General Information
Release Date: September 2023
Price Point: $54.99
Retailer: Hasbro Pulse Exclusive (US)
Accessories: Stormfall Sword, Fan
Official images and text in italics are from Hasbro Pulse UK:
Discover a universe that shatters everything you know about the Transformers robots with the Shattered Glass Collection Voyager Class Rodimus, Deluxe Class Sideswipe, and min-con Decepticon Whisper toys! Welcome to Shattered Glass, an alternate universe where the heroic Decepticons battle the evil Autobots. Wait…what? Explore this topsy-turvy reality with the Transformers Shattered Glass Collection, featuring classic Transformers characters, with a twist! Sideswipe has defected to the Decepticons, now battling the Autobots with his mini-con partner Whisper. Rodimus aims to turn the Autobots into a cutthroat team of mercenaries, with himself at the lead. Each figure converts between robot and vehicle modes. Deco and accessories are inspired by the Shattered Glass universe. Look for other Shattered Glass figures to build the ultimate alternate universe collection (each sold separately, subject to availability).
- The Shattered Glass Collection shatters everything you know about Transformers figures. Inspired by an alternate universe where the heroic Decepticons battle the evil Autobots
- Sideswipe has defected to the Decepticons, battling the Autobots with his partner, Whisper. Rodimus aims to turn the Autobots into mercenaries
- Rodimus figure converts from robot to racecar mode in 29 steps. Sideswipe figure converts from robot to sports car mode in 16 steps. Decepticon Whisper figure converts from robot to jet mode in 6 steps
- This Shattered Glass Collection multipack comes with 3 blasters, 2 cannons, buzzsaw, and Matrix of Leadership accessories. Also includes 3 blast effects
- Look for other Shattered Glass collectible action figures to build the ultimate alternate universe collection (each sold separately, subject to availability)
- Transformers and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro.
- Includes 3 figures, 10 accessories, and instructions.
- Ages 8 and up
- Warning: Choking Hazard -- Small parts may be generated. Not for children under 3 years.
Background:
In 2008, Fun Publications released a boxed set of Transformers at Botcon featuring a set of "Evil Autobots" belonging to the "Shattered Glass" universe. In this strange world, the Autobots are evil and the Decepticons are good! I actually had the honor of writing the first "Shattered Glass" comic book and laid down some of the template for this universe including the Rodimus included in this set so I have a fondness for it right out of the gate.
Hasbro Pulse released several figures as updated versions of these characters including a two pack featuring Rodimus versus Sideswipe and Whisper. Rodimus is a redeco and retool of Studio Series 86 Hot Rod and Sideswipe is a redeco and retool of the sculpt that began life as Siege Sideswipe. Whisper is a brand new figure. I recently reviewed a redeco of Sideswipe released in Legacy as Armada Wheeljack so definitely check out that review as well. This review will focus on the changes made to the figures for this release.
Packaging:
Rodimus, Sideswipe and Whisper are packaged in a closed, rectangular box. The graphics largely exist on top of a dark background featuring black and grey tones with a "shattered" mirror as a backdrop. The right side features a vertical Transformers logo with a purple to pink color gradient. The left side features a "shattered" Autobot symbol above Rodimus' artwork while a "shattered" Decepticon symbol sits below Sideswipe's artwork. The "Shattered Glass" logo is towards the bottom left of the box. Each character has their name above their artwork.
All the figures and accessories are inside a plain cardboard tray inside the box. Each is wrapped in plain paper (this predates the tissue paper with the Autobot symbols on them). The characters are all in vehicle mode.
Accessories:
Since he is a redeco/retool of Studio Series 86 Hot Rod this figure comes with a bunch of accessories. These are all carried over from the original release:
- Matrix of Leadership: This is the same sculpt as the Matrix included with Earthrise Optimus Prime. The Matrix has a lot of detailing including a lot of the greebles on the ball in the center and handles. The crystal in the middle is also sculpted in, making for a beautiful piece. The piece is cast in translucent red plastic to distinguish it from the original one which was blue. Silver paint is used on most of the Matrix. This piece interacts with the star shaped Blast Effect, which attaches to the gabs in between the handles and the "ball" in the center. This recreates the look of the Matrix blasting out its energy.
