Originally published February 2019. If you haven’t yet noticed, I tended to not take as deep a dive on figures as I do these days.
Another quintessential original 1984 Transformers cast member, Hound’s a bit of an obscure guy, once you get past his automatic street cred as one of the original bunch of Transformers. Unlike his fellow Siege Wave 1 Deluxe, Sideswipe, he’s had a more prominent role in the original cartoon and other media, but only by a little bit. According to the cartoon, he’s green, friendly and amicable, likes nature and the planet Earth, and can project all kinds of holograms. He hasn’t done too much since the early cartoon, though, aside from show up here and there. He’s already had a couple of good modern update figures, in the Universe and Combiner Wars lines, but this is my first time handling a version of him, so this do-over in Siege will be fresh for me. Let’s have a look.
Robot Mode
Like Sideswipe, Hound is short for a Deluxe figure, but he’s bulkier than him, so it feels like that height was traded for width. He’s got big, stompy boots, a big chest and backpack made from jeep bits. Siege’s headsculpts have all been excellent across the board, and this guy’s got a really nice, very G1-looking face, with blue eyes.
Hound’s got hollow bits visible on the inside of his thighs, a cost-cutting measure that Siege has mostly avoided, and while it doesn’t bother me, I know it drives some collectors up the wall
Most modern Hounds are light green, like his cartoon model, but this one’s a more original-toy-accurate dark green, with black and silver bits, and military stars and gold stripes painted on that really pop against the darker colors. In fact, he’s got a lot of paint on him. Siege figures are all painted to look battle-worn in one way or another, and Hound in particular has a large amount of grime on him, but he’s an off-road jeep, so it fits. In this case, he’s got silver dirt and scorch marks on his shins, and chest.
On top of his expected levels of poseability, Hound’s got ankle tilts and wrist swivels, the latter of which aren’t possessed by most Deluxes. Sadly, he’s got a slight stability issue: His shoulders do not want to stay pegged in, and easily start swiveling out on a joint they transform with when you’re posing him. Another mild issue: The panel behind his head restricts its articulation a little bit.
Hound comes with three accessories: A large, nicely-sculpted gun, a round magazine that clips onto it, and a smaller shoulder launcher. All three are painted in different amounts silver, black and green, and all three can combine in different ways. Unfortunately, the ammo magazine doesn’t want to stay clipped into the side of the laser gun, thanks to poor peg fit. The green launcher is supposed to fit on his shoulder, and in a nice touch, has a raised back end designed specifically not to collide with his backpack. They can also combine into a big, long gun, and the magazine stays on the very back. It can be held in his hand, or, again, mounted on his shoulder. There’s also mounting points on his shoulders (again, restricted from the backpack), upper and lower arms, lower legs, and one on his back. The idea behind the Siege line is that you’ll swap in additional guns from other sets, but honestly, there’s a lot you can do with the three accessories he does come with, and it feels like a good amount for the character
Transformation
Hound’s transformation is pretty involved, including big, unfolding legs that explode outwards, and wrap around his body. It’s not as elegant as Sideswipe, with a lot of bits push against each other, and you’ve got to tab a lot of stuff in. But it’s more ambitious and doesn’t just feel like an evolved G1 transformation. As a part of his conversion, the magazine becomes a gas cap, and the weapons go on the roof.
Vehicle Mode
Hound transforms into a big, meaty all-terrain roller, sort of like a futuristic Earth vehicle, and different from what Hound usually is, an army Jeep. In fact, its design makes me think of another Autobot, Roadbuster, or something like the Warthog vehicle from the Halo games. Any pilot of this vehicle would have trouble seeing through his nearly-opaque windshield that’s blocked by tech detail, though.
The vehicle’s kind of gappy, with an open cockpit full of holes, an open back end with his robot knees visible, and his arms hanging out of the underside. But it also looks really nice from other angles, and the guns on top look mean.
There’s another bit of stability trouble, though, in that the back of his roof comes undone when you’re pulling weapons out. Speaking of that, he’s got two extra mounts on each of his sides for extra weapons. Interestingly, his alternate mode feels tiny because the sculpted detail and weapons give the impression of hugeness.
Once again, there’s a lot of paint visible in this mode, including painted wheels, and painted head and tail lights.They clearly went all out on the paint budget for this guy, and it shows.
Overall
To be honest, I’ve never been a big fan of Hound as a design or as a character. There’s nothing wrong with him, he’s just felt dull to me. That being said, this figure won me over. He’s more ambitious than Sideswipe, and while I think he succeeds less, he tries to do more, and between his three accessories, and tons of painted details, feels like a more complete package. He’s a solid representation of the character. If you’re looking for a Hound, get him. As of this writing, I’d call him the strongest Siege Deluxe released, certainly the best of the first wave. (2020 note: There’s been stronger Siege Deluxes since then, but I’d still call him the best of that first wave, and overall a a good one).
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