From what I've seen these two figures have gained a lot of flack. Or at least Ironhide has. I will offer my two-cents on them.

 

First however I have to confessed I am heaviliy byassed in favour of these figures. When i was a kind of about 6 years old or something I remember watching Transformers in the 80s and there being two characters I desperately loved. First one was G1 Prowl and the other G1 Ironhide. My parents must have paid attention because come that christmas I got the two figures. First I opened Prowl - awesome - couldn't be happier. Then i got to Ironhide - I barely took any notice of the box and didnt even look at the back of it. All i saw was the awesome red van. So after fighting through the packing I got to the figure - looked at the instructions and was horrified by what i saw. He was nothing like my favourite character of the show as a robot - i was devastated. So after years of collecting - doodling and attempting to design on paper a version of the figure that would work in my mind hasbro announced the universe Ironhide.

 

So onto the figure - it comes in the standard universe packing with an awesome very G1 portrait. He comes as a red 4x4 estate car (sorry not good with car descriptors). The plastic is mostly smooth and of decent quality. As described by varous other reviewers the car mode is essentially a jigsaw puzzle, broken up all over the place etc to allow for the complicated transformation. The transformation is quite complicated and very clever. Some parts do drop off - the front part of the bonnet with the grill drops off on mine sometimes, and the bottom half pops away from the top. Most can be easily fixed by popping the joints back into place.

 

The robot mode is where this figure shines in my opinion - he is awesome. To be honest this where my bias comes in - i have an ironhide with a window on his chest, proper head and a decent set of arms and legs! The figure is mostly good - apart from the commonly mentioned faults such as the pointing down head, the overly large backpack and in my opinion the slightly pointless due weapon which I keep set to the gattling gun mode. On mine the plastic on the legs seems to not be completely sealed together which looks worrying but it seems tight enough.

 

All in all I think this figure is amazing if you've been waiting for a proper Ironhide figure like i have. The allspark blue face and windoww aren't a massive problem with this figure. The henkei version isn't too different apart from the yellow stripes and slightly more accurate paint. Basically with the hasbro version your not

missing out on much. I love the fact that they used the back window for his chest, however they could have easily made him a van like he originally was. I realise that universe is using more modern vehicle modes but at the end of the day how many cyclonus jets do you see flying around?

 

Ratchet is subject to the most of the above review, except he's painted white and with the siren bar on the vehicle mode. In robot mode not much is different except he has the crest on his head like he does in the cartoon. I went for the henkei version of this figure - because i did love Ratchet too, not as much as Ironhide or Prowl, but i always thought the crest made him look cool. In the hasbro version the crest is red, and the henkei the crest is black as it should be. Thats what made my decision on this figure and he look superb for it! THe weapon he comes with is chromed unlike the universe version and looked quite nice, i keep it with the blade out as since Ratchets a doctor i think it looks more like a surgical tool and with the colour of the plastic used it does look the part.

 

All in all as i have indicated im a huge fan of these figures. I would suggest picking them up only for their robot modes as they do justice to the characters they are based on - much much more than the G1 versions did. For Ironhide stick with Hasbro unless you really really want the stripe on him, and ratchet definitely go for the henkei version.

I agree that the G1 figures where a disapointment.

 

Concerning giving these 2 new life, I think the flack comes from them being over complicated and jigsawish. Especialy when in recent years a figure like Energon Towline could work as a decent homage to both the on screen figure as well as the toy (hence Botcon).

 

I myself take it one step further and say even Energon Inferno would have made a better transformation scheme then Universe.

 

I am happy to see the figures get some much needed love for their G1 selves. The fact of the matter is though that Has/Tak tried to hard to reinvent the wheel. That in it's self hurt these figures.

 

Thank you for the review though. The backstory opener added a very nice, relatable, personal touch.

I like the sentimental part of the review best. :P It reminds me of getting Optimus Prime from my awesome (now deceased) Aunt, as a kid. That was THE BEST FEELING i ever had getting a transformer. MP 20th USA Prime was close in '04, but '85 i had more imaginationj and no money, so Prime was the king. When Prime was broke on purpose by my step bro just cuz "he could", i was devastated and didnt get him ever again. I had him for ONE year only. :( But i managed to get mom to buy Rodimus Prime & Galavtron to make up for it the following year. I remember falling in :love with Rodimus on the show & waiting to get home every day to watch series 3 on TV.

 

So onto the figure - it comes in the standard universe packing with an awesome very G1 portrait. He comes as a red 4x4 estate car (sorry not good with car descriptors). The plastic is mostly smooth and of decent quality. As described by varous other reviewers the car mode is essentially a jigsaw puzzle, broken up all over the place etc to allow for the complicated transformation. The transformation is quite complicated and very clever. Some parts do drop off - the front part of the bonnet with the grill drops off on mine sometimes, and the bottom half pops away from the top. Most can be easily fixed by popping the joints back into place.

 

This is an easy fix. If you spend time on learning the EXACT trasnformation, then get it "dialed" .. then go buy a new figure, preferably Henkei! since hes our favorite character & its worth it then, then you wont have pieces popping off. The only time I FIND that pieces fall off, is if you mistransformed a figure and stress it out in certain places. I always use the instructions and am VERY carefull for a few rounds, until i have it mastered. Hope this helps! :D

 

Ratchet is subject to the most of the above review, except he's painted white and with the siren bar on the vehicle mode. In robot mode not much is different except he has the crest on his head like he does in the cartoon. I went for the henkei version of this figure - because i did love Ratchet too, not as much as Ironhide or Prowl, but i always thought the crest made him look cool. In the hasbro version the crest is red, and the henkei the crest is black as it should be. Thats what made my decision on this figure and he look superb for it! THe weapon he comes with is chromed unlike the universe version and looked quite nice, i keep it with the blade out as since Ratchets a doctor i think it looks more like a surgical tool and with the colour of the plastic used it does look the part.

 

Im surprised that sine Ironhide is your favortie figure, you wouldnt go for the all time (imo) better paint deco Henkei Ironhide instead of the Universe i as well have. I went for the Universe too, but IH isnt my fave. Getting Ratchet Henkei was a smart move, cuz i thnk the hasbro copy has ill paint. That said, i believe in time you will always get another chance for a better paint job. Well not always, but if hasbro stays on their pattern, then yea.

Personally, I didn't like the Universe versions of Ironhide and Ratchet. The jigsaw puzzle nature of the design, and the alternate modes killed them for me, as well as the fact that it was the back window in the chest. I have my own customs of the two anyway made from Energon Towline (made two years before the BotCon exclusives), so I didn't need the Universe versions anyway. The beauty of the Towline base is that not only is the figure a van with the robot mode having the front windshield in the chest, but, as Liege Evilmus said, the van splits into the robot and battle platform, just like the original G1 figure did. As for your objections to the G1 toy, remember, the toy came first. Thus the character in the show was based upon that toy, not the other way around.