Transformers Energon: Rodimus Test Shot

There have been a lot of Rodimus figures over the years between the various Transformer line of toys and with his popularity increasing with every day it seems I'm sure there will be more and more different toys branding the name of Rodimus to come.  This particular version features an alt. mode not usually associated with the Rodimus name.  Instead of looking at the final product that most fans are familiar with we'll take a look at the last phase this toy went through before being massed produced.  Often called a 'test shot' these aren't easy to come across as they aren't meant for the general public.

" I can take down any Decepticon without getting a scratch. "

Rodimus is a wild, rebellious young Autobot and foreman to the Omnicons.  His taste for danger is almost greater than his sense of style.  He is an aggressive, headstrong young warrior who will not think twice about rushing into battle.  Rodimus is able to powerlinx with his Autobot brother, Inferno.  In vehicle mode, he becomes a semi-truck capable of great speeds.  Rodimus' primary weapon is a powerful energon cannon, which he often uses to teach the Decepticons two very important battle maneuvers...run and hide.

Strength: 8 Intelligence: 8 Speed: 9 Endurance: 7

Rank: 8 Courage: 9 Firepower: 8 Skill: 8

As you can tell from the above photo this 'test shot' version of Energon Rodimus is rather plain.  There aren't any paint applications on the toy.  Everything you see is plastic molded in either red, a dark gray or orange.  The translucent orange gun and missile are the same as the production version however.  Test shots are used for a variety of purposes - from testing the injection molds to testing the overall strength of the plastics to safety reasons.  I've seen a fair share of Transformer test shots over the years and not always are they cast in colors used in the final product.  Sometimes parts are clear (to test hidden parts) or the toy has been cast in a bright lime green.  At least this version of Rodimus I was able to obtain features his main colors...which was really desirable to me at the time.  The toy that I have must have been used towards the end of the run as there are no visible changes or differences when compared to my mass produced version.  All 6 wheels roll freely and nothing hinders the transformation process.

In robot mode you can see the orange plastic used for the fists and thighs.  When I first got this toy from China (I believe) the thing that stood out most was how loose most of the limbs were.  Rodimus can still pull of some poses, hold his weapon and stand on his own - but the figure in general is loose.  I'm guessing this is because of the nature of the figure.  It was meant as a test subject so to speak and not meant for me - the collector.  Other than that the figure transforms just as the regular version does.  The combining feature is also in place and can be used with any other deluxe Energon Autobot.  

I used to own 5 different versions of this mold (the other 3 were the white redeco as Energon Checkpoint, the black Japanese Superlink version and the 2009 Botcon version as Thunderclash).  I'm not sure why I liked this mold so much as I don't think it's aged very well.  Perhaps it's the Classics version of Rodimus in recent years that has spoiled me as such!  At any rate I wanted to share a quick look at this test shot version of Rodimus.  If anyone is intrigued I have placed this figure on eBay as I'm trying to narrow my collection's focus.