Review – Targetroids Hot Flame

While the Targetroids Megashoton vs Optiaim (review here) set didn’t overly excite me last year, in the year since I reviewed the unofficial Transformers toys I’ve found myself returning to them more often than I expected. The two toys are actually much neater than I first thought, but that Targetmaster Megatron still bothers me in his weapon mode. But he does make a cute little Megatron toy.

Weapon Mode

First up we see the unofficial Hot Rod Targetmaster in his weapon mode, and as with the Megatron his gun mode is my least favorite mode for the toy. It’s just too wide and weird for my tastes, though using the wings to help streamline the design a little helps. I’ll be displaying Hot Flame in his robot mode, but it would be wrong of me to not show you how he looks as a gun. Not the greatest.

Robot Mode

And here’s where Hot Flame starts to get fun. Standing about 3.5-inches tall, TFC Toys has created a great little version of Hot Rod with a sharp sculpt and just enough articulation to be nice and poseable. The toy has a swivel neck and ball-joints at the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees; as you can see in the pics, you can get some nice action poses. And he really does make a great Hot Rod for any collection.

The only real complaints I have with the toy is that a couple of the ball-joints are a little loose — the right hip is the worst offender — and that the wings restrict the arm movement since they block the tall shoulder design of the arms. But other than that this is a great piece and for the $35 I paid for the set of two (this guy came with a Targetmaster Starscream) the price wasn’t terrible for third party Transformers toys. And looking back on things I assume this release helped TFC Toys get Hercules out there — the timing seems right — so that makes me like this just a little more.

Closing Thoughts

The Targetroids series isn’t the best of the third party Transformers toys on the market, but the transformation is quick and they do make nice little robots to add to any display. And after a year with Megashoton and Optiaim (review here) I can say that I hope TFC Toys makes a few more of these; I’d love to see a Metroplex and Trypticon set.

Philip Reed wants to thank all of the supporters of his Transforming Collections Kickstarter project for pitching in to help make the book a reality.