Review: #552
Name: Hound
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Masterpiece
Year of Release: 2019
Size Class: Masterpiece
Mold Status: new
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:
The 47th mainline entry into the Transformers Masterpiece line is Hound, who is long overdue since he was announced years ago and only sees a release now (rumor has it that there were some engineering issues with the prototype that led to a redesign).
He comes in the standard black box and per the trend, the back has more and more stock photos showing off the numerous accessories the figure has.
Here is a quick look at all the accessories that are included: two additional faces, two Spike figures, a pair of spare side mirrors, a key, a gun, an effects part, a roof cover and a collector's card. All these accessories that you'll probably only use once but massively jacks up the price...
The card has a nice piece of artwork on one side and some stats on the other.
Hound comes with a Spike figure that's pretty well sculpted and nicely detailed.
There's a bit of articulation including the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. Although keeping him balanced while standing due to his small footprint can take a bit of fiddling around.
VEHICLE MODE:
Hound transforms into a Jeep CJ-3B which is one of the most recognizable vehicles around.
As expected, this is an excellent vehicle mode, although it is a lighter green than the real thing, this is due to having it accommodate the robot mode's color scheme. The rocket launcher, jerry can and spare tire at the back are detachable.
As this is an open top vehicle, the designer had to put in some extra detail of the interior that other Masterpiece cars didn't have. These include a pair of seats, steering wheel and dashboard buttons.
A quick size comparison against a Deluxe and a Voyager and you can see that Hound is closer in size to a Deluxe. However, he is a lot more complicated and a lot heftier.
While he can roll on a flat surface, there is not much ground clearance. The whole figure is painted so you will have to watch out for paint chips.
There are a few gimmicks in this mode. The hood can open up to reveal the engine (which are robot parts).
In addition, the windshield can fold down (but this is also a part of transformation).
You can have Spike seated in the driver's (or passenger's) seat.
As well as that, Hologram Spike can drive too although it is a little bit more fiddly to fit him there as he doesn't have any joints.
The rocket launcher at the back is actually jointed in a few places so you can aim it as an attack weapon.
For something new to the character, there is a roof cover which slots in. While it is supposedly molded to fit into the grooves of the vehicle, it is finnicky.
Having it on does distort the proportions of the vehicle a bit but is quite neat in the end.
As one would expect, this is a fantastic vehicle mode.
TRANSFORMATION:
First off, if you are lucky enough to have a Hound that didn't break straight out of the box, congratulations. The second trial is about to begin with the transformation as you need to be extremely careful. TakaraTomy seems to have designed a combination of extremely tight tolerances and weak plastic to create an extremely fragile character that is prone to breakage in various areas.
Now, the transformation is deceptively complex considering the end result of a "simple" G1 cartoon blocky aesthetics. It relies heavily on thin panels folding upon each other to achieve the desired look. Considering that there had to be an addendum on an additional sheet to the instructions gives you some clues on how complex this guy is. Simply put, the front houses the head and arms, while the back morphs into the legs. A lot of the vehicle folds into the torso and legs, and this is where it is extremely tight as there is not many spare space left. The common breakages are the thin door panels. It is not a fun transformation at all as it feels needlessly complicated instead of intuitive.
ROBOT MODE:
If you made it this far with no issues, congratulations once again. Anyway, Hound's robot mode looks great and is very accurate to the G1 cartoon's character model.
Perhaps the most impressive element is how the figure do not have any kibble. It is crazy that this was possible, all of the kibble is compacted into his torso and legs.
The head sculpt is great and it is situated on a flexible joint that allows him to look left/right as well as up/down.
There are two additional faces included, the first is an angry face.
While the second is a slight smile. Changing faces is easy as you flip over the top of his helmet, slide the face out and then slide the new one in. Once again, be careful as the joint is tight and the plastic is prone to cracking. The head doesn't actually peg onto the hood, it just sits there and feels somewhat ugly for a Masterpiece.
In terms of size, he now towers over a Deluxe and is more akin to the height of a Voyager.
Hound has excellent articulation. He has swivel joints for his shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees and ankles.
His hands are some articulation too. His index finger is separately jointed to the rest.
The hips are kind of weird in terms of design. Moving the legs forward will having the waist skirt fold into the the torso.
There is another gimmick involving his head. When you flip the top of the helmet up, there is a visor that you can unfold.
Having the visor down gives Hound a pretty cool look.
The whole figure is painted and while this does make him look good, it is a double edged sword. He is prone to paint chips from parts rubbing together. The worst offender are the top of his hips which rub against the waist skirt.
Hound has a small gun that he can hold in either hand. The shoulders also flex allowing him to wield his gun with both hands like a pistol.
The effects part can attach to the end of the pistol, and it simulates his hologram ability.
The pistol can split into two pieces and then be hidden inside his legs.
His shoulder launcher is on a joint so if you want to store it away, it can tuck behind his head.
There is a key that showed up in one episode and so we get it as an accessory. His waist has a hook that you can flip out and hook the key on.
To be honest, it is a waste of plastic and money since it is so insubstantial and insignificant.
The roof cover from vehicle mode can attach onto his back.
The cover also doubles up as a shield which would be cool... if Hound can hold it. The shield is too heavy for the arm to support so it just droops down.
The cover also has the ability to store most of the accessories.
This is a good looking robot mode that has a lot of play value in the form of articulation and accessories.
OVERALL:
Hound is a nice figure... provided you get one that had no quality control issues. It is unfortunate that the figure has such poor quality control that resulted in so many breakages. There is an issue with the plastic used, and coupled with the complex transformation that is reliant on thin panels and tight tolerances, it created a fragile figure. In conjunction with the extreme high price, one would rather wish they could have simplified the figure and reduce the amount of needless accessories to give us a sturdier figure even if it had to compromise the cartoon accuracy. As it is, Hound cannot be recommended as it is just too much of a gamble.
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