Proof positive, as if any were needed, that giving a toy a black repaint will entice me to acquire it, however terrible that toy may be, this is the disappointing and clumsy Energon Rodimus mold, with a swanky new colorscheme...
Seriously, sometimes I curse my compulsion for black repaints.
Vehicle Mode:
Given that the original Energon Rodimus was a red long-nosed truck with a gold flame pattern at the front - appearing three whole years before the first live action movie - I was more than a little surprised by the negative fan reactions to Optimus Prime's movie design, and the idea that it was something new and terrible. Hell, Optimus had been two unique long-nosed trucks in G2 (1994/95), and even the 1990 Action Master had a playset that transformed into one. In fact, in the wake of Age of Extinction/The Last Knight, neither his 2007 movie vehicle mode nor his extravagant paint job seem in the least bit shocking or outlandish. The film-makers simply decided against being slavishly G1 in their aesthetic.
The thing about this vehicle mode is that it's already quite aggressive-looking, from the strange angles of the grille to the afterburners and spoiler at the back, and this revised colourscheme really emphasises that. Had the secondary colour been teal rather than red, this could have been marketed as a Nemesis Rodimus Convoy (or Rodimus Scourge?). While this technically isn't a black repaint - just a very dark, sparkly grey - it is apparent in this mode that this version of Rodimus uses fewer plastic colours than the original to maintain its darker look. Both the original's red and grey parts are molded in the same dark grey plastic, with some visible hints that the original's orange parts are now molded in a slightly lighter grey. This looks especially weird at the front, where the red flame pattern now starts rather abruptly on the bonnet behind the grille, where it aligns with the border between two different colours of plastic on the original. Meanwhile, the back end looks extremely dull, as the only touches of colour come from the flame pattern on the spoiler, the metallic red of the hubcaps, or by attaching his translucent orange/red Energon weapon.
The original toy's paint applications are all present, with those on the front grille extended and supplemented. The metallic red paint on the grille itself continues to the lower part of the bumper, making the little angular flourish look like an after-market attachment. This appears to be based on the an early draft of the toy's paint pattern, though I was unable to find any evidence that this was even part of the mass-release Superlink Rodimus Convoy figure, so it's particularly interesting to see here. Additionally, the smaller lights sculpted above the grille have a coat of the same yellowish paint as his main headlights. The cab's windows are painted pale gold rather than metallic blue, but his smokestacks are just painted silver, like the original.
Robot Mode:
In my opinion, 'black' paintjobs generally improve the look of even the most mediocre figure... but it hasn't worked out so well for Energon Rodimus. It's certainly a striking look, but the base figure is just do daft and unwieldy-looking, with his ginormous truck cab fetish boots that come up to his hips and his comically oversized shoulder chunks. It doesn't so much mitigate the impact of the colour swap as almost completely negate it... and he ends up looking like he's wearing the robot equivalent of fetishwear.
The choice to use the dark grey plastic for both the original's red and grey plastic parts, and then a lighter grey for what were orange parts ends up making him look comparatively dreary. It's certainly a far cry from PotP Rodimus Unicronus, which was based on the Shattered Glass concept rather than being a true Nemesis. There are no changes at all to the paint pattern on robot mode, just a slight shift in colour - the pale metallic blue applications of the original version having been replaced by pale gold, while the metallic red replaces what was gold. The only deviations from this are on the head and collar, the crests on the former replacing the original's yellow and metallic blue with gold, while the latter is bright yellow.
Robot mode looks generally better than vehicle mode thanks to all the metallic paint, but the lack of plastic colour variation - beyond the translucent orange Energon weapon - means he just doesn't have the impact he could have had... Personally, I think simply using a lighter shade of grey for the hands, thighs and heel spurs, just to increase the contrast a little here and there, would have made all the difference.
In terms of his combination gimmick, Rodimus was not one of the more impressive figures in the Energon/Superlink toyline - his 'trousers' mode is reasonable-looking and offers semi-decent poseability thanks to the mold's articulated toes and heel-spurs, though the waist-mounted weapons tend to get in the way of whichever figure makes up the upper body. His upper body mode is a poorly-proportioned mess, though it does bring to mind the way Hot Rod's legs become Rodimus Prime's shoulders on the PotP Evolution figure.
Overall, this TV Magazine Exclusive is very much the exception to the rule of black repaints: less eye-catching than the original, and rather underwhelming in general. Still, it would be foolish to expect more when the base figure is so bad, and it is nice to see a character other than Optimus Prime getting a black repaint oncein a while.
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