There's not a whole heck of a lot to say about this guy that hasn't already been said of Ratchet, but that's never stopped me before!

I'm not sure why, but there's a whole huge assortment of third-party versions of Transformers characters at a Legends scale (Newage makes an assortment called The Legendary Heroes). That means most of them in robot mode, are only about three inches tall. I imagine if space if a big consideration (they tiny) for you as well as cost (a lot of them will only run you about $30 or so) then it makes sense to collect these. It's definitely a sensible alternative to collecting, say, third-party Masterpiece scale toys, who tend to retail for $150-$200 or more.

So, I wonder if that's one of the reasons Hasbro has been actively continuing the Core class assortment. Hasbro can mass-produce these things in bulk, and sell them closer to $12. Of course, I'm sure that competing with the third-party guys isn't the *only* reason, but it may be a factor. In any event, I think they're fun. The focus seems to be skewed towards the 1984-85 cast, though, and I'd honestly love to see tiny Core-class versions of characters like Galvatron and Cyclonus and Springer and others.

So, Ironhide is—surprise surprise!—a redeco of Core-class Ratchet. In robot mode, he's mostly red plastic, with light grey used for the biceps and upper legs, and a little bit of paint used to spruce up the robot mode (charcoal grey for the shoulders and mid-section, light grey for the pelvis, silver for the face). The Autobot symbol is a silver outline, because why put red paint on red plastic? He could have used some light grey on the headlights as well, but it's not a tragedy that it was left off.

He comes with two guns, the same ones Ratchet came with, and they're cast in red plastic but painted silver almost in their entirety, except for the handles and the pegs on the sides. (Ratchet infamously weilds dual guns in The Transformers: the Movie right before he's gunned down, but Ironhide can be seen carrying one of these weapons as well.)

Vehicle mode was modified to remove the ambulance roof lights for Ratchet (or more likely, the tooling included both versions from the get-go), but is otherwise the same. Windshield and passenger side windows are light blue; the front bumper is painted silver. There is a small chunk of real estate on each side of the van that are light grey, because they're part of the internal body frame to which the head is attached. The wheels are painted glossy charcoal grey but are cast out of red plastic. I guess it was done this way to reduce costs, so they didn't have to press black plastic out of an entirely separate mold for the wheels. (What, they could paint the red wheels on this toy, but not on Crosscut? Huh.) No yellow stripes, unfortunately, which is part of Ironhide's signature look.

This is honestly an enormously successful Ironhide design, especially considering the tiny scale. The contention of the character as he originally appeared in the G1 cartoon was that he would split into two components, just like the 1984 toy, until it was decided that his robot form "really" transformed into the entire van, and a new transformation sequence was drawn up to depict this. You can see it really clearly in "Auto Berserk," and it takes longer than the other character transformations because it's so elaborate:

https://youtu.be/cqIcrdhYl0U?t=804

Supposedly, in the cartoon, Ironhide's legs somehow expand and double in size and form the entire back end of his van mode. What's funny is that this tiny toy manages to pretty much nail those exact ideas and bring them to life in three-dimensional space.

I'm in favor of pretty much any Core-class toys they want to do in the future. I love cute, tiny toys and I'm up for Core-class versions of Jazz, Prowl, Hoist, Ramjet, whoever they want to do. Bring it on!

Zob (also wants to see more of the mini cassette characters)

On Monday, May 8, 2023 at 7:11:33 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> There's not a whole heck of a lot to say about this guy that hasn't already been said of Ratchet, but that's never stopped me before!
>
> I'm not sure why, but there's a whole huge assortment of third-party versions of Transformers characters at a Legends scale (Newage makes an assortment called The Legendary Heroes). That means most of them in robot mode, are only about three inches tall. I imagine if space if a big consideration (they tiny) for you as well as cost (a lot of them will only run you about $30 or so) then it makes sense to collect these. It's definitely a sensible alternative to collecting, say, third-party Masterpiece scale toys, who tend to retail for $150-$200 or more.
>
> So, I wonder if that's one of the reasons Hasbro has been actively continuing the Core class assortment. Hasbro can mass-produce these things in bulk, and sell them closer to $12. Of course, I'm sure that competing with the third-party guys isn't the *only* reason, but it may be a factor. In any event, I think they're fun. The focus seems to be skewed towards the 1984-85 cast, though, and I'd honestly love to see tiny Core-class versions of characters like Galvatron and Cyclonus and Springer and others.
>
> So, Ironhide is—surprise surprise!—a redeco of Core-class Ratchet. In robot mode, he's mostly red plastic, with light grey used for the biceps and upper legs, and a little bit of paint used to spruce up the robot mode (charcoal grey for the shoulders and mid-section, light grey for the pelvis, silver for the face). The Autobot symbol is a silver outline, because why put red paint on red plastic? He could have used some light grey on the headlights as well, but it's not a tragedy that it was left off.
>
> He comes with two guns, the same ones Ratchet came with, and they're cast in red plastic but painted silver almost in their entirety, except for the handles and the pegs on the sides. (Ratchet infamously weilds dual guns in The Transformers: the Movie right before he's gunned down, but Ironhide can be seen carrying one of these weapons as well.)
>
> Vehicle mode was modified to remove the ambulance roof lights for Ratchet (or more likely, the tooling included both versions from the get-go), but is otherwise the same. Windshield and passenger side windows are light blue; the front bumper is painted silver. There is a small chunk of real estate on each side of the van that are light grey, because they're part of the internal body frame to which the head is attached. The wheels are painted glossy charcoal grey but are cast out of red plastic. I guess it was done this way to reduce costs, so they didn't have to press black plastic out of an entirely separate mold for the wheels. (What, they could paint the red wheels on this toy, but not on Crosscut? Huh.) No yellow stripes, unfortunately, which is part of Ironhide's signature look.
>
> This is honestly an enormously successful Ironhide design, especially considering the tiny scale. The contention of the character as he originally appeared in the G1 cartoon was that he would split into two components, just like the 1984 toy, until it was decided that his robot form "really" transformed into the entire van, and a new transformation sequence was drawn up to depict this. You can see it really clearly in "Auto Berserk," and it takes longer than the other character transformations because it's so elaborate:
>
> https://youtu.be/cqIcrdhYl0U?t=804
>
> Supposedly, in the cartoon, Ironhide's legs somehow expand and double in size and form the entire back end of his van mode. What's funny is that this tiny toy manages to pretty much nail those exact ideas and bring them to life in three-dimensional space.
>
> I'm in favor of pretty much any Core-class toys they want to do in the future. I love cute, tiny toys and I'm up for Core-class versions of Jazz, Prowl, Hoist, Ramjet, whoever they want to do. Bring it on!
>
>
> Zob (also wants to see more of the mini cassette characters)

