Toy Review - HFTD Deluxe Ironhide

[griffin]

Toy Review - Ironhide

Series - Transformers
Sub-line - Hunt for the Decepticons
Size - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - new
Wave - 1
Released here - June 2010
Approximate Retail Price - $25-30
Approximate Size - 15cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Pickup Truck
Main Features/Gimmicks - Drone
Main Colours - Black, blue-grey
Main Accessories - Drone/weapon

[Stompy]

My thoughts on this...

Been waiting for this one for a while. Much like the deluxe Ratchet, this figure packed in a lot more than I imagined but also suffereing a few flaws.

Truck mode is accurate and looks like a shrunk version of the Voyager. The black finish is really nice and the dark blue clear windows are ace. There's no real fault I can find bar some robot kibble ont he underside of theback. The Cannon Drone doesn't really clip ontot he back of the truck but there is two holes on the truck bed. Perhaps the front legs can fit into there.

Conversion was a really nice surprise. While not elegant the chest and arms fold out and into itself in a nice manner. Some surpriseshere and there and thankfully no mroe sandwich of triple panels. Although it has a similar double fold necesarry to get the head out. The wheels are all converted into spots really nicely and overall a really nice conversion.

Robot mode is pretty gnarly looking. The picture above is mistransformed. The shoulders come out more and the hood of the car folds all the way to the back. It looks much better than that. The likeness is really great, maybe even better than the Voyager, although one can't help but feel the chest area is hollow and everything is just kinda sitting there floating. Not helped by the big gap between the front of the chest and the head. The legs are nice and chunky but perhaps a little too large in proprtion? Maybe I have to see the movie proprtions again. The biggest dissapointment are the arms, much like the Voyager they are kinda weedy and stuck in that muscleman pose. There's there's four points of articulation for the arms but still in that general "trophy handles" look. The arms are better proportioned here than the Voyager as they are thicker and longer than the Voyagers proportions but there's a large chunk of kibble on it. One houses the canon and the other for the Drone. It is unruly though and ruins it. But I guess that's theconcessions taken for the deluxe size class. The head sculpt is great with the torso/chest area looking like a smaller version of the head. The blue used is a little metallic looking, which is a million times better than just the hasbro grey. It might theoretically look great all black but the lighter shades of blue helps highlight the detail. The height in bot mode is a little small though, with deluxe Ratchet being about1.5 cm taller. So not well proportioned with other deluxes.

I really dig this deluxe version and is a great alternative to the Voyager. For me it's equal in quality.

[Jetfire]

While I like the metallic look of the paint as opposed to Hasbro gray, the "baby blue" seems like a strange choice for Ironhide. "I just wanted to show him my powder blue cannons"... I think Recon Ironhide would laugh at this guy

Looks especially odd in alt mode as well.

Optimus Prime: "Autobots, Roll Out!"
Ironhide: "Just a sec, I'm still trying to get these silly blue legs hidden"

[PascTF]

Love the mold. If the feet were foldable to hide better in alt mode, he would be near perfect.

The drone is supposed to be stored inside the truck btw (the cannon split open to make room for it).

Also, what you call baby blue is more like a pearl blue-ish grey. And the brown tires don't look as brown as in the pictures in real life. I still wonder why they chose that color though.

[jaydisc]

... and is a great alternative to the Voyager. For me it's equal in quality.

Blasphemy!

Yeah, this version's pretty neat. Anyone particular about scale should stay away, unless they release a scout version of Bumblebee

I broke the bumper off of the chest plate thinking it was supposed to folder under. Actually, I didn't really break it , rather the glue holding it on, failed to hold it on under the pressure I applied. I could just re-glue it, but will likely exchange it.

As PascTF said, the separate cannon can stay mounted on his arm in alt mode, which I much prefer than mounting it on the back of the truck which didn't seem to work too well anyway.

This figure is very similar to the voyager in a few ways: beefy legs, thin arms, hollow chest, vehicle bonnet in robot mode not grounded to anything, etc.

I like it, but think the voyager is one of the best movie figures ever (if not the best)

[Paulbot]

The Voyager's chest bugs me and the deluxe one is no better IMO. It looks fine in robot mode in a simple pose, but the small biceps/thighs make it hard to position, as do the panels all up the legs. Not sure I'll be keeping this one for too long.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I concur with Paulbot on most of this, but I still like it.

The drone sorta sold it for me, as it has now become an action figure of the game character. Sad but true.

[GoktimusPrime]

I can't get the chest piece to lock on properly. The poorly drawn instructions don't help. Is there a trick to this? Also, the drone gun seems too big and I can't transform it to vehicle mode with the drone attached to the arm. It seems that I have to remove it and keep it separate in vehicle mode. (-_-)

[Gutsman Heavy]

you need to split the arm cannon to allow the drone to be stowed in alt mode. I really love this figure!

[GoktimusPrime]

Thank you, but that still doesn't solve the issue of the chest for me.

RE:

The Voyager's chest bugs me and the deluxe one is no better IMO.

My Voyager Ironhide's chest connects into place... it's not a terribly strong connection, but it connects. My Deluxe Ironhide's chest just doesn't connect at all!

Atm I'm happy to keep DLX Ironhide to display and play with as a vehicle - cos I do like the longer smoke stacks... but when it comes to robot mode, I still prefer the Voyager. Despite the less screen-accurate head and smoke stacks I find the Voyager to be a much better toy overall.