TF4 Autobot Hound

Presenting the Hasbro Voyager Class Autobot Hound from the TF4 Age of Extinction Toyline.

Hound is one of the Dungeon's most beloved characters from the Transformers series, and we have to admit to feeling a bit of anxiety after seeing his "Bayformer" version.

Yes we're quite aware that these are not the Transformers from the 80s and that they had to be rebuilt for the movies. (Kinda caught up on that on the first movie.)

But no one can deny that the "Essences" of the characters were maintained.

So how will Hound be portrayed? We shall see quite soon.

Have you ever played those medieval RPG type video games? Ever notice that there's always a warrior class weapons-smith or blacksmith? That one guy who always wears breastplate armor and carries all these weapons? That's what we have here - perfectly down to the unkempt facial hair and the skull cap. The persona seems to fit perfectly with the "knights" persona that we first saw with the AD-01 Optimus Prime - and have since seen as well with the TF4 Drift.


TF4 Autobot Hound's blister card reads "Autobot Hound might only be a single soldier, but he prides himself on being able to do the jobs of ten. Whether the objective is a tactical deployment, recon mission or infiltration and sabotage, Hound can get the job done. 

Heavily armored, he isn't about to back down from an all-out firefight if one comes his way. Some bots might see that versatility as showing off. To Hound, it' all in the line of duty."

Well. We guess when Ironhide kicked it, Optimus needed a new Weapons Specialist and got one that went a little overboard.

What's to like about the TF4 Age of Extinction Autobot Hound?

TF4 Autobot Hound comes loaded - quite literally.

Remember when we discussed the GI Joe Retaliation Trooper? And how he had waaay too many weapons to be of any practical military use (Other than being a mule to carry weapons for the "named" GI Joes)?

Well TF4 Hound is borderline in this arena. Why? We'll discuss that later, but he really is packing a hell of a lot of heat.

So First off: We love that TF4 Hound comes fully loaded.

We start off with those two quad-barreled sawed off like shot-guns hanging from the sides of his robust chest. The two quads have fold-able handles, but we like them hanging out:

You can hear Will Smith and Martin Lawrence singing the Bad Boys (Another Michael Bay movie) in the background:

Can you imagine TF4 Hound bashing into Galvatron's home and Galvatron is all like "Who that? Who in MY HOUSE?" and TF4 Hound answers: "I'm the Devil! Who's asking?" to which Galvatron retorts "The Devil... is not welcome... HEEEEEERRE!" Perfect for what TF4 Hound is packing - or we watch too many Michael Bay movies.

Anyway, finally TF4 Hound runs out of ammunition (Four barrels in each gun after all, must kick out a hell of a lot of ammunition), he then draws the guns at his hips that look like single barreled air-cooled sub-machine guns:

TF4 Hound ditches the submachine guns and.... well probably has to sit down to reach for the dual set of pistols in his inner legs - Now before people ask why aren't they stored on the outside of the leg, please remember that the inside of a leg is by law-enforcement standards, just as good a place to keep a back-up.

The final wave of Decepticons comes streaming towards TF4 Autobot Hound, so he draws his main weapon, a tri-barreled (talk about overkill) gattling-gun:

We'd like to point out here that we have mixed feeling about his "Shove" hands. We love how they make it seem like the ammo belt and his weapon are interlinked - we can even imaging his forearms moving - literally feeding ammunition to TF4 Autobot Hound's weapons as they fire. But, well... they are shovels. Great for boxing though:

And when all else fails, there's the can-opener:

After just discussing his weapons, we're sure that you can see the second thing we love about TF4 Autobot Hound: His wonderful articulation - specifically his ability to twist at the waist - that, with TF4 Slug - Slag - you may have noticed has nothing to do with his transformation. 

Now if you don't like the Michael Bay "Fire-and-forget" fighting style from Bad Boys, there's the third thing we love about TF4 Autobot Hound: his weapons are modular which fits perfectly with the versatility discussed in his blister card - a weapon for every occasion. 

Mix-and-Match as you please. There's even instructions to create this ultimate overkill:

Bring out the Fluggaenkoecchicebolsen!!!! Eurotrip Fanboys will get that reference:

Before we move on, we have to say that we have mixed feeling about TF4 Hound' facial hair. As with having genders, why would a robot need facial hair? Or hair of any kind? We have mixed feeling about this, but it does add to the gruff exterior of the Autobot - especially fitting as TF4 Hound will be voiced by John Goodman. Forgive by the way our inability to properly capture his eyes. All that chrome on his face is quite reflective. 

TF4 Autobot Hound's transformation is again objectionably simple (20 steps). We're beginning to realize that this may also hamper any future modification plans by 3rd parties. Hound transforms into an Oshkosh Defense Medium Tactical Vehicle - just not sure which one. It's a solid transformation and the addition of weapons actually "gruffs" it up:

What's NOT to like about the TF4 Age of Extinction Autobot Hound?

Despite the high articulation, because his legs are so.... stubby, TF4 Autobot Hound cannot kneel properly - or at all, depending upon where you would like to see it.

Face it, TF4 Autobot Hound has got some really small legs.

It's strange that his double-joint is not in his legs, but in his arms.

Also because he's sooo barrel chested and top, heavy, we do have to agree that the comparison can be made between TF4 Hound and the Transformers Prime animated series Bulkhead.

Here're the two, side-by-side:

But that's as far as the comparison goes. Face it, Bulkhead borders on... gifted. While TF4 Autobot Hound is a weapons-smith.

Our personal opinion is that he is actually more comparable to another Cygar chomping Autobot: Kup.

Overall though, a solid Transformer and a great addition to the Dungeon - let's just hope he doesn't follow Iron Hide' path. This particular Voyager class TF4 Autobot Hound was purchased from the Transformers Age of Extinction Toy Launch in SM Fairview here in Manila, Philippines for PhP 1,599.75 (Roughly US$ 35.55). He is available on Amazon for US$ 45.99 (Roughly PhP 2,069.55 plus shipping).