Pulse Exclusive Covert Agent Ravage Video Review

I appreciate the shout out

XD Theft

Mistaken_Table wrote:XD Theft

This is the one time where it's probably not theft. Ravage was available for a limited time at a convention in a south east asian country, I think last week.

EDIT: Found it, Ravage was sold at Fans Expo 2021 in Hong Kong in July.

Rtron wrote:

Mistaken_Table wrote:XD Theft

This is the one time where it's probably not theft. Ravage was available for a limited time at a convention in a south east asian country, I think last week.

EDIT: Found it, Ravage was sold at Fans Expo 2021 in Hong Kong in July.

Thank you for pointing it out.

Please let this be the last of any discussion on how this reviewer acquired the item. We're discussing the review, not the drama behind it.

Please let this be the last of any discussion on how this reviewer acquired the item. We're discussing the review, not the drama behind it.

Nah, don't worry about it, bud. Just keeping the facade up.

Mistaken_Table wrote:

Please let this be the last of any discussion on how this reviewer acquired the item. We're discussing the review, not the drama behind it.

Nah, don't worry about it, bud. Just keeping the facade up.

Have you created your account just for PvP drama? Because I remember disapproving a lots of your "XD" posts.

Posted by -Kanrabat- on August 4th, 2021 @ 6:55pm CDT
Mistaken_Table wrote:
Please let this be the last of any discussion on how this reviewer acquired the item. We're discussing the review, not the drama behind it.


Nah, don't worry about it, bud. Just keeping the facade up.


Have you created your account just for PvP drama? Because I remember disapproving a lots of your "XD" posts.

Its okay. There's no drama. Didn't mean to offend/irritate anyone. Won't post on this article again.

Rex and Rule!

I did a search and didn't see anyone post this, but I can't be the only one to figure this out. If you have kingdom rodimus, and hate the black flames, stick them alcohol for about 30 minutes. They are clear blue plastic with a super thick coat of glossy black paint

Immortal Starscream wrote:I did a search and didn't see anyone post this, but I can't be the only one to figure this out. If you have kingdom rodimus, and hate the black flames, stick them alcohol for about 30 minutes. They are clear blue plastic with a super thick coat of glossy black paint

Awesome! I don't have roddie yet but I appreciate the tip!

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Rex and Rule!

That looks really cool! Excellent pictures/poses!

Razorbeast88 wrote:

Immortal Starscream wrote:I did a search and didn't see anyone post this, but I can't be the only one to figure this out. If you have kingdom rodimus, and hate the black flames, stick them alcohol for about 30 minutes. They are clear blue plastic with a super thick coat of glossy black paint

Awesome! I don't have roddie yet but I appreciate the tip!

One more for you, the effects parts for ss hotrod and rodimus prime are cross compatible

Immortal Starscream wrote:

Razorbeast88 wrote:

Immortal Starscream wrote:I did a search and didn't see anyone post this, but I can't be the only one to figure this out. If you have kingdom rodimus, and hate the black flames, stick them alcohol for about 30 minutes. They are clear blue plastic with a super thick coat of glossy black paint

Awesome! I don't have roddie yet but I appreciate the tip!

One more for you, the effects parts for ss hotrod and rodimus prime are cross compatible

So he can go from mild speed to ludicrous speed, perfect!

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Rex and Rule!

Man, the BM Dinobots really need their own activation code. "Fossilize" would be perfect, but it's already taken by the Predacons' own dino subgroup, the Raptoricons.

Idk but their version of transform and roll out can be "make like tnt and dino-myte!"

Don't delete me

Immortal Starscream wrote:

Razorbeast88 wrote:

Immortal Starscream wrote:I did a search and didn't see anyone post this, but I can't be the only one to figure this out. If you have kingdom rodimus, and hate the black flames, stick them alcohol for about 30 minutes. They are clear blue plastic with a super thick coat of glossy black paint

Awesome! I don't have roddie yet but I appreciate the tip!

One more for you, the effects parts for ss hotrod and rodimus prime are cross compatible

Were you (or anyone else for that matter) able to get the trailer to close with the cannon inside? Mine refuses to shut all the way, there's split going across the top. I checked the instructions to see if I was doing anything wrong and apparently what I'm doing wrong is trying to stick the cannon inside the trailer. The instructions say to putt he canon on top of the trailer and then stick it on the platform after it's open. What kind of design flaw BS is that? Instead of tweaking the clearances a little during the prototype/QA phase (it almost closes!), they just said screw it, don't do it. Very disappointing for an $80 figure.

But that's not all, my Rodimus seems like it might be misassembled. The gray hinge that connects the top of the car to his back refuses to bend enough to sit properly. The one time I did get it to bend at the right angle the hinge stuck like it wasn't meant to bend that way and I really thought I was going to break the clear plastic bending it back.


