Review: #646
Name: Ratchet
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Masterpiece
Year of Release: 2020
Size Class: Masterpiece
Mold Status: new
PACKAGING:
Ratchet comes as part of the Masterpiece Movie (MPM) line and is packaged in the line's signature black box, albeit glossier than the G1 versions.
The back only has several stock photos and no text, leaving it feeling a bit empty.
VEHICLE MODE:
Ratchet transforms into an officially licensed Hummer H2 vehicle with a green emergency deco based upon his appearance in the first two films.
You can see part of the robot feel at the exposed underneath from the back, while the Masterpiece toys does a great job most of the time, it does seem that they always can't manage to hide all the robot pieces completely in vehicle mode.
Ratchet is a really hefty figure, but physically he is around the size of a Voyager. Above is a comparison against Leader AOE Optimus and Voyager Titans Return Optimus, but Ratchet feels heavier than both.
The two wrist mounted cannons from robot mode can store underneath the vehicle right next to the front wheels.
While the gun can mount onto the spare wheel at the back and the saw pegs underneath the back but sticks out, which is a bit unsightly.
As expected, Ratchet is brimming with sculpted details and it is really impressive. Of special note are the tools near the roof on either side, as well as all the small paint applications.
There aren't any gimmicks in vehicle mode apart from rolling him on a flat surface. The mounted spare wheel is also molded in.
There is an abundance of transparent plastic and thankfully in an improvement from initial stock photos, the paint is much more consistent and matches with the plastic.
This is a fantastic vehicle mode with effectively no flaws.
TRANSFORMATION:
Naturally, transformation to robot mode is extremely complicated and there are a lot of small pieces that you move around. It's quite impressive in how most of the vehicle manages to compact onto his back. Otherwise, the legs unfold from around the back, taking with it parts of the vehicle's side. While the arms and torso form from the front section and there are plenty of rotations involved, it can get fiddly, especially with arranging the vehicular kibble around the chest.
ROBOT MODE:
There's no doubt, and this is the aim of the whole MPM line, but this Ratchet is the definitive version of the character in robot mode.
Perhaps most impressive is how it manages to compact half the vehicle mode onto his back without it feeling awkward. It's solidly tabbed and doesn't get into the way at all.
The headsculpt does let down the figure a bit, but not because of the sculpting, rather, it's the unpainted grey which clashes massively with its dull tone against the more vibrant green.
There is a gimmick relating to his head and that is that the mouth can open. It's a subtle effect but one that's consistent with the rest of the MPM line.
Ratchet looks fantastic here and feels like he stepped right out of the screen. The only major piece of kibble that breaks the look are the panels on the inside of his legs.
One of the weirdest aspects of the figure is that in its quest to achieve screen accuracy, the instructions has you tabbing the fender pieces onto the shoulders, which ends up locking the shoulders in place and you being unable to move the arms. It's not a huge deal given you can just untab it and use the shoulders the normal way, but just a weird design decision.
Ratchet contains die-cast metal in two places, the first are the metal parts on his thighs.
The second place is on his feet, with both being on his lower torso, it helps bring his center of balance lower, making him more stable.
There's another MPM line-wide gimmick and that is his hands open up, they are jointed in three places: the two thumbs and the rest of the fingers as one piece.
Of course, articulation is where Ratchet shines. He has numerous joints including his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees and ankles.
Thanks to his large feet, he can also hold many poses with no issues.
Furthermore, most of his joints are ratchets, so he'll be able to hold the substantial weight of the figure itself.
Ratchet comes with two wrist guns, a saw and a gun, all of which are based on the weapons he used in the movie.
If you don't wish to use them, they can all store on his back. The wrist guns pegs onto slots behind his shoulders, the gun on the spare wheel, and the saw clips onto his back.
The wrist guns peg onto slots on his left arm. His right arm lacks those slots.
The saw also pegs onto a slot on either of his arms, one of the nice aspects of this weapon is that it is comprised of two blades, and each blade can spin independently.
Lastly, fold Ratchet's hand in and then you can peg the gun, to make it look as if his arm morphed into the gun.
With three weapons at his disposal, this gives Ratchet quite a versatile arsenal.
There are some weird proportions, which could be a byproduct of the movie's design. However, the arms are angled weirdly and thanks to the ratchet joints, each click bends it quite far, so it never quite looks perfect.
The knees as well don't bend as far as one would expect. Otherwise, there are no other issues, minor or major.
Ratchet has an excellent robot mode, all the "flaws" are really minor. He comes packed with weapons and has plenty of articulation.
OVERALL:
MPM Ratchet manages to succeed in becoming the definitive figure of the character. Both modes are amazing, and while each has minor things like kibble, it is easily overlooked. Ratchet is priced higher than previous MPM figures of comparable size but he is worth the cost, if only to complete the first movie's Autobot cast.
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