodimus as the lower body) are nowhere near as good. Inferno and Rodimus both form a decent-looking lower body (though Inferno's pretty much a brick in this mode, barely any posability), Hot Shot as an upper body isn't looking all that good, his thick legs become his arms, making him look deformed. Stick with the other way around, boys, it's much better that way.

You can see all possible combinations of Powerlinx Hot Shot on my Powerlinx Combos Page.

Remarks: Hot Shot is one of the central characters of the cartoon series and a pretty decent toy to boot. His play value is limited by the requirements of powerlinking as either an upper or a lower body to other Deluxe-sized toys, but I originally expected much worse results from this gimmick. Bottom line, not one of the all-time greats, but still a good toy.

Rating: B-