Review #94:
Old & New Hound (Universe & Combiner Wars)
-- Sky Reign Review Series #3 --
and Unite Warriors Nosecone
-- Computron Review Series #2 --
Today we'll be looking at two Hounds (and old and a new version), and a Nosecone who is in the same mold family as the newer Hound. I can't really call Nosecone a remold of Hound himself, though, as they are both different remolds of an earlier figure. And so, before we get into the molds I actually own and am reviewing, a quick look at the mold they are derived from.
For better or for worse, Hasbro seemed determined to try new things in Combiner Wars with the make up of the classic combiner teams. They felt the need to change things up with a team full of jets by replacing one with a helicopter. They felt the need to shake up a team with sports car limb-bots by replacing one of them with a pick-up truck. So it should be no surprise that they couldn't leave well enough alone with the Protectobots. This Autobot gestalt (which I shall have to review one of these days) is classically made up from a fire truck, a rescue helicopter, a police car, an ambulance, and a police motorcycle.
For better or for worse, Hasbro seemed determined to try new things in Combiner Wars with the make up of the classic combiner teams. They felt the need to change things up with a team full of jets by replacing one with a helicopter. They felt the need to shake up a team with sports car limb-bots by replacing one of them with a pick-up truck. So it should be no surprise that they couldn't leave well enough alone with the Protectobots. This Autobot gestalt (which I shall have to review one of these days) is classically made up from a fire truck, a rescue helicopter, a police car, an ambulance, and a police motorcycle.
Hasbro decided to demote the motorcycle from being a limb into being a chest minion (like Hot Rod was on Ultra Prime) and a new character was created to take over as the fourth limb. This new character was named Rook, and he transformed into an armored SWAT vehicle. More about him with the eventual review the Protectobots, but Rook is worth mentioning as he was remolded into someone else...
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Was this someone else one of the toys we're reviewing today? Nope! It was extensively remolded to make the Combaticon Swindle. Now, I already had a group of Combaticons I was quite happy with, and so I didn't feel I needed to rush out and get the Combiner Wars ones.
But this is Combiner Wars we're talking about, here. If I wanted to sample this mold, all I would have to to is wait a little while, and another toy that I wanted would be released using it! And sure enough, Hasbro looked at Swindle and said, "Who else do we have that is a Jeep?" |
Thus Combiner Wars Hound came to be. Much like previously reviewed Combiner Wars limb-bots who aren't from pre-established gestalts, however, this Hound is not the first Classics style Hound I have owned. And like with Ultra Prime's limb-bots, the older toy is one I haven't reviewed yet on this site. So today, we will be looking at both the Combiner Wars Hound from 2016 and the earlier Universe toy from 2008.
Both are, as one would expect, green military Jeeps. But these are two very different takes on the concept. The 2008 figure is a much more realistic looking Jeep, while the 2016 figure is a more stylized idea of a Jeep. |
Universe Hound has some augmentations worth mentioning. He has Reprolabels, plus the silver gun on him is one of the accessories that came with the G3 Trailer for Classics Optimus Prime (which you might remember from this website's very first review). There is also a set available for Combiner Wars Hound, but I don't yet have it.
Universe Hound came in a two pack with another figure I've already reviewed. Ravage! Hound has two little tabs that can fold out for Ravage to attach to. |
Now I typically use just the third party silver gun with Universe Hound's vehicle mode, but you can attach both that and his stock accessory if you wish. They attach in the same way, sliding into a slots on the back of the vehicle mode's seats. Two seats for two guns!
Meanwhile, Combiner Wars Hound has another accessory as well: his hand-foot-gun thingy. That and his other gun can both be attached a few different ways. You can plug them into peg holes, or if symmetry is your thing, you can plug the hand-foot-gun thingy onto a centered peg on hound, then plug the other gun onto the peg on the hand-foot-gun thingy. |
Moving onto robot mode, the 2008 figure is a great looking representation of the character, while the 2016 figure is like Hound on steroids. That being said, he is a Hound that fits in with the aesthetics of Combiner Wars, so he won't look out of place when displayed with other Combiner Wars figures.
The Combiner Wars version is reworked ever so slightly from the Swindle version of the mold. He has a new head, obviously. In addition, a few little nubs were added to the silver gun. This change apparently also made it to later productions of Swindle, but it seems to have been done to allow it to be shoulder mounted to better emulate Hound's shoulder missile. This leaves the hand-foot-gun thingy to be his hand held weapon. |
The 2008 figure definitely benefits in robot mode from the addition of the third party weapon, allowing his stock gun to be used as that Hound's shoulder missile. Either weapon could be wielded in Hound's hand or placed over his shoulder, although the shoulder attachment is tenuous at best and is mainly only good for shelf display, not for actively being played with. But for that shelf display, having the shoulder mounted missile and the separate hand weapon really completes his look.
