Grizzled old-timer, Ironhide is probably the closest thing the Autobots came to a second-in-command for Optimus Prime, at least in the first season. A bit rough around the edges, Ironhide always preferred “gettin’ down to business” instead of “sittin’ around jawin’ at each other”.
Despite his experience and toughness, Ironhide was more than a little unlucky, drawing more than his share of injuries in combat, as well as the unfortunate alternate form of a beat up old van. Ironhide had the dubious honor of being one of the Autobots killed off in the animated movie, and even his tomb was eventually shot into the sun as part of some elaborate plot by B-string villains, the Quintessons.
Toy Ironhide from Generation One is perhaps most notable for the fact that his robot form looks virtually nothing like his cartoon self. Unlike most of the Transformer toys, Ironhide was based off of a different series that featured human controlled robots, leading to Ironhide’s toy incarnation having no head. For the more craft-minded collectors out there, there are a 20ber of good “mod kits” available for sale that will allow personal customization of an off-the-rack Ironhide into a more cartoon accurate version.
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