Toy Review: Transformers Age of Extinction Hound

So this evening after having put the kids to bed, I was making my rounds about the house to pick up any toys that may have been left out in their initial pre bed time clean up. I came across a Transformer that Liam received on his birthday and ended up losing about 30 minutes of time transforming this thing back and forth. I came to the realization that as much as I enjoy playing with these things with the kids, (and now apparently on my own) I should be doing toy reviews.

I've never really tried my hand at reviewing toys before so I'm basically just going to touch on the things I like and dislike about them. As always I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or feedback on doing these.

Here we have Hound as he is seen in the Age of Extinction film, which is drastically different from the Hound I remember from my childhood. In fact, I think the only similarities they share are in color scheme and that their vehicle modes are military related.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but from what I gather of screens and the footage I have seen the sculpt and dimensions of the figure represent him pretty accurately. The molding is nicely done, following the movie designs that seem to cover the Transformer's limbs in hundreds of tiny intricate parts. The paint job is simplistic but very clean. There's enough color on the base and accents to make him look nice enough without the molded intricate parts looking too bland as a single color.

He features a "quick draw" gimmick that puts him in the power attackers line of figures. His right arm has a huge cannon in hand that can quickly draw from a side arm position to aiming just by slightly moving the arm. It's a neat feature, unfortunately because of this you cannot remove the gun from his hand. Surprisingly it has held up from my kids flicking his arm probably thousands of times. It sometimes comes off track which causes him to draw the gun at weird angles, but it's easily adjustable to correct.

That being said, he's not very articulate at all. Aside from the quick draw action, the only other movable part on his body is his left arm which can swivel at the shoulder and can bend at the elbow.

Vehicle mode!

His transformation to vehicle mode is extremely simple. He's listed on the box as having 8 steps, but I find that you can almost fold everything into place all at once. The only annoying part is getting his gun to fit in the right place beneath him which will prevent his other parts from closing if not done correctly. Aside from that, I would recommend him as a good starting Transformer for younger children.

Again the paint job looks great, perhaps even better in vehicle mode. Is his disguise convincing? Only if you're looking at him from an angle slightly above I'm afraid. The nature of his transformation and the inclusion of the power attack gimmick unfortunately leaves his fists slightly visible beneath him if you're looking at him directly from the side. There's also nowhere for his head to really go underneath, so if you're looking at him dead on you can see his head sticking out of the bottom. Other than that he makes for a pretty sweet looking military truck.

I recommend Hound for the younger Transformers fans out there who would benefit from a simple transformation and may not care too much about poseability. Older fans looking for more articulation and a more challenging transformation probably won't enjoy him as much.

Pros:

-Nice detailed molding and acceptable color work.
-Neat gimmick that stands the test of continued play.
-Easy transformation.
-Good representation of the character in robot mode.

Cons:

-Extremely little articulation.
-Weapon is not removable.
-Parts showing in vehicle mode that almost makes him look like he wasn't transformed correctly.