Transformers Toys Studio Series 86-17 Voyager Class The Transformers: The Movie 1986 Ironhide review

 

Aloha folks, I am back with another TF review and this time it is Studio Series 86 Ironhide. Without further delay, let's get started.

Box

Comes with the infamous back drop where Ironhide meets his destiny. 

Out of the box

Ironhide in the flesh! This is my third Ironhide figure in the past few years. Looks wise I'm going to say he is looking better and better each time resembling his G1 anime counterpart. The colors look nice though I will elaborate more on this later in his alt mode. His frontal appearance looks spot on for the most part. However, if I am to be technical about his accurate look to the anime, the side/back portion of his legs and his upper back doesn't resemble his cartoon look. As a matter of fact, his legs and back were plain rectangular/square shaped. You can clearly see flaps on the back of his legs and windows on the sides. His front bumper in alt mode forms his back. 

Is this a complaint? Well, sorta. The bumper back looks like something that should had been out of the Earthrise or Kingdom line. Now I understand some folks may say that his 86 look with the flat legs and back would be too bland but wasn't this supposed to be based on 86? If it was inspired by it then by all means forget my rambling. The front portion I will reiterate looks amazing, but the back features just doesn't feel 86ish. Well to be fair, Wheelie had a toilet bowl and it was kinda of a stretch too. I guess it didn't help that 86 Hot Rod had a fake chest on top the other though you had to transform him to discover that plot hole. Oh well, this line is gonna fall apart if I continue to nitpick on it.

I like to also point out that his stomach doesn't really lock in. If you shake him by grabbing the torso/chest region, it will pop off easily. I do like this chest piece in a visual sense better than the ER version though.

Ironhide got the swivels on both waist and head. He has a crotch piece that can be flipped. He sports some ankle tilts as well. He comes with dual blasters instead of the sole one he had in the film. He doesn't really come with 5mm pegs besides his fists so there isn't much in the "place the weapon all over him" category. There are some indents which allow you to store it on his bumper back. He doesn't feel too light which is a bonus. Overall, he plays fine for a deluxe figure that is trying to blend in as a voyager. Yep, many fans have complained about this and as I was playing with the figure, I noticed this as well. 10 years ago, this guy would had been only 9-14 bucks. Today we pay twice that or even more. Yeesh!

Alt mode

Return of the different colored parts! Yeah, no joke. Before I get into that, this mode is fairly easy to transform into. No instructions was needed so yay! However, for me, the roof part was a little difficult to snap on. At one point, I was wondering if the roof would snap on without me breaking him into pieces. IH's van mode looks better than the ER version I give him that. Now getting back to the colored parts, Ironhide's reds are 3 different shades of the coloring. This isn't the first time Hastak has done this and I'm wondering why does Hastak do this from time to time. But it can be jarring to look at just as we finally got a van mode that resembles his cartoon look a lot closer than the "feet" versions we got in the Siege and ER line. You can place his weapons as his exhaust ports or cannons on the top of his roof. 

Another negative aspect about the coloring is his missing yellow/orange stripes he had on the side of this mode. I'm guessing they didn't have the budget to add this layer. Geez. Finally, to add on some more salt to injury, this mode still has that "jigsaw" look and feel that has been plaguing IH and Ratchet since the classic/Henkei era. It's not too bad looking here but part of it is still here.

Conclusion

IH was one of my anticipated figures this year. Despite the 3 different shades of red, the color looks impressive on him overall. He looks great from the front though the bumper back and back leg panels bother me a little simply because he didn't have that look in the movie which he is based off of. It really looks like something from the ER line as I have stated. The alt mode is his closest interpretation of the G1 model classics wise as to date but with the few issues I have mentioned. I think the biggest bummer coming from this guy is the price range. With tax and all, he came out to nearly 35 big ones. He is fairly small for that price range. That is inflation for ya. Anyhow, Ironhide is a good figure overall despite the blemishes I'd dished out. He is a favorite so despite how expensive he is or how he is lacking in some categories, I expect this guy to be sold out within the next couple months. I doubt somewhat inaccurate- looking back and legs will deter people from getting him. After all, you need him to complete Ratchet who will pretty much appear in the near future. I just hope they give Ratchet his cross decals on his shoulders. Anyhow, see you later folks and take care.