Tough as Old Iron

     Last year we began to hear about three companies releasing Masterpiece Scale Ironhide figures. One was Takara, the Official Masterpiece release, and the others were TFC and a new company called Voodoo Robots. As Yoda would say, Begun, the Ironhide War has...

the TFWiki says this about Ironhide:

Ironhide is one of the oldest and toughest Autobots, and has been on Optimus Prime's team for a long time. "They don't make them like they used to" is an apt description of Ironhide—he's yesterday's model, but he's built to last.
Gruff and ornery, he prefers actions to words, and dislikes talk for talk's sake. (He wouldn't enjoy being paired up with Bluestreak.) But though he may be rough around the edges, he's still optimistic and upbeat. The upside to being through more than your share of trouble means trouble ain't so big a scare anymore.
Ironhide's most distinctive ability is the water gun, a weapon which can generate and shoot a liquid of virtually any type. Liquid nitrogen is historically a favorite, but there have been acids, mortar, and more.

     TFCs offering looked good-Big, Bulky, and altogether what I was looking for. Voodoo had a good look, and what looked like a really innovative transform.

     And then we heard about Voodoo's early release, convention exclusive Ironhide. more specifically, we heard about the breakage issue- the knees would break in normal usage (transforming). I have heard from those talking aobut the normal release of Voodoos version of Ratchet that it is not much tougher, either- the plastic is very thin...

So then there were two...I still like the look of TFC, but the head and face seem...off to me. Plus, it goes in and out of stock like crazy. So it came down to the Takara release, and I could not be happier. a GIF Takara released of his transformation sequence clinched it. Now lets have Dr Wu or someone make me a sweet set of additional weapons! 

On the left...tough- on the right? Semi-Tough

Ironhide and Prowl-note the "face" in Ironhides windshield
it echoes the G1 toy

Ironhide with Accessory tray. It echoes the G1 figure's "sled"
(below)

Prime and Ironhide- Best buds, voiced by the same actor

     Ironhide is big, stocky, and has a little bit of a gut, like me. I'm not quite that red tho.

Hound and Ironhide

Ironhide and Mirage

Mirage- Ocular Max version- a story for next time

Hound and Mirage

Hound and Mirage(invisible mode)

Hound and Mirage- how many more pics did he photobomb...?