The Energon Pub

Taking a que from Maximal Primal and his brilliant idea of doing a quick, easy and fun ratings review of Beast Wars toys, I thought it'd be a wonderful thing to do it with the Movie toys and see what people come up with....So rehashing the formula set up by Maximal Primal and his thread, I'm gonna set down the rules and begine with a review to kick it off..

"The Rules are simple, just Rate and review one of your favorites, then come back and rate some more!25 points is the maximum allowed per figure, 25 Points means this guy is a perfect toy, buy it when you can!! 1 Point or less means, chuck this one in the spare parts or Kitbash bin, because he's just crap.. Individual tastes will very, so what one reviewer will like the other may hate and vice versa, you don't have to agree with anyone's view. Just have fun!!!"

"Leader Class Movie Optimus Prime"

How did you get your favorite Transformers Movie Toy? I found him on a late night run to Wal-Mart. I was so glad I did, and I didn't even think twice about it, it was like pure adrenaline and instinct! Your gonna buy this as soon as you see it, I told myself, yep sure enough there he was!! I snatched him up, and ran/briskly walked to the clerk... I held my joyous rantings until I hit my car, turned up the music and preceded to talk to myself about how Badass he was!!

Rate your Bot: 1 is poor and 5 is the Best ever!!

1. Likeness to Movie or Media: Movie Optimus Prime displays a combination of the "panel on machinery" look of the movie CGI models while also having parts that clearly share their roots with the non-movie Transformers toys. Optimus is cast in metallic blue, red and silver plastic. Paint applications are made from the same colors with the addition of gold. These are largely based on the colors used on the CGI model. However, due to the way mold trees work out, color placement does not 100% match the CGI model, but it comes very close. The silver plastic is mostly used for the parts that serve as the underlying skeletal structure of the robot in the CGI model.

The blue and red parts generally act as the armor plating. Some translucent blue plastic can be found on the windows on his chest. An example of paint applications used to help replicate the movie model can be seen on the lower arms. While they are a solid rectangular piece, the movie model has more angled panels over a lower arm piece. To replicate the panel look, sections are painted red and others left metallic blue to look like separate plates. Had Hasbro went with a more Metallic silver paint on the whole toy it would have been better recieved with collectors, but as it is, alot of them are repainting him and placing him on the internet for sale.

The movie appearance of having a skeletal substructure with panels on top is intact here. On the shoulders of the CGI model are two blue, angled panels, and the figure has those as well. On either side of his head are two silver vertical panels that are also found in the movie model. Behind those panels are the tops of the smokestacks.

The shoulders and elbow sections are rounded and have a very layered, deailed sculpt that includes tues, circles and more. His lower arms are basically a solid rectangle here, but through sculpting and the use of deco patterns, the look of panels on the CGI model's lower arms is replicated. The legs succeed in replicating the movie look very well. The upper legs are thin, rounded sections with a good chunk of detail carried over right from the movie model such as the circles on the inner parts of the knees.

The lower legs have panels that fold up over the knees, revealing piston like details underneath straight from the movie model. His feet have the "claw toes" shape of the movie model as well. On the movie model the covers over the front tires of the vehicle mode are de-emphasized but here they of course retain their full size, and they actually add some much needed bulk.

The chest section also retains many classic Optimus Prime features while also managing to look a lot like the movie model. On the chest are the front windows of the truck. However, instead of being close together, the designers of the movie decided to have his chest split, revealing tech detail in the middle. The figure does this as well.

In between the two windows is a tab (more on that later) and under that are two circles that could be barrels of a weapon or just superfluous tech details (until I see the movie I won't know). On the section below the chest are details that look like the grille on the front end of the truck split up, with the headlights under each grille half.

