This week I'm reviewing a figure I was sure I was going to get even though I
A. Already had the character
and
B. I wasn't overly impressed with the figure.
A. Already had the character
and
B. I wasn't overly impressed with the figure.
Welcome to this weeks review! It's subject, Combiner Wars Deluxe Ironhide.
Ironhide is a repaint, with a new head, of CW Off-Road. He transforms from a pick up truck to a leg, to an arm and a robot (and back again!).
He comes from Wave 4 of the Combiner Wars line which is all repaints with new heads. I'll be getting more of Wave 4 than I first thought I would, mostly to replace awful Classics figures and to get a Nova Prime (thank you Toyhax/Reprolabels!).
The red they've used is a nice shade and its a good "Ironhide red" and he's got some nicely sculpted detail in all 4 modes. He comes with his standard CW Hand/Foot/Gun and an axe. I'll be honest I ditch the axe most of the time, it's not a bad weapon it just doesn't feel right for Ironhide (or for First-Aid but at least you can get away with "IT'S FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES!" with him though). The Hand/Foot/Gun does a passible job as Ironhides weapon but I might have to seek an alternative for him at some point.
Ironhide is a repaint, with a new head, of CW Off-Road. He transforms from a pick up truck to a leg, to an arm and a robot (and back again!).
He comes from Wave 4 of the Combiner Wars line which is all repaints with new heads. I'll be getting more of Wave 4 than I first thought I would, mostly to replace awful Classics figures and to get a Nova Prime (thank you Toyhax/Reprolabels!).
The red they've used is a nice shade and its a good "Ironhide red" and he's got some nicely sculpted detail in all 4 modes. He comes with his standard CW Hand/Foot/Gun and an axe. I'll be honest I ditch the axe most of the time, it's not a bad weapon it just doesn't feel right for Ironhide (or for First-Aid but at least you can get away with "IT'S FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES!" with him though). The Hand/Foot/Gun does a passible job as Ironhides weapon but I might have to seek an alternative for him at some point.
Truck mode is pretty much what you'd expect from a CW Deluxe. It looks like your standard pick up truck and it has some subtle nods towards the live action movie Ironhides GMC Topkick Alt mode. It has a couple of pegs for you to store the axe and the Hand has it's own dedicated slot on the back. Bonus is that when it's plugged in it kind of looks like a massive engine block.
There's not much else I can say about this mode. It's pretty cool but nothing mind blowing.
There's not much else I can say about this mode. It's pretty cool but nothing mind blowing.
Leg mode is basically the truck mode with it's front section folded out and the foot pegged into the back of the truck. At the time of writing this I don't have any of my CW teams with me but I do own First-Aid who is remolded of Off-Road so I have a rough idea what Ironhide will be like as a limb. As a leg First-Aid is good and stocky so Ironhide should be to, there's not much else I can say about him right now.
Arm mode is where we have a couple of issues. Transforming him is easy enough and overall it's a good limb. Much like my other CW deluxes he has slightly loose hips, he'll hold a gun but he wont hold a Legends class figure like Powerglide. A floor polish fix should hopefully sort that out (I am having real issues finding any of it believe it or not).
Lets get into the issues then.
The arms and legs.
The legs on mine don't seem to want to hold together all to well. I had a similar issue with First-Aid but he had a get around for that problem (push the legs together before closing them up) but it doesn't seem to carry over. Might be a floor polish fix again.
The arms tab onto little tabs on the side of the truck, problem is they are to thick and the arms just come right off. I've sanded mine down a little to try and help this, it's kind of worked. They don't pop off but at the same time all it takes is a little nudge and they're off again. It's a shame, the arms on First-Aid slot over the tabs and they hold on really well.
A minor problem I have is weapon storage. There isn't really anywhere to put the axe in arm mode. All of the peg holes I use in leg mode are on Ironhides arms, when they've been swung up for arm mode they aren't a great place to store a weapon (Especially when you've filed them down a bit), hopefully Sky-Reign will have some weapon ports I can use.
Lets get into the issues then.
The arms and legs.
The legs on mine don't seem to want to hold together all to well. I had a similar issue with First-Aid but he had a get around for that problem (push the legs together before closing them up) but it doesn't seem to carry over. Might be a floor polish fix again.
The arms tab onto little tabs on the side of the truck, problem is they are to thick and the arms just come right off. I've sanded mine down a little to try and help this, it's kind of worked. They don't pop off but at the same time all it takes is a little nudge and they're off again. It's a shame, the arms on First-Aid slot over the tabs and they hold on really well.
