I'd love to see a Missing Link Ironhide, it'd be either hilariously blursed or the most jaw-dropping, awesomely subversive feat of TF toy engineering ever.
I mean if you could engineer a head and a way to movie the shoulders up, it might actually look fine, but the question is if that's considered changing too much of the original design, I do hope they tackle it though, I really want to see that now
I'm curious where they go with Missing Link. I kind of think Jet Robo / Starscream would be next. I think given the price, they'd prioritise big characters to hook you in, then go for obscure or disliked toys.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Oh man, a Missing Link Hot Rod would be so cool! IMO the OG toy is already one of the best G1 carbots to begin with. That said, I'm willing to bet they're already at least breainstorming an ML Ultra Magnus based on Optimus.
Tow-Line did the Nissan Van play-pattern amazingly well during Energon, but wow does a Headmaster suit the original concept well. It's real genius, I wish we got it in Titans Returns!
There are some things worth unpacking here. Firstly that hole in the crotch isn't weird, it's weapon storage for the turret on the battle sled. It's something I only stumbled upon when I got curious a few years back. Yes that means that Ironhide and Ratchet do in fact have underslung weapons in vehicle mode. What I've learned over the years, and Blaster (specifically his gun) was my first lesson with this, is that if an early Transformer has some weird hole in it, it probably served a purpose in Diaclone, microchange, et al, which wasn't carried over into the Transformers line. It also means that Ironhide was the earliest example of a Transformers figure mold, which featured weapons storage in vehicle mode. Given the mold was only the 5th Transformers figure mold to be created, it shows that weapons storage, and especially functional weapons storage, in an alt mode, occurred far earlier than meny transformers fans might have realised. Secondly, the play value in mech mode is far better than than the pilot merely riding in what is essentially a precursor to an AMP Suit in Avatar - both the Launcher and the turret feature cockpits for Dianauts, while the readout screens which line the sides, allow for additional play options. If you draw a parallel between Dianauts and Minicons, then this is essentially the oldest ancestor of Armada Optimus Prime. Thirdly, I think you misunderstood what I was saying about MC-18. I wasn't merely saying that the head for Ironhide came from MC-18; I'm saying that Ironhide ORIGINALLY WAS MC-18. We know that at some point, the decision was made by Hasbro to make the Autobots cars, and the Decepticons devices, military vehicles and weapons. However we know that there were other design choices at play and that not all of them would have come after that. Now bear in mind this is pure speculation on my part, but Occam's Razor lends credence to what I'm saying. I believe that in the initial stages of planning out the rebrand and amalgamation of the line, not long after 1983, there were a few initial concept character outlines for different toys, back before creative efforts were filtered out by marketing execs about what toys "will shelf-warm" (air quotes intentional on both sides of the argument). For example, robots who turn into jets are going to be soldiers. A robot who turns into a cassette player and robots who turn into tapes, will naturally be paired together and will serve in the roles of communications and intellegence gathering (storage media literally collect data. However what about a van, a family vehicle to get children from a to b screams out security? Transport, sure, but security????? However a robot which turns into a padlock - well that absolutely screams out being a robot whose role is security, as it LITERALLY secures things as its function. To that end, while the name may not have been ironhide at that time, I am saying that it is almost certain that the red and black security robot that we came to know as Ironhide was originally MC-18 in its entirety. Another thing which I think backs this up, is if you look at not only the head, but the rest of the body of the animation model of Ironhide, the design silhouette matches up perfectly with how Bob Budiansky would have stylised the design of MC-18 for an animation model. I think these designs were done as part of a marketting pitch - not every single member of the 1984 cast, but enough of them for a proof of concept. So what do I think happened? I think there were 3 things at play here. The first is the decision for the Autobots to turn into cars, whilst the Decepticons turned into devices. Additionally, the warmer colours, the reds, the oranges, etc, as a rule, became the Autobot colours, while the darker and colder colours, such as the blacks, the purples, the blues, etc, tended to become the Autobot colours. Even the decision to give the Autobots blue eyes and the Decepticons red eyes, matches up with this. Additionally as a bad guy, how much of an evil cool factor does a padlock have, besides next to none. Guns, and jets are a no-brainer. A camera and tapes to spy on people with, sure. But a padlock? I think what happened was that Ironhide the toy wasn't originally on the list to be a Transformer and MC-18 was originally meant to be the Autobot Security chief. However when marketing stepped in, plans changed and they needed another toy to fill the slot. I think the Onebox Cherry Vanette was sitting around unused and it was decided that the animation model for MC-18 would be completely reskinned from the neck down, into what we now know as Ironhide, whilst retaining MC-18's head. The added bonus of this of course, was that it gave them either a working animation design, or a far better animation design, than what might have existed for the Onebox Cherry Vanette Ambulance, which we now know as Ratchet. While we may never get a definitive answer, this strikes me as the most likely scenario for how we wound up with the animation model and toy design for Ratchet, differing so wildly. One other thing, whilst Ratchet and Ironhide might be the most hated early G1 toys out there, I believe any assigning to them of the worst G1 toy ever is misplaced. As someone who owns both MC-21 and G1 Blaster, I can unreservedly say that the worst G1 toy ever, in terms of how the original Pre-Tf toy was handled, is none other than G1 Blaster by a country mile. Not only did they gut the incredible working radio gimmick, which is amazingly executed, but they even removed working switched and dials, when in some cases, all it required was using a plastic part that was already there on the toy - the tuning dial next to the tape deck being the example of this. Meanwhile the gaping hole in Blaster's Electro Scrambler, which is designed to work with a crystal radio earpiece, was never filled in, despite the crystal radio earpiece being removed. In fact if you have a crystal radio earpiece with a 2.5mm plug, it will combine with the gun of any reissue of G1 Blaster, to this day. Meanwhile Blaster gets a free pass, when it should be thoroughly panned as a mold reuse (in fact it should be considered a cheap knockoff of MC-21 in comparison - no matter how officially licensed it might be), whilst the Onebox Vannette mold cops nothing but hate because Hasbro chose to cram a square peg in a round hole, with their choice of mold usage for certain characters. Make it make sense.
When I finally got Ironhide in the 80s I thought I was missing parts because it didn't have a head until I noticed the stupid sticker at that point I was really disappointed
I really would want detailed video going over why cartoon models deviated from the toys. Like one pattern I noticed is eye color change with Optimus, Soundwave, Perceptor and Blaster from yellow to blue and red. And why the helicopter triple changed never became a transformer.
The optic colors (i.e. eye color) is easy to explain. It's the same reason why in all the old westerns all the good guys wear white hats and all the bad guys wear black hats. The Autobots all have blue optics because they're the good guys and the Decepticons all have red optics because they're the bad guys. Little kids can tell which of the many MANY characters are either good or evil by their optic color.
@mrsamaritan6881 answered some of it, but many can be answered by what I said in the video; simplification for animation or a source other than the final product being the basis for the model. Broadside falls into this heavily later on. As for the Microchange and Diaclone toys not in Transformers, I'm not sure anyone from Hasbro was ever asked. It's likely just a case of things not fitting what they wanted for the brand. You'll notice that Perceptor and Blaster aside, they pull back from Micro Change hard in 1985. I wonder if by that point they'd already realised the limitations of "Itemformers".
It was mostly for easier animation, but many decisions are really hard to understand, yes. But look at the gobots cartoon, they draw them like the toys, and then look which brand has a 40 year anniversary 😉😉
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Makes sense to me, same why the train combiner are never used by Hasbro. But the helicopter/jet triple changer I would want an answer. I totally would like to see new toy of that in legacy representing Diaclone universe. I can see it being retooled into Cyberverse Whirl right away.