In fact, the grille of the vehicle mode becomes the underside of the robot feet, so these are truly details put in to help the character (both in CGI and toy form) harken back to G1 Optimus Prime. Another detail that carried over from the original Optimus are the row of lights running along the top of his chest. G1 Optimus had these (which included horns) and it is nice to see a similar feature on this successor to G1 Prime. overall, even if he's not too much of a movie accurate model, he's almost there, and a great repaint base model for the g-1 scheme or to just metallicize, overall very nice indeed!
;)^;)^;)^;)^

2. Posability: This is probably one of the most articualted toys in the series, he's got posability in the arms, legs, shoulders, feet, hands, there are items that allow his back legs movement, ect..He has twenty seven points points of articulation. If that number seems high, ten of those points are actually on his fingers which was a real big surprise. I had not expected something like that on this figure and they look really cool and add to how expressive you can make him when posing the figure.
it's really alot to list
;)^;)^;)^;)^

3. Transformation:Using the tab on his chest, you push it down and his head moves down while his chest panels move together. When transforming him into robot mode you press the tab on his lower body and this part slides up as the chest panels slide to the sides.

This is accompanied by a sound and orange lights on his chest and eyes flashing. The other Automorph feature is found on the feet. When you turn the fender piece to the sides, his "claw feet" fold back. Not only is this feature nice to see in action, but it also brings the figure a step closer to the visual appearance of the movie character transformations.

1. Fold all the fingers on the hands closed and swing the thumb down.
2. Swing the weapon back if deployed.
3. Push the tab on his chest down and lock it into place.
4. wing down the silver panels on his shoulders.
5. Swivel the blue panels on his upper arms over the top of the shoulders.
6. Swing down the panels on the undersides of his lower arms.
7. Swing open the silver panels and fold the fists in before putting the panels back in place.
8. Swing the lower arms up and connect them to the shoulder panels and upper arms.
9. Swing the rear truck wheel section on the back down.
10. Swing the waist section back, kdeeping the robot legs pointing down.
11. On the back, swing the red panels out and then swing the tube sections forward.
12. Swing the arm sections back and connect them together.
13. Swing up the rear wheel sections and connect them to the arm sections.
14. Swing the fenders on the underside of the feet to the sides, then slide them into place to lock them.
15. Connect the two legs together.
16. Fold out the knee armor panels.
17. Swing the knee armor panels forward.
18. Swing the legs up and straighten out the panels to form the hood of the truck.
19. Swing the red panels on the sides (with the vertical tanks on them) forward. voalla!! Truck mode!!
;)^;)^;)^;)^

4. Packaging: Awesome!!! very colorful, artwork is top notch, The Leader Class packaging is a new shape for Transformers packaging. Instead of a rectangle or squared off shape, it is curved to the right and flat on the left. Optimus is packaged in robot mode, allowing you to reach through the clear window and use his "Try Me!" feature.

His package art is a drawing of his head on the lower right hand corner of the box (if you're facing the box). The tech specs are on the back along with a new type of graphic for the tech spec numbers. Instead of a line or just simple numbers this has several balls across a line representing the numbers. Optimus' Leader Class numbers match up with his Protoform. Optimus' cosell on the back is Blackout. On the bottom of the packaging are cosells for Ratchet and Barricade. too many Twistie Ties, when is habro gonna learn to just mold the plastic tray to the toy and place a plastic cover over it, like the Masterpiece Satarscream toy, or Megatron?.....
;)^;)^;)^

5. Best feature: The Leader class Optimus Prime figure features what is known as the "Automorph" feature that will be featured on many of the movie action figures. "Automorph" refers to a design feature where as you move one piece, another piece moves at the same time - mostly to facilitate transformation, and Optimus Prime rolls on six large wheels.

What surprised me is that these wheels are actually rubber, something previously reserved for figures such as those from the Alternators toy line. Given that the figure is a very basic Transformer with no particular gimmick such as Mini-Cons or Cyber Keys, I suspect this was a way to help add some value to the figure and it is really nice to see.