- Blast Effect (Matrix): The "Matrix" Blast Effect is a translucent red, soft plastic piece that simulates the energy coming out of the Matrix. This piece attaches to the Matrix via two tabs on the back. Unfortunately it is a very specialized Blast Effect and does not have the normal port to attach to figures and other accessories, but it still looks fantastic.
- Blasters: Taking a cue from the original Hot Rod action figure, this version of the character includes two distinct blasters. Each is roughly modeled on weapons associated with the character. While both have horizontal "fins" towards the back, they have very distinct sculpts, especially the barrels which differ in shape. Each blaster has a 5mm port at the base and the ends are designed to accommodate Blast Effects. Each blaster is made of black platic with no paint applications.
- Saw: At a key point in the 1986 film, one of Hot Rod's hands disappears into his forearm and is replaced with a saw. Many Autobots did this in the earlier episodes of G1 but the gimmick was eventually dropped. Still, the saw was part of a significant action scene, so it is great to see it included here on his alt-universe counterpart. The saw is a round "blade" attached to a base. There is a hinge allowing you to spin the saw. The base is a black plastic and the base is painted gunmetal grey. The blade is translucent red. You attach this to Rodimus by swinging out his left forearm/hand, rotating it around and revealing a 5mm peg. The saw then attaches to that piece.
- Blast Effects (arm blasters): While this figure does have blasters, in the film Hot Rod primarily used the exhaust pipes attached to his forearms as blasters so it tracks that his alt-universe counterpart could do the same. The Blast Effects are both made of translucent red soft plastic and they are shaped like flames so they can be interpreted as "blaster fire" or "exhaust" in vehicle mode. Each has one port, allowing you to attach it to his "wrist blasters". I love the dual purpose design of these Blast Effects!
Vehicle Mode:
Rodimus' vehicle mode is the same as Studio Series 86 Hot Rod's. There has been no retooling of the vehicle. However, there has been a significant redeco! Rodimus' primary plastic color is black with a translucent red cabin cover and a gunmetal grey spoiler. When I originally conceived of this deco, I wanted it to be strikingly different than "our" Hot Rod's colors and it was meant to look both malevolent and evoke the colors we associate with "our" universe's Decepticons. Black, red and gunmetal grey as the foundation made perfect sense for this. The exhaust pipes on the sides and the engine in front are painted silver. The hood has a flame tampograph on it in purple with a white outline and an Autobot symbol in the middle. This is based on the detail used on the original Timelines version of Rodimus and it looks great. The headlights are painted red and they contrast beautifully with the black plastic.
You can attach Rodimus' weapons to either the engine in front of the slots on top of the car. They tab in via the fins on the weapons, then you can attach the saw blade onto the blasters. The red "flame" Blast Effects can attach to the back or front of the exhaust pipes. Unfortunately there is nowhere to store the Matrix and its Blast Effect so have a container or Zip Lock bag handy.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
- Detach any accessories and set them aside for now.
- Swing the hood piece forward.
- Swing the headlight panels in.
- Swing the hood piece back.
- Separate the halves of the exhaust pipes on the sides so you can separate the arms from the legs.
- Pull the halves of the car's rear section out slightly (this disconnects them from the section with the spoiler).
- Swing the rear wheel wells out.
- Swing the lower robot legs down.
- Swing the robot feet up.
- Fold the rear wheel wells in, forming the back of the lower legs.
- Rotate the lower body around.
- Rotate the spoiler section around then swing it up.
- Swing the section with the robot arms and spoiler back.
- Swing the robot head up from the chest, then turn it around.
- Rotate the section with the robot arms on it around.
- Swing it up to form the back section.
- On each arm, swing the panel on the forearm out, rotate the exhaust pipe blasters around then swing the panel up against the bottom of the forearms.
Robot Mode:
Rodimus' robot mode features a new face sculpt. When I wrote Rodimus as the traitorous lieutenant to the psychotic Optimus Prime in Shattered Glass I was inpsired by the classic Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror" where we meet an alt-universe Spock with a mustache and goatee. The original Timelines figure of Rodimus had this feature and now so does this one! The head sculpt looks great and the goatee really does add a fun, cheese "evil" appearance that evokes Classic Star Trek.