Both figures have great, near identical articulation. Heads are on ball joints. Shoulders are on ball joints. There are upper arm swivels and elbow bends. The waists swivel. Hips are on ball joints. There are upper leg swivels and knee bends. And, especially impressive on the Combiner Wars figure as this isn't a joint seen on many other Deluxe figures in this line, both Hounds have ankle tilts! There is a transformation joint in the shoulder area on the Combiner Wars figure that can also provide a bit of forward/backwards movement on the arms.
All in all, if I had to pick just one Hound to have, it would unquestionably be the 2008 figure. He just feels like the definitive modern update of the character, and I don't think you'll get much better than this unless they decide to do a version of Hound in the Masterpiece line. My copy of him is showing a bit of wear in the joints, but I'm sure that if I wanted to, that I could tighten them up.
Combiner Wars Hound isn't a bad Hound, though. And if you dig the whole combining gimmick even with random characters who didn't previously do so, which frankly I have come to dig, he has that going for him as added play value! If you're looking for a Hound to give to a kid, or if you're a more recent collector who would have a hard time tracking down a toy that's ten years old, the Combiner Wars version isn't a bad option! The Universe toy is the better representation of Hound, but they are both good toys to own! If you have the room, why not both? |
That about wraps it up for Hound. But how about Nosecone? Nosecone is a member of the Technobots, of whom we have already looked at Lightspeed. As you may remember from that review, Hasbro and Takara had very different takes on that character. The same is true for Nosecone, and the two companies used completely different molds for the character.
The mold that Hasbro used had its start as another member of the Combaticons, the tank Brawl. This is, unless I am forgetting someone, the one Combiner Wars/Unite Warriors mold that I don't have any version of, which is kind of impressive if you consider how often these various molds ended up getting reused. (Heck, some of them are still getting reused in Power of the Primes!) Takara, meanwhile, took the Rook mold and made a second remold of it, distinct from the Swindle/Hound remold, to make their interpretation of the Technobot Nosecone.
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Like with Lightspeed, we will compare both modern Nosecones with the G1 toy and the G1 cartoon model. Here he is in vehicle mode:
In vehicle mode, the Hasbro one is spot-on color-wise to the G1 toy, while the Takara one's coloring seems to take inspiration more from the cartoon. Mold-wise, Hasbro's is... well, it's a pretty standard looking Earth base tank, backwards, with a petite drill tacked onto it. Takara's, however, took the Rook mold and really made it look like a pretty great modern update of Nosecone!
Looking at him next to Hound, it would be easy to miss that they are the same base toy. Aside from some similarities in the very back, in vehicle mode these look like completely different toys! The huge-ass drill adds a lot of mass to Nosecone, making him seem much larger than a usual Deluxe Class toy.
It is my understanding that Hasbro's Nosecone's drill is a completely static piece, where as Takara's can rotate. Not freely, but it can spin. Also, the tip is on a spring and can be pushed in, but this is mainly a safety feature so people don't stab themselves with it.
Nosecone definitely had a visit from the accessory fairy. He has the gun center on top. The two weapons on his sides (which could be additional guns, or missiles). The drill itself attaches to the body of the vehicle via a 5mm peg. And finally, it isn't in these photos as I've not been using them, but he'd also theoretically have his own hand-foot-gun thingy! He is also blessed with a plethora of 5mm peg holes. His vehicle mode sports a total of eight of them. Now the way I have Nosecone assembled in the photos above is certainly closest to his G1 configuration, and is how I have him when I have him displayed in vehicle mode. But if one wishes, one can certainly switch things up. Here's one alternate example:
Nosecone definitely had a visit from the accessory fairy. He has the gun center on top. The two weapons on his sides (which could be additional guns, or missiles). The drill itself attaches to the body of the vehicle via a 5mm peg. And finally, it isn't in these photos as I've not been using them, but he'd also theoretically have his own hand-foot-gun thingy! He is also blessed with a plethora of 5mm peg holes. His vehicle mode sports a total of eight of them. Now the way I have Nosecone assembled in the photos above is certainly closest to his G1 configuration, and is how I have him when I have him displayed in vehicle mode. But if one wishes, one can certainly switch things up. Here's one alternate example:
It is worth noting that not having the smaller twin weapons plugged into their default location does reveal a bit of unfortunate gappiness under the cockpit area. It doesn't bother me normally as it is hardly noticeable when things are all in the default configuration. But it is there and does look unsightly when exposed.