Not only does it look cool, but it also harkens back to the very first Optimus Prime toy from over twenty years ago. On the top of the cab is a button (on the right side) that you press to activate a honking noise. At the same time the noise goes off, the orange lights in the windows light up in a pattern to match the noise.Swing the cannon on Optimus' right arm forward and it slips over his hand forming an arm cannon. The one in the movie is shown as a bit longer, but here it looks just fine. Pressing the trigger launches a translucent blue missile. Overall not bad as far as Gimmicks go!!
;)^;)^;)^;)^



overall score: 24 Points! An excellent toy

Would you recommend this toy? Hell Yes, I would!!!Leader Class Optimus Prime is a breath of fresh air in many ways. His "gimimick" really is just a way to facilitate transformation. He is at its most basic level, a classic Transformer: an alternate form to a robot. However the level of detail, sculpting and posability is fantasitc and manages to take on the difficult task of taking the complex CGI model and putting it into toy form. Highly recommended.

For thousands of years, OPTIMUS PRIME and his AUTOBOTS have traveled through space in search of the Allspark. For all that time, the AUTOBOT leader has held one goal in mind - to protect the universe from the evil of MEGATRON. For this massive, metal warrior, nothing is more important than freedom; he will sacrifice all for its preservation. He has fought for centuries, modifying his body into an unstoppable war machine, preparing for that day he knows is coming when he and MEGATRON meet for one final battle!

What an amazing year for Transformers it has been!!!

skywarp-2 wrote:Taking a que from Maximal Primal and his brilliant idea of doing a quick, easy and fun ratings review of Beast Wars toys, I thought it'd be a wonderful thing to do it with the Movie toys and see what people come up with....

I am a Genius aren't I..

skywarp-2 wrote:What an amazing year for Transformers it has been!!!

Yes it certainly has!!!

Great job Skywarp-2 on your review, long and strong, like you like it. I'm more into the Beast Wars though, but I may review one some other time.

I have to say one thing though, I do prefer Optimus Prime from the movie over other toys in the line up, and the main reason is becasue I want to do this to him....but I have to buy another first..




Metallic Paints in G-1 colors..

NUFF SAID BUB!!!

That custom prime looks so amazing.

Dispensor wrote:That custom prime looks so amazing.

I agree, the actual Prime toy itself is really amazing and the repaint in Metallics really shows what the design and actual toy is capable of becoming with a quality repaint. I am thinking of tracking down 2 more of them so that I can have a Metallic Movie paint sceme with darker blues and slightly darker reds on the flames, with metallic silvers, and have another one that is like the G-1 Version like the images above.

The guy in the Kitbashes section really did an awesome job of showcasing how really special this mold of the leader class Prime really is, underneath the basic colors Hasbro relreased him in... My advice is this, Buy 3 Movie Primes, one to keep MISB, One to repaint in Metallics, One to repaint in the G-1 version, keep the box and package them back up, or display, either way you'll have 2 really awesome Prime's with an MISB to keep that collector to resell itch safe...

Anyway, I am gonna do my other favorite figure form the Movie line up....Barricade!!!

"Barricade"

How did you get your favorite Transformers Movie Toy? I actually didn't buy Barricade on his own, rather I bought the 2-Pack with the 1970s Bumblebee. I inspected the toy in the brightest light in Wal-Mart as much as I could to make sure I got the best representation in paitn applications and plastic as I could.. They were in Robot mode already, so because most if not all my collection is in MISB, it was perfect for me, and the fact my brother has almost all of them loose in his room for display also helped me out..I could transform his and pose it, then rest assured I had one in MISB in storage in the Garage..(I moved my stuff from the Attic)

Rate your Bot: 1 is poor and 5 is the Best ever!!

