He comes with a kitty!

I still think it’s weird that Ravage was included with Hound. Yes, I understand the logic behind Ravage’s inclusion but it’s still just odd.

It seemed like for a hot second that everyone was all about Siege Hound and had forgotten about old faithful here. But then Masterpiece Hound was released and everyone’s been fondly remembering Universe 2.0 Hound and wondering; how did it all go so wrong?

Life is funny sometimes.

Hound

Vehicle mode

Hound looks amazing in jeep mode. There’s no robot mode kibble anywhere even though he has an open top and a detailed interior. Seriously, this is one of those Transformers you’d very easily mistake as just a normal toy car.

For playability, Hound rolls really well on all four wheels cause they’re huge and have a lot of ground clearance.

Transformation

The transformation here is pretty complex but not obnoxiously so. He’s noticeably harder to transform than his Universe 2.0 contemporaries and newer Generations figures but he’s nowhere near as bad as the ROTF/HFTD figures.

Robot mode

Dear Primus, Hound looks like a Masterpiece in comparison to most CHUG figures. And he’s not gonna break or fall apart anytime soon.

Hound is like Classics Starscream; they both look pretty much unchanged in design even though everyone else in the line was given design updates. Not complaining though, cause Hound’s been molded and painted beautifully. Seriously, he’s just nice to look at.

Hound’s got a lot of posability. He’s not on the level of the Siege figures but he’s certainly better than most of the Universe 2.0 figures. His head is ball-jointed. His shoulders are ball-jointed, he has bicep swivels and bending elbows. His hips are ball jointed, he has thigh swivels and bending knees. His feet can pivot side to side as well as forward and back.

Ravage

Alternate mode

Ravage is an old school cassette. He’s certainly a black rectangle with two holes in it.

I’m sorry, I don’t know what to write about Ravage in this mode. He’s a cassete that can be stored at the back of the jeep on two posts.

Transformation

Wow, they got seriously creative with the transformation here. It feels like folding an origami.

Robot mode

Ravage is a kitty cat.

…

Okay, okay. Ravage is a panther. And he’s a three-dimensional one now too!

Ravage can move his head up and down. His front legs go in and out at the shoulders but don’t rotate. His front knees bend. His back legs rotate at the hips but don’t go in and out. His back knees bend. His tail moves up and down.

Gimmicks

Hound doesn’t have any action features. His extra selling point is that he comes with Ravage on top of coming with his rocket launcher.

Oh, and the head reveal I mentioned earlier! That’s a gimmick! Also, his head has some very pretty blue light piping.

Toy or collectible?

Collectible.

I have no idea when it happened or why but suddenly Universe 2.0 Hound is ridiculously expensive. Like he costs RM100 ($25) loose and I’ve seen him go for RM400 ($100) MISB. I would never, ever give Hound to a child because of the cost.

Closing

Honestly speaking, quite a few of the Universe 2.0 line has aged pretty badly. But Hound here is still so great that I’m honestly kinda baffled at it.

Definitely get this guy if you get the chance. But don’t fall for the insane scalper prices for him.