A most distinguished weaponry mastermind. Strong, silent, and likes his action fast and furious. Easily eats up every type of ground, no matter how rough. As a vehicle, attacks with recoil-action, visible tracer missile launcher. In robot form this provides cover as a free-standing launcher weapon.
Figure Details
AKA 'Strongarm'
Manufacturer - Hasbro
Toyline - Energon
Additions/Mods:
- Added an Autobot symbol to the shoulder, covering the sculpted one
Review
Ironfist was a massively obscure figure which must have been one of the very last G1 figures before he was repackaged as part of the emerging Generation 2 toyline. No-one cared about him until he was the übergeek in Last Stand of the Wreckers who helped to defeat
Overlord. Unfortunately he died soon after but never mind. There is no modern incarnation of Ironfist so I use
Energon Strongarm instead, who shares many simlarities with the original.
Appearance (Robot Mode) 8/10
Unlike the overpowered G1 original (whose tech specs make him better all round than
Megatron(!), the Ironfist we have come to know is a diminutive robot who fights with his bullet-addled brain rather than his fists. The Energon Strongarm mould is suitably diminutive, being a scout-class figure. The original Ironfist shares a very similar colour scheme to this figure, but the bonnet of the alt mode forms his chest, wheras with this Energon mould, the bonnet ends up as the feet. This aside, there are enough similarities for my money. As a figure in its own right, this is a cool scout-class toy. Nicely proportioned with a lot of character, with a huge energy weapon to boot. Ironfist was a Lightformer with lots of transparent red, so again this is represented well here.
Appearance (Alternate Mode) 8/10
Ironfist was an yellow ochre-coloured Humvee with a huuuuge gun on its roof, wheras the Strongarm mould is a yellow ochre-coloured open-top jeep with a large gun mounted to the rear. Again this is a case where there are differences between the two modes, but they are close enough for my liking to homage the character. The transparent red windows look really good. I'm not so sure about the 'energon' spare tyre though!
Transformation 7/10
This is a fairly simplistic transformation befitting a scout-class figure. The lower legs don't really fit together in the Jeep mode, leaving some gapping between the two halves. At some point, I will have to shave the tab down to make the fit more loose. There is nowhere for the head to really go either - it just turns around and the transparent 'spare tyre' is stuck to the top of it.
Poseability 7/10
The shoulders offer a full swivel vertically, but you can only slightly adjust the angle of them, as the joint is really meant for transformation. There is head swivel, Ball-jointed hips and knee/elbow joints. The waist has a swivel too which is slightly impeded by where the rollcage ends up in robot mode. Unfortunately there is no bicep or thigh swivel and, worst of all, there are severe balance issues, as there are no 'heels'.
Quality 7/10
I bought this figure dead cheap on eBay and there are stress marks and some cracks in the red energon gun. I don't know if this is due to rough treatment by the previous owner, or an inherent defect in the clear plastic. Overall, this is a reasonably solid figure.
Overall - 37/50
I feel that this Energon figure is a good homage for Ironfist, and he will fit in with my other Wreckers well. You may have a different opinion as concessions have been made with the alt mode and overally configuration of the robot, but I can overlook these inconsistencies and still enjoy the figure. These guys are available cheap, and for lack of a better choice work really well as Ironfist.