1. Likeness to Movie or Media: Why when all the other Decepticons get insect faces, does Barricade channel Jack Frost? the movie Barricade is very cool, the producers added an extra cool factor by making this character a Saleen custom Mustang. Barricade has a protective cage on the front of the vehicle mode (no doubt to prevent damage from inevitable ramming), police sirens mounted on top of the cabin and a spoiler with a lower, more angled profile than those on the Binaltech Mustangs. Hasbro and Takara proved their ability to recreate real life cars into Transformers with Binaltech so it comes as no surprise that this vehicle mode is very faithful to the movie model. It has all the lines of the Mustang including the high and wide front end with its trademark headlights layout.... The sides of the vehicle sweep back with an indented area on top and a section coming out slightly towards the bottom. The siren lights have details sculpted into them that look like a row of bulbs. The front hood has the Mustang's trademark rectangular vents on either side. Even the wheels are sculpted to match the real life ones with seven spokes. He even has the SALEEN logo sculpted into the back along the rear bumper. I love seeing this attention to real-life detail in a deluxe sized Transformers package.

Deco is one of the most important factors with the movie vehicles since they are so distinctive. Barricade's is easily one of the most unique among all the Transformers in the movie. His is sculpted mostly in black plastic, with translucent plastic used for his siren, windshield and windows.... White paint is used on his door and for lettering all over the vehicle mode including the numbers "643" which appear on the front of the car as well as the top of the cabin. Also in white is the word "Police" on the spoiler and written in script over each rear wheel is the phrase "To punish and enslave...", a sentence actually painted onto the real life car used in the movie. The siren piece has red and blue sections, painted lightly so as not to ruin the translucent effect. The word "Police" is written on the doors in silver with black outlines.

Right behind each front wheel section is the most iconic of all of Barricade's details: his Decepticon police shield... This shield looks like a police shield with a curved, three sided shape. Inside is the word "Police" with a Decepticon symbol in the center. Underneath that are the numbers 1865. What significance that number holds is lost to me. In US history it is most remembered for the year the Civil War ended and President Lincoln was assassinated. Perhaps there is a link there, but the numbers could have just been random as well. The shield itself is purple while the letters, outline and Decepticon symbol are metallic silver. On the back the rear lights are painted red, contrasting sharply with the black plastic. Barricade’s chest is pretty broad and his arms huge, looking a little out of place against his skinny legs, especially with his goofy giant hands.

Barricade's vehicle mode deco looks so good that I did not even realize some details were missing until I looked at photographs of the real life car. On the section in front of each rear wheel the real life vehicle has the "643" numbers in small print. Also, towards the back on each side are the words "Emergency 911 Response"... I'm guessing part of this was to save costs on deco, but I'm also not one hundred percent sure toy manufacturers are even supposed to put "911" on their toys. Either way, while these details are missing, they hardly subtract from how good this figure looks in vehicle form... I am disappointed however that he does not include the wheel/blade weapons some of his promotional images have shown of the movie CGI model.


Barricade includes an accessory of sorts - Frenzy, the small Transformer who actually transforms into a CD Player in the movie. Here it seems like he transforms into Barricade's engine, but it is possible this is just a convenient slot to put the figure. Of all the movie designs, Frenzy's is perhaps the one that most fans agree looks very odd. Even in high resolution CGI renders he looks strange. At some angles with his four arms splayed out he even looks somewhat like a mechanical chicken. however, if you look at the toy design, somehow it's a lot less weird. In fact, he looks much more like a generic robot with an insectoid influence. The head is largely V shaped. In fact, if you look at it carefully, it was clearly designed to evoke both an insect alien and the Decepticon symbol all at the same time (this is a recurring theme for many of the Decepticon head designs). The body design is thin and lanky, with only small hints that he becomes a CD player, mostly based on the circles on his hips. He has four arms, each with claws on the end that also evoke an insectoid look.

Frenzy is cast in silver plastic with four points of articulation. His eyes are painted red, although in some CGI renders from the movie they are blue. I actually like this little "partner" figure for Barricade. It gives an ides of the little guy's size and it offers extra play value to the package. It's also nice to see that the design has some fairly solid robotic parts and is not just a mess of pointy robotic bits sticking out everywhere.

