Review: #719
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Generations - War for Cybertron: Siege
Year of Release: 2019
Size Class: Micromaster (Wave 5)
Mold Status: new
RUMBLE (ALTERNATE):
Officially, Rumble transforms into a drone armor. However, it just so happens that it's a rectangular box, suspiciously like the tape mode of the G1 version...
There's not much here, he's red on one side, and black on the other. Although the underside reveals his head and several other robot parts.
This mode is as you'd expect, and very limited by himself.
TRANSFORMATION (RUMBLE):
To get Rumble into robot mode, the transformation scheme is reminiscent of the Masterpiece version. You fold out his legs from the sides and bottom, and then the top for his arms. Flip out his wrists and you're done.
RUMBLE (ROBOT):
Rumble's robot mode is... okay. He's short and stocky, bordering on being stumpy. Yes, the proportions are definitely off.
He doesn't have that much kibble but due to his small size and resulting simplicity, he's quite blocky.
The head sculpt is okay, and he does have several nice highlights on his chest.
Surprisingly, articulation is not too bad. He has joints for his head, shoulders, hips and knees.
That said, he's still difficult to pose but for such a small figure, that's understandable.
RATBAT (ALTERNATE):
Ratbat, just like Rumble, transforms into a rectangular prism. but purple this time.
Unlike Rumble though, Ratbat doesn't quite fill up the whole volume due to his robot mode, so there are some gaps here.
Ratbat is the same size, so he's quite small.
While subjective, the purple can be a nicer and more unique color scheme, but the gappier alternate mode makes Ratbat behind Rumble.
TRANSFORMATION (RATBAT):
A simple transformation but it's hard to do anything better given the small size. The wings fold out and then lift to the sides. You then fold the head down and flip down the feet before you're done.
RATBAT (ROBOT MODE):
Ratbat doesn't have a humanoid robot mode, instead, as the name implies, he transforms into a robotic bat.
That's pretty cool actually and he's well formed here. He has nice angular pieces, despite transforming into a rectangular prism.
The head sculpt is great, and suitably evil for a Decepticon robotic bat.
Size-wise, he's wider than he is tall, so he appears very short compared to even the Legion class.
There's little articulation, only his wings can lift out to the sides, and the wings can fold up if you wish.
Nevertheless, this is a decent robot mode due to how unique the form is.
INTERACTION WITH SOUNDWAVE:
Of course, as Rumble and Ratbat are traditional the cassette tape minions of Soundwave, the pair are designed to complement Siege Soundwave in several ways.
In tape form, the first of which is that Soundwave's chest springs open and you can place a tape inside.
Given that the tape cover is clear, the colors of the tape can be seen through and it gives a nice effect.
Next, the bottom of each tape has a flip out 5mm post. These posts allows them to be attached to Soundwave as a type of armor. There are a few spots but the best looking ones are on his shoulders or his forearms.
When the pair are not in tape form though, the interactions are notably less. You can carefully balance Ratbat on his forearm.
It's not a bad combination or set though, and complements Soundwave quite well.
OVERALL:
If you can find the pair for cheap, then they are great pickups. Both are somewhat unique and are decent figures. Rumble does have proportion issues but easy to overlook. They're harder to recommend at full price though given that they are quite small, and having Siege Soundwave allows you to fully unlock their play value.
-----------------------------------------------