I totally agree and it's surprising they haven't introduced it proper, yet go back to Whirl and Roadbuster occasionally. I mean, I know Roadbuster and Whirl are going to be someone's favorite, but they are nothing characters, while HeliJet has an interesting history. I know it's in the comics under several different names though.
Can’t help but think it would’ve been a more reasonable decision to just keep Ratchet and Ironhide as mech suits and just have two human characters with the same personalities. I mean, if you can have Spike, Sparkplug, Chip, and Carly…then some human characters could actually directly participate in the fighting, which I imagine would’ve pleased a lot of kids.
It's actually a really interesting idea, but I think it's hard to execute brand wide. It'd have to be something in the brand bible used in both the animation and comics, which would necessitate a single human character to be in both. It also flies in the face of the brand identity Hasbro and Marvel were going for; Robots in Disguise. It's possibly something that could be returned to now and executed very well, rather than something from the time.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Depends on the era of G1. Remember that later G1 had the Nebulons as organic homies filling a somewhat similar role to pilots (though that’s more true with the Japanese continuity). That being said, that’s a fair point. I do wonder if perhaps it could’ve worked as a way to have cross-toy compatibility by having the human characters riding in the other Autobots…until I remember that would make them seem too much like piloted mecha. Funnily enough, that was the same issue faced by the Beast Wars Transmetal II characters. Plus, given just how different the cartoon, comics, and other media could be, that’s a fair point. At the very least, it would have been interesting to have seen the two figures recast as characters with those weirder drone-ish designs, yet still I’m glad with the actual characters we got.
I was more talking in the context of the preproduction of G1, when the molds were chosen and characters written by Bob Budiansky. That's when I think the decision to use the Nissan Van mold in that way would have needed to be put in stone. Someone mentioned both would have made fantastic Headmasters and I totally am on board with that idea. I really liked what Tow-Line did with the concept, but this would have made an absolutely fantastic Titans Return toy. More missed opportunities of Prime Wars I suppose.
Hate to say out, outside of some very specific cases, not huge on the Siege aesthetic. Hoping to get around to DK-2 Guard though, that'd be my first time with the mold. The channel has really gotten me interested in checking out all the Earthrise molds I skipped due to having older iterations of the characters just to have the Diaclone colours lol. Spin-Out / Cordon is the other one I want to get around to.
A few people said that, but it really wouldn't be on brand with what Hasbro was trying to achieve. I'm really sold on the idea some said in the comments about them being Headmasters though.
I always thought that G1 Ironhide and Ratchet’s heads should’ve been a separate piece that could’ve set on a peg. It would’ve meant they would’ve had to make a small adjustment to the mold.
In early 1983, I witnessed my first transforming toy -- a dune buggy in the GoBots line code-named "Buggy Man." Later that year, I began to see advertisements on TV for "Diakron" (the American name for Diaclone) three vehicles that transformed into cars. I got one of them for Christmas that year (DK1, the Lamborghini Countach), but I never got the pickup truck (later released as "Trailbreaker") or the van. So when the Transformers line finally came out in 1984, my first Autobot car purchase was Ironhide. I loved that toy, and I never regretted it, not even for a second, because I had some Diaclone figures to put in his cockpit, which was awesome. Thank you for posting.
Everything is going to be someone's first or favorite. Even toys that are pretty disliked like the Nissan Van, others are going to see a lot of entertainment value or interest in them. How you are presented the toy matters a lot too. No problem, I enjoyed making it. I think given the well of topics, I'll be making Diaclone / Micro Change videos for a while lol.
Ironhide and Ratchet were fine in their vehicle mode, but they're transformation to robot was just goofy looking. I can't remember if I every got either of them as they weren't on the top of my want list.
A few people that grew up with G1 have mentioned seeing some of the originals in box and putting them down. It'd be interesting to find out who are the more plentiful G1 toys, the ones kids bought a lot of.
I had Ironhide as a kid. I absolutely loved that toy, even if it didn’t match the tv show. Pulled all of my G1 toys out several years ago, and he’s still one of my favorites. 🤷♂️
I got Ironhide and Ratchet in '84, and I'm not saying I'm special, but in the late 70's my dad was stationed in Okinawa and for my 6th birthday sent me what was called the Microman Surveyor One. So I understood that Micronauts came from somewhere else, and then I got those first 3 Zoids from Tomy, so things like the little cockpit of the crane in Prime's trailer and Ironhide/Ratchet I kinda understood. When I opened Soundwave and saw the copyright 1974 Takara imprint I wondered what took so long lol.
The 74 copyright relates to Microman, not the Cassetteman toy specifically, but yeah. I do have to wonder if the pilot seats and cockpits in the Diaclone toys tipped anyone off that these were repurposed toys back in the day.
I feel really bad for any 80’s kids who were watching Transformers, and wanted to get toys of their favorite characters, Ironhide and Ratchet, only to go to the store and see these weird, headless mech shells.
I rewatched a lot of S1 prior to writing this video to refresh my memory since I haven't seen a lot of S1 in ages. I'm gonna say it, I can't imagine them being anyone's favorite. The show seems more interested in pushing Prime, Hound, Mirage, Bee, Starscream, Soundwave, Rumble and Megatron than anyone else early on. Even Wheeljack gets a decent push. I was actually shocked how little energy they put in Ratchet, Ironhide, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Jazz and Prowl, but I get it from a writing perspective.
Count me amongst the opposition. I love the mech suit presentation. That was the main thrust of all robot toys in the pre-TF early 80s. It didn't bother me that the show looked different. Ironhide was an extreme but none of the other characters matched either. Megatron was probably more distracting to me.
That's actually interesting you'd find Megatron more distracting. I really like that toy, despite what I think my video on it leads people to believe, is it that the toy has a much more heroic face? He's super likeable and if it was legal for me to own one, MP36+ was something I'd want.
If we do. I would assume, unless they have an absolutely mind-blowing toy in mind, it's a very long way away. I'd assume Jet Robo and the Datsuns would happen sooner. Or maybe Cassette Man since he'd need little work.
I can see them being someone's least favorite, definitely. In retrospect, it's curious that the Takara reissues didn't include a couple of Diaclone Pilots, maybe cost was an issue.
I'm sure you could find other toys that are even more universally hated if you look beyond G1. Cause some of us are aware that Ironhide and Ratchet were meant to piloted mech suits in Diaclone and it's actually the cartoon that's inaccurate to the toy not the other way around because the toy came first, There's the Action Masters toy line that is universally hated by everyone because it's a Transformers toy line that don't transform. There are designs where the animation model was made first and the toys we designed to look like the animation and still managed to fail at doing that. How about Rodimus Prime. It's one of the first toys actually designed specifically for Transformers. The animation model was designed first before the toy which looks nothing like it. It's a character most people hate And the figure only has 2 points of articulation which granted a lot of G1 toys didn't have a lot of articulation but when the figure doesn't look good and is a huge downgrade from the toy it's suppose to replace. I actually like Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime and Hot Rod and Optimus Prime are both better toys than Rodimus Prime.
Beyond G1, sure and I do intend to get around to them. I mentioned my intent to make this a series if this one did well, which it did. I have more Ironhides to cover, but only one I genuinely think is a bad toy lol I'm not sure Action Masters, or my personal whipping boy, Pretenders, can really be called the most hated part of the franchise now. We've grown accustomed to non-transforming Transformers and people ask for toys of both Action Masters and Pretenders. Ironhide and Ratchet still get a lot of heat because honestly, people can't appreciate them for what they are, Diaclone, which is a big theme of the video. The Rodimus Prime thing comes up in a video I'm working on, but it's very much generational. If you grew up after the fact, where Rodimus was an established character and the film was out before you were born, the vitriol isn't there. The younger generations are much more receptive of the 86 cast than the original kids that experienced it in real time were. The toy seems more glossed over now than hated too. It wasn't meant to replace Hot Rod though, but supplement. They are from the same assortment after all. I do get not liking it, it's too simple, but as someone who didn't experience it in real time, I can't say it's any worse than say Scourge. The only real stand outs from the 86 assortment are Hot Rod and Cyclonus for a reason. Hasbro really should invest in a new Cyclonus mold.