At first Barricade seems to be little more than a shellformer type Transformer whose robot bits are covered by the side and cabin of the car mode. However, there is a really interesting design aesthetic at work here. While most of the form is a new take on the traditional "car front as chest" design many Transformers have, this form actually has some slightly organic based elements installed. This is mostly found in the head design and the arm designs. If you look at the head, he has a shape reminscent of the Decepticon symbol (down to a tiny little crest in the middle with pointed parts on the sides), but it also evokes the look of a with large, angled ears and a small mouth underneath the nose. His arms have a pointed claw like design on the very top and each finger on his hands are extremely long and there are details on the other side of the door with lines that look like membranes on a bat's wings. This is a very creepy look that adds a dimension to Barricade unseen in vehicle form and makes him all the more appealing.

Barricade's basic shape matches up well with his CGI counterpart. His side doors swing up as wing-like pieces on his back, his arms are extra long and out of proportion with the rest of his body. His legs are curved in an odd angle, going forward on the upper legs and then angling back on the lower legs. A lot of the more fluid sculpted parts are present as well including layered armor on the upper legs and the curved lower legs (with a good bit of detail inside). The feet even have a minor, but cool detail in the triangular pieces that flip up. They dont serve much of a purpose on the figure but they're on the CGI model and look pretty cool on the figure.

Barricade's primary plastic color is black still. Metallic purple, gold and silver paint is used for details on his legs, waist, lower arms and head. His eyes are cast in translucent red for light piping (while the rest of the head is soft plastic due to the sharp edges). This may sound like a dull color scheme, but it works for the character and is actually quite accurate to the CGI model. The purple and silver colors break up the monotony of the black in just the right spots. Overall I love the deco's on this deluxe figure, but a part of me really wishes he could have recvieved a Voyager Class rendition, which would have really made him look that much more like his movie counterpart, still the Deluxe does an excellent job.
;)^;)^;)^;)^

2. Posability: Very posable and movable, not bad overall...actually, he's comprised of mostly ball joints, in the hips and shoulders area, as well as his head.. very very nice toy!! the knees and arms move with a fairly great amount of movemnt for positions.. the ankles could have had mor articulation, but it's not too bothersome..Unfortunately his knee’s are permanently bent into a very awkward pose, so despite the ball jointed shoulders, practical poseability is limited. Barricade has fourteen points of articulation in robot mode. He loses waist articulation due to his transformation scheme. His thumb is actually articulated on both hands, which is really cool if you want him to grasp things. Still for a Deluxe, it's a great design...
;)^;)^

3. Transformation:
Transformation is simple, and fun at the same time.......Swing down the front cage section and pull out the front grille piece.
1. Unfold the front grille piece to form the Frenzy mini-figure.
2. Detach the panel on the back including the rear wheels, then swing each side of the car forward.
3. Swing the front section of the car back on the central hinge and then down so the tabs on the waist piece slide into the slots on the underside of the car's front end.
4. Split the robot legs and swing each lower leg down and swing the robot feet up.
Push the tabs on each robot feet to swing up the spike-like pieces.
5. Swing the sides of the vehicle forward and rotate the front ends around to form the robot arms.
6. Swing the windshield piece back, but swing the side windows up.
7. Slide each side of the hood to the sides to reveal the robot head.
8. Swing the robot head up.
9. Swing up the front grille piece.
;)^;)^;)^;)^

4. Packaging: Not Bad, very colorful and red, and remenicent of Star Wars 3, Barricade is packaged on the standard type of Transformers movie boxed packaging with the edges of the plastic bubble wrapping around under cardboard to the back of the card. He is packaged in Robot mode. The title of the 2-Pack is called "First Encounter" which alludes to the first battle between Barricade and Bumblebee and Sam's encounter with inerrogation at the hands of Barricade... The Boxy tech detail section at the top of the bubble does not list any feature such as "Automorph Technology" for Barricade, since he doesn't utilize that feature, only the 1970s Bumblebee figure has that distinction. On the back his robot mode picture is flipped, making it look like his right arm extends when it's actually his left. His vehicle mode is listed as a Saleen S281 (a variant of the Ford Mustang) and the Saleen logo is on the bottom. Frenzy is shown in robot mode as well and the text says he ejects from the chest (kind of alluding to the G1 character's association with Soundwave).....there is also a Robot picture of Bumblebee and his car mode transformed...Twistie ties hold them in place..and the fragility of the package drops the score..
;)^;)^

5. Best feature: There is a small trigger on his left arm. Press it and the forearm springs forward. You can use it as a punching action or even an extended grip of sorts. It's a small, yet pleasant surprise that makes me wonder if we will see a scene in the movie where this feature is shown. There’s no automorph, but Barricade’s left arm has a spring loaded battering ram function, which while a little flimsy, does a nice job of simulating the fist-pounding shown in the movie trailers.

