Got my first package delivered to the new house today! I didn't have to get my mail key and open up a parcel box or anything like that. It was just right there on my doorstep. Surprise!

So, when Hasbro was culling the existing Takara inventory of Diaclone and Microman toys to import as Transformers, they mostly used existing color schemes, but sometimes they changed it up a bit. Skywarp, for example, was invented by Hasbro and had no Diaclone equivalent. The Takara toy we now know as Ironhide was originally black with red accents, but for some reason Hasbro opted to swap things around, resulting in the bright red Autobot we all know and love today.

Interestingly, there's evidence that some of these changes were made *after* Bob Budiansky had already seen the toys in Diaclone colors, and had named them accordingly. For example, Sunstreaker is a name eminently appropriate for a yellow-colored car, but his original proposed name was Spin-Out, suggesting that pehaps the name Sunstreaker came along only after he was changed from red to yellow. Trailbreaker was originally blue in color, and it's certainly possible his original personality description was a reference to that color—he was depressed about his high fuel consumption, or in other words, he was blue about it. Likewise, natural iron ore is black in color, so it's quite possible Budiansky saw the black-colored Diaclone version of the Toyota Onebox and named it "Ironhide" because of his color.

So, this toy is meant as an homage to the Diaclone edition of the toy. We finally did get an official Transformers version of it when Takara sold the Ironhide reissue in alternate colors in 2007, but that was as much a tribute to the live-action Michael Bay version as anything else (there was also a light green Ratchet sold at the same time). Regardless, this is the first time we've gotten the Diaclone colors applied to a toy designed after Ironhide's cartoon appearance.

The package was all cardboard and rattan ties. Zero plastic. This isn't the first time we've seen this, but it's still new enough that I'm not quite used to it yet.

The character name is certainly a divergence from the typical G.I. Joe-style code names usually applied to Transformer characters. It's a cute little tongue-in-cheek reference to the only time the original color scheme was sold in America (a year before Transformers, Takara attempted to import Diaclone themselves, selling it on the American market as Diakron; the black Toyota Onebox was indeed sold as DK-2). At the same time, though, he really should have been given a proper Transformer-style code name, like they've given to other latecomers like Road Rage and Spin-Out.

Functionally, it's the same as Earthrise Ironhide, which was available only as an Amazon exclusive 2-pack. Not sure what it is about this toy design, specifically, that prevents Hasbro from selling it as a normal Deluxe at retail (Ratchet was an exclusive as well). In vehicle mode, he's got a nice deco in the way of four stripes (gold-yellow-red-gold) that pay tribute to the stickers on the Diaclone toy.

All the little issues endemic to this toy design are still here. Leg flaps like to pop off, robot feet are alarmingly visible in vehicle mode. These things can be fixed, with some do-it-yourselfing and some third-party parts, if it bothers you that much.

This is a fun little "hey, remember this?" from Hasbro, but I'm sure it's every bit as much a matter of "what's a good color scheme so we can sell this toy to consumers again?" It's surprising how many Dialcone color schemes they've been paying homage to lately. We've gotten neo-G1 versions of Tigertrack, Spin-Out, Cordon, Road Rage, Exhaust... and supposedly blue Trailbreaker is coming this year at some point, too. We'll have the whole gang before too long.

Zob (red Mirage when?)