Quick little tip those binoculars that turn into a robot we're sold here in Canada and packed into the Transformers line if need be odds are I can dig them out and take a picture I got them as a kid I forget if mine are damaged or not but I'm about 75% sure they're in among the Transformers on shelves in the back room. I've got a collection of 200 or more Generation 1 Transformers and before somebody whines they didn't make that many start factoring and stuff like where they made multiples with different colored plastic not to mention I've got some of the really Oddball rare ones that were technically knock offs like I have Godzilla Grimlock. There was a variant of Grimlock that turned into Godzilla from a robot I'm not making it up dachlan I think was the ones that released it and they were sold here locally. One that I got is missing part of the tale of memory serves me. I lost track of how many they released in the generation one line between many cons Headmasters and all sorts of weird obscure absorbments that didn't actually have their own cartoon to ins. I even have some of the battle beasts which they tried to shoot into Generation 1 LOL I didn't know the battle beasts were part of Transformers till I got a DVD box set a few years back. I thought a piece was missing from Ironhide all this time where he's got that whole where his crotch would be I didn't know it came that way Factory
I've read about the Pre-Transformers making it to different markets, but it's interesting Canada is one of those markets. How is Scopeman as a toy? I'm familiar with the Godzilla Grimlock bootleg. I think it's the same line as the dragon Sludge with the wings? Yeah, I didn't mention it in the video, but the crotch is actually the first instance of weapon storge. The Van's gun goes there.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder The Ironhide that I have is actually made up of multiple parts that I acquired. I thought for a long time I was missing the head till I found out his head was just a sticker and I've often been tempted to get ahead from one of the other Transformers and glue it in the seat in front of the sticker;). i rebuild a lot of them from parts the binoculars are kind of a lackluster Transformer and I remember being confused they were in the show I think the binoculars are even in some of the advertising material whether it was a consumer's catalog or actually in Transformers catalogs that came with the figures. I'm sure you're familiar with the camera that turns into three separate robots there was a crap ton of variance of that Transformer sold here in Canada. The helicopter that turns into a giant cassette tape was sold through consumers as well as a few mom and pop stores I had a black cassette and a red cassette that turned into vehicles but I don't know if I still have them or if I sold them back when I had an ebay account sold a lot of stuff on eBay at one point where I had multiples like four and five of some Transformers and at that point they were going for really high prices. There's a really rare version of Bumblebee that I might have had and sold where are they all look alike to me apparently there is a version with a little circle stamped in part of the plastic or diecast with a little logo on the circle copyright Mark or something like that and it's a pretty rare version of Bumblebee. I've got sea spray still in the original package. Guy at a yard sale flea market type thing apparently had 30 or 40 Transformers in the packages that had been found in a storage locker and he only had one left guy literally said somebody bought all of those and missed that one and I'm shaking my head when the guy says I must have had 30 or 40 of those weird looking robots. The guy was in his 60s and had no idea what they were. He had several boxes of unopened Transformers from Generation 1.the package isn't in a one condition but 15 years ago it wasn't exactly common to find a generation one in the package even on eBay back then. I eventually got to get all the pieces from Beast Wars in one place and see which ones I have enough pieces to put together. I used to randomly get pieces of Beast Wars Transformers all over the place because they're like Lego blocks where they come apart with ball sockets. They eventually abandoned that design after a couple of waves I think when they got into that transmetal Transformers Beast Wars most of them were not done with ball socket design. Most of my Transformers I got as a kid at thrift stores and yard sales and now and then one here and there for like birthdays and Christmas. Believe it or not they were way more expensive here than they were in the US. You also had a lot of places like consumers and little mom and pop toy stores that would get the stuff from Japan in the original Japanese packaging a lot of toys we had sold here at smaller Outlets were in complete Japanese packaging with no English writing. So we got a whole lot of stuff like the original Voltron and a lot of toys that didn't even have cartoons here there were all sorts of toys that were multiple robots that combined into a big robot kind of like Voltron. As an example I have a mostly diecast lying that turns into a body part of a bigger robot robot was made up of a spaceship a lion and I forget what else that turn into a big robot. GoBots was another hodgepodge line that some of the toys from goldbots were actually stand alone and got merged into the goldbots line when they got brought down here to our side of the fence. There was a squirt gun as an example and a robot that turns into a hunting rifle they were merged into the goldbots line from other toy lines. I've got a really weird transforming robot that's not a Transformer or a cobot and never been able to identify it I still own it. The thing is quite large for the day it turns into a blue and yellow and black eagle and from the eagle form it turns into a big robot about 14 inches high. The robot that turned into a pair of binoculars was kind of gimmicky if memory serves me little Chrome pieces were prone to break off real easy an it didn't have much movement once in robot mode
I have never had a issue with the mold. As someone who prefers toy accuracy to animation accuracy, I thought the toys were pretty good. Still do. There's a lot you can do with them that you can't do with, say, SS86 Ironhide or Ratchet. And I like those too.
I think a lot of the fandom prefers the cartoon accuracy, but I'm with you for the most part. Yellow eyes Prime, toy head Bee and toy Megatron do a lot more for me than the animation in terms of design. For the Van, I really think if I tracked one down, it'd have to be Diaclone over Transformers. I'd need those pilots to properly enjoy it.
I was lucky enough to find that Diaclone red vanette at a flea market in SW Ohio as a kid in the mid 80s. There was a vendor there who sold a lot of imported toys from Japan/HK/Taiwan. Loved how it's scale and pilot could play well with my favoritest toy ever - G1 Optimus!
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Alas, I was one of those dummies who unloaded their 80s toys in late 90s. Now I'm forced to relive my childhood vicariously through CZcams. My loss is your gain. 😄
I'm someone who would've hated to get figures with no heads as much as I do love piloted mech suits. My Studio Series Ratchet and Ironhide look dang good on my shelf though.
Through the whole video, I thought he was saying, "Missing vanette". I kept thinking, "what is he saying that's missing?", until I realized he was mispronouncing, Nissan as "missing". Nissan is pronounced (Nee-sahn)
I wouldn't say he fixed them, but he made the iconic ones we remember today. Truth be told, till I looked it up, didn't know he worked on S1 and S2. I'd only heard his name in the context of the Movie and S3.
Ironhide was my favourite character in the cartoon so I picked this toy out for my birthday when I was 7 or 8. I was confused after transforming it to robot mode because I couldn’t find the head! I was so disappointed when i found out the robot mode was a half-arsed piece of red crap and I regretted picking it out to buy. 30 yrs on I’m much older now and it still pisses me off when I think about it because I was duped! 😂. They never should have sold it as Ironhide.
Never hated the mold, not once. I actually loved the van mode and the bot mode, while not toon accurate in any way, i still liked it. The sled was cool to me. I even bought the Encore reissues when they came out.
I think it's a thing if you can appreciate it, you'll like it a lot. I do think the toy had a lot of potential and just needed a bit more work to properly adapt, but it's not the only Diaclone toy that could have used new parts / modification to be better used in Transformers...
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder You can't be serious. Restricted articulation. Massive backpack. Sorry quality control. Subpar paint apps. It almost made me HATE the hot rod figure forever. Until the studio series 86' arrived.