A nice touch is the spikes on the toes that flip up. They didn’t have to do this, but it’s one step closer to matching the CGI model and it’s nice that they made the effort.
;)^;)^;)^





overall score: 20 Points. For a Deluxe, He's An excellent toy

Would you recommend this toy? What you get here is kind of two toys in one, since you slide out what I suppose would be the radiator considering it’s location, and transform that into a mini, simplistic, but all things considered a pretty accurate Frenzy figure.

One can’t help asking why however, the years of experience designing Minicons weren’t applied here (or with Blackout’s Scorponok figure) to do something really special? Barricade is an excellent deluxe sized Transformer.This police car Transformer is an evil Decepticon who takes sadistic pleasure in shattering the faith and hope that his vehicle mode represents. He matches up very well with his CGI model and he has a fun action feature. His sculpting is fantastic and he has an awesome vehicle mode. Highly recommended!

wow!! very long review...but very cool too!! I'm gonna do one later tonight though not as long as your, it will be a pretty good rating's review. I was feeling a little like it was too early to do the Movie toys, but your reviews got me interested in doing one. I think it's high time we got into indepth discussion and reviews about the movie line, considering it's pretty much done.

Maximal Primal wrote:wow!! very long review...but very cool too!! I'm gonna do one later tonight though not as long as your, it will be a pretty good rating's review. I was feeling a little like it was too early to do the Movie toys, but your reviews got me interested in doing one. I think it's high time we got into indepth discussion and reviews about the movie line, considering it's pretty much done.

OK.........., maybe I got a little carried away, but that Optimus Prime is one bad Mutha!! Especially the fact that the base mold is perfect to utalize for repaints, and that is pretty much what IMHO, makes him such a perfect toy, besides the engineering behind it, repainting him in Metallics is the best thing ever for that particular toy, Hasbro should release a special X-mas Super Metal finish with ultra detailing at around 60.00 MSRP, I'd pay extra for that special attention to detail, and a collector friendly box to go with it as well....

Alright guys, it's my turn to take the Movie line up a notch and break out one of my favorites first for Review. This won't be as long as Skywarp's nor as indepth, it's what this and my thread were supposed to be, a ratings review for perspective buyers, not to detract from Skywarp's posts, which I have seen that he does like to include poictures and usually writes books But none the less.

" Voyager Autobot Ratchet"

How did you get your favorite Transformers Movie Toy? I found him at the local Beverly Hills Walgreens, apparently they carry all sorts of manner of toys! I was there for my sister's prescription. They only had Ratchet, and Starscream as Voyagers, the rest were Deluxes and FAB's.

Rate your Bot: 1 is poor and 5 is the Best ever!!

1. Likeness to Movie or Media: Ratchet is a dead on likeness to his movie counterpart. A very nice figure, his head sculpt is easily recognizable to the face of the CGI model in the movie. Sculpted detail is better than Ironhide's, with various parts of the vehicle such as the windshield wipers, the grill, the roof accessory and various tools sculpted on (but sadly left unpainted). His altmode is almost a perfect rendition of the movie's and the colors and paint applications in his case were spot on. Ratchet is cast in neon-green and black. Whilst the green is used for the majority of the vehicle, black is used for parts of the roof, the wheels and the bumpers. The cage section on the top is cast in black as well. Silver is used sparingly for the headlights. Metallic red is used for the tampographed lines on the side of the vehicle (reminiscent of the reading of medical equipment for the heart) and the faux sirens on the roof. Orange is present on the "Fire Department" insignias on either side of the back of the vehicle, although on the left side of mine, they are slightly misaligned. Clear blue plastic is used on both doors and the windshield. The doors are painted over, but the difference between plastic cast in neon-green and plastic painted with it is evident. The doors are slightly brighter than the rest of the vehicle.
;)^;)^;)^;)^