A minor problem I have is weapon storage. There isn't really anywhere to put the axe in arm mode. All of the peg holes I use in leg mode are on Ironhides arms, when they've been swung up for arm mode they aren't a great place to store a weapon (Especially when you've filed them down a bit), hopefully Sky-Reign will have some weapon ports I can use.
Robot mode does a lot of good things. it's got some nice posability, I like the fact you can even put the axe in both hands for some serious chopping action.
All of the sculpting looks good and what paint apps there are have been put in good places. The head sculpt looks good as well. It puts forward a "younger" version of Ironhide.
The shoulder panels do create a litlle bit of a problem but it never feels like they get in the way to much.
I know people have an issue with this figure, it's an opinion I share. It's a good figure but it's not Ironhide. You can tell that they sculpted the head and stuck it on the Off-Road body and said "done!". It's a shame. It's not a bad figure, don't get me wrong here, as a figure I like it, it just isn't Ironhide. Looking at it I have no idea how they could've made him more Ironhide. It has to be said though, it's better than the Classics Ironhide. This guy can look forward and isn't some Rubik's nightmare to turn into a minivan. Uurgh.
So you may ask yourself why did I get this figure? It's simple, I needed limbs for Sky-Reign and it was the perfect time to replace the awful Classics figure. He'll more than likely spend most of his time as Sky-Reigns leg and that's all he'll ever really be. I'll be ditching Classics Ironhide into a box and probably forgetting about him. Maybe sometime in the future they'll revisit Ironhide and I'll get a better Generations style representation of him.
I'll be finishing off Sky-Reign with Prowl and Mirage from Wave 4 and Smokescreen from Wave 6. Yes I know it'll be a weird mix and I'll have to wait some time before I can put them together as a team but I think it'll be worth it.
My only fear is that I'll end up grabbing CW Sunstreaker so Nova will have some limbs... But if I do that I'll have a spare limb dude hanging around when I get Smokescreen, unless I get the wave 6 limb guys and then everyone will have a set of limbs and I'll have even more characters that I already have more molds of and I've gone crossed eyed....
Time I started thinking about next weeks review. I wont spoil it, all I'll say is that you should hide your tables. (hint, it's not the Dudley Boyz).
The shoulder panels do create a litlle bit of a problem but it never feels like they get in the way to much.
I know people have an issue with this figure, it's an opinion I share. It's a good figure but it's not Ironhide. You can tell that they sculpted the head and stuck it on the Off-Road body and said "done!". It's a shame. It's not a bad figure, don't get me wrong here, as a figure I like it, it just isn't Ironhide. Looking at it I have no idea how they could've made him more Ironhide. It has to be said though, it's better than the Classics Ironhide. This guy can look forward and isn't some Rubik's nightmare to turn into a minivan. Uurgh.
So you may ask yourself why did I get this figure? It's simple, I needed limbs for Sky-Reign and it was the perfect time to replace the awful Classics figure. He'll more than likely spend most of his time as Sky-Reigns leg and that's all he'll ever really be. I'll be ditching Classics Ironhide into a box and probably forgetting about him. Maybe sometime in the future they'll revisit Ironhide and I'll get a better Generations style representation of him.
I'll be finishing off Sky-Reign with Prowl and Mirage from Wave 4 and Smokescreen from Wave 6. Yes I know it'll be a weird mix and I'll have to wait some time before I can put them together as a team but I think it'll be worth it.
My only fear is that I'll end up grabbing CW Sunstreaker so Nova will have some limbs... But if I do that I'll have a spare limb dude hanging around when I get Smokescreen, unless I get the wave 6 limb guys and then everyone will have a set of limbs and I'll have even more characters that I already have more molds of and I've gone crossed eyed....
Time I started thinking about next weeks review. I wont spoil it, all I'll say is that you should hide your tables. (hint, it's not the Dudley Boyz).
Stu "Darkageis" Murray is a founding member of The Old Oilhouse, a lifelong transformers nut and collector of Sentai and Kamen rider in most of it's forms.
He sometimes takes epic trips and tells tales of these sagas often.
When not watching people in spandex fight each other he paints miniatures, go HERE to take a look.
He sometimes takes epic trips and tells tales of these sagas often.
When not watching people in spandex fight each other he paints miniatures, go HERE to take a look.