Name – Killbison^Ironbison
Series - Combiner Wars (Platinum Edition)
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - redeco of Combiner Wars Brawl
Released Here - December 2016
Approximate Retail Price - $180 for the set
Approximate Size – 13.5cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Sub-Group - Destron
Alt-mode – Battle tank
Main Features/Gimmicks – gestalt
Main Colours – silver, gold, light grey
Main Accessories – Tank barrel-gun

See the CW Brawl review thread for more details about the original mould. This review will cover differences made to the redeco.

PROS

Much like Drillhorn, Ironbison is a really nice attempt at replicating Killbison using the CW Brawl mould. The colours nicely match the G1 figure and cartoon model and even improve it in some areas with additional silver and grey highlights. The choice of using silver in place of light grey for the treads and turret is a good one and looks really nice - this is a case where the designers have chosen well in terms of where to remain faithful to the G1 design and where to creatively deviate to improve the overall aesthetic. The shin hatches are black and silver instead of yellow (which would've been more G1 accurate), which would've been nicer looking on this toy IMO, but the plus side of the black-silver deco is that it does make it look more different from the shin hatches on CW Drillhorn. So in terms of this toy's looks as part of the ensemble set of Destrons, I can see why Hasbro went with this decision. The use of red accents on the chest and groin are a nice homage to the red highlights on G1 Bisonbreast. Obviously the CW Destrons aren't Breastmasters, but I really appreciate how they've made little colour choices to at least reference the Breastplates.

The new head sculpt looks really nice and features G1 accurate red eyes with show-accurate silver mouthplate and more protruding horns. Although the horns are grey instead of gold, but I think that this is another good choice as it helps to break up the gold and accentuates the toy well.

CONS

As expected, Ironbison has inherited Brawl's flaw of the waist section being unable to connect properly with the torso. I'm also surprised that Hasbro weren't able to secure the trademark for the name "Killbison," but Ironbison's not a bad compromise. The head is made from a metallic gold plastic whereas the rest of the gold on this toy is a flat gold. The flat gold doesn't look bad but it makes the metallic gold head kinda clash. I would've preferred for all of the gold to be the metallic gold colour, which would've made it more G1 accurate.

OVERALL

I can tell that a lot of love and dedication has been poured into this redeco. Whoever did these designs have really put in a top notch effort in terms of replicating Killbison using the CW Brawl mould. It's the kind of thing you'd expect to see from an expensive BotCon or FunPub exclusive set, only that this is a regular store release toy! These toys have far exceeded my expectations so far... I'm really enjoying the CW Destrons and look forward to seeing what the rest of the set is like. If the others are just as good as Drillhorn and Ironbison, then I expect to be in for a treat!

PHOTOS

ROBOT MODE





Here's what Ironbison thinks about the loss of his trademark


I don't own G1 Killbison, but I do own Rescue Force 1!


VEHICLE MODE