Ironhide's vehicle mode, a GMC Topkick, is a bit kiddy in its proportions, though this is more acceptable than on a mainline toy because Fast Action Battlers are specifically made for younger kids, of course. (The use of semi-chibi proportions on some Fast Action Battlers but not others is curious, though.) With the exception of the feet being rather visible from the backside, and the very front tips of the legs poking out from the underside of this mode, there's no robot extras in Topkick mode, which is always appreciated. As expected for a Fast Action Battler, though, it is a bit more "toyish" than most of the toys in the main movie line, with more obvious hinges and such than on the larger Voyager-sized mainline Ironhide toy. The painted metallic blue windows do provide some badly-needed contrast against the black, though, since Ironhide really doesn't have a secondary color in this mode. The other mold and paint detailing is adequate, but not much above that-- certain things like Ironhide's back bumper or truck bed could have been detailed a bit more. Otherwise, this is a pretty solid mode for a toy aimed at a younger age bracket.
    Ironhide's robot mode is great... from the waist down. His truck door panels on the sides of his legs aren't the most sightly extras, but they stay out of the way well enough and it certainly makes the transformation a lot simpler than Voyager Ironhide's. Ironhide's legs (and head and arms) also have oodles of mold detailing on them, which is great since the vehicle mode was rather bereft of such detailing. There's also some great paint apps on Ironhide, too, especially on the legs and head-- the gold really contrast well with the black. The secondary mold color, a dull bluish green (which is not on the Voyager Ironhide toy) adds a much-needed secondary color to the toy and looks good against the black while still being fairly movie-accurate as well, like it's sort of similar to a "dirty black". The head sculpt on Ironhide is great, just like on his Voyager version, with tons of details everywhere and a bit of an overall resemblance to a bull wearing a cowboy hat-- which is, of course, PERFECT given Ironhide's personality. Ironhide's chest and arm construction, however, is simply horrid, regardless of what age bracket the toy's aimed at. Ironhide's chest is up so high it looks like he's struggling to see over it, and his arms DON'T rotate forward at the wheels, which could have made them look normal in their placement and made this mode a lot, LOT better. Instead, for some stupid reason, the arms are stuck behind the truck front halves that form Ironhide's chest and shoulders and can't point forward, so Ironhide's arms are eternally aimed at an angle like he's sticking his chest out with his arms behind him. It looks really awkward, not to mention that his left cannon, which is a standard spring-loaded missile-firing weapon, can't fire straight because of this. The vehicle roof panel behind Ironhide's head is also pretty kibbly-looking and just hangs there without contributing anything to the look of the mode. Ironhide's articulation is also rather limited in this mode-- he can move at the hips, knees, up-and-down at the shoulders, and can rotate at the elbows. Most of the arm movement, as already mentioned, can't actually make his arms point forward. His waist can also rotate, but it has that weird "rotate only to the left and snaps back after you let go of it" waist movement that most Fast Action Battlers have. His head can move EVERY so slightly from side-to-side, but it's so minute it's barely worth mentioning.
    Cannon Blast Ironhide has a decent, if pretty toyish vehicle mode, but his robot mode looks downright ludicrous with this absurd shoulders and oddly positioned arms. Unless you're buying this toy for Junior who's way too young to transform a mainline TF, just save up another $10 and get the FAR superior mainline Voyager Ironhide instead.

Review by Beastbot

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