The rest of the figure is the same sculpt as Studio Series 86 Hot Rod which is awesome. I consider this to be one of the best representations of the Hot Rod character in plastic form and my enthusiasm has not dampened years later. The sculpt looks sleek, dynamic and super cool.
This mode mostly features black, gunmetal and translucent red plastic. The flame design from the vehicle mode has been replicated on Rodimus' chest. Gunmetal grey, silver and red paint are used to fill in details on the shoulders, head, chest and legs. Overall, Rodimus looks fantastic!
There are thirty points of articulation on this figure which is above average for a Generations figure. This includes eight points in each arm and six in each leg. The arms include finger articulation, allowing Hot Rod to "properly" hold the Matrix of Leadership with both hands. I was also happy to see the feet can move back and forth and they have ankle articulation, a feature I am happy to see continuing throughout the Generations line.
Of course, this was a Deluxe sized figure sold at a Voyager price point originally so there's more! Here's a rundown of additional features:
- Visor: Lift up the top of the "helmet" section on the head to reveal a visor that can be flipped out over Rodimus' eyes. This is a callback to a scene early on in the 86 film where Hot Rod uses this visor to magnify his view of the Autobot shuttle arriving near Autobot City. This time out the visor is made of translucent red plastic.
- Welding Torch: After Kup is heavily damaged by a giant mechanical squid on Quintessa, Hot Rod helps weld him back together using a welding torch built into his forearm. You can only wonder what horrors Rodimus uses this for! Swing the bottom of the right forearm out, rotate the fist around and then close the panel back up and Rodimus now has a welding torch in place of his hand. You can fit a Blast Effect over the end of the torch, but it pretty much winds up covering most of it.
- Saw Blade: As mentioned above, one of Rodimus' accessories is a saw blade that attaches to a peg in the left arm. Similar to the Welding Torch, open up the forearm panel, rotate the fist around to reveal a peg. The saw blade then attaches to that and it looks great! I also appreciate the designers making the saw blade able to spin instead of just sculpting this as one non-functional piece.
- Arm Blasters: As mentioned above, Hot Rod includes two Blast Effect pieces that can connect to his arm mounted blasters.
This figure is simply fantastic. The sculpt is excellent, the deco is beautiful and it has plenty of play value. I'm very happy to see it included in this set.
In the Legacy toy line we saw plenty of new versions of Armada characters, but many were missing their Mini-Cons. This includes Armada Wheeljack who was released in Legacy minus his Mini-Con, Wind Sheer. That said, prior to the release of Wheeljack, this Shattered Glass set was released with Mini-Con, Whisper. The original Whisper was released at Botcon 2008 as a redeco of Armada Wind Sheer. Sadly, the odds of us ever getting a modern day Wind Sheer seem slim to none thanks to the economics of the toy industry forcing the Mini-Con to be budgeted out of a Deluxe Class release.
Vehicle Mode:
Whisper's vehicle mode is based on the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk. Like that vehicle it features a triangular shape with an angled front end and wings. There are some differences of course including the shape of the windows and the vertical fin in the back.
Taking its cues from the Botcon Whisper figure, this figure is made up of grey and turquoise plastic, offering a real eye catching contrast. Paint colors on this figure include yellow, red and grey. The yellow is the most heavily used color. It is used to color the edges of the wings and front section. These colors look great and they are faithful to the original Whisper figure.
There is a 5mm peg on the bottom of the figure that allows you to attach it to Sideswipe in a similar fashion as the original Armada Wind Sheer and Wheeljack figures. In vehicle mode he can sit on top of the car. In robot mode, Whisper can attach to the arm as a shield or on his back. All that said, no spring loaded features activate when you do this. It is purely for play value and aesthetics.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
- Swing the legs up and back.
- Swing the feet up on each leg.
- Swing the ends of the wings up.
- Swing the front of the vehicle down.
