Thunderhoof's alternate
mode is pretty unique among Transformers-- it's a farming tractor! This
mode has the major features of a tractor-- large treaded wheels, a multi-pronged
harvester out front, and a windowed cockpit near the back of the body of
the vehicle with smokestacks behind it, though the latter two are drastically
undersized when it comes to proportions. This was definitely the mode that
was given second priority, as pretty much the entire robot mode is on display--
in a compacted form-- in this mode. You can clearly see the robot arms
on the sides in between the wheels, as well as the legs and waist on the
top of this mode. So, given the transformation, it was either have an undersized
cockpit or an oversized robot chest, and given all the focus on the robot
mode I guess I can't blame them for going for the former. As with most
RID2015 toys the mold detailing is somewhat minimal in most places, but
the treaded wheels are fairly well-done, and there's some nice angles molded
into the sides of the robot lower arms, robot waist, and there's rectangles
on the sides of the chest that are supposed to be windows, both the "real"
ones for this mode and "fake" ones for the robot mode, so there ends up
just being a lot of rectangles all over the back section of this mode.
The basic color scheme is also rather unique, being mostly a semi-metallic
shade of aquamarine with some dark bluish purple-- the colors really contrast
and complement against each other exceedingly well. They're pretty odd
for a tractor, but given that it's not a realistic tractor I honestly don't
mind. One of the pluses of having most of the robot mode on display on
the top of this mode is that there's plenty of paint apps on the top breaking
up the aquamarine so there's no large unpainted area of that plastic in
either mode. Thus, there's some charcoal black "faux windows" paint near
the back end, a nice mix of silver and red paint in front of the black-painted
cockpit window on the robot waist, and some more red and a really nice
metallic teal used near the front of this mode, on the front of the robot
mode legs. The teal is a really nice shade that I wish was used just a
touch more, such as on the sides, as it's another nice "contrasting and
complementary" color compared to the aquamarine.
To transform Thunderhoof,
you take the front harvester bit and rotate it around all the way to the
back, with Thunderhoof's appendages popping out/down as you do so. It's
a pretty cool one-step transformation, all things considered. The wheels
are a bit oversized for this mode, though at least on the feet they help
provide Thunderhoof with some stability; the ones on the back of the arms
are just too big and look bad, though. I also find it really weird that
the harvester prongs used for the vehicle mode actually AREN'T used as
the antlers for Thunderhoof's unique head design, and instead just fold
back a little while much smaller antlers are used on Thunderhoof's actual
headsculpt. Granted, the antlers used for this mode are a bit more show-accurate,
but the two different parts are so clearly meant to be the same piece it's
kind of a shame they aren't used as such. The headsculpt itself is really
well-done, though, with a very show-accurate, crisp sculpt with a black
"helmet" surrounding a grim silver face with red eyes. The upper legs also
reveal themselves in this mode, which shows off some more silver paint
for some more color break-up, though I wish a bit more dark bluish purple
was visible in either mode instead of just mostly being used on the antlers
and some pieces on the back/bottom of both modes. There's a bit of a slider
used for the transformation hanging behind Thunderhoof's legs, but otherwise
there isn't much kibble in this mode, so that's certainly good. The rest
of this mode is pretty much the tractor mode standing up, thus it has most
of the same details and paint apps visible and I don't really have anything
more to stay about those bits. Here it definitely looks more proportional,
though the upper arms are a bit oversized, but nothing as bad as the proportions
of the body of the tractor mode. As for articulation, Thunderhoof can move
his shoulders back-and-forth, and that's it, though articulation obviously
isn't a priority for one-step changers.
1-step Thunderhoof has
a pretty nice transformation motion, a great color scheme and paint apps,
as well as a pretty decent robot mode with only a few minor issues, but
his tractor mode is far too obviously mostly his robot mode lying down
and compacted some; a bit more needed to be "done" between the two modes,
especially given how much this makes the body of the tractor mode look
odd, but it's still a pretty decent 1-step changer. Out of all of Thunderhoof's
various toys, though, I would recommend this one the least.
Review by Beastbot