Well its obvious that the Hasbro one is supposed to be Hot Rod instead of Rodimus Prime. That being said, it would have been nicer if the Hasbro one was shorter than the Tomy one by a little bit.

Especially since there is not a true Rodimus alt mode. I didnt mess with the 1/8 of an inch "leg extension" in the pics above, because it looks off to me, creating another line under the line of the skirt.

 

I love how they sneak in "Hot Rod Mode" next to the pic of alt mode on the back of the box.

Well its obvious that the Hasbro one is supposed to be Hot Rod instead of Rodimus Prime.

What makes you say that? If it's the absence of the trailer, then I'd agree that the alt mode is definitely only Hot Rod and not Rodimus Prime -- but the robot mode can be Hot Rod or Rodimus Prime. The Hasbro version simply has more toy accurate colours whereas the TOMY version has cartoon colours.

 

 

I prefer toy accuracy, so I much prefer the colours on Hasbro's MP Rodimus over Tomy's.

 

That being said, it would have been nicer if the Hasbro one was shorter than the Tomy one by a little bit.

I don't think it's necessary. Remember that the Hot Rod mode is a bit shorter than the Rodimus Prime mode - in both the Hasbro and TOMY versions.

Picked up mine today in Totowa, NJ. There weren't any on the shelf, but I had called ahead and one of the managers I spoke to said he had 6 in his office. He was concerned that the packages would be damaged on the shelf so he kept them aside for the collectors. If I hadn't called first I wouldn't have known about it.

Thanks for the comparison pics. I didn't realize there was that much of a difference between the 2. The plastic on the US Hot Rod version looks more red. Is that just the lighting or is that accurate? I will say the US version looks better to me looking at them side-by-side. There appears to be more paint apps on the rifle as well.

Thanks for the comparison pics. I didn't realize there was that much of a difference between the 2. The plastic on the US Hot Rod version looks more red. Is that just the lighting or is that accurate? I will say the US version looks better to me looking at them side-by-side. There appears to be more paint apps on the rifle as well.

The Hasbro version is definitely a darker red. The Takara gun has no detail on it. The paint apps on the Hasbro gun were a nice touch.

I prefer toy accuracy, so I much prefer the colours on Hasbro's MP Rodimus over Tomy's.

 

For toy accuracy, that's fine. I only brought up the height difference based on the cartoon where Hot Rod is shorter than Rodimus Prime.

Thanks for the comparison pics. I didn't realize there was that much of a difference between the 2. The plastic on the US Hot Rod version looks more red. Is that just the lighting or is that accurate? I will say the US version looks better to me looking at them side-by-side. There appears to be more paint apps on the rifle as well.

The Hasbro version is definitely a darker red. The Takara gun has no detail on it. The paint apps on the Hasbro gun were a nice touch.

Yeah the Takara version is much more of a pinkish-purply red, basically very faithful to Hot Rod in the '86 movie. There are other differences too, like colour of headlights, paint detail on his collar and cuffs, the flame design on the hood, the darker grey face (IMO neither wins on the face - Takara's face is too bland and Hasbro's is far too dark).

 

Personally I don't really see the point in making a toy so awesomely screen accurate as MP Rodimus is, then colouring it so it looks nothing like it appeared on screen; but hey, whatever!