Studio Series Ironhide (SS-14)

Prelude: In a series of movies that treated the Transformers mostly as disposable cannon fodder / special effects instead of characters, Ironhide was one of the few exceptions. Oh, he wasn’t a terribly nuanced, intricate character in any way, shape, or form, but at least he was more than yet another soon-to-be-killed drone. His death in Dark of the Moon was among the few death scenes that caused more than a shrug from the audience (if that much). So it’s nice to see Ironhide return in the Studio Series. Here we go!

Robot Mode: Okay, most important thing about this figure first: back in 2007 I really liked the original Voyager-Class Movie Ironhide except for one thing, the fact that his shoulder pieces never really tabbed in properly and usually wobbled around loosely. There were some ways to somewhat stabilize them, but it never really worked all that well. When I took Studio Series Ironhide out of the box, I immediately feared this would be the same here, as his shoulder pieces wobbled something fierce. Turns out, though, that they simply weren’t tabbed in properly (and the tabs are somewhat difficult to find, too). Once tabbed in correctly, though, everything holds together very nicely and looks great. Nicely done!

Still comparing this figure to the original Movie Ironhide, one notices how the figure is a good deal smaller, but far more intricate and screen accurate. In fact just about the only way Studio Series Ironhide differs from his CGI model from the movies is the big bumper on his chest. It’s a single solid piece on the figure, whereas it wrapped around his torso on the screen. Two tiny little joints left and right could have solved that, but that’s really just nitpicking here. So in terms of character recognition, no problem. Studio Series Ironihde looks almost as if he’d just jumped down from the movie screens.

Looks aside, the figure is very nicely detailed and highly articulated. Due to the thick legs he always has to stand somewhat wide-legged, but it doesn’t inhibit his movements. The arm movement is somewhat restricted by the shoulder plates and those small grey discs you’re supposed to unfold where the tires are in vehicle mode, but he can still adopt numerous gunslinger poses. Speaking of guns, Ironhide comes with two of them, which fasten to his arms. Here, too, the detailing is very nicely done and the guns look great. If removed, though, his arms look somewhat tiny.

Bottom line: this is the best version of Movie Ironhide so far. Small details aside, it’s pretty much the exact robot we saw on the screen. Thumbs up!

Alternate Mode: Ironhide still transforms into his familiar mode of a licensed GMC Heavy Duty Topkick 6500 4×4 Crew Cab Edition. Here, too, the figure is a good deal smaller than the 2007 Voyager, but that was to be expected. Scale aside, the two vehicles look pretty much identical. There are no visible robot bits as such, though one can see the robot feet on the underside. They also cause the car to have very little clearance (which kind of defeats the purpose of a 4x4, I think, but that’s another story). The big guns don’t really become part of the vehicle (though they have some details on them that give the impression), but can be stored on the back of the truck. That kind of ruins the disguise aspect, of course, but it can be done.

Overall Ironhide’s truck mode is good with but a few minor drawbacks.

Remarks: Ironhide was among the original Autobot team from the 2007 Movie and managed to survive the confusing slaughter of Revenge of the Fallen, too. He partook in some impressive battle scenes in Dark of the Moon, too, before being shot in the back by Sentinel Prime, who revealed himself as a traitor. Ironhide died, rusting away to nothing, and while one may presume that the Autobots mourned him, the movie itself was too busy showing us the shenanigans of Shia LeBeouf instead.

Ironhide’s presence in the Studio Series is hardly a surprise as he is among the more prestigious Movie characters and the toy itself is very nicely done. A few minor things here and there could have been improved (the front bumber in robot mode, the clearance in vehicle mode), but overall he’s very nice. Definitely recommended to all Ironhide and Movie Autobot fans.

Rating: B+

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