My priorities are different. I like toys more than display pieces and adore the evolution play pattern of the PotP Leaders. It's fun having them go from base form to super form, like Powermaster Prime or Ultra Magnus. Wish I didn't pass on Optimal Optimus, but I bought both decos for Prime and Rodimus. I really like Kingdom Ultra Magnus too :D
Not in Transformers, but the Pre-Transformers toy, yeah. Hasbro just put a sticker over the seat and called it a day. "Kids are dumb, they'll buy it" I would guess was the rational.
I disagree. I loved both Ironhide and Ratchet - yeah they were nothing like the cartoon but Ironhide was one of my favourites. Funnily enough he died whilst I was playing with him and snapped into bits in the middle.
OMG yer those tow were terrible use of the toy's mould yes it was good in Diaclone but for Transformers they should used something different, I also wich they had used that Triple changer Helicopter I think he would of been a great Autobot to help them even the play field to have a bot who can fight in the air like Powerglide. Some of those cartoon models look alot like you said the other Diaclone moulds. I even think for Megatron the other would of been a better choice as he looked closer to the cartoon.
I agree on the triple changer. It's interesting how it and the Trains are literally the only Diaclone toys missing from US Transformers. Trains are easily explained, they don't sell well in the US, but the the chopper feels like it'd be fine. It's not a bad toy or unfitting or anything.
Bullet Bike is worse.. and even he has rubber tires. There is a lot of really bad stuff people discount or forgot too. the Kids meal Rhinox is a notebly bad one too but the Burger king ones were often much worse than even that was. One could argue that the "worse" could be looked at in other ways entirely say for example Legacy Blitzwing for having 2 of his 3 modes that suck.
I don't think anyone really cares about that toy all that much beyond CZcams videos. I might get to it eventually, but I think Ironhide and Ratchet mean more to people.
they shoudl ahve gone back to the drawing board on iron hide anbd ratchet .. as the toy looked Nothing like the cahracters at all except in vehicle form.
That's now how G1 was done. It was a reuse of existing toys, the best they could have done would have been retool the molds or add to them. That said, they should have added to them.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder well yeah i lived it dude .. Me my brother and our cousin jason had a ton of the transformers , we all had optimus prime, only i had Megatron because toy gun laws changed in the US like a monmth after his release and his toy got canceled. but my cousin ahd the most , and quite a few of them me nor my brother had. and out of the three of us onlyu one of us had Iron hide and ratchet .... My cousin of course.. and of all the transformers he had that we didn't have those were the only two we didn't care to play with when we visited him. they were jsut shitty in looks and didn't feel worth their cost. even back then.
ASs swede i didn't have so much problem with ratchet and ironhide for the cartoons was only for rich ppl with satellite tv so the cartoon look wasn't the default look and early marvel comic used the toy look. Also robots didnt need to look humanoid for the most popular robots f the time wasn't humans as exempel R2-D2. so i think if they had been looked as the toys in the cartoon so would this been a none issue.
Completely divorced from the media, I could imagine the toys are a bit easier to take in. But didn't you have Diaclone and Microchange with the pilots up there like Italy did?
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder yes we had diaclone and microchange also but as a kid i never connected them with transformers. it was weird for then we had store surplus of them repackaged as transformers later so weird colours of g1 one transformers was a thing, it didn't help that hasbro even put out transformers toys in none canonic colours it is how i got a red tracks and a yellow trailbreaker, which is the diaclone colour. so without the cartoon was it easy to accept the differences.
Well, our regions are what showed Transformers still had legs for precisely this reason. If it wasn't for the 1992 toys doing well on the merits of the toys alone with no media tie in, we wouldn't be here today talking about Transformers.
Oh yeah, you're absolutely right, but that's far more of the fanbase than I think many realise. MP wouldn't have gone in the direction it did if that wasn't the case.
True, but I don't think there is a toy quite this controversial till like the Nissan mold till the mid 90s with Injector. I need to buy an Injector for the channel me thinks...
I'd love to see a Missing Link Ironhide, it'd be either hilariously blursed or the most jaw-dropping, awesomely subversive feat of TF toy engineering ever.
I mean if you could engineer a head and a way to movie the shoulders up, it might actually look fine, but the question is if that's considered changing too much of the original design, I do hope they tackle it though, I really want to see that now
I'm curious where they go with Missing Link. I kind of think Jet Robo / Starscream would be next. I think given the price, they'd prioritise big characters to hook you in, then go for obscure or disliked toys.
my thought exactly, i wonder if they have the guts to make it missing link version
I'm curious if they get to 1986 or just stick to Diaclone and Micro Change. Hot Rod and Cyclonus are really loved toys.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Oh man, a Missing Link Hot Rod would be so cool! IMO the OG toy is already one of the best G1 carbots to begin with. That said, I'm willing to bet they're already at least breainstorming an ML Ultra Magnus based on Optimus.
you also forgot to mention how easily Ironhide and ratchet broke...
They did? Never broke one I ever owned. Mirage, Datsuns, Megatron, yeah, never a vanbot.
I don't think they're noted as being easily broken. Mirage is the big one from 84, though I think Wheeljack and the Datsuns break pretty easily.
Mirage is pretty notorious.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder*EXTINCTION DINOBOT COMBINER*
WATCH 😮
This would've been the perfect candidate for an upgrade to a headmaster. You can have both looks, while still retaining the diaclone play features.
Tow-Line did the Nissan Van play-pattern amazingly well during Energon, but wow does a Headmaster suit the original concept well. It's real genius, I wish we got it in Titans Returns!
There are some things worth unpacking here. Firstly that hole in the crotch isn't weird, it's weapon storage for the turret on the battle sled. It's something I only stumbled upon when I got curious a few years back. Yes that means that Ironhide and Ratchet do in fact have underslung weapons in vehicle mode. What I've learned over the years, and Blaster (specifically his gun) was my first lesson with this, is that if an early Transformer has some weird hole in it, it probably served a purpose in Diaclone, microchange, et al, which wasn't carried over into the Transformers line. It also means that Ironhide was the earliest example of a Transformers figure mold, which featured weapons storage in vehicle mode. Given the mold was only the 5th Transformers figure mold to be created, it shows that weapons storage, and especially functional weapons storage, in an alt mode, occurred far earlier than meny transformers fans might have realised.
Secondly, the play value in mech mode is far better than than the pilot merely riding in what is essentially a precursor to an AMP Suit in Avatar - both the Launcher and the turret feature cockpits for Dianauts, while the readout screens which line the sides, allow for additional play options. If you draw a parallel between Dianauts and Minicons, then this is essentially the oldest ancestor of Armada Optimus Prime.
Thirdly, I think you misunderstood what I was saying about MC-18. I wasn't merely saying that the head for Ironhide came from MC-18; I'm saying that Ironhide ORIGINALLY WAS MC-18. We know that at some point, the decision was made by Hasbro to make the Autobots cars, and the Decepticons devices, military vehicles and weapons. However we know that there were other design choices at play and that not all of them would have come after that. Now bear in mind this is pure speculation on my part, but Occam's Razor lends credence to what I'm saying.
I believe that in the initial stages of planning out the rebrand and amalgamation of the line, not long after 1983, there were a few initial concept character outlines for different toys, back before creative efforts were filtered out by marketing execs about what toys "will shelf-warm" (air quotes intentional on both sides of the argument). For example, robots who turn into jets are going to be soldiers. A robot who turns into a cassette player and robots who turn into tapes, will naturally be paired together and will serve in the roles of communications and intellegence gathering (storage media literally collect data.
However what about a van, a family vehicle to get children from a to b screams out security?
Transport, sure, but security?????
