Ironhide's a character that is more than familiar with me on this website. He's been in the Studio Series and was used for size comparisons with that mold; additionally, his G1 counterpart popped up for the Siege and Earthrise lines. And while I didn't think I'd be able to get myself into more MPM purchases, it was the affordability of MPM Megatron as well as Barricade being a birthday gift that encouraged me to delve into the MPM line even more once they got more affordable. And boy am I happy to have done so because this line has been quite the hit for me! Will the same be said for Ironhide? Let's find out!
Here is Ironhide in his truck mode. It's the iconic GMC Topkick that he transformed into during the original trilogy. I think we're all more than familiar with how it looks in the movies; I mean it's basically the big black truck that can plow through anything in his way, and it's unmistakably Ironhide! It's like, who else would be this vehicle? It's very character specific, especially with it being one of the integral parts of this version of Barricade if you ask me. I feel like it's about describing what pizza tastes like at this point, but it has some great sculpted details, the proportions are correct, and the robot kibble is not as prominent from the underside.
While it does look nice, he does suffer from some tabbing issues that make the transformation into vehicle mode frustrating. Firstly, the roof and windshield halves don't like to be as aligned as one would hope. I'm also not a fan of the way the doors are lined up, nor do I like how hood doesn't look as smooth as it should be. Also, I wish the smokestacks were made of a firmer material if they can't be hard plastic, that and painting them silver would be much better. The 5mm ports do stick out a little more than I'd like but at least they're not as obvious.
The cannons can be pegged on the sides of the truck mode if you want to store them, and while some would prefer if they were integrated somewhere else, Ironhide deserves to use these cannons at his disposal.
For a size comparison, here he is sandwiched in-between Optimus Prime and Bumblebee! The size actually works between the three of them! Maybe Optimus should be the same size as the ROTF Leader but I like the way the size works overall. Ironhide is a big truck but he isn't as big as I initially thought from seeing the prototype images of the truck mode. And of course, Bumblebee's smaller than both of them since he is a muscle car.
Transformation is both ingenious but also insufferable at the same time. While I like how the way the figure transforms as a concept, the problem is that the figure lacks stability in some areas. The arm panels that hold the cannons are not able to stay on anywhere as nicely as one would hope, the chest only has one tab underneath itself and has no other form of stability elsewhere, and it makes posing the figure feel like a chore if you ask me. That shouldn't be a concern if Hasbro took the time they did with delaying the figure in order to give attention to the VW Bumblebee to improve the toy. But hey, at least they were able to make the GMC logo look broken up with the swappable panels for the grille. The resulting robot mode we end up with, stability issues notwithstanding, is done up rather nicely! His proportions, design traits, and pretty much everything else about him screams Ironhide. While I can't stand the lack of stability for the chest and the arm panels, everything else at least holds together pretty well. I will admit that I am not a fan of the way the windshield halves are stuck out there, though I believe they're on there for the CGI model. I do like that his back is broken up and doesn't have the entire roofpiece on it like with a lot of Transformers.
Head sculpt is very accurate and undeniably Ironhide, especially with the chiseled look, the scarred eye, and the grumpy look to him where he's pretty much like that with anyone but his Autobot buddies and some of the human allies he's with. I like that he has the Cybertronian text added onto the forehead and his ear guards, makes him feel much more authentic as an alien from a different planet while also displaying the better sculpted details that the old Voyager toy doesn't have. Articulation for him is good in spite of the stability issues with the chest and forearms. His head can turn left and right, look up and down, and his mouth can open and close. Shoulders move front and back, in and out, he swivels at the thigh, bends at two points at the elbows, his wrists swivel, curl in and out, and he has finger articulation, too. He has a waist swivel, hips that move front and back, in and out (though the kibble is restricted for the hips), there are thigh swivels, knee bends, the feet can hinge up and down, and there are ankle pivots, too.
Aside from his cannons, which can spin at the tips and are able to complete his look, there are no other accessories to go over. I wish he had something that would probably make him feel cooler to display, like effect pieces that some G1 Masterpiece figures have of late. I guess I can at least recreate a scene from the movie where he is transforming and flipping over a screaming lady. And yes, that is Sailor Moon crying as she just barely survived getting crushed by Ironhide. We may see her again in a future review on this site.
For a comparison with the Leader Class version of Ironhide, who was seen by many as the definitive Ironhide before this guy was made. I like the MPM version much better, what with the better design, proportions, coloring, etc. The DOTM Leader was one I'd hope I would like because he has all of the gimmicks and design traits that would make him as good as ROTF Optimus, but he ended up being a letdown. Between his crappy feet, the awkward ratchet joints, and the way the gimmicks kind of compromised aspects of him like his cannons and neck joint, he ended up being a bitter-sweet gift. That and his windshield spine broke off within a week of owning it. MPM Ironhide hasn't broken on me...yet...though his stability still sucks.
And here he is with the other MPM Autobots so-far. And yes, Bumblebee's chest is transformed properly this time around as I didn't know there were panels he would use to make him look accurate to the movie. Anyways, these three look amazing, and while Bumblebee might be the more perfected of the trio (compared to Ironhide's weak stability and Optimus having a few inaccuracies to him), they certainly feel much closer to the CGI models than any of the prior toys did as far as accuracy and proportions are concerned. And the scale itself between Optimus and Ironhide is good, though Bumblebee should be a little shorter than he currently is. Maybe Hasbro used the TLK Bumblebee height where he was 18 feet instead of being 2 feet shorter in the prior movies. It doesn't bother me too much since Bumblebee wasn't that short of a character in the movies. As for MPM Ironhide himself, while he might be the most definitive looking Ironhide, the stability issues and the transformation tolerances knock some points off of him considering how those could have been resolved during his delayed release. Either way, I'm at least relieved that he and the rest of the MPM line don't suffer from the same levels of poor quality control issues that plagued the G1 and some Beast Wars offerings. If you can still find Ironhide for a good price at Ross, I'd recommend getting him at $25.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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