Its either poorly designed or assembled wrong. Either way I'm not having a lot of fun with this figure.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:Were you (or anyone else for that matter) able to get the trailer to close with the cannon inside? Mine refuses to shut all the way, there's split going across the top. I checked the instructions to see if I was doing anything wrong and apparently what I'm doing wrong is trying to stick the cannon inside the trailer. The instructions say to putt he canon on top of the trailer and then stick it on the platform after it's open. What kind of design flaw BS is that? Instead of tweaking the clearances a little during the prototype/QA phase (it almost closes!), they just said screw it, don't do it. Very disappointing for an $80 figure.

But that's not all, my Rodimus seems like it might be misassembled. The gray hinge that connects the top of the car to his back refuses to bend enough to sit properly. The one time I did get it to bend at the right angle the hinge stuck like it wasn't meant to bend that way and I really thought I was going to break the clear plastic bending it back.

Its either poorly designed or assembled wrong. Either way I'm not having a lot of fun with this figure.

Emerje

Yup, I've got all those issues, I'm also not having a lot of fun with the figure

Very disappointing to hear

william-james88 wrote:Very disappointing to hear

Weird because that issue was never mentioned in any video reviews so far.

Sounds like the QC crapshoot again, Immortal Starscream has the figure, maybe ask if they had the same problems.

ZeroWolf wrote:Sounds like the QC crapshoot again, Immortal Starscream has the figure, maybe ask if they had the same problems.

for the back panel, no I have not had that issue. mine tabs in just fine. There is a double hinge under the car panel that on the surface looks like it is supposed to bend one way, but it doesn't. if you manage to force it, you may get stuck there. as for the trailer, yes mine also did not want to close with the cannon inside. it seems like it might be slightly warped from the way it is banded into the box, but that could be my imagination. I unscrewed and pulled out the grey tab pieces because they weren't sitting flush in where they are I could push them into the side panels and they would pop out a little. there are small pegs underneath where they peg in, and the top one is the only one that barely has glue on it.so I glued those down into place. now the trailer closes much tighter, but there is still a very small gap.

I will try to get a video up soon. my office where I do my reviews has been decidedly without air conditioning for the last few weeks which has made it hard to film anything. I will also take some pics tonight and show the few points of concern I do have, as well as take pics of the hinges under the car canopy so you can see if yours were miss-assembled. Honestly I'm having a blast with mine, easily one of kingdom's best, but also not without some flaws and a couple concerns about it's longevity.

but way way back in the day, Hasbro was ADAMANT that poor Roddy had to be flawed. Demanded it even. so I guess it fits. With that in mind, does that mean the PoP Roddy is the more Rodimus Rod?

Emerje wrote:Were you (or anyone else for that matter) able to get the trailer to close with the cannon inside? Mine refuses to shut all the way,

I don't have the toy, but I saw a reviewer on YouTube (Patriot Prime), had the exact same problem. He said to fix it, he put the thinnest layer of crazy glue along the connection points of the trailer, and let it dry overnight. from that point on, it has opened/closed without issue.


skip to the 12:00 mark he discusses the trailer issue

https://youtu.be/ohpCO4jQ9yE

Mine won't be having the trailer issue because he'll be displayed in robot mode.

I've been toying with getting Rodimus, but hearing about these QC problems puts me off. I'd probably display him in robot mode most of the time and have the trailer in storage, but I'd need to have a good think about whether or not he'd be worth it.

I'm still waiting for BBTS to get Rodimus in.

Seems they won't have it for another month or so, and Amazon does not seem to have it either.

Overcracker wrote:Amazon does not seem to have it either.

I pre-ordered Rodimus with Amazon several months back. My Pre-order still says shipping 9/3, we shall see. I'm hoping to find it in store at Target before then...

I'm less frustrated when there are QC issues that I can fix or mitigate like some of these, or like Grapple and Apeface's holes being too tight. I think my least favorite of the recent releases is probably TR Wheelie, but I still enjoy him. I'm more concerned if he's not fun to handle, which was my main problem with Arcee.

AcademyofDrX wrote:I'm less frustrated when there are QC issues that I can fix or mitigate like some of these, or like Grapple and Apeface's holes being too tight. I think my least favorite of the recent releases is probably TR Wheelie, but I still enjoy him. I'm more concerned if he's not fun to handle, which was my main problem with Arcee.

TR Wheelie's still leaps and bounds better than ER Arcee but he is a nightmare. He's the perfect storm of weird tabs, a splayed-out design (him flattening out instead of condensing), and TR's QC issues. In the years since, I've grown to like him a little (seeing the SS86 Grimlock Wheelie also helped his case ).

Nuclearxpotato wrote:

AcademyofDrX wrote:I'm less frustrated when there are QC issues that I can fix or mitigate like some of these, or like Grapple and Apeface's holes being too tight. I think my least favorite of the recent releases is probably TR Wheelie, but I still enjoy him. I'm more concerned if he's not fun to handle, which was my main problem with Arcee.

