Post by Philip Ayres on Oct 12, 2010 19:46:05 GMT
Hound
Hound is another Transformer car who first appeared as a Diaclone Toy, in this case #12 J59 Jeep. The jeep is dark green and open topped, showing clearly the black seats that a Diaclone driver can sit in. He comes with a chromed silver gun, mounted on the rear deck, that turns and elevates. The rear of the vehicle has a green plastic oil can and black plastic spare tire. All removable, all loseable. In addition to his clear window that raise up & down he has some chromed headlights and wing mirrors which stick out to the sides. The wing mirrors are rather venerable and can snap off.
Transform: Remove the spare tire, oil can and gun and set aside. None are used in the robot mode. Pull the rear & front of the vehicle apart. Fold the rear of the vehicle back 90 degrees so that the rear deck forms the base of the feet. Fold the seats forward to become the robot's heels. Stand with the underside of the vehicle facing forward. Swing the side panels down 180 degrees. Fold the front of the vehicle forward 90 degrees so the radiator becomes the robot's chest. This motion raises the head automatically - is Hound the first auto transforming toy? Fold the front wheels back 180 degrees which causes the arms to extend out to the sides from under the bonnet. Fold these down. Peg his gun into one hand and clip his missile launcher onto the back of one of the shoulders.
Before I get going on the robot mode I have to ask why the robot mode uses a different gun to the vehicle mode? Stick a peg on the back of the vehicle mode gun and he'd hold it fine. The robot, quite small even by the standards of the Diaclone toys, keeps a lot of green from the vehicle mode with some more black on the arms, waist & lower legs while the upper legs and struts holding the front wheels are the chromed silver used for the radiator & the headlights. Articulation is minimal, just the arms that raise at the shoulders.
I like the distinctiveness of Hound. He's the only military Autobot in the first year of the cars. The auto tf elements are good but he's too small as a robot and need lots more articulation. Fortunately the classics version updates him well and fixes these problems.
Hound was released in the USA & UK in 1984. In Japan he was Transformer release number 2. For a long while Hound was considered to be one of the lost Transformers moulds. Then in 2004 he was reissued in Takara's Transformers Collection as release number 14. Hound is the last of the 1984/5 cars to appear in the Transformers Collection series.
Hound's first remake version is the unreleased G2 Sgt Hound, repaint of Autoroller Roadblock. In 2004 a Hound Alternator was released, followed by Universe Legends Hound in 2008 and finally the deluxe Classics Hound who was later released as Henkei C-13 Hound. There's also Movie Strongarm, a Hound lookalike recolour of Energon's Strongarm (as opposed to the awful Energon Strongarm)
E-Hobby Detritus
Hound didn't have a Diaclone repaint so for his E-Hobby version an all new colour scheme was created based on a desert colour scheme:
Green becomes a sandy brown.
Black becomes a darker brown.
Chromed silver becomes beige.
His tech spec says he's neither Destron nor Cybertron but instead a Junkion, from the same planet as Wreck-Gar.
This recolour doesn't work for me. It's too plain and too plasticy looking almost like a Knock off version of Hound.
Hound is another Transformer car who first appeared as a Diaclone Toy, in this case #12 J59 Jeep. The jeep is dark green and open topped, showing clearly the black seats that a Diaclone driver can sit in. He comes with a chromed silver gun, mounted on the rear deck, that turns and elevates. The rear of the vehicle has a green plastic oil can and black plastic spare tire. All removable, all loseable. In addition to his clear window that raise up & down he has some chromed headlights and wing mirrors which stick out to the sides. The wing mirrors are rather venerable and can snap off.
Transform: Remove the spare tire, oil can and gun and set aside. None are used in the robot mode. Pull the rear & front of the vehicle apart. Fold the rear of the vehicle back 90 degrees so that the rear deck forms the base of the feet. Fold the seats forward to become the robot's heels. Stand with the underside of the vehicle facing forward. Swing the side panels down 180 degrees. Fold the front of the vehicle forward 90 degrees so the radiator becomes the robot's chest. This motion raises the head automatically - is Hound the first auto transforming toy? Fold the front wheels back 180 degrees which causes the arms to extend out to the sides from under the bonnet. Fold these down. Peg his gun into one hand and clip his missile launcher onto the back of one of the shoulders.
Before I get going on the robot mode I have to ask why the robot mode uses a different gun to the vehicle mode? Stick a peg on the back of the vehicle mode gun and he'd hold it fine. The robot, quite small even by the standards of the Diaclone toys, keeps a lot of green from the vehicle mode with some more black on the arms, waist & lower legs while the upper legs and struts holding the front wheels are the chromed silver used for the radiator & the headlights. Articulation is minimal, just the arms that raise at the shoulders.
I like the distinctiveness of Hound. He's the only military Autobot in the first year of the cars. The auto tf elements are good but he's too small as a robot and need lots more articulation. Fortunately the classics version updates him well and fixes these problems.
Hound was released in the USA & UK in 1984. In Japan he was Transformer release number 2. For a long while Hound was considered to be one of the lost Transformers moulds. Then in 2004 he was reissued in Takara's Transformers Collection as release number 14. Hound is the last of the 1984/5 cars to appear in the Transformers Collection series.
Hound's first remake version is the unreleased G2 Sgt Hound, repaint of Autoroller Roadblock. In 2004 a Hound Alternator was released, followed by Universe Legends Hound in 2008 and finally the deluxe Classics Hound who was later released as Henkei C-13 Hound. There's also Movie Strongarm, a Hound lookalike recolour of Energon's Strongarm (as opposed to the awful Energon Strongarm)
E-Hobby Detritus
Hound didn't have a Diaclone repaint so for his E-Hobby version an all new colour scheme was created based on a desert colour scheme:
Green becomes a sandy brown.
Black becomes a darker brown.
Chromed silver becomes beige.
His tech spec says he's neither Destron nor Cybertron but instead a Junkion, from the same planet as Wreck-Gar.
This recolour doesn't work for me. It's too plain and too plasticy looking almost like a Knock off version of Hound.