This is the 2004 E-Hobby exclusive desert-camo style repaint of the Takara Collection #14 reissue Hound, "Detritus". This brand new colour scheme for the Jeep mould, originally the J59 Diaclone Jeep, features some very underrated touches and has a distinct personality that I hope to explore in this review. As you can see from the Collector's card visible in the above box front picture, Detritus has no fixed allegiance and he is characterised as a Junkion. The collector can choose how to ally the toy using the multi-faction stickersheet. The optional allegiance of this toy is very reminiscent of the E-Hobby Overcharge release and was a refreshing change for reissues at the time.

Astonishingly, in terms of desireability, this repaint has scored very low and often sells for less than almost all the other E-Hobby exclusives, even ones that do not sport new colour schemes such as this one! It's true that many of the exclusives that are popular have some historic significance to them that makes them sought after, but I would have thought that brand new colour schemes would be something collectors would want more of. In the case of Sunstorm, he proved immensely popular but most likely that is due to his appearance in the comics. It is quite possible that Detritus just didn't seem interesting enough to a majority of collectors. As a result, he is one of the most available and reasonably-priced of the E-Hobby exclusives around.

I feel that there are many things about this particular release that are far from being common knowledge, yet people should know these things as it might endear them to this release a bit more. One such feature is that there is a hint of pink in Detritus's colour scheme that is not immediately obvious from online photography. The collector's card actually clips into the plastic insert and so far I have only seen that design replicated on the E-Hobby Anime Astrotrain's inner packaging. The card artwork is of course a repainted version of the original Transformers Hound artwork, which in turn was taken from the Diaclone J59 Jeep packaging. The '77' designation was previously unused in Takara's original Transformers line. The back of the collector's card features stock photography with Detritus's colours added to the photos. The stickersheet is not just a recoloured Hound stickersheet as some of the stickers feature different patterns, and there is of course a choice of either Autobot or Decepticon stickers as well.

The accessories for Detritus are no longer chrome like Hound's, but they are not just dull brown either. This is another of the toy's not-so-publicised features and I'll come back to this in a short while.

Our first look at the unpackaged vehicle mode of Detritus gives a hint to yet another of his hidden features, but on the whole he looks a tad plain. However, this mould was never designed to be displayed in vehicle mode without a few add-ons...

The addition of the spare tyre, gas can and mounted gun completes the look of the vehicle mode and makes a huge difference visually. The shine and contrast of chrome against solid colour is much less apparent on Detritus than on many other G1 Autobot cars, but the weathered desert effect that Takara were going for is admirably achieved, and is quite believable. This mould has a very striking and well-proportioned vehicle mode, and in my opinion equally as successful in this desert camo scheme as in military green. This toy has just continued to grow on me after a noticeably slow start.

So what are all these latent features that I keep referring to? I may be speaking solely for myself, but I was unaware that Detritus had parts of his vehicle and accessories painted to look as if mounds of sand had gathered there over years of pounding around in the dunes. There are also paint effects on the body to simulate a sunburnt look. Here are some close-ups of a few of these areas:

It's a lovely touch and affords this new character some much needed identity and personality, and as I mentioned before, adds to the believability of the toy as a desert scavenger.

Just as with the vehicle mode, the slightly awkward-looking robot mode was never designed to be displayed sans accessories, but you do get a better look at Detritus's proportions which to be honest require the add-ons to make sense of them. Also, with a specimen this new, the whole look can be slightly contrary. You almost feel as if a little play and paint wear would fit in beautifully with Detritus's overall weathered and worn look.

An immediate improvement! The handgun gives much needed length to the arm section and the launcher/missile assembly gives some added heft to the shoulder region of the figure. Once more the accessories complete the look and make Detritus more than the sum of his (numerous) parts. For the record, the missile launcher propels Detritus's weedy missiles a formidable distance!

Hound and Detritus are far from models of posability, but you just have to love that massive Jeep-grill chest. As with Hound, the shielded nature of the arms mean that holding the handgun in a conventional fashion results in limited movement. In other words, Detritus cannot point his gun directly forwards unless you attach the handgun to the underside of his fists, like so:

You might have noticed that the sand effect is visible on Detritus's accessories as well:

If by this stage you still feel that despite his many accessories and funky little piles of sand, Detritus still feels slightly plain, you could always apply the stickers to him:

Detritus is one of a number of G1-mould Transformers whose stickers can really augment his overall appearance and displayability. The above example has been stickered up as a Decepticon (Swindle, perhaps?), but I've never been able to visualise these cars as Decepticons, so personally I would have made him an Autobot, or possibly even used some of the excellent obscure labels from an E-Hobby Overcharge stickersheet. Regardless of the faction, the fact remains that he looks excellent with the stickers applied. Although once more, brand new minty stickers on a weather-worn figure...

Comparison with a regular G1 Hound brings up the obvious differences in colour and stickers, as well as highlighting the effect generous chroming of parts has on the mould. To be honest I doubt chrome parts would have significantly improved the look of Detritus, he's fine the way he is and is more unique for it.

The most interesting and unforeseen differences are apparent on the robot heads of the two toys, and that is where my favourite 'hidden' feature of Detritus lies...

In addition to the red eyes, Detritus has a goatee!!! While I will happily accept that every other collector on the planet may well have been aware of this sprouting of facial hair, I wasn't, and was pleasantly surprised to say the least. Very Junkion!

And to be absolutely sure this is a new development, look, Hound has no beard:

OK, it's just a little paint application, but once more it's something extra that potential owners may never have known about. This is not a popular reissue exclusive so some of the finer points and nice features can get forgotten about or never even be documented.

To wrap up, here's the China stamped copyright under Detritus's chest:

You may or may not have noticed that none of the above pictures show where Detritus's rubsign is, and reissue exclusives tended to have them in different places to the original parent mould/character. Detritus himself does not actually have a rubsign anywhere on him. Why? Well ask yourself this, what faction would show up if you rubbed his sign? Exactly. Same deal as with Overcharge.

I think the lack of perceived desireability or love for this release is somewhat undeserved. Detritus may not be historically relevant, and Junkions (especially Wreck-Gar, or Gar-Gar Binks as Morg calls him) may not be very popular, but the lengths that Takara have gone to in order to ensure that he stands out as much as possible from Hound without a physical retooling are impressive. They could so easily have done a black or clear repaint, and while a clear green "Hologram Hound" may have been universally more interesting to collectors, Takara have made an effort. Just as with Hound and the Diaclone J59 before him, they picked a realistic motif for this mould and took the required steps to make it believable, and those steps deserve appreciation. Fresh ideas, new characters and brand new colour schemes in my opinion are to be applauded. Sunstorm and Shining Magnus are two of my absolute favourite reissue exclusives, and while Detritus is not a true favourite of mine, I like him infinitely more than I did before I took the time to buy one and break him out of his packaging.

And considering the very reasonable going rate on one of these figures, it's not an experience that is beyond the means of many collectors. Collect and sav-our.

Thanks to Paul "Diet Coke and Fingers" Hitchens for the use of his Detritus and Hound.

All the best
Maz