Transformers 3rd Party: Mech Ideas - Gauntlet DC-03

The bad thing about having so many hobbies and blogs is that sometimes things fall into a crack and go unnoticed for far too long. This is the case with this posts' topic, Mech Idea's Gauntlet. When newcomer to the 3rd party scene, Mach 5, wasn't able to pull off their first release Mech Ideas came into the picture at some point and released Gauntlet and Piston. Back in the fall of 2014 I did a post on Piston, but Gauntlet's post never happened. As I was going through my large folder of unedited photos one evening I came across the images I snapped some time ago. It appears I have lost some of the original images so this won't be a normal post. For a full review if you will of this particular mold, check out my post on Piston.

Part of Mech Ideas' Demolition Crue (along w/ Apex and Geminus), Gauntlet shares the same style packaging as Piston. The monochrome colors are a nice touch when compared to today's slick 3rd party packaging. Gauntlet comes packaged in robot mode inside a plastic form fitting clamshell insert, but since something happened to most of the pictures I had of him in robot mode, let's start with his vehicle mode.

   

Gauntlet of course is modeled after IDW's take on the G1 Autobot, Ironfist. I don't follow the TF comics any longer so I'm not sure what the character was like in the stories, but he isn't the Ironfist I know. This new form however is still modeled after a humvee type vehicle. This version though seems to be SD (super deformed) humvee. The toy is also small, not quite as big as a deluxe and not quite as small as a scout. His weapon mounts to the top of the vehicle and can be removed. The yellow cannon then pulls out to become his gun he wields in robot mode.

Ironfist was originally a Lightformer and his G1 toy was not released in the US or Japan, but in the European and Australian markets. As you can see the designer of Gauntlet took a lot of the design elements of the G1 toy, especially the weapon. However the Lightformer "viewmaster" gimmick was not retained. Here beside his G1 self, you can really see just how small this toy is.

Ironfist without his weapon still has a great looking vehicle mode, however if you take the weapon off Gauntlet he just looks like a little armored car. I've heard someone say he looks like an upgraded Roller. Gauntlet is cast is a very light gray/blue colored plastic and there are virtually no paint apps so he just looks really bland without his weapon attached.

Once you unfold Gauntlet into his robot mode he looks great. I don't mind a small, short robot when he has some girth. This is how Brawn was portrayed in the animated series. As you can see Piston has the same look, only his weapons can be attached on his shoulders...after all he is based on the Triggercon, Crankcase. Gauntlet has a great head sculpt and I'm disappointed that I don't have a close up shot. There isn't any light piping on the head sadly.

While Gauntlet still may not have a lot of paint apps in robot mode, at least the different colored plastic helps make the robot form look so good. For such a small robot, he packs a good bit of articulation. His shoulders and elbows are ball joints, as are his hips. He has a hinge joint for his knee and he has a little bit of ankle articulation as well.

I'm a little removed from the Transformers 3rd party scene these days so I don't know if any of the major online retailers still stock Gauntlet or not, but if you are interested in this toy it does appear that he can be had from sellers on the secondary market for a decent price. Once I find a little more time I'll probably be adding be adding this toy to my eBay store as I just don't have a place for him in my collection any longer. I'm grateful that Mech Ideas swooped in and helped get this toy to the market as its a fun toy with a decent transformation.