I was super impressed with Mech Planet's Sound Track, so I pre-ordered their Iron Tin and Big Yellow Bee. Iron Tin? Well OK... Sound
Trackwave is a fun little figure, but fairly simple, like G1 simple and that's not a knock. It worked great on Soundwave and I was expecting something equally as simple for Iron
Tinhide.
Huh, a head, well that's not very G1 now is it? Well that was no surprise, I saw the promo pics
As you can see he has a really nice Ironhide look going on. One could even say it's a nice homage.
Not only is his articulation better than mp Soundwave (mp/Mech Planet opposed to MP/Masterpiece, if you haven't been keeping up) but his transformation is worlds beyond. I'd even go as far to say that his transformation is almost too complicated for a legends figure, at least the first go around. I had to pull the instructions (which aren't the clearest or realistic for that matter) because I could see what needed to happen, but not how to get there. See that little silver rectangle-ish part just above his waist, just below the red part of his torso? That part has to fold down to allow his waist to rotate around. The instructions imply that folding the front wheels down (they're on the sides of his torso) will pop/fold that part down. Well they don't and can't, I can see how they almost can, but ultimately you have to get a little thing to pry it down. I used a toothpick, but one of his weapons may help.
With all those words and that one small niggle out of the way, the transformation is very clever, more involved then expected and satisfying once you got though it a few times.
Let's start on alt-mode size comparisons with a few oddball official Ironhides.
The alt-mode sure fits the bill. It's a great size, rolls well and just feels good. Nice, tight and compact. He lacks a few paint apps and could use a little sprucing up (filling in the missing side and rear windows). I'm hoping repro makes a kit for him like they did for mp Soundwave (which is in the mail). I did give a belly emblem though #reprototherescue !
Wanna talk about accessories? He comes with a lot of them. Some of which will really make G1 mouths happy. Two pistols, a very G1 laser rifle, that articulated missile launcher you saw on top of his alt-mode and a parts forming battle station sled (and three tank treads for sled)! Wanna see?
Pretty sweet huh? If you didn't notice the rifle can stay on the roof when transformed and the two small pistol peg to his undercarriage and I just discovered can stay there during transformation on the back of his legs (sorry no pics I took all these yesterday).
From the box the missile launcher comes attached to the roof/sled completely backwards and clipped on wrong. There is a c-clip type connection used to attach the launcher to the arm. Easy enough to pull apart to match the instructions and has a "3mm" and "5mm" peg for various options with the sled and Ironhide himself. As you can see they ape the MP version just a bit here.
For reference, here is the MP. Look at the bottom right pose.
And the mp.
The most perplexing "accessory" is... well, just take a look.
Yeah, that's a bit huh and wtf is it? If you haven't noticed it's an unpainted light bar for Ambulance (Ratchet).
It clips on the roof where the rear treads go in sled mode. Kinda odd, kinda neat. It comes attached to the sled/roof and must be removed before you can even complete the alt-mode. Here is is on the sled.
Pretty useless, but to quote EmGo, it's a thing you can do. Meh, it's back in the box out of my way. Robot comp time!
His face sculpt is pretty spot on, especially compared to the angry CW and the derpy QT (I love that derpy lil guy).
But that's not all. He also came with two tiny little purple energon cubes (in the box).
And if you pre-ordered - two additional pink energon cubes (in a separate little baggy)!
WUT!?! Pretty sweet bonus all around. I'm pretty sure those cubes are intended for mp Soundwave and that's where they are currently.
Not all is pink and rosey in mp Ironhide land. Other than the pain in the ass belt fold down, the hood/windshield/chest area pops right off pretty easily. It does hold on well with the peg it's on. I really can't see why it would be a feature, but it almost feels like it. I'm pretty sure a drop of glue would fix it without any loss of transformation ability. The last small issue may just be a QC issue with my copy, but the head split in half while transforming the figure. I can see where the glue failed, it holds together ok and can be fixed with a drop of carefully placed glue to not seize the neck ball joint (which I will do tonight). I have yet to find a place to store the threads in his alt-mode. Not really surprising for such a small figure, but disappointed none the less.
This is my second Mech Planet figure and I'm even more impressed with Iron Tin than I was with
Sound Track. The first thing I noticed was how nice he felt with smooth dense plastic and a nice amount of heft for his size, most noticeable in alt-mode. The transformation while having a single hangup is clever and satisfying and leaves next to no kibble in bot mode. Bot mode has the expected amount of articulation and improves on my one hang up with mp Soundwave; ball jointed elbows. The deco (even with missing a few windows) is still impressive. There's silver accents where needed, those strips on the side of the van are gold paint and he has some brilliantly bright blue eyes. The thing you have to remember is that this is a $15 3p original mold legends class figure. This is an easy recommendation and I can't wait to see what's the next for Mech Planet.
, there are 4 throwing type knives, one could pretend the long barrel could be used as a bo staff and all this attaches to a smaller pistol type gun. Have another stock image for reference.
