I'm no engineer, but I feel like a pair of feet that approximate the rear of a van should be fairly easy for someone like Nonnef to create.
I actually did like the CW version, but both the Siege and and Earthrise versions are great (I do get the feet being annoying though, but it looks good from just about every other angle and I display in robot mode anyway). But they're all light years ahead of the Universe version.
Wow. I almost didnt notice that my Universe one is missing his arm o.o Still not sure which i like moe actually, between the two WFC molds.
You're right - the sliding door on mini-vans are not on the driver's side*. But you're forgetting something - Ironhide's alt-mode is a Japanese mini-van, and in Japan you drive on the left side of the road, which means the driver's side is on the right side of the vehicle. *only applies to older model one door mini-vans of course
Got this guy this weekend, I think he's pretty fantastic considering how the line's been so far. Sure I get the various complaints about wheels and his feet in van mode, but they really don't look bad at all in person, and I personally like the slight pinkish red for a change, also makes him look a bit faded like he's seen a lot of action since his Cybertron mode days. I kind of wish that instead of his one medium blaster, they had given him his two pistols instead, but it's ok I guess.
Just opened mine today and was really liking him. The different red and the feet sticking out didn't bother me. But a friend of mine posted on Twitter that the clear plastic hinge holding the window to his body had cracked. I checked mine and lo and behold mine has cracked too. In fact you can't see it in the pic well but there is a second crack also starting.
Oh, haven't heard of cracking issues yet. The issue with ours is that there's a sizable gap between the windshield and the roof.
Mine is cracked too, same side; it's on the knurled end, so I bet it happened when they shot the pin.
Because there's nothing else that touches that part of the hinge joint, one could attempt to reinforce the cracked area with epoxy. Spoiler: epoxy You would put a small dab of clear 5 minute epoxy over it (apply over the flat circular area, scuff lightly with a precision file beforehand and wipe off plastic dust), let it set (probably closer to 15-20 minutes than 5), and then the hard part...leave it alone to fully harden. This may take 3-5 days or even longer (a week). One way to tell is to spread a thin layer of epoxy from the same batch on something nonstick and then check daily until it heavily resists flexing.
Not sure if it's okay to post this but here's a video by The Lazy Eyebrow for feet for ER Ratchet and Ironhide. There's also a link to his shapeways and his cults3d pages if you want them.
Yeah, this is by far the best Main Line G1 Ironhide in a while (which adds credence to the theory that post Kingdom they probably mine more Beast Era Characters, Unicron Trilogy or even some Japanese G1, or Generations goes back to being a grab bag line, focusing on all eras)
I really hate the hips and crotch region. I wish a third party could do something to fix it, but I don’t see any easy solution. I wish Hasbro had done something to remold the upper hips to a more blocky shape. It would have fixed his robot silhouette, and the side flaps could have pegged to it. There’s a lot of space in that region, in vehicle mode, so the design choices appear intentional. Overall, I like this new Ironhide well enough, and I like the new head sculpt and chest window. His robot mode is so close to perfect, but I wish he didn’t have the weird diaper crotch. I hope to see filler kits and add-on stuff available in the near future.
I like it. It's flawed as all hell, but it's the only mainline toy I've see where I have the "yup, that's Ironhide" feeling in the gut, that I didn't fully get before, even with Siege. I'm not a fan of the whole roof coming off, but I give it a partial pass since that kind of thing is common for the character design. I have one Ironhide where the windshield joint is loose, and doesn't tab in place for robot mode easily. I'll need to check for cracks, I guess.
