The Energon Pub

Fri Jun 03, 2011 9:42 am

DotM voyager Ironhide looks to be criminally underrated by the fans. He's the most accurate movie Ironhide by far! He's far from perfect, but few of the movie toys are (RotF leader Prime). The first voyager Ironhide mode was terribly boxy, the torso collapsed way too easily, and he had a backpack of truck parts that barely hung on his back. Leader Ironhide's guns look awful, the legs are no more accurate than the original voyager mold, and, again, most of the truck hangs on his back!

While it's a shame that DotM voyager Ironhide couldn't have his wheels on the back of his thighs to thicken them up, his lower legs and feet are more accurate than any other mold (with ball joint ankles!). I've seen a lot of folks complain about his limited arm movement, but he works much better if you reverse his upper arms so that they bow backwards instead of forewards. I am thinking about modding the chest so that the truck hood spreads wider, which looks great. True, his mechtech gimmick screws up Ironhide having movie accurate guns, but he still has the least kibbly, most accurate, and best painted bot mode. This is one that I definitely think Hasbro / Takara got right. He looks much more attractive on display with my collection that the original voyager mold, who I've since retired to permanent truck mode.

Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:29 am

I coldn't agree with you more. I got him a few days ago and I was thinking the same thing. He is by far the most movie-accurate. However, his drawbacks are being out of scale with previous movie series and the lack of accurate weapons, which is why I'm still looking for the '07 and '09 voyagers. I don't mind the MechTech pegs at all, but they seem to antagonize everyone else. I also like that I can use Recon Ironhide's weapons with him, which means the other voyagers' weapons work too. I think he's well worth the money.

Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:56 am

Glad that worked out for you! I might have picked him up myself, but there have have been many complaints here about him breaking into pieces with minimum handling, especially when it comes to the shoulders. Hearing that spooked me into just holding out for the Leader version.

News Credits: 9 · Mon Jun 06, 2011 8:32 am

I love the new one, esp. after some black paint on his wheels and legs. I'm trying to get the weapons off ROTF IH, the gray one, to attach to him for that over-the-top effect.

I've had no problem with breakage, altho the way the chest clips in place is worthless, had to mod it and it's still weak but passable. Looking forward to some repaints w/ new/more weapons.

Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:33 am

My wife has this Ironhide and I also think he's a great toy, with the same issues already mentioned: ball joins on the shoulders stink and pop off a lot. He's out of scale/looks very lean. I think his arm articulation is limited since the arms are short and pop off.

On the plus side, his Transformation is way better than the movie 1 Ironhide. My wife has that one, too, and he's a bitch to transform. He's got great legs and is very poseable and he looks good with different weapons.

News Credits: 15 · Mon Jun 06, 2011 11:01 am

screw the old Ironhides, DOTM got him perfect enough!

News Credits: 11 · Mon Jun 06, 2011 11:59 am

He does look pretty cool but I've been waiting for a red repaint to come along. I hope they based it on this mold.

Mon Jun 06, 2011 4:57 pm

I totally agree!! I'm thinking about trying to rig a way that DOTM Ironhide can use 07 Ironhide's guns in bot mode, that would make him near perfect IMO.

News Credits: 1 · Mon Jun 06, 2011 5:32 pm

Could someone post some pics of the original next to the DOTM version?

I've been avoiding getting him. I have the original cause I do prefer his guns, but he is boxy. I look at him through the packaging, but just can't seem to make up my mind if I want to get him or not.

News Credits: 668 · Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:10 pm

warwik311 wrote:I totally agree!! I'm thinking about trying to rig a way that DOTM Ironhide can use 07 Ironhide's guns in bot mode, that would make him near perfect IMO.

He can. I'm doing exactly that with mine. The left arm's cannon fits perfect. The right arm's cannon is loose, with a bit of friction, it will hold.

dirk2243 wrote:Could someone post some pics of the original next to the DOTM version?

I've been avoiding getting him. I have the original cause I do prefer his guns, but he is boxy. I look at him through the packaging, but just can't seem to make up my mind if I want to get him or not.

I have no pics, but Ironhide in robot mode is just about the same height as the original Ironhide figure.
If you make him look squat by adjusting his knees, he'll be quite a bit shorter. The original figures and the DOTM figures tend to be different only in bulk, not so much height.

I realize the vehicle modes are rather compact, especially next to their original counterparts, but the robot modes will surprise you.

Oddly enough, Barricade has the smallest vehicle mode out of all of them. If you take the Autobots and compare them with previous versions, the DOTM toys aren't much smaller, maybe by mere centimeters in terms of wheelbase.

EDIT: We haven't seen the Ironhide CGI model for this film yet. He, Optimus and Bumblebee have all undergone certain changes. I wouldn't be surprised if the tall, thin legs were part of the new redesign. Because both the Leader and Voyager have this issue.

News Credits: 1 · Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:30 pm

Having had to repair the same shoulder joint twice now, I cannot say he is underrated.

His lower legs and feet are great this time around. His head sculpt is great. His alt mode looks fantastic. I even like the lighter colors used since it brings out more of his robot details.

But his shoulders are not only wonky, the quality of the connection to his chest is abysmal. It's the bastard love child of a screw and a pin and it will get no love from me. The superglue I have fixed him with (permanently - or so I hope this time) gets the love.

I still like him more though then my movie 1 figure. But I enjoy the HFTD deluxe quite a bit, on par or maybe more then this new voyager.

News Credits: 8 · Mon Jun 06, 2011 8:00 pm

I'm waiting for the red one...

Mon Jun 06, 2011 9:18 pm

LiKwid wrote:I'm waiting for the red one...

Mon Jun 06, 2011 11:24 pm

LiKwid wrote:I'm waiting for the red one...

Me too. I wouldn't be surprised...
I mean, it finally found its way into Speed Stars last year, and this new voyager HAS to be repainted sometime. Hasbro will jump on any opportunity to repaint instead of engineer.

Autobot032 wrote:I have no pics, but Ironhide in robot mode is just about the same height as the original Ironhide figure.
If you make him look squat by adjusting his knees, he'll be quite a bit shorter. The original figures and the DOTM figures tend to be different only in bulk, not so much height.

I realize the vehicle modes are rather compact, especially next to their original counterparts, but the robot modes will surprise you.

I actually take the compactness and lack of bulk as a plus rather than a drawback. However, it is a bit annoying if you wish to display them or play with them along with figures of the previous movie lines, as there is a slight scale gap. But I think Hasbro has really done a lot to decrease bulkiness (and kibble) and incresase movie-accuracy with this new line. What's strange is it seems to me some people think that the original toys are the most CGI accurate, and anything different is less CGI accurate. I've seen this come up with the new Ironhide, Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Barricade. I've been hearing they are less accurate than their older counterparts, but I think they look more accurate.

News Credits: 8 · Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:00 pm

Well they already announced a red repaint is in the works this year for the movie line..I can wait for that one

I already repainted the voyagers from the previous movies, would be nice to not have to for once

Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:07 pm

LiKwid wrote:Well they already announced a red repaint is in the works this year for the movie line..I can wait for that one I already repainted the voyagers from the previous movies, would be nice to not have to for once

I'm especially looking forward to it since I have no variation G1 Ironhide, and because I just think it'll look way too cool on the GMC.