Allegiances: Autobot
Set Price: $75 (U.S.)
Overall Rating: 8.5

(NOTE: Because this set is composed of repaints, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the set and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the original versions of these molds. For a review on Classics Rodimus--the mold used for Hot Rod--go here. For a review Autobot Alliance Wreck-Gar- the mold used for both Wreck_Gar and Scrapheap--go here.)
 

Hot Rod

Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Moderately dark red, yellow, black, and some silver, transparent blue, dark red, and light orange
Individual Rating: 8.3

    Hot Rod here takes the same general color layout of Classics Rodimus, but tweaks things juuust enough where you might consider getting it if you're a big Hot Rod fan, because that's what Hasbro does best! Anyways, compared to the original Classics Rodimus, this version of Hot Rod has a slightly lighter shade of red used for most of his plastic (though it's still fairly dark). However, the red paint used on such areas as his hood and around his windows is still darker, which makes for a bit of a color mismatch. It's not huge, but it's noticeable. The orange plastic from the Classics version is now a more solid yellow on the spoiler and upper legs. To me this looks better, though again, there's a color mismatch because the paint used for his very G1-esque flame details on his chest-- as well as his headlights-- is more of an orange shade. It's just odd that two of the main colors have slight variants on the toy that stick out, but not enough that it's obvious it's a deliberate color change used to vary up the color scheme more. The black plastic on this version is the same and in the same spots as it was on the Classics toy, so no differences there. The transparent plastic used for the windows and the gun projectile is more of a transparent blue this time as opposed to a more purplish shade, which fits Hot Rod better. The silver paint is mostly used on the same places on this version-- the wheel hubs, the face, the engine, the tailpipes, etc.-- with the exception of the front lower leg panels, which are now painted entirely silver. It doesn't look BAD, but it's definitely not accurate, and using the Classic version's red and black there would've looked cooler irrespective of accuracy.
    No mold changes have been made to this version of Hot Rod.
 

Scrapheap

Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Hard
Color Scheme: Moderately light milky gray, moderately dark brick red, and some yellow, black, silver, milky light tan, light pale yellow, and transparent orange
Individual Rating: 8.5

    Scrapheap, the "generic" Junkion of the two, has your typical Junkion main colors, with a fairly dark, brick red making up the robot mode, most of the body of the motorcycle, the inside rims of the wheels, and his feet. A moderately light milky gray is his other main color, used mostly for some inner bike parts, his waist, and upper legs, along with his weapon. The two colors go together decently enough, but I do wish the gray was more of a semi-metallic shade instead of a fairly bland milky shade. There's also a good amount of black on the wheels, rear view mirrors, and bike seat, giving Scrapheap a nice "dark" color to bounce off his lightest color-- yellow, which is used on his lower robot arms, motorcycle seat, and on the decorative but simple flame decals on his robot chest and on the top and sides of his motorcycle body. The yellow looks good against the dark brick red, and actually helps him fit in with the whole set, not just with Wreck-Gar-- y'know, given how Hot Rod is also red and yellow with flames. There's a few other minor colors, as well. The silver on his shoulder panels and stomach looks nice, but doesn't really add much to the color scheme given how similar it looks to the gray, and it's not used much anyways. There's also some light milky tan used for a few minor parts like his upper arms, and provides a nice "in-between" color given his yellow and dark red-- though again, it's not used enough to really make a difference. Finally, there's a REALLY nice shade of transparent orange used for the bike windshield/headlight piece and the visor on the head, which pops quite well and really complements and contrasts against its surrounding colors.
    Scrapheap doesn't have any mold changes unique to this release, BUT he does have the "Scrapheap" head originally used on the Takara version of the character and re-used on TFSS pre-Beast Wars Tarantulas. His faceplate is painted black and light pale, kinda fleshy yellow, with a pale yellow stripe on his forehead as well. Overall, it looks pretty nifty, and definitely "Junkion-esque" while still working for a generic.
 

Wreck-Gar

Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Hard
Color Scheme: Moderately light milky gray, moderately dark brick red, and some yellow, black, silver, milky light tan, light pale yellow, metallic bronze, and transparent orange
Individual Rating: 8.6

    Wreck-Gar uses a lot of the same paint apps and general layout as Scrapheap, which of course makes sense since they're both Junkions. However, beyond re-using the Wreck-Gar headsculpt instead of another headsculpt, there's one other key color change. The yellow paint on Scrapheap has been MOSTLY replaced with metallic bronze paint on Wreck-Gar's lower arms and motorcycle seat. It's a really dynamite shade of the color and works well for the leader. Additionally, there's a yellow stripe on the body of the motorcycle mode on both sides, and the area around his headlight is yellow instead of the tan on Scrapheap. His face is painted with that same pale, somewhat fleshy yellow as the sides of Scrapheap's faceplate, along with some yellow on a patch on his forehead and of course his facial hair is painted black. Beyond these changes, he's otherwise colored the same as Scrapheap.
    No mold changes have been made to this version of Wreck-Gar.

    If you don't have either of the molds in this set, they're both very solid designs, in nice colors, and with some pretty cool paint apps and shades that helps tie all three of them together. However, the price is pretty hefty for what you get (as is sadly the case with most Platinum Edition releases), and the fact that two of the toys are mostly the same doesn't help matters much, either. If you're really hankering for both of these molds and are willing to pay a markup, this is definitely worth a look; otherwise, take a pass.
 

Reviews by Beastbot

(Pics from Hasbro; and yes, sadly Scrapheap and Hot Rod and both mistransformed in their robot modes in the official photos.)

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