However a robot which turns into a padlock - well that absolutely screams out being a robot whose role is security, as it LITERALLY secures things as its function. To that end, while the name may not have been ironhide at that time, I am saying that it is almost certain that the red and black security robot that we came to know as Ironhide was originally MC-18 in its entirety. Another thing which I think backs this up, is if you look at not only the head, but the rest of the body of the animation model of Ironhide, the design silhouette matches up perfectly with how Bob Budiansky would have stylised the design of MC-18 for an animation model. I think these designs were done as part of a marketting pitch - not every single member of the 1984 cast, but enough of them for a proof of concept.
So what do I think happened?
I think there were 3 things at play here.
The first is the decision for the Autobots to turn into cars, whilst the Decepticons turned into devices. Additionally, the warmer colours, the reds, the oranges, etc, as a rule, became the Autobot colours, while the darker and colder colours, such as the blacks, the purples, the blues, etc, tended to become the Autobot colours. Even the decision to give the Autobots blue eyes and the Decepticons red eyes, matches up with this. Additionally as a bad guy, how much of an evil cool factor does a padlock have, besides next to none. Guns, and jets are a no-brainer. A camera and tapes to spy on people with, sure. But a padlock?
I think what happened was that Ironhide the toy wasn't originally on the list to be a Transformer and MC-18 was originally meant to be the Autobot Security chief. However when marketing stepped in, plans changed and they needed another toy to fill the slot. I think the Onebox Cherry Vanette was sitting around unused and it was decided that the animation model for MC-18 would be completely reskinned from the neck down, into what we now know as Ironhide, whilst retaining MC-18's head. The added bonus of this of course, was that it gave them either a working animation design, or a far better animation design, than what might have existed for the Onebox Cherry Vanette Ambulance, which we now know as Ratchet.
While we may never get a definitive answer, this strikes me as the most likely scenario for how we wound up with the animation model and toy design for Ratchet, differing so wildly.
One other thing, whilst Ratchet and Ironhide might be the most hated early G1 toys out there, I believe any assigning to them of the worst G1 toy ever is misplaced. As someone who owns both MC-21 and G1 Blaster, I can unreservedly say that the worst G1 toy ever, in terms of how the original Pre-Tf toy was handled, is none other than G1 Blaster by a country mile. Not only did they gut the incredible working radio gimmick, which is amazingly executed, but they even removed working switched and dials, when in some cases, all it required was using a plastic part that was already there on the toy - the tuning dial next to the tape deck being the example of this. Meanwhile the gaping hole in Blaster's Electro Scrambler, which is designed to work with a crystal radio earpiece, was never filled in, despite the crystal radio earpiece being removed. In fact if you have a crystal radio earpiece with a 2.5mm plug, it will combine with the gun of any reissue of G1 Blaster, to this day. Meanwhile Blaster gets a free pass, when it should be thoroughly panned as a mold reuse (in fact it should be considered a cheap knockoff of MC-21 in comparison - no matter how officially licensed it might be), whilst the Onebox Vannette mold cops nothing but hate because Hasbro chose to cram a square peg in a round hole, with their choice of mold usage for certain characters.
Make it make sense.
I recently learned that Bumblebee does not turn into a VW bug. He turns into a Penny Racer toy car! You'll never unsee it.
Yep! I mentioned that in the first Megatron video too! Love that toy, my childhood G2 Bee is still on my shelf.
My boy, he had a rough childhood, but grew into a true hero.
SS86 sure was a loved toy, stark contrast to the conversations surrounding the original.
When I finally got Ironhide in the 80s I thought I was missing parts because it didn't have a head until I noticed the stupid sticker at that point I was really disappointed
I really would want detailed video going over why cartoon models deviated from the toys. Like one pattern I noticed is eye color change with Optimus, Soundwave, Perceptor and Blaster from yellow to blue and red. And why the helicopter triple changed never became a transformer.
The optic colors (i.e. eye color) is easy to explain. It's the same reason why in all the old westerns all the good guys wear white hats and all the bad guys wear black hats. The Autobots all have blue optics because they're the good guys and the Decepticons all have red optics because they're the bad guys. Little kids can tell which of the many MANY characters are either good or evil by their optic color.
@mrsamaritan6881 answered some of it, but many can be answered by what I said in the video; simplification for animation or a source other than the final product being the basis for the model. Broadside falls into this heavily later on. As for the Microchange and Diaclone toys not in Transformers, I'm not sure anyone from Hasbro was ever asked. It's likely just a case of things not fitting what they wanted for the brand. You'll notice that Perceptor and Blaster aside, they pull back from Micro Change hard in 1985. I wonder if by that point they'd already realised the limitations of "Itemformers".
It was mostly for easier animation, but many decisions are really hard to understand, yes.
But look at the gobots cartoon, they draw them like the toys, and then look which brand has a 40 year anniversary 😉😉
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Makes sense to me, same why the train combiner are never used by Hasbro. But the helicopter/jet triple changer I would want an answer. I totally would like to see new toy of that in legacy representing Diaclone universe. I can see it being retooled into Cyberverse Whirl right away.
I totally agree and it's surprising they haven't introduced it proper, yet go back to Whirl and Roadbuster occasionally. I mean, I know Roadbuster and Whirl are going to be someone's favorite, but they are nothing characters, while HeliJet has an interesting history. I know it's in the comics under several different names though.
I got Ratchet as a kid, and was totally in denial about it missing the cartoon head. I kept on double checking the box!
Man, I’m sorry! Did you ever get a normal Ratchet when those started coming out?
lol! I could imagine that happening.
Depends on how you define "Normal". It's either Botcon, Universe 2.0 or very recently with Earthrise.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder I just define normal as just, a toy of Ratchet that looks like the character from the cartoon.
Then that'd be Botcon, the re-use of the Energon Tow-Line mold.
Can’t help but think it would’ve been a more reasonable decision to just keep Ratchet and Ironhide as mech suits and just have two human characters with the same personalities. I mean, if you can have Spike, Sparkplug, Chip, and Carly…then some human characters could actually directly participate in the fighting, which I imagine would’ve pleased a lot of kids.
It's actually a really interesting idea, but I think it's hard to execute brand wide. It'd have to be something in the brand bible used in both the animation and comics, which would necessitate a single human character to be in both. It also flies in the face of the brand identity Hasbro and Marvel were going for; Robots in Disguise.
It's possibly something that could be returned to now and executed very well, rather than something from the time.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Depends on the era of G1. Remember that later G1 had the Nebulons as organic homies filling a somewhat similar role to pilots (though that’s more true with the Japanese continuity). That being said, that’s a fair point. I do wonder if perhaps it could’ve worked as a way to have cross-toy compatibility by having the human characters riding in the other Autobots…until I remember that would make them seem too much like piloted mecha. Funnily enough, that was the same issue faced by the Beast Wars Transmetal II characters. Plus, given just how different the cartoon, comics, and other media could be, that’s a fair point. At the very least, it would have been interesting to have seen the two figures recast as characters with those weirder drone-ish designs, yet still I’m glad with the actual characters we got.
I was more talking in the context of the preproduction of G1, when the molds were chosen and characters written by Bob Budiansky. That's when I think the decision to use the Nissan Van mold in that way would have needed to be put in stone.
Someone mentioned both would have made fantastic Headmasters and I totally am on board with that idea. I really liked what Tow-Line did with the concept, but this would have made an absolutely fantastic Titans Return toy. More missed opportunities of Prime Wars I suppose.
I hate that thing as much as I LOVE the SS86 Ironhide
I never bought the 86 mold, but it looks pretty darn good compared to the Siege / Earthrise toy.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnderHey Siege was a good figure.
