General Information: Images:
Text from Hasbrotoyshop.com: Convert this advanced conversion figure from robot mode to off-road vehicle mode - and back again! Complete with a hologram projector in robot mode and an included RAVAGE beast-to-machine figure, this is one mighty pair for your collection. One of the ideas behind this iteration of the "Transformers Universe" line was to pay proper homage to the heritage of the Transformers line. A quarter of a century of history is pretty amazing for any product to have, no less a toy line based on plastic robots that become vehicles, animals and other assorted things. Sometimes, these homages take an unexpected yet pleasant form. Such is the case with the release of Universe Hound. While one would expect Hound to just come as a stand alone figure like Prowl or Ironhide, the designers added a bit more value to the package by including a mini-figure: Ravage! Both represent updated versions of their classic selves, but why pair a Decepticon cassette with Hound? This goes back to the original series where one of the key plot points involved the Autobots (Hound among them) having captured Ravage and then "accidentally" allowing him to escape to set up Megatron and the Decepticons in a trap. It is really cool to see a story/plot point working its way into a figure two pack of two cool characters.
Beast Mode: Ravage is packaged in beast mode, which makes sense since he'd look rather dull (and to some, archaic) as a cassette tape. While thin, the original Ravage figure was missing many of the curves one would associate with a felinoid robot as well as the animated version of the character. This new version of Ravage seeks to correct that. While his head design retains a very angular design akin to the G1 toy design, his main body is angled in a way that makes him look like he is about to pounce. His shoulders are arched up, his spine set down and his back legs set at a high angle. The combination of these angles really looks dynamic. Add to that the curved shape of his legs (both top and bottom sections) and this Ravage looks a lot more slick than his G1 counterpart. While Ravage does not include any accessories, his famous side mounted rocket launchers have not been forgotten. Instead of having them mounted onto the sides of his legs, small "rockets" have been sculpted onto the top of his legs, shaped much like the ones from the G1 figure. That said, Ravage does have holes on the sides of his legs which will allow you to attach G1 Ravage's weapons if you have them, which is a cool touch and really brings together the "old and the new" in one figure. The rockets aren't the only small details in this figure. The head sculpt is intricate, with smaller designs such as his nose, teeth and cheeks all present. His legs have smaller lines on them that define the shape of the legs more and each of his paws has segments representing toes. I'm also fond of the fact that his leg line details are on both sides of the legs, not just the sides that face outward. Ravage is entirely madeup of black plastic. Some silver paint applications are used on the lower legs. This color very closely matches the color of G1 Ravage's legs. On the head, his eyes are colored red, matching his appearance in the animated program. On his back is a purple Decepticon symbol. I wish the designers had painted the rockets as well so they could stand out more. There are eight points of articulation in this figure. This is pretty good if you consider that Ravage is basically an accessory for Hound. However I would have liked to see the paws be able to move. As it stands now if you raise his legs, his paws wind up pointing up which looks a bit odd. Still, I really like the look of this figure and it truly captures the spirit of the original's beast form. Transformation to Cassette Mode:
Cassette Mode: In a nice design touch, this cassette form is designed to work with the reissued Toys R Us exclusive G1 Soundwave from 2006-07. In reality, that Soundwave actually uses the sculpt of the reissued Soundblaster mold, meaning its chest compartment was designed to hold two G1 cassettes.
Vehicle Mode: While a relatively simple looking vehicle, Hound has a lot of detail. Most notably, his wheels are very intricately sculpted, with lots of raised line details. Wheels aren't usually this detailed and it's nice to see such a prominant feature on the vehicle given the attention it deserves. His front end is nicely detailed with horizontal lines on the grille and line details on the curve of the winch representing rope. His back section has raised lines in a horizontal pattern and his dashboard is very well detailed complete with steering wheel, round instrument displays (two versus the five of the Hurricane) and a glove compartment. His bucket seats have lines etched into them where the cushions would be and he has the raised storage compartment between the two seats found in most modern vehicles. He also has other small details ike handles on the doors and some tech detailing on the underside of the doors. Another nice touch are three lights mounted on the top of the windshield. Hound is cast in olive green, silver, translucent blue, white and black plastic in this form. A majority of the color is green, with black being prominant for the wheels, car interior, grille and the area behind the car seats. Dark silver is used for the cage piece mounted on the front of the jeep. Translucent blue makes up the windshield and headlights. The color detail on Hound isn't complicated, nor does it need to be. Green paint is used on parts such as the windshield to give it continuity with the rest of the jeep. Silver is used to paint the roll of wire on the winch while dark silver is used on the lower sides of the jeep near the doors as well as the missile like protrusion from his weapon. An olive drab green appears on the back, which harkens back to his G1 days as a military jeep. A red Autobot symbol graces the hood in the center while yellow is used for lights on the front of the vehicle as well as the three lights on the windshield. I was surprised to see that his rear lights are painted red as well since often time rear lights are sculpted, but not painted. In a final nod to his G1 incarnation, a white star can be found on the right side of the vehicle, a reminder of his days as a military jeep. Hound's weapon is a hologram projector which looks conspicuously like a missile launcher. This weapon clips onto the back of one of the seat guards, mimicking the way G1 Hound's weapon mounted onto the back of the vehicle. In addition, there are two black clips on the back that flip up to allow Hound to carry Ravage around (presumably as a prisoner). These clips slide into the holes in Ravage and hold him there tightly. Transformation to Robot Mode:
Robot Mode: The G1 Hound figure was an extremely boxy thing. For its time it was a cool (and at the time, unique) figure, but when a model was created for the cartoon show (and comic books), the figure was translated into a shape with much more humanoid proportions. It is that base that was used for Universe Hound's robot mode. Instead of some parts like his feet and chest being overwhelmingly large and obscuring other parts like his arms, his proportions here are much more normal with some parts still exaggerated. For instance, while the front of the car still becomes his chest, the arms fold out from under it and out to the sides, keeping them from being obscured. Thanks to his somewhat unique leg transformation, his legs are longer than you'd expect, making him look tall and proportionate rather than squat. There are many G1 influences in this design and they include:
Most of what you can call Hound's "new" design elements are actually modern takes on previous ones. For instance, his lower arms only have one stripe, whereas G1 Hound had several. His chest is more streamline and angles downward as opposed to G1 Hound's which just faced forward. His legs are designed with a slight angle in the thighs and lower legs, giving him a more dynamic appearance. Hound reveals more black and white plastic in this form, helping to break up the green color that makes up most of the vehicle mode. The black plastic is used for his shoulders and elbows, fists and lower legs. White is found on the neck section and thighs. Silver, red and yellow paint applications are used for detailing. What's cool is that these are simple decos, but they are very effective in their simplicity. Yellow is found on his lower arms in the aforementioned bands and on his knees. The Autobot symbol on his chest is red and the tail lights point forward in this mode, adding another small splash of color. Silver is found on parts such as his face and waist. His eyes are cast in translucent blue to allow for light piping. There are thirteen points of articulation on Hound. This doesn't sound like a lot by today's standards, but they serve the figure well. His shoulder and hip joints are ball joints and his arms can swivel outwards as well as bending at the elbows. His weapon can be held in either hand but it's a shame that he can't clip it to his shoulder or torso piece to allow him to look more like his G1 self.
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