I do love the Core Class G1 characters, I really do, especially Soundwave, and they're a good price point.

But they don't really compare to the Legion class Magic Square or Iron Factory. These are different animals. Comparing the two would put the Core Class in the Family Dollar product category (ROTB Arcee and Freezer in this same wave look terribly cheap), and it's unfair to both. Iron Factory Tarn may be tiny, but he's more detailed and 3 dimensional than Legacy Voyager Tarn.. Magic Square seeker mold uses some pretty great tricks to get better proportions in both modes. Is $25~35a lot? Maybe, but not compared to MP costs.

I didn't get Core Ironhide yet because I need to leave product for customers to buy, but I got Core Ratchet as a Christmas stocking stuffer and he's pretty great. Somehow his hinges aren't as noticeable as the big honkin hinges on Voyager Ironhide. I just kinda wish they had officially made the guns store in the legs in van mode. There's enough space

On Tuesday, May 9, 2023 at 3:41:20 PM UTC-6, Irrellius Spamticon wrote:
> But they don't really compare to the Legion class Magic Square or Iron Factory. These are different animals.

I'm sure the third-party toys are more complex, which is one of the reasons they're more expensive. But, if Hasbro sees that the third-party market has shifted towards tiny toys, it makes sense for Hasbro to try to go after that piece of the pie. That's all I'm saying.

> I just kinda wish they had officially made the guns store in the legs in van mode. There's enough space.

That would have been a nice touch. I don't hate the guns mounted to the sides of the van, though. It reminds me of the silly "attack mode" they would often come up with for the G1 toys, like Pretender Bumblebee or Pretender Jazz, with big ol' rifles mounted to their roofs. Bumblebee is now ready to battle the evil Decepticons! Because gun!

Zob (to transform back to regular car, reverse the order of the instructions)

BBTS says this toy isn't supposed to be out until July. I saw one at
Target though, and tried to buy it. But it wouldn't ring up. There was a
big hassle and I had to go to the service desk. I knew it must have been
a "street date" problem, but I played dumb.

The Target guys had some wacko theories as to why it wouldn't ring up
like, "Maybe somebody brought non-Target merchandise into the store and
put it on the shelves."

"You mean the OPPOSITE of shoplifting?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah, it happens," they said.

Anyways, I lucked out this time and they gave it to me for $10. With the
caveat that I cannot return the item because it's not in their system. I
don't see any defects so far.

On Friday, May 19, 2023 at 4:49:59 PM UTC-6, Travoltron wrote:

> "You mean the OPPOSITE of shoplifting?" I asked incredulously.

Oh, my goodness. This gave me a good laugh. Thanks for the story.

Zob (does not make it a habit of sneaking merchandise into retail shops... got caught too many times)

On Friday, May 19, 2023 at 5:49:59 PM UTC-5, Travoltron wrote:
> BBTS says this toy isn't supposed to be out until July. I saw one at
> Target though, and tried to buy it. But it wouldn't ring up. There was a
> big hassle and I had to go to the service desk. I knew it must have been
> a "street date" problem, but I played dumb.
>
> The Target guys had some wacko theories as to why it wouldn't ring up
> like, "Maybe somebody brought non-Target merchandise into the store and
> put it on the shelves."
>
> "You mean the OPPOSITE of shoplifting?" I asked incredulously.
>
> "Yeah, it happens," they said.
>
> Anyways, I lucked out this time and they gave it to me for $10. With the
> caveat that I cannot return the item because it's not in their system. I
> don't see any defects so far.
They ring out at our Target jut fine, Hasbro sent my store a case too, so we didn't get any street date issues.

On Friday, May 19, 2023 at 6:26:28 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> On Friday, May 19, 2023 at 4:49:59 PM UTC-6, Travoltron wrote:
>
> > "You mean the OPPOSITE of shoplifting?" I asked incredulously.
> Oh, my goodness. This gave me a good laugh. Thanks for the story.
>
>
> Zob (does not make it a habit of sneaking merchandise into retail shops.... got caught too many times)
Our Microcenter has had products from Five Below next door brought in and left on store shelves.