Toy Review - TAV38 Thunderhoof

[BigTransformerTrev]

Thunderhoof
Series – RID(15)
Sub-line - TAV
Size/class - Warrior
New/remould/redeco – New
Wave – Wave 1, 2016
Released here - not yet
Approximate Retail Price - $28
Approximate Size – 14cm
Allegiance – Decepticon
Alt-mode – Tractor with Rake
Main Features/Gimmicks – n/a
Main Colours – Blue, Black
Main Accessories – Gun




Robot mode
It continues the aesthetic that permeates much of the RID(15) toyline. Quite blocky legs and arms with a rectangular torso. The arms can be somewhat of an irritant. You can keep them in close to the body which looks good but limits their manuvrability, or otherwise you can pull the spindly little connectors that connect his shoulders to his body out which makes them far more poseable but looks extra silly considering the giant shoulder wheels he has. The colour scheme is very nice, much better on the TAV version than the regular Warrior version, although it has that annoying scanner badge on the chest. The antlers do not look much like the cartoon, the 3-step changer does a better job of that, however this concession is required for the vehicle mode to be more screen accurate.




Vehicle Mode
One of the main reasons I grabbed this guy is as a Mallee Boy I just can’t resist a farm-themed vehicle. It’s quite a nice looking and well proportioned tractor and indeed my brother owns one of this same colour. One thing though – it is small. Like, really small! Sure one could say compact but let’s be honest here – it’s small. It’s a good thing they labelled these ‘Warrior Class’ toys because they sure as shinola are not deluxe class, which is shrinking every year anyway.
The fork configuration on this version is far more screen accurate than the 1-step and 3-step changer versions. However I had to look into what this particular type is, it’s a ‘stick push rake’ attachment which you don’t often see in Australia – quite an interesting choice. I’ve never seen one in real life.




Transformation
Fairly simplistic which characterises this toyline, the only thing is it can be quite fiddly on the first attempt to get the arms and shoulders in place to become the back half of the tractor. The instructions for this toy surprisingly are not great, they have both missed steps and redundant steps. I find this a bit odd because usually Takara instructions far better than Hasbro ones. Once you've transformed him though it takes you about 15 seconds to transform him back.

Overall
Well, the puns with this character abound. In robot mode he kinda has a head like a deer, as a vehicle he kinda looks like a John Deere tractor . Chuck in a New York mobster accent for someone that turns into a farming vehicle and he is all over the shop. But he is one of the more interesting Con characters from the new show and has a very nice (but small) looking alt-mode. I don’t mind if I miss a lot of the RID(15) figures but rather glad I got him, even if the arms detract in robot mode and the size detracts in vehicle mode. Grab the TAV version if you can, it’s a perfect example of how a great paintjob can make a difference.

[shockNwave]

It's definitely the tractor mode that first grabbed me because it's not everyday one encounters that amongst Transformers. As for the alt. mode's deer antlers look, I find it goes along well with the robot's rural vehicle vibe. My version is the Hasbro version because I find the navy blue colour to be more serious.

[GoktimusPrime]

I got the Hasbro version today and looking at Trev's pics of the TakaraTOMY version I can see that it's got more colours happening which not only help to break up the blues but also makes it more show-accurate. Having said that, I don't think that the colour scheme on the Hasbro version is necessarily bad either, and I personally prefer the black rifle on Hasbro's.

It's no secret that I'm not a great fan of these RiD toys, but I gotta say that this toy exceeded my expectations (which were admittedly very low). It's still a rather mediocre toy compared to most other Deluxe Class figures (especially Classicsverse), but by RiD standards it's surprisingly better than I thought. It may sound facetious when I say, "by RiD standards," but what I mean is that unlike many other Deluxe Class figures, RiD toys are based on existing cartoon models which toy designers have to 'translate' into action figures.
<insert.my.usual.rant.about.screen.design.based.to ys>

Anyway, taking this inherent constraint into account, I think that they've done a surprisingly good job with both Thunderhoof and his casemate Quillfire. It seems that HasTak are getting gooder at "translating" these bizarre cartoon designs into action figures. I really like the design of the gun, and I'm glad that he has a gun instead of melee weapon cos guns make more sense. I like the way that they've bulked up the robot mode to give him that "thug" look. The robot mode can pull off an impressive range of poses too.

The vehicle mode actually looks like a tractor rather than a Zamboni with a prow attached to its front. The black shoulder panels look weird as the side windows and it looks like TakaraTOMY have done a better job with this by applying paints to help it blend. The Hasbro version kinda looks like the windows have been smashed and someone's covered them up with black garbage bags.

I must confess that when I bought this toy I was fully expecting to hate it, but instead it's actually reasonably good. Not great by any means, but it's alright. I still find it difficult to justify the full $29 RRP though, so I would only recommend it if you can get it cheap.