Robot Mode:
Whisper's robot mode sculpt borrows a lot from the original Wind Sheer sculpt but it is not exactly the same. First, the silhouette is different, featuring the wings on the back which does add a dramatic element to the shape of the robot mode. Like the original Wind Sheer sculpt, Whisper features the front of the vehicle mode forming most of his torso. He also has a distinct head with a wide, angled shape featuring thin, visor eyes. His arms have distinct forearms that end in hands with three claws. The legs also feature overlapping armor details that are similar to the ones found on the Armada Wind Sheer sculpt. Overall the sculpt is a nice update of the original.
This mode features the same colors as the vehicle mode but now we get to see many more turquoise parts and the hands are painted turquoise. The head is painted grey and the eye/mouth section is painted red.
There are eight points of articulation on this figure. This includes two on each arm and leg. The hip joints are ball joints and I find if I manipulate them enough the legs tend to pop off, but they are easily snapped back on.
Vehicle Mode:
I recently reviewed this sculpt when it was released as Legacy Armada Wheeljack. This was the actual first release of this specific variant of the Siege Sideswipe sculpt. This includes changes such as the hood featuring a giant cut and the doors being modified so you can attach the club weapons as "runners" on the sides. This version of the sculpt also has a change in the rocket accessory where the 5mm peg was removed and the end was shortened a bit.
The big difference between this figure and the Legacy Armada Wheeljack is the deco. The designers at Hasbro worked hard to work in the colors of the original Shattered Glass Sideswipe figure onto the contours of this sculpt. This vehicle is mostly made up of grey, turquoise, black and clear plastic. Paint colors include grey, purple, red, silver and yellow. The grey is painted in a very distinct line pattern on the rear of the vehicle and I love that the patches of yellow on the back seemingly serve no purpose but in fact call back to the colors on the original Shattered Glass Sideswipe's spoiler. The other dramatic paint detail is the purple Autobot symbol with the exposed machinery underneath painted silver. The deco is beautiful and evokes the original brilliantly.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
- Detach all accessories and flip the vehicle over.
- Swing the panels on the bottom of the vehicles rear section up.
- Swing the rear half of the vehicle out.
- Swing the robot feet down, then swing the panels on the lower legs back into place.
- Separate the lower legs from one another.
- Rotate the lower body around.
- On the front half of the vehicle, swing the doors up.
- Swing the robot arms out.
- Move the arms up, then swing the doors back in flat against the top of piece that forms the top of the car.
- Swing the fists out on each arm.
- Under the hood, swing the waist piece up.
- Swing the hood piece down.
- The rocket launcher can attach to the slots on either side of the head.
- The clubs can be held in each hand.
Robot Mode:
This robot mode was the first to feature the new Armada Wheeljack inspired head sculpt which would later carry over to the Legacy figure. It was also the first version of this base tooling to feature the chest piece with a cut through the large Autobot symbol, one of the main visual features of Armada Wheeljack and Shattered Glass Sideswipe.
This mode features a good mixture of dark grey, light grey and turquoise plastic. The grey, teal, purple and red colors from the vehicle mode hood piece carry over to this mode, forming the chest. The other colors alternate on the arms, waist area and legs. Dark grey paint is used in interesting patterns on the head's "helmet" and face. The eyes are painted red. His knees are painted yellow. Sadly the budget did not seem to allow a grey line pattern to be painted onto the lower legs which would have been a fun callback to the original figure. That said, it still looks great and once again serves as a wonderful callback to the original Botcon figure.
All the joints on this figure are still nice and tight, so I'm glad to see that as sometimes when tooling is used again and again (and again) parts can start getting super loose. All the weapons also attach firmly to the various ports on this figure.
Final Thoughts:
This set is fantastic. It features two excellent figures and some awesome retooling and beautiful decos. At this point however this set is sold out at most retailers so you're going to have to hunt it down on the secondary market (at least in the United States). I don't think you should spend bonkers amount of money on this, but if you can get it for a reasonable price (what that means is up to you) then I say go for it! Highly recommended.
Pros:
- Excellent retooling on both figures.
- Beautiful new decos.
- Including the Mini-Con is a welcome change from what we've seen in Generations.
- Excellent accessories and play value in both figures.
Cons:
- Other than some deco changes on Sideswipe's robot mode I cannot really think of any other issues with this set.
