TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:
Alternate Mode:
Additional Image:
Box Art:
Technical Specifications:
STR
INT
SPD
END
RNK
CRG
FPR
SKL

Clay's review: Premium Ironhide

Name: Ironhide (Premium series)
Function: Weapons Specialist
Scale: 1/40, or thereabouts

I bought the first release of Ironhide when the Movie toys initially came out, and sold it off within a week. It was... monochromatic? It lacked contrasting visual details, to say the least. A year later, the Movie has turned out to be so successful that everything associated with the brand sells like grain to locusts. Now, Hasbro can go back and re-offer the first round of toys with spiffier paint details since they know they'll make their money back.

Alternate mode:

Ironhide's truck mode is that of the GMC Topkick, which a gargantuan truck when compared to most consumer models. The Topkick is primarily a commercial truck, usually outfitted with a box or a tow rig or a tank for liquids. Ironhide is a model of a heavily modified version outfitted for consumer use, WHICH YOU CAN TOTALLY BUY. That means Ironhide can easily lay claim to having the most expensive toy of any Transformer.

As for the $20 toy, Ironhide features a few differences in truck mode from the original: frosted windows; painted rims; painted lights (all of them, this time); a big Autobot insignia on the hood; a silver winch; painted ridges on the roof. Roughly half of these are accurate to prop truck actually used in the film. Regardless of that, it still looks prettier than the first release, which I suppose is all that Hasbro had in mind.

Robot mode:

Ironhide looks much better in this mode compared to the previous release. As I said, the first offering was essentially monochromatic. The Premium Ironhide, like the original, features metallic blue for a secondary color and gold highlights to round out the look, but it has more of it. Ironhide now has painted feet, thighs, arms, guns, and a more detailed chest plate. It doesn't overdo it, though. Instead, the toy looks more like it should have to begin with.

The only bit I don't like is the paint on the eyes. It seems that both his eyes and the entire surrounding areas are painted blue, in spite of having a light-pipe in the back of the head. This makes Ironhide's eyes look much bigger than they actually are. It's not entirely flattering.

The toy itself, besides the color differences, is rather spiffy. Ironhide has a wide range of articulation, and is generally stable enough to make use of it. The guns can also be combined to form a functional missile launcher that is also huge compared to the toy. A side benefit to this is that the pegs that hold the weapons on the arms are also Minicon ports, making Ironhide one of the few Movie toys to be compatible with them.

Transformation: 8. Ironhide's designers were pretty clever to have figured out a way to create a reasonable facsimile of the CGI model that could actually turn into a truck without being a nightmare. Kudos to them!
Durability: 9. Ironhide seems pretty stout; the only potential problem would be stepping on the roof assembly on accident. Ironhide should survive a fall from the shelf without any damage, though.
Fun: 9. The guns don't twirl like in the movie
Price: 9. $20 is fair. If you have to go online to find one, be conservative.
Overall: 9. Ironhide really benefits from the Premium treatment; probably the most of any offered so far. Unlike Jazz or Bumblebee, which have slight improvements and differences here and there, Ironhide's robot mode benefits greatly from the extra attention to detail compared to the first release. Ironhide's a Premium worth getting, and a nifty toy in its own right.