Review: #133
Name: Ratchet
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Prime
Year of Release: 2012
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 2)
Variations: remolded in the Beast Hunters line as Ratchet
VEHICLE MODE:
Ratchet transforms into an emergency vehicle (probably an ambulance of some sort) with his signature color scheme of red and white. Probably the one thing that people complain the most about this toy is that it's missing the lifeline at the back of the vehicle.
Which... speaking of the back of the vehicle, it's very plain and white. There are some great molded details, but only the back bumper is painted silver.
There are a few panel breaks due to how Ratchet transforms, and this can ruin the look (it's nowhere near as bad as say, ROTF Ratchet).
There's this official 'attack' mode of Ratchet's, in which you plug in the robot blades to the bumper. It looks stupid and isn't worth the two holes at the front of the vehicle.
A better way would be to store the blades inside the vehicle, they peg into the inside of the cab, a nice touch.
As mentioned, there are some great sculpted details all over the car.
One of the biggest thing working against Ratchet is his small size. You pick him up and that's the first thing you'd notice, he's tiny. It doesn't help that he is supposed to be big and bulky. He pulls off the boxy vehicle look very well though.
Obviously, his wheels roll. Another common complaint about Ratchet is his apparent lack of paint, however, approximately one third of the vehicle shell (i.e. the cab) is translucent blue plastic, meaning that all of that (and it's a pretty big area) is painted white and red.
This is a pretty cool ambulance that looks good from all angles.
TRANSFORMATION:
Fairly simple for the most part. The way the back panels of the vehicle form his forearms is quite neat and works very well. I was also surprised at how the shoulders were integrated (it's not super clever, but just unexpected and you don't realize it until you actually transform him). The way his legs form was super simple. There is a head reveal gimmick, you fold the back back of the vehicle down and the head springs up, cool, but not worth the liberties it places on the figure. I realized what's been bothering me about the transformation and how come I feel disappointed about it. It's due to the fact that his torso is one solid piece with no manipulation of parts. You only twist and fiddle around with the limbs while the body is already formed right from the start. Feels lazy and it might be partly due to the gimmick that it's like this.
ROBOT MODE:
Ratchet has fairly athletic proportions, with chunky legs and a thin-ish upper body. He is fairly screen accurate.
There's barely any kibble, only that big panel on his back and the cab shells wrapping around his lower legs.
Perhaps one of the more disappointing things is the fake vehicle kibble. The doors on his chest is a defining feature of this iteration of Ratchet, yet one the toy, it's sculpted in and doesn't even use the real vehicle doors, lazy (that, and the sculpted doors look too small in proportion anyway).
Ratchet isn't bogged down by too much stuff but the most noticeable is how thick his lower legs is, but that's just an illusion.
Since half of that is hollow, which kinda sucks.
The head sculpt is good, but something seems a little bit off, maybe because of the grimace.
As mentioned, his torso is just one big solid block, :(.
His shoulder pads are not proportioned like the show, having a sharper bend/angle downwards, otherwise, this is a cool figure.
Ratchet unfolds a little bit and becomes taller than you'd expect, but still a small figure overall.
So, now onto the weapons, they're made of this super soft rubbery plastic understandable given the safety concerns, but they're a little bit too soft.
Ratchet can hold them like normal knives.
Or, you can fold his wrists in (it's a transformation joint) so it looks like the blades are spouting out of his arm. This is really awesome and I loved how the designer managed to achieve this.
Ratchet looks great with his blades like this, ready to slice some Decepticons.
As you'd expect, there is some good articulation here, his arms are double jointed in addition to the standard shoulder joint.
As he's relatively kibble free, all his articulation is unhindered. The head is fairly restricted though for some reason, turning it side to side takes some effort (as he has a tendency to look up when you try to swivel the head due to how it's attached).
I don't think I've mentioned the lightpiping, he has a great lightpiping effect...
A negative is that his blades can't store anywhere in robot mode if Ratchet's not using them, disappointing (all it takes is a peg molded on his backpack and that's that problem solved).
Surprisingly, Ratchet also possesses a waist swivel!
If you pay attention, you'd notice that there is a decent amount of paint apps here. A nice figure overall, and one that's a definite if you want to collect the cast members.
Speaking of cast members, I've finally gotten the whole Autobot cast from Season 1 of Prime!
OVERALL:
A simple little figure, emphasis on the simple and little. I believe he makes some compromises for the head reveal gimmick making Ratchet a little bit more boring than his true potential. However, this is still a good solid toy that possesses a cool way to incorporate his blades as part of his arms. The proportions may not suit everyone's taste and the blades are a really soft rubber, but all in all, it's not terrible.
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