Sunday

Transformers 3rd Party G1 Hound Showdown!

Decisions, decisions.

In the wild world of 3rd Party Transformer toys, it's not uncommon for several companies to release their own versions of the same characters. However, the practice has been most common with "sexier," high-concept ideas like combiners. That's now completely out the window. Within the same day, new images surfaced of two different nods to the oft-overlooked and under-appreciated Hound.

Begun, the Hound War has.

Maketoys Remaster Series Gun Dog Hound

Maketoys' "Gun Dog" is a 6 inch Masterpiece style take on Hound. There's an obvious adherence to the original character model, with just enough alteration for modern engineering. The shoulders can also be shifted downward for a look similar to that of the G1 toy. There's no mistaking who this 'Bot is meant to be.

TFC Toys Old Time Series Hound

On the other hand, TFC "Detective" takes a few more liberties with the design. The classic Hound silhouette is in place, but the details are filled out with a more modern aesthetic. Interestingly, the vehicle mode is quite realistic despite the robot's sharp, mecha-like paneling.

I personally prefer the cartoonier look of the Maketoys version. If I'm going to pay a premium for a collector-targeted "Transformer" toy, I want the one that more accurately captures the character. That said, TFC Toys' take still shows promise. Seeing that sort of robot design come from such a straight-forward, old-school vehicle is honestly pretty captivating.

While the 3rd party companies are always throwing out incredibly alluring releases, I generally just stick to Hasbro and Takara Tomy's Transformers. They have more limitations to contend with, but you can't go wrong with the significantly lower asking price. When it comes to official Hound toys, I feel the two most recent are both worth tracking down.

Left: 2008 Universe Hound Right: 2004 Alternators Hound

Though on the verge of looking outdated, the Alternators version was a strong release at the time. On the other hand, Universe "Classics" Hound remains one of my favorite modern Transformer toys. The picture above doesn't even begin to do him justice.

Despite being one of the original 1984 Autobots, Hound has rarely been given a chance to shine in the cartoons and comics. It's a real shame, because he's a pretty likable guy! But hey, at least he's had some worthwhile toy releases over the years. Official or not, I'm glad to see that even more are on the way.

Keep up to date with Castle Geek-Skull on Twitter & Facebook!

No comments:

Post a Comment