Hound is an old-style
military jeep, and his proportions generally ring true in vehicle mode,
particularly for a Legends figure. There's also a complete lack of robot
extras, much to the toy's credit, though the bottom middle parts of this
mode-- which form the arms in robot mode-- have their hollow side facing
outwards, which is a bit of a smudge on an otherwise near-flawless vehicle
mode. Hound overall color scheme is green and blue-green. Okay, nothing
particularly mind-blowing there, but at least they contrast somewhat, and
the nice shade of metallic gunmetal gray on the rear half of this mode
works well as a contrast color. The mold detailing, though good, is nothing
spectacular-- but that's where the paint detailing comes in. It's amazing
the number of colors Hound has used just once or twice, such as the the
yellow star insignia, the silver engine/robot face, and the white headlights--
all of which break up the otherwise fairly dull color scheme. The only
parts of Hound that are really missing paint are the wheels, which are
oddly left a dull blue-green-- hardly a typical wheel color, though at
least they're not yellow or something.
Hound's transformation
is very basic and hardly revolutionary, but at least it gets the job done
and leaves him with a fairly G1-accurate robot mode, what with the front
of the vehicle forming his chest and all. Speaking of which, I wish something
had been done about the tires on the sides of his chest-- they make him
look too wide proportionally there, where with the wheels folded away or
something he would've looked just fine. His arms are also a little skinny
proportionally, which is magnified by the aforementioned wheels. In addition,
the plastic flap that makes up the windshield of his jeep mode really doesn't
go anywhere in this mode-- it just hangs off his back. Normally this wouldn't
be a big deal, but it does tend to come off rather easily, which can be
annoying. His head sculpt is excellent, however, and I have no qualms whatsoever
about the lower half of his body-- his legs are fairly well-proportioned,
and even though it's been done a few times before, I still think making
the jeep seats the feet is very inventive. Hound can move at the shoulders,
hips, knees and ankles, though the shoulder articulation is restricted
somewhat by the chest wheels.
Universe 2.0 Legends
class Hound is a decent toy-- he doesn't have any huge flaws or anything--
but he suffers from a distinct lack of originality. The overall transformation's
been done more times than I can remember, and Hound doesn't really bring
anything new to the table here besides large chest-wheels. Mildly recommended
if you like Legends class figures-- otherwise, go for one more inventive.
Review by Beastbot