Now, let's get Nosecone into robot mode! To start, the comparison of all the Nosecones:
Now, let's get Nosecone into robot mode! To start, the comparison of all the Nosecones:
Color-wise, once again we see that Hasbro's seems to be taking its inspiration more from the toy, whereas Takara took theirs more from the cartoon. Mold-wise, Hasbro's is pretty much unchanged from Brawl, aside from switching out his weapon for the drill accessory. If they'd at least given him a new head, it could have helped. But as it is, he just has Brawl's head painted up in the Nosecone toy's head's coloring. It is nice that he has tank tread arms, which match well to G1 Nosecone, but that aside, he doesn't really scream Nosecone to me.
Takara's Nosecone, however... My god, that mold really works for the character! Yes, he doesn't have tank tread arms. But in every other way, he really seems to work. Let's look at him some more with Hound alongside him for comparison.
Takara's Nosecone, however... My god, that mold really works for the character! Yes, he doesn't have tank tread arms. But in every other way, he really seems to work. Let's look at him some more with Hound alongside him for comparison.
Yes, they have the same basic body shape, but beyond that, this is two very different interpretations of the same mold resulting in two very distinct characters. And Nosecone rocks this mold quite well!
Nosecone has an interesting quirk that he shares with the original Rook version of this mold but which had been changed for the Swindle/Hound version: where the peg holes are on his fists. Usually on Transformers, they are through the fist from top to bottom, allowing one to plug weapons or other accessories into them to make it look like the robot is holding them. In Nosecone's case, however, the peg hole is on the front of the fist! All three of Nosecone's weapon accessories have pegs on both their bottoms and their backs so that they can be used by either Nosecone or by others with more standard fists.
This unusual peg hole placement does have a few advantages. Firstly, if left empty, it can just look like Nosecone has built-in guns on his fists. Secondly, one can take a combiner fist and plug it in there to give Nosecone a "Hulk Hand." (Scroll back up and check out the photo of Rook back at the top of the review to see an example of this.) Finally, you can take Nosecone's drill and plug it in there! One punch with that would be sure to wreck any Decepticon's day!
Articulation-wise, Nosecone is identical to what we saw on Hound.
Nosecone has an interesting quirk that he shares with the original Rook version of this mold but which had been changed for the Swindle/Hound version: where the peg holes are on his fists. Usually on Transformers, they are through the fist from top to bottom, allowing one to plug weapons or other accessories into them to make it look like the robot is holding them. In Nosecone's case, however, the peg hole is on the front of the fist! All three of Nosecone's weapon accessories have pegs on both their bottoms and their backs so that they can be used by either Nosecone or by others with more standard fists.
This unusual peg hole placement does have a few advantages. Firstly, if left empty, it can just look like Nosecone has built-in guns on his fists. Secondly, one can take a combiner fist and plug it in there to give Nosecone a "Hulk Hand." (Scroll back up and check out the photo of Rook back at the top of the review to see an example of this.) Finally, you can take Nosecone's drill and plug it in there! One punch with that would be sure to wreck any Decepticon's day!
Articulation-wise, Nosecone is identical to what we saw on Hound.
Much like in vehicle mode, Nosecone features a plethora of peg holes allowing for a bit of fun switching around what goes where if you wish.
This Nosecone is an awesome freaking toy, even as a stand alone figure. Hell, it's almost a shame that he is part of a combiner, because you almost don't want to loose having him as an individual when you put everyone together! (Of course, this is why I periodically change the modes everyone is in on my shelves. Why would I want to limit myself to enjoying only one of each of my figures' modes?) Hasbro's Nosecone? Eh, it isn't awful, and if it was the only option, I'd have dealt. But my god, this Nosecone is worth the difference in costs between the domestic and imported versions of the Technobots by himself! If it is within your means, I highly recommend picking him up.
So to sum up: three great figures. If you must choose between the Hounds, and if it is within your means, get the older one. But if you have the option, why not both? And Nosecone. You must have one in your life. It is not an option! Go out and get one right now. To the right, a size comparison with a standard DVD case. |
Below, a look at these figures on the shelves they live on in my home.
Review added 14 March 2017 by Yotsuya. Comments are welcomed!