Hate to say out, outside of some very specific cases, not huge on the Siege aesthetic. Hoping to get around to DK-2 Guard though, that'd be my first time with the mold. The channel has really gotten me interested in checking out all the Earthrise molds I skipped due to having older iterations of the characters just to have the Diaclone colours lol. Spin-Out / Cordon is the other one I want to get around to.
Would have been interesting if, in the show, they weren't Ironhide and Ratchet, but humans in mechsuits using their tech.
A few people said that, but it really wouldn't be on brand with what Hasbro was trying to achieve. I'm really sold on the idea some said in the comments about them being Headmasters though.
I always thought that G1 Ironhide and Ratchet’s heads should’ve been a separate piece that could’ve set on a peg. It would’ve meant they would’ve had to make a small adjustment to the mold.
Not the only toy that should have been adjusted for the Transformers release too.
In early 1983, I witnessed my first transforming toy -- a dune buggy in the GoBots line code-named "Buggy Man." Later that year, I began to see advertisements on TV for "Diakron" (the American name for Diaclone) three vehicles that transformed into cars. I got one of them for Christmas that year (DK1, the Lamborghini Countach), but I never got the pickup truck (later released as "Trailbreaker") or the van. So when the Transformers line finally came out in 1984, my first Autobot car purchase was Ironhide. I loved that toy, and I never regretted it, not even for a second, because I had some Diaclone figures to put in his cockpit, which was awesome.
Thank you for posting.
Everything is going to be someone's first or favorite. Even toys that are pretty disliked like the Nissan Van, others are going to see a lot of entertainment value or interest in them. How you are presented the toy matters a lot too.
No problem, I enjoyed making it. I think given the well of topics, I'll be making Diaclone / Micro Change videos for a while lol.
Ironhide and Ratchet were fine in their vehicle mode, but they're transformation to robot was just goofy looking. I can't remember if I every got either of them as they weren't on the top of my want list.
A few people that grew up with G1 have mentioned seeing some of the originals in box and putting them down. It'd be interesting to find out who are the more plentiful G1 toys, the ones kids bought a lot of.
Great video!! I’m sure them being so disliked as toys contributed to their demise in the animation movie!! I’m glad I have my SS 86 version of both!!
I had Ironhide as a kid. I absolutely loved that toy, even if it didn’t match the tv show. Pulled all of my G1 toys out several years ago, and he’s still one of my favorites. 🤷♂️
I'm curious from a Transformers perspective, what exactly about him did it for you? The battle station?
"Iron Hide and Rachet were horrible! Megatron was a bit gay too, but.....:-/ !"
I got Ironhide and Ratchet in '84, and I'm not saying I'm special, but in the late 70's my dad was stationed in Okinawa and for my 6th birthday sent me what was called the Microman Surveyor One. So I understood that Micronauts came from somewhere else, and then I got those first 3 Zoids from Tomy, so things like the little cockpit of the crane in Prime's trailer and Ironhide/Ratchet I kinda understood. When I opened Soundwave and saw the copyright 1974 Takara imprint I wondered what took so long lol.
The 74 copyright relates to Microman, not the Cassetteman toy specifically, but yeah. I do have to wonder if the pilot seats and cockpits in the Diaclone toys tipped anyone off that these were repurposed toys back in the day.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder thanks that makes more sense now. I love learning something new everyday 😊
I feel really bad for any 80’s kids who were watching Transformers, and wanted to get toys of their favorite characters, Ironhide and Ratchet, only to go to the store and see these weird, headless mech shells.
Would have traumatized me as a kid. Glad we have actual Ironhide and Ratchet figures these days.
Yep. I was one. Big regret asking the parents for Ironhide.
I got these to try complete the collection back than, ugly and hated them.
@@DireTribble Man, I’m sorry, for you and them. Hope you got a real Ironhide toy when they came out.
I rewatched a lot of S1 prior to writing this video to refresh my memory since I haven't seen a lot of S1 in ages. I'm gonna say it, I can't imagine them being anyone's favorite. The show seems more interested in pushing Prime, Hound, Mirage, Bee, Starscream, Soundwave, Rumble and Megatron than anyone else early on. Even Wheeljack gets a decent push. I was actually shocked how little energy they put in Ratchet, Ironhide, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Jazz and Prowl, but I get it from a writing perspective.
Count me amongst the opposition. I love the mech suit presentation. That was the main thrust of all robot toys in the pre-TF early 80s. It didn't bother me that the show looked different. Ironhide was an extreme but none of the other characters matched either. Megatron was probably more distracting to me.
That's actually interesting you'd find Megatron more distracting. I really like that toy, despite what I think my video on it leads people to believe, is it that the toy has a much more heroic face? He's super likeable and if it was legal for me to own one, MP36+ was something I'd want.
Just wait till we get a missing link version
If we do. I would assume, unless they have an absolutely mind-blowing toy in mind, it's a very long way away. I'd assume Jet Robo and the Datsuns would happen sooner. Or maybe Cassette Man since he'd need little work.
I remember when my friend got them and I looked at em and though "r u serious?" I thought he already broke them
Hard to take seriously in the Transformers context, huh?
Within the release of the Encore reissues of the Nissan C20 robots, the company BestToys made the heads for Ironhide and Ratchet.
I think I've seen those before on TFW2005 or Seibertron.
I would say Wheelie beats both ratchet and Ironhide..though those two did suck
Wheelie's toy is fine. Pretty standard Mini-Vehicle.
I had Ratchet, & he was my least favorite Transformer. I remember thinking that he needed a pilot behind his windshield.
I can see them being someone's least favorite, definitely. In retrospect, it's curious that the Takara reissues didn't include a couple of Diaclone Pilots, maybe cost was an issue.
I'm sure you could find other toys that are even more universally hated if you look beyond G1. Cause some of us are aware that Ironhide and Ratchet were meant to piloted mech suits in Diaclone and it's actually the cartoon that's inaccurate to the toy not the other way around because the toy came first,
There's the Action Masters toy line that is universally hated by everyone because it's a Transformers toy line that don't transform.
There are designs where the animation model was made first and the toys we designed to look like the animation and still managed to fail at doing that.
How about Rodimus Prime. It's one of the first toys actually designed specifically for Transformers. The animation model was designed first before the toy which looks nothing like it. It's a character most people hate And the figure only has 2 points of articulation which granted a lot of G1 toys didn't have a lot of articulation but when the figure doesn't look good and is a huge downgrade from the toy it's suppose to replace. I actually like Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime and Hot Rod and Optimus Prime are both better toys than Rodimus Prime.
Beyond G1, sure and I do intend to get around to them. I mentioned my intent to make this a series if this one did well, which it did. I have more Ironhides to cover, but only one I genuinely think is a bad toy lol
I'm not sure Action Masters, or my personal whipping boy, Pretenders, can really be called the most hated part of the franchise now. We've grown accustomed to non-transforming Transformers and people ask for toys of both Action Masters and Pretenders. Ironhide and Ratchet still get a lot of heat because honestly, people can't appreciate them for what they are, Diaclone, which is a big theme of the video.
The Rodimus Prime thing comes up in a video I'm working on, but it's very much generational. If you grew up after the fact, where Rodimus was an established character and the film was out before you were born, the vitriol isn't there. The younger generations are much more receptive of the 86 cast than the original kids that experienced it in real time were. The toy seems more glossed over now than hated too. It wasn't meant to replace Hot Rod though, but supplement. They are from the same assortment after all. I do get not liking it, it's too simple, but as someone who didn't experience it in real time, I can't say it's any worse than say Scourge. The only real stand outs from the 86 assortment are Hot Rod and Cyclonus for a reason. Hasbro really should invest in a new Cyclonus mold.
