Masterpiece Ironhide

As a toy van, it works just fine and looks like it did in the cartoon. The windows are a blue transparent plastic. A G1 toy face is visible through the front windshield. The tires are plastic, which doesn't bother me in the least. The van rolls without any problems. The two small rifles store in the undercarriage and the large rifle pegs onto the roof.

Transformation is pretty simple. Everything unfolds naturally and rotates into place with a satisfying click. I think it's the easiest of all the Masterpiece figures so far. Because of the way the upper body is formed, I don't think there is a way to achieve the headless G1 toy look.

All the preview shots did not do this figure justice. I love the way he looks. From such a small van, he turns into a tall robot. The head sculpt is very good. The side skirts are a little big, but don't look any worse than those found on X-Transbots Apollyon. The hip diaper is a little off putting, but I think I'll get used to it. The legs are perhaps overly plain, lacking any panel detailing. Yes, his front tires form his butt. Overall, I'm very satisfied with how this figure has turned out.

His head is on a ball joint. He has single jointed elbows and knees. His shoulder and knee joints are ratcheted, but his elbows are not. His fingers are single pinned and articulate as one unit. He swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, thighs, and lower legs. His thighs are non-ratcheted universal joints. He has ankle rockers and feet tilt.

Ironhide comes with two identical small rifles and a third, larger rifle. He can only hold two rifles at a time. They all use that irksome Masterpiece style tab. I hate it. I'm always afraid the thumbs will snap off. His jetpack comes with two translucent thrusters and simply plugs into a not-5mm port on his back. I wish gold Bumblebee had also included translucent thrusters. His forearms have ports for the radar dish. I could not find a port for it in vehicle mode. A small cardboard piece can fit behind his windshield, representing some sort of signal from the radar. Three different pairs of liquid shooting hands simply plug onto tabs that are exposed when his fists are stored into his forearms. He also comes with a missile launcher. It is not spring loaded. I couldn't figure out how to remove the missile once I plugged it into the launcher. The launcher plugs into the same port as the jetpack. It can also plug into his butt, but it is not a secure connection. A separate battle platform has mount points for the rifles, radar dish, and missile launcher. His neutral face can be easily swapped out for a crying face. There is no need for a screwdriver or pliers because of a quick release button on the back of his head. This feature should be a standard for all Transformer figures.

Ironhide will stand on my Masterpiece shelf. While a great figure itself, TFC Toys Ironwill just doesn't have that same aesthetic for my tastes. Takara's Masterpiece line continues to put a smile on my face. Bring on Ratchet.