Hot Shot (AOE)

Hot Shot is an Autobot from the Age of Extinction portion of the movie continuity family.

Oh sure, base his colors off a G1 character, yet name him after a Unicron Trilogy character. Makes perfect sense.

Hot Shot has simple desires. He likes winning fights, he likes being a hero, and he definitely likes winning fights whilst being a hero. No matter the odds, Hot Shot is always ready to dive in headfirst with guns blazing.^[1]

Games

Age of Extinction mobile game

Hot Shot was one of the Autobots who helped destroy the Decepticons on the streets of Texas, Detroit, Chicago, and Hong Kong. Age of Extinction

Toys

Age of Extinction

Crosshairs's choice to go as Tracks for Halloween was a rather odd decision.

• Hot Shot (Deluxe Class, 2014)

• Accessories: 1 machine gun, 2 pistols/sticky-bombs
• Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro)

A redeco of Age of Extinction Generations Deluxe Class Crosshairs, Hot Shot turns into a licensed 2014 Chevrolet C7 Corvette Stingray. He comes with two revolver-sized sidearm blasters and one larger-uzi sized version that fit in either hand and tuck underneath his vehicle mode.

Most of his car kibble folds up or splits apart on his back in order to create his "duster". However, it does make him into something of a shellformer. Most stock photos feature his tailgate sitting directly behind his head, but it can fold down behind him so that it's less conspicuous and interferes less with his light-piping gimmick. His stock photos also usually leave out two rubber flaps that fold inside his doors and connect to his torso which are also part of his "duster". When folded out, these flaps help (partially) conceal and integrate some of his leftover kibble.

• More information on Hot Shot at TFU.info

Notes

• Hot Shot's deco is noticeably based on Generation 1 Tracks, with an early sample on display at BotCon 2014 even featuring that character's distinctive flame design on the portion that forms the vehicle hood (although this was limited to the sample displayed in robot mode, whereas the sample shown in vehicle mode didn't have it). This was reportedly removed from the final toy at General Motors' request.^[2] It's possible that the use of the name "Hot Shot" over "Tracks" was the result of a similar request (note that GM produces an entirely separate car called the "Trax"), but Hasbro hadn't been able to use the name for over a decade without prefixing it as "Autobot Tracks" or "Turbo Tracks", something which they tried to avoid where possible.
• In 2020, an image of Hot Shot's toy was used by Jada Toys during their announcement of a Nano Hollywood Rides 3-pack alongside images of Ironhide and Barricade. Given that Jada has only ever released characters who actually appear in the movies and the relatively obscure nature of this Hot Shot, it is entirely possible that his toy was only used as a placeholder for a more relevant character. We may never know for sure, however, since the set remains unreleased and is most likely cancelled.

References