Quick little tip those binoculars that turn into a robot we're sold here in Canada and packed into the Transformers line if need be odds are I can dig them out and take a picture I got them as a kid I forget if mine are damaged or not but I'm about 75% sure they're in among the Transformers on shelves in the back room. I've got a collection of 200 or more Generation 1 Transformers and before somebody whines they didn't make that many start factoring and stuff like where they made multiples with different colored plastic not to mention I've got some of the really Oddball rare ones that were technically knock offs like I have Godzilla Grimlock. There was a variant of Grimlock that turned into Godzilla from a robot I'm not making it up dachlan I think was the ones that released it and they were sold here locally. One that I got is missing part of the tale of memory serves me. I lost track of how many they released in the generation one line between many cons Headmasters and all sorts of weird obscure absorbments that didn't actually have their own cartoon to ins. I even have some of the battle beasts which they tried to shoot into Generation 1 LOL I didn't know the battle beasts were part of Transformers till I got a DVD box set a few years back. I thought a piece was missing from Ironhide all this time where he's got that whole where his crotch would be I didn't know it came that way Factory
I've read about the Pre-Transformers making it to different markets, but it's interesting Canada is one of those markets. How is Scopeman as a toy?
I'm familiar with the Godzilla Grimlock bootleg. I think it's the same line as the dragon Sludge with the wings?
Yeah, I didn't mention it in the video, but the crotch is actually the first instance of weapon storge. The Van's gun goes there.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder The Ironhide that I have is actually made up of multiple parts that I acquired. I thought for a long time I was missing the head till I found out his head was just a sticker and I've often been tempted to get ahead from one of the other Transformers and glue it in the seat in front of the sticker;). i rebuild a lot of them from parts the binoculars are kind of a lackluster Transformer and I remember being confused they were in the show I think the binoculars are even in some of the advertising material whether it was a consumer's catalog or actually in Transformers catalogs that came with the figures. I'm sure you're familiar with the camera that turns into three separate robots there was a crap ton of variance of that Transformer sold here in Canada.
The helicopter that turns into a giant cassette tape was sold through consumers as well as a few mom and pop stores I had a black cassette and a red cassette that turned into vehicles but I don't know if I still have them or if I sold them back when I had an ebay account sold a lot of stuff on eBay at one point where I had multiples like four and five of some Transformers and at that point they were going for really high prices. There's a really rare version of Bumblebee that I might have had and sold where are they all look alike to me apparently there is a version with a little circle stamped in part of the plastic or diecast with a little logo on the circle copyright Mark or something like that and it's a pretty rare version of Bumblebee. I've got sea spray still in the original package. Guy at a yard sale flea market type thing apparently had 30 or 40 Transformers in the packages that had been found in a storage locker and he only had one left guy literally said somebody bought all of those and missed that one and I'm shaking my head when the guy says I must have had 30 or 40 of those weird looking robots. The guy was in his 60s and had no idea what they were. He had several boxes of unopened Transformers from Generation 1.the package isn't in a one condition but 15 years ago it wasn't exactly common to find a generation one in the package even on eBay back then. I eventually got to get all the pieces from Beast Wars in one place and see which ones I have enough pieces to put together. I used to randomly get pieces of Beast Wars Transformers all over the place because they're like Lego blocks where they come apart with ball sockets. They eventually abandoned that design after a couple of waves I think when they got into that transmetal Transformers Beast Wars most of them were not done with ball socket design. Most of my Transformers I got as a kid at thrift stores and yard sales and now and then one here and there for like birthdays and Christmas. Believe it or not they were way more expensive here than they were in the US. You also had a lot of places like consumers and little mom and pop toy stores that would get the stuff from Japan in the original Japanese packaging a lot of toys we had sold here at smaller Outlets were in complete Japanese packaging with no English writing. So we got a whole lot of stuff like the original Voltron and a lot of toys that didn't even have cartoons here there were all sorts of toys that were multiple robots that combined into a big robot kind of like Voltron. As an example I have a mostly diecast lying that turns into a body part of a bigger robot robot was made up of a spaceship a lion and I forget what else that turn into a big robot. GoBots was another hodgepodge line that some of the toys from goldbots were actually stand alone and got merged into the goldbots line when they got brought down here to our side of the fence. There was a squirt gun as an example and a robot that turns into a hunting rifle they were merged into the goldbots line from other toy lines.
I've got a really weird transforming robot that's not a Transformer or a cobot and never been able to identify it I still own it. The thing is quite large for the day it turns into a blue and yellow and black eagle and from the eagle form it turns into a big robot about 14 inches high. The robot that turned into a pair of binoculars was kind of gimmicky if memory serves me little Chrome pieces were prone to break off real easy an it didn't have much movement once in robot mode
I just wish they’d release the original jetfire again.
Does Bandai put out the Valkyrie still? Probably the closest you're getting.
I have never had a issue with the mold. As someone who prefers toy accuracy to animation accuracy, I thought the toys were pretty good. Still do. There's a lot you can do with them that you can't do with, say, SS86 Ironhide or Ratchet. And I like those too.
I think a lot of the fandom prefers the cartoon accuracy, but I'm with you for the most part. Yellow eyes Prime, toy head Bee and toy Megatron do a lot more for me than the animation in terms of design. For the Van, I really think if I tracked one down, it'd have to be Diaclone over Transformers. I'd need those pilots to properly enjoy it.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Fair. I know, if I had had the option when I was a kid, I would have chosen the one with the little dude as well.
I was lucky enough to find that Diaclone red vanette at a flea market in SW Ohio as a kid in the mid 80s. There was a vendor there who sold a lot of imported toys from Japan/HK/Taiwan. Loved how it's scale and pilot could play well with my favoritest toy ever - G1 Optimus!
That is a great find! Still got it and more importantly, the pilot?
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Alas, I was one of those dummies who unloaded their 80s toys in late 90s. Now I'm forced to relive my childhood vicariously through CZcams. My loss is your gain. 😄
@@CB-ke7eq I'll always be thankful my mum never forced me to do that and I never went through that phase.
80s was a mixed bag we get names like slag and spazstic (which quickly got taken off of the shelves.
Spastic is from 2011's Power Core Combiners though, not G1.
I'm someone who would've hated to get figures with no heads as much as I do love piloted mech suits. My Studio Series Ratchet and Ironhide look dang good on my shelf though.
Yeah, I'd think SS86 and the MP do it for a lot of people who aren't fussed on the originals.
you forgot to add... "Any version of Megatron which is a Tank in fact anything thats not a Megatron g1 gun is......" to the title mate.....
Yeah, nah. Animated Megs is pretty well loved, so is TLK. Cybertron, Armada and G2 have thier fans.
Through the whole video, I thought he was saying, "Missing vanette". I kept thinking, "what is he saying that's missing?", until I realized he was mispronouncing, Nissan as "missing". Nissan is pronounced (Nee-sahn)
That's how Nissan is pronounced in Australia. Kind of like how no one pronounces Aldi in its proper German.
Takara toys were always weird. Is Floro Dery who fixed the toys by designing the cartoon representation of each character.
I wouldn't say he fixed them, but he made the iconic ones we remember today. Truth be told, till I looked it up, didn't know he worked on S1 and S2. I'd only heard his name in the context of the Movie and S3.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder from Megatron to iron hide, he fixed them all 😉
WHEELIE
DONT DARE SAY HE ISN'T
HE ISN'T. He's a bog standard Mini-Vehicle, nothing remarkable beyond the old guard disliking him in the cartoon.
