Ironhide
(Activator) [Autobot Alliance]
Ironhide's GMC Topkick
mode has been dramatically shortened and "kiddie-fied" to mesh with the
younger age category this Activators subline is aimed at. The middle section
in particular has been "squashed" up so with the rear doors half the length
of the front. You either are okay with this style or you aren't; it's obviously
intentional and an aim of the design. That said, given that this is aimed
at younger kids, I would've liked a few more paint apps. Yeah, Ironhide's
got a few on his bumper, smokestacks, and wheels, but a painting the taillights,
door handles, and/or a "mudsplatter" paint app around the wheels would've
helped him more eyecatching. The black paint apps on the windows seem particularly
wasted, given there's practically no difference between those paint apps
and the regular black plastic, other than the fact that the windows are
now glossy-looking because of it. The mold detailing is fairly sparse,
though again a large part of that is intentional given the age category
Activators are aimed at. As far as robot extras, there's just a TAD of
the chest poking out the front end (and of the feet from the back end),
but those are very minor at best-- generally he has no problems with that
kinda stuff in this mode.
To transform Ironhide
to robot mode you simply push in on the Autobot symbol on the top of his
roof and he'll unfold into robot mode pretty much by himself, with only
a minor fiddling with the shoulders and legs needed to finish the job.
Getting him BACK into vehicle mode is a bit more difficult, as given the
spring-loaded part you have to position the arms, wheels, and back-piece
in the correct position BEFORE clicking it all together to "set" him in
his alt mode again, but it's not that big a deal compared to normal transformations.
(Occasionally people have reported getting a "dud" that refuses to set
in vehicle mode-- this doesn't seem that common, but fair warning.) As
is the norm for Activators, Ironhide's proportions are a bit "superdeformed"
in this mode, with a smaller-than-average chest and large head. This actually
works fairly well for Ironhide, though, given the girth the front wheels
add to the sides of his chest-- it makes him look less superdeformed than
the other Activators molds (the wheels are a bit floppy in this mode when
you're moving the shoulders, though). Like all Activators, Ironhide also
has a bit of a backpack, made up of the front part of his vehicle mode--
it may stick out a little behind his head, but it stays out of the way
of movement, so it's not that big of a deal. The biggest disappointment
I have with this toy is definitely in the arms-- they're WAAAY too skinny,
and Ironhide's signature cannons are so small they're more of an afterthought
detailed on the side of the arms than anything resembling actual seperate
weapons. I know it's par for the course for Activators, but it doesn't
fit Ironhide's look in the least. The mold detailing in this mode is considerable,
though, and stands in stark contrast to the rather sparsely-detailed vehicle
mode-- rivets, bolts, panels-- they're everywhere on this fig. A bit more
of the chalky gray paint used on Ironhide's chest would've helped to bring
out all this extra detailing, particularly on the legs, where the solid
black plastic kinda mutes a lot of the smaller details. As for articulation,
Ironhide can move at the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and slight
movement at the ankles-- so he's got most of the major points covered,
though most of these points are only in one direction.
Activators Ironhide
is about a middle-of-the-road mold for the subline. The general design
suffers from the same positives and negatives that the Activators usually
suffer from, but the skinny arms and weapons, as well as the over-prevalence
of black on the toy, keeps him from being as good as the other Activator
Autobot molds. Still, if you have a young one who wants an easy-to-transform
Ironhide that isn't tiny, this is your only real option, and it is a serviceable
one.
Review by Beastbot