Ironhide - Energon - Figure

The name Ironhide is usually associated with uninteresting or boring toys to most people. G1 Ironhide was an exoskeleton and shared his mold with Ratchet. In G2, he was a Go-Bot pickup repainted from Motormouth and then a Powermaster, neither mold very glamorous. In the Beast Wars, an elephant was named Ironhide and throughout RiD Ironhide was any number of a variety or repaints of his G2 Go-Bot self. Ironhide couldn't even get a break in Armada, where he was a repaint of the Mini-Con Dunerunner. Finally, Ironhide gets a good toy with the Energon line. Only took him 19 years.

Review

Set Includes

In vehicle mode, Ironhide is a dark blue SUV with a large, red, signal array slapped on top. the front grill is black with tan bumpers which have four gray-painted headlights. The windshield and running lights are painted gold. White, gray, and red are used for trim on the sides and an Powerlink Autobot symbol is stamped just past the driver's side window. Two seats and a steering wheel are molded in the interior, visible through the driver's and passenger's side windows.

The sensor array rotates 360 degrees and houses two weapons; a machine gun and missile launcher. Installing two AAA batteries in the array will allow for two sounds to activate. Rotating the array will trigger a machine-gun sound effect and pushing the launcher back will launcher the missile with the appropriate sound effect. Unfortunately, due to Ironhide's design, his robot mode head is clearly visible between the two weapons on the array. Fortunately, the helmet lowers to obscure his upper face.

Start-Change-Finish

To transform into robot mode, raise the front bumpers and lower the front grill. Raise the rear fenders up 90 degrees and lower the front half of the vehicle to form the robot legs. Swing the arms around from the back and raise the helmet. Position the arms and legs to your liking.

Robot Mode

In robot mode, Ironhide stands a little over 8 1/4" tall. His upper torso is mostly red with black, blue, gold, and silver detailing. A detailed Autobot symbol is emblazoned in the center of his chest amidst a white background. Unlike the Omnicons in my collection, this insignia is properly painted with white space separating the panels. For a toy of this size, Ironhide's articulation is astounding. He features full shoulder, elbow, hip, and knee movement in addition to the turning array atop his shoulders. Ironhide can also hold his missile in either hand and can use the Energon chips included with the Omnicons or Terrorcons on his left forearm. He also has a Mini-Con port on his right forearm for Energon weapons or Mini-Con Powerlinking.

Additionally, Ironhide can combine with other Powerlink Autobots to form a variety of other robot modes. As of this review, I haven't been able to find any other Powerlink Autobots so this feature will be covered in another review.

Overall

While I was initially hesitant to purchase Ironhide, I am now glad I did. His robot mode is astounding and the articulation is greatly appreciated. The only improvement I can think of to make this a perfect toy is to have the robot head be bale to tuck away out of sight in vehicle mode. Still, considering the weapons surrounding him, with the helmet down, it's not that bad.

Final Grade: B+

Reviewer	Richard C. Mistron
Date	December 4th 2003
Score	(8 out of 10)
Reads	9715

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