Ironhide was my favourite character in the cartoon so I picked this toy out for my birthday when I was 7 or 8. I was confused after transforming it to robot mode because I couldn’t find the head! I was so disappointed when i found out the robot mode was a half-arsed piece of red crap and I regretted picking it out to buy. 30 yrs on I’m much older now and it still pisses me off when I think about it because I was duped! 😂. They never should have sold it as Ironhide.
I wonder if they'll make it into the 'Missing Link' line :D
Never hated the mold, not once. I actually loved the van mode and the bot mode, while not toon accurate in any way, i still liked it. The sled was cool to me. I even bought the Encore reissues when they came out.
I think it's a thing if you can appreciate it, you'll like it a lot. I do think the toy had a lot of potential and just needed a bit more work to properly adapt, but it's not the only Diaclone toy that could have used new parts / modification to be better used in Transformers...
So Ironhide and Ratchet were the first Headmasters... (till they weren't)
Both should have been Headmasters in Titans Return. Fit them better than Soundwave and Blaster.
as a kid in the 80's i never had ratchet. but i did get ironhide for Christmas
How did you feel about Ironhide when he was new?
Only saw one at a babysitter's house I can't remember if it was Ironhide or Ratchet.
If it's not POTP RODIMUS PRIME, I don't want to hear it.
I hate that thing with an ABIDING hate.
Honestly? I really enjoy that toy and what it's going for. Way more fun in terms of play value and action features than Kingdom.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder You can't be serious.
Restricted articulation.
Massive backpack.
Sorry quality control.
Subpar paint apps.
It almost made me HATE the hot rod figure forever.
Until the studio series 86' arrived.
My priorities are different. I like toys more than display pieces and adore the evolution play pattern of the PotP Leaders. It's fun having them go from base form to super form, like Powermaster Prime or Ultra Magnus. Wish I didn't pass on Optimal Optimus, but I bought both decos for Prime and Rodimus. I really like Kingdom Ultra Magnus too :D
At least it's not Titanium Megatron.
Wasn't Ironhide supposed to be a mech suit? The head is really the seat
Not in Transformers, but the Pre-Transformers toy, yeah. Hasbro just put a sticker over the seat and called it a day. "Kids are dumb, they'll buy it" I would guess was the rational.
It would have to be the original ironhide/ratchet figure with no head, in my opinion.
A lot of people take that perspective and it's easy to see why.
"Such heroic nonsense"
Noooo.....
I like the vehicle modes better.
It is a nice little van toy, yeah.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder It sure is.
They should've added heads instead.
Not the only G1 toy that needed Hasbro to invest in new parts for the Transformers conversion. That topic comes up in an upcoming video actually.
Ironhide was pretty 86 movie accurate
In pieces and without a head?
I disagree. I loved both Ironhide and Ratchet - yeah they were nothing like the cartoon but Ironhide was one of my favourites. Funnily enough he died whilst I was playing with him and snapped into bits in the middle.
OMG yer those tow were terrible use of the toy's mould yes it was good in Diaclone but for Transformers they should used something different, I also wich they had used that Triple changer Helicopter I think he would of been a great Autobot to help them even the play field to have a bot who can fight in the air like Powerglide. Some of those cartoon models look alot like you said the other Diaclone moulds. I even think for Megatron the other would of been a better choice as he looked closer to the cartoon.
I agree on the triple changer. It's interesting how it and the Trains are literally the only Diaclone toys missing from US Transformers. Trains are easily explained, they don't sell well in the US, but the the chopper feels like it'd be fine. It's not a bad toy or unfitting or anything.
Eh I still say the transformers that combine to turn into a camera is even worse.
Being a redemption offer meant it wasn't widely distributed. Not enough Reflector around for anyone to have a big opinion on it.
It better be Blurr…
Nah, Blurr's alright. Provided you have the shield though.
Love the looks, super cute😎✌️
Peak video
Thanks! :D
Bullet Bike is worse.. and even he has rubber tires.
There is a lot of really bad stuff people discount or forgot too. the Kids meal Rhinox is a notebly bad one too but the Burger king ones were often much worse than even that was.
One could argue that the "worse" could be looked at in other ways entirely say for example Legacy Blitzwing for having 2 of his 3 modes that suck.
Bullet Bike?
at least we have ubgrade kits for them
And I thought it was GI JOE titanium series Megatron
I don't think anyone really cares about that toy all that much beyond CZcams videos. I might get to it eventually, but I think Ironhide and Ratchet mean more to people.
they shoudl ahve gone back to the drawing board on iron hide anbd ratchet .. as the toy looked Nothing like the cahracters at all except in vehicle form.
That's now how G1 was done. It was a reuse of existing toys, the best they could have done would have been retool the molds or add to them. That said, they should have added to them.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder well yeah i lived it dude .. Me my brother and our cousin jason had a ton of the transformers , we all had optimus prime, only i had Megatron because toy gun laws changed in the US like a monmth after his release and his toy got canceled. but my cousin ahd the most , and quite a few of them me nor my brother had. and out of the three of us onlyu one of us had Iron hide and ratchet .... My cousin of course.. and of all the transformers he had that we didn't have those were the only two we didn't care to play with when we visited him.
they were jsut shitty in looks and didn't feel worth their cost. even back then.
I like your dog.
I bought the hobby heads for mine
Do those sit behind the windscreen or above?
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder behind, over the seat but the heads still pop up. Still looks awful but it is an improvement
This isnt G1 Wheelie
Wheelie's not a well-liked character, but his toy is a perfectly fine mini vehicle. Kind of creepy face though.
That why you get the master piece version
Sucks for people wanting an Ironhide prior to 2016, huh?
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder I've seen a few good ironhides and Rachet g1 style
Toon or toy?
@SGD_ToysDownUnder master piece version of g1 seen reviews on channels here transformers them with heads in robot form wow
Yeah, but that doesn't help anyone from 1984-2015. That's why I was a bit confused by your comment; the context of the video is 1984, not current day.
ASs swede i didn't have so much problem with ratchet and ironhide for the cartoons was only for rich ppl with satellite tv so the cartoon look wasn't the default look and early marvel comic used the toy look. Also robots didnt need to look humanoid for the most popular robots f the time wasn't humans as exempel R2-D2. so i think if they had been looked as the toys in the cartoon so would this been a none issue.
Completely divorced from the media, I could imagine the toys are a bit easier to take in. But didn't you have Diaclone and Microchange with the pilots up there like Italy did?
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder yes we had diaclone and microchange also but as a kid i never connected them with transformers. it was weird for then we had store surplus of them repackaged as transformers later so weird colours of g1 one transformers was a thing, it didn't help that hasbro even put out transformers toys in none canonic colours it is how i got a red tracks and a yellow trailbreaker, which is the diaclone colour. so without the cartoon was it easy to accept the differences.
Well, our regions are what showed Transformers still had legs for precisely this reason. If it wasn't for the 1992 toys doing well on the merits of the toys alone with no media tie in, we wouldn't be here today talking about Transformers.
Ironhide is the worst transformer of g1
Toy wise, yes.
But also a pretty good Diaclone release.
Only "muh cartoon accuracy" fanatics hate this toy. Because the cartoon was such a high set of standards...
Oh yeah, you're absolutely right, but that's far more of the fanbase than I think many realise. MP wouldn't have gone in the direction it did if that wasn't the case.
Weel not every Transformer can become a legend
True, but I don't think there is a toy quite this controversial till like the Nissan mold till the mid 90s with Injector. I need to buy an Injector for the channel me thinks...
For me the worst figure ever in transformers is earthirse Cliffjumper
Really? That's your worst figure ever? I can think a so many more off the top of my head.
I'm not keen on that mold myself, but yeah. Not even in my radar for a worst transformer. Maybe Perspective End would put it on that list lol.