2. Posability: his posability is actually quite good. I was surprised that he could be positioned in so many ways when on display. I do wish his feet had a little more articualtion, but as they were, they are just flip downs. He can hold poses bvery well, and his arms and legs are very user friendly when positioning. Overall, he's a great solid toy with good movement.Ratchet has 21 points of articulation, 5 concentrated on each limb and a head that rotates 360 degrees. A thing one must consider is that Ratchet integrated all vehicle parts almost perfectly in this form, and thus is much more flexible as he has a much better centre of gravity and no kibble to add unnecessary weight. His wide, bulky feet allow perfect stability for most poses, and his arms having two joints at the shoulder intersection offer an array of dynamic poses.
;)^;)^;)^;)^

3. Transformation:I love his transformation, it is truly unique. His arms flip out as the truck's doors, the back of the trucks bed section flips over to become the legs and feet, then there is a switch up on the body and the front end of the truck becomes the chest! but upside down! wow, what a really neet way to do it. Ratchet has a simple, non obstructive automorph that revolves around his lower legs-pushing down on his feet extends his knee covers and pushes out the side panels on his legs (with the words "Fire Department"). The knee covers look like they can be pushed manually, and the extending panels are no great loss if the automorph malfunctions along the way.
;)^;)^;)^;)^

4. Packaging: Ratchet is packaged in a box that is flat on the left side and curves on the right. The movie logo with the Autobot symbol is found on the top of the curve. Underneath that is a curved piece with tech details and the words "Automorph Technology" on top. His name "Autobot Ratchet" is printed along the bottom. Ratchet is packaged in vehicle mode and on the lower left hand corner is Ratchet's box art. On the back he is pictured reversed, holding the cage on what looks like his right arm and his axe weapon on the left. Blackout is listed as his cosell. It's really nice looking packaging and definitely catches the eye.....
;)^;)^;)^

5. Best feature: I think the sculpt and engineering behind this figure is really great. I love the transformation, the atypical way the front of the vehicle becomes the chest and the use of angled panels to replicate the movie look. I really dig the way his Automorph feature works and I think there is some great sculpting on the figure.
;)^;)^;)^;)^

overall score: 24 Points! A real delight, a sleeper in terms of like-ability, He was the last figure I opened and actually took the time to slowly study and transform, after it was all said and done, I have really come to admire and respect ratchet as a nice toy and all around great figure from the movie.

Would you recommend this toy? Yes I would, To sum things up, Ratchet is an impossibly good figure. He's wide and imposing, has lots of articulation points and the body to use them, he looks WICKED when posed just right and has a relatively fun vehicle ta boot! What really hurts him is the color scheme. As open minded as I have tried to remain about the movie designs, I must confess the green keeps reminding me of Constructicons more than a rescue vehicle. Even if you accept the green, there are so many good details that deserve color applications it's sad to see them ignored. Yet, even with that, he gets a 24!! That's how cool Ratchet really is.

wow nice review Maximal, you must really like that guy!! I wasn't a huge fan of Ratchet, at present I have one in my MISB collection, but he's my Brothers. He never opened it to transform him or anything like that. I figured since he hasn't opened it, I'll take it, up until the metallic painted one comes out from Best Buy.. see that one's in Robot Mode in the packaging and he's Metallic, So I'll pick him up for that reason and have a better colored version..

But then again, I'm kinda like, ok if I give the regular back to my Brother, i will have an off collection because of the colors...Crap!!! I may just pay him 20.00 and ckeep both the original and the variant..

What's the scoop on the Rescue Ratchet repaint? Is he better?