Headrobots has been gracious enough to give me with one of their latest creations, the
Comic Head Hothead set! Now this is the second release of Hothead, this one being a more comic/cartoon accurate version of Hardhead, where as the original aimed more for toy accuracy. For their generosity and overall impressive impact this set made on myself, I figured the least I could do was write a review on how fantastic this upgrade set really is and hopefully will give the readers the desire to get one for themselves and consider picking up the upcoming
TFcon 2011 exclusive Stronghold (a recolour of the initial release of Hothead).
So let's do this shall we?
The Package
While it's nothing intricate, it doesn't really need to be, the set is a head, three guns, and box that splits into two pieces. I've never been a MISB/MIB collector so I never understood the need for a box when this gets the job done so perfectly well. inside is a card with some lovely art that varied from the last card that was inserted with the initial release of Hothead
On the back of the card you ge the simple instructions on how to replace the head on your existing Universe 2.0 Hardhead and how to attach the remaining pieces to your figure. An explaination is always nice!
Hothead
Duros? That you? Nah it's his cousin Hothead! Even so Nebulians are silly anyways...I've had the mentality that headmasters were tiny cybertronians (much like the Microns AKA Mini-cons) that made these Transtectors so they were able to fight in "The Great War"...but my feelings aside this is a cool little figure. he's got shoulder and hip ball joints, as well as knees so he's got some wicked articulation in a tiny package.
The only downside I can see is unlike the G1 Headmasters, the larger face doesn't have a flap that covers up the large face when Hothead is in his smaller mode, resulting in an upside down face on his backpack...but to me it's a minor thing.
Vehicle Mode
Hothead takes advantage of his "Transtector's" mold as the Universe 2.0 Hardhead has an already molded opening door that Hothead can "pop" out of giving him not only the appearance that he's driving the swat truck, but harkens back the original Headmasters has also drove in their vehicle modes...what an amazing homage to pull off indeed as in most other molds this would be a difficult if not impossible task to pull off due to an inability to even fit a Headmaster figure into a cockpit.
Also, everything that goes into the robot mode goes into the vehicle mode as well. There's no free floating pieces. That green "pack" has 3 holes on the top that the 3 weapons clip into (in any order too mind you) that give Hardhead some additional weaponry in vehicle mode.
Robot Mode
Where this set really shines...Headmasters were a gimmick that you either loved or hated and I for one having few G1 figures actually found myself wanting original G1 Headmaster figures at a time and got many of them. Over the years we've had homages in various lines, Armada Overload/Energon Ultra Magnus, Energon Omega Supreme, but it was never the original Headmasters in their full glory given a proper updated treatment...till now.
It's like night and day. I can hardly believe how a few simple additions really can take a figure one would hardly give a second glance, to making it really stand out as an individual in their collection. The Hothead set give Hardhead his classic over the shoulder cannon + dual guns + Headmaster gimmick. Amazing...simply amazing. It truly captures what interested me in Headmasters and gives an otherwise recoloured figure a kick in the ass that helps him stand apart from his originator, Universe 2.0 Onslaught.
As I said before, everything goes somewhere. the green "pack" splits into 2, pegging into the underside of the top hatch so the over the shoulder cannon has a place to peg into. The remaining portion of the pack can stay in the place it pegs into in vehicle mode...or remove it so you can slide up that panel...up to you really, I just would keep it in a safe place.
The black piece that's seen in the bottom portion is an adapter (if you will) that can peg into the underside of the Hothead in head mode so he can clip into G1 Headmasters figures...too bad I don't have a G1 Hardhead otherwise I'd gladly show that off, but trust me it works on the other G1 Headmaster figures I do have.
Conclusion
No matter how I look at it, this is a great set that I gladly would have put my earned money forward towards getting. The plastic and quality are top notch and for what you're getting it really achieves the homage factor in every way.
Being one who tends to prefer cartoon accuracy over toy accuracy I like this version of Hothead more then the initial release for appearance alone. The quality is the same, just differently molded head and coloured weapons.
Now if this is how much fun I've had with Hothead, I can only imagine what I'm gonna do with my Stronghold once I get my hands on him. The beauty part is if you got a Stronghold coming, and happen to have this comic version of Hothead then you have two great quality upgrade sets but with the added bonus of them looking different, at least in the head!
Pat-chu! Pat-chu! Shoot you in the face....