As much as we give Michael Bay's Transformers beef, I can't deny how much I loved the first movie's robot designs. And as a red-blooded male who loves himself some big guns, I had a soft spot for movie Ironhide. No longer the G1-era red van, movie Ironhide was now the badass black pickup truck with goddamn cannons for arms. What's not to love?
So as a toy collector, I wanted a figure of Ironhide for my collection. But through the years, Hasbro seemed to have a hard time putting out an Ironhide toy that didn't completely look like shit.
Until now, when I got my hands on the new Transformers Studio Series Ironhide toy which I will review today!
Standing at around 6 inches tall, Studio Series Ironhide is short for a Voyager-class figure (do they still do those scales?), another victim of the rising cost of plastic. It's unfortunate that his size makes him out of scale with most of his Autobot brethren currently available, and you'd have to really fudge it to find that sweet scale spot. But then again, Bayformers aren't really known for scale!
It looks damn good for its size, though. For all my peeves about his scale, Studio Series Ironhide is the most accurate-looking Ironhide toy to date. From the "correct" chest transformation, accurate face sculpt, to the fine details all over this toy, Studio Series Ironhide looks damn badass, and a home run screen-to-toy translation. Would it have killed Hasbro to find a way to minimize that unsightly bumper kibble, though?
And as much as I harp about accurate sculpting, the paint leaves a lot to be desired. A dab or two of silver paint in the places it needs it most (like the "ab" piece that should be silver/gray, as well as some parts of the legs) would have kept Ironhide from looking like one whole chunk of black plastic.
Studio Series Ironhide has a basic amount of articulation, though most of it are often hindered by the sculpt. The arms can only go forward and up so far before being stopped by his enormous chest. The hinged knees have okay range of motion, but the feet are just one big chunk of plastic with no articulation, making it hard for him to put in poses other than feet flat on the ground. Ironhide's ball-jointed head can only look left and right. No waist swivel, too. The price we pay for an accurate sculpt, I guess?
But the one reason why I forgive most of this toy's shortcomings is because Ironhide has finally been given what's due to him for so long: screen-accurate arm cannons! The cannons peg into holes in his elbows and don't hinder articulation at all. For the life of me I don't know why Hasbro put off giving Ironhide the cannons he's known for for this long, because Studio Series Ironhide proved they could do it and do it well. The sculpting is spot-on and I love the silver paint they used to accentuate all the little details. Finally, the Autobots' resident weapons specialist lives up to his title!
Converting Studio Series Ironhide from robot to truck feels satisfying and everything pegs into place really well. Ironhide converts into a GMC Topkick pickup truck, and fans will enjoy all the loving detail they put into it. We actually feel his Voyager-ness in truck mode, as it's large enough that it wouldn't look out of place beside most of the Deluxe-class movieformers in car mode.
You can clip Ironhide's cannons to the truck "bed" so as not to lose them. So much for "robots in disguise"!
A cardboard backdrop is included with the toy, which, in Studio Series Ironhide's case, is an image of war-torn Mission City where the final battle in the first Transformers film took place. There's no assembly required, and there's even a platform you could stand your toy on for a museum-type display. What a neat inclusion!
For this Ironhide fan, Studio Series Ironhide is a very welcome update that finally gives justice to a fan-favorite movie character. It may not be in-scale with most of his fellow Autobots, but as its own toy, Ironhide holds his own. I don't know if all of this is worth the $43USD I paid for it, but I'll take a win like this anytime.
It's out in malls in the Philippines now, and judging from how well they made this fig, I won't be surprised if he becomes hard to find!
Posts
0 Comments