Vehicle mode is a good representation of a firetruck, at least to someone who's only seen one in passing. The ladder can extend, more than doubling the length of the vehicle. It can raise up 90 degrees, but does not swivel. There isn’t much tension in the ladder so it can’t support that much weight. There is a swiveling lever at the base of the ladder. There is nice molded detail of a fire hose and pump along each side. The rubber wheels are great for rolling, but I’ll have to hit it with a coat of Armor All. The rifle can store under the ladder. His hand cannon can store within the truck during transformation.
Transformation is actually pretty easy and satisfying. There are plenty of tabs to line up at the end, but it is nowhere near as frustrating as Gundog. You have to fiddle with the feet so that all the tabs line up and so that the wheels touch the ground. Also, remember to keep his head facing forward when folding it into the cab or his upside-down face will be visible through the windshield.
Maketoys is really nailing the G1 cartoon look with this line. I like Hellfire's head sculpt and the multitude of faces included in the box. His chest is large without making him seem fat. The proportions of his arms and legs seem right. The only nit-picky criticism I have is that although his windshield is a dark translucent plastic, you can still see all the way through the figure because he doesn’t really have a back. I think his feet, parts of his legs, and the cab is made of die-cast.
His head is on a ball peg. The wings behind his head are on ball pegs. He has swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs. His waist swivel is obstructed by his tires, but they can fold out of the way. He also has an ab crunch. His shoulders butterfly backwards, but not forwards and are on hinged and ratcheted swivels. His fingers are single pinned and articulate as a single unit. He has double jointed elbows and knees. The knee joints are ratcheted, but the elbows are not. His hips are ratcheted universals. His feet are on large ball pegs. The hip skirts seem to easily catch on his thighs so it’s best to move the skirts out of the way before moving his legs.
His accessories include a rifle, a hand cannon, 5 extra faces and replacement eyes. The rifle slots into grooves in the back of hands, just like most of the other Re:master figures. Too bad Gundog doesn't use this mechanism too. It’s not fussy and ineffective like standard Masterpiece tabs and it’s more secure than a simple 5mm port. The hand cannon simply tabs onto a peg that is visible when the fist is stored into the forearm. He starts with a frowny face. The extra faces are angry, grinning, smiling, growling, and somewhat neutral.
Hellfire will stand on my Masterpiece shelf because his styling and engineering is top notch. As with Cupola, Gundog, and Wrestle, Hellfire is a quality figure that evokes the original character. We’re yet another bot closer to completing the G1 line-up. It's so exciting. I can’t wait to see what else comes out of the Re:master series.
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