TR Wheelie's still leaps and bounds better than ER Arcee but he is a nightmare. He's the perfect storm of weird tabs, a splayed-out design (him flattening out instead of condensing), and TR's QC issues. In the years since, I've grown to like him a little (seeing the SS86 Grimlock Wheelie also helped his case ).

I could have been okay with the design if the tabs fit together, but like you said, it's a perfect storm. I would still rather have TR Wheelie in a Transformers: The Movie Generations display than the SS86 Grimlock figure. If SS86 keeps running as rumored, I would think he's one of the best candidates for a new transforming figure.

I've been really enjoying the fossilizers. I just tried the combined mode, and was a bit disappointed by it's lack of stability, but that shouldn't surprise myself or anyone else, after all Mark Maher only ever held it in hand during the fan event, you never saw him try to stand it on a flat surface.

Also several parts are left unused. I've seen several fan videos online coming up with different configurations, some better than others. I've been critical of Tonton in the past, but I have to give him props on this one, he demonstrates the official configuration first, but then comes up with a seemingly better, more stable one that uses All the parts.

Hellscream9999 wrote:

Emerje wrote:Were you (or anyone else for that matter) able to get the trailer to close with the cannon inside? Mine refuses to shut all the way, there's split going across the top. I checked the instructions to see if I was doing anything wrong and apparently what I'm doing wrong is trying to stick the cannon inside the trailer. The instructions say to putt he canon on top of the trailer and then stick it on the platform after it's open. What kind of design flaw BS is that? Instead of tweaking the clearances a little during the prototype/QA phase (it almost closes!), they just said screw it, don't do it. Very disappointing for an $80 figure.

But that's not all, my Rodimus seems like it might be misassembled. The gray hinge that connects the top of the car to his back refuses to bend enough to sit properly. The one time I did get it to bend at the right angle the hinge stuck like it wasn't meant to bend that way and I really thought I was going to break the clear plastic bending it back.

Its either poorly designed or assembled wrong. Either way I'm not having a lot of fun with this figure.

Emerje

Yup, I've got all those issues, I'm also not having a lot of fun with the figure

except for the trailer, I've had none of that. I have also had none of the gap issues on the car mode, nor have I had any difficulties tabbing things together that I have seen other reviewers have. There is a definite order of operations to his transformation, and following them makes him transform smooth and easy, with the exception of pushing his back wheels into his legs, and collapsing his chest in. Now whether or not this order of operations is how they show to do it in the instrections, hell if I know, I never look at those things. Never need to, but I do hear they are usually bad. I will go over that in more detail when I get the review up. For now, let me see if I can help with people having the back panel, trailer, and possible qc issues that you guys mentioned.

so first up is that back panel. The double hinge inside that back panel is only meant to move one direction, and barely at that. it should look like this. The thinner "bar" part of it is flat on the underside, and rounded on top. if that got assembled upside down then that could keep it from moving correctly ad ruin your day. Check to make sure the actual grey clip part that is screwed into the blue plastic isn't put on upside down. It should look like the picture. That would definitely ruin your day, but would be an easy fix.

If that isn't the case, then it could be that you don't have the chest all the way in. Collapsing the chest in is kinda scary. one of those "excessive force is completely necessary". If it is not all the way in, the canopy will not line up to tab in. Should look like this from the side:

now the actual back panel is a bit concerning for me, not just because the entire spoiler is made of clear blue plastic with a ton of paint that I foresee lots of chipping on, but because of very noticeable stress marks where the hinges fit together. It is also very easy to knock and un-tab the back panel from the canopy. I guess it is better that it is a bit loose, because if it was too tight it would likely crack the blue plastic from tabbing in.

on the figure itself, the only real QC issue I have is his index finger on the right hand. its warped to the point the tip could easily come out, and the rest doesn't like to move, particularly past the other fingers.

now as for the trailer, yes mine did not want to shut with the cannon in. It is actually why there are the grey tabs on the side panels.
With out those grey tabs, it wouldn't shut at all with with cannon in there, and without the cannon, you wouldn't need the tabs at all to shut it. I do think the way it is banded into the packaging, added to the heatwave going on all over the globe, might have the panels warped a bit. its almost not noticeable, but when you hold the thing closed, at the front you can see how the sides bend away ever so slightly.
that being said, these grey tabs are also part of the problem. They have tiny little holes under them that plug into little tabs that come up from the red parts. The screw there is really just for the pipes. there is one tiny dab of glue at the very tip holding these in place. On my copy, these would not sit flush at all, which pushed the side panels out, making it impossible to shut all the way. I pulled these out, and glued them down tightly into place. Now my trailer closes... mostly. there is still a little bit of a gap
It is however still very easy to make the side panels pop open. the tabs along the edges could stand to have a bit more friction, though this may be a case of tolerances. Some people may have no issue with those tabs, and some may get some that are so tight, they push themselves back open. If yours closes ok without the cannon inside, try it without the clips as well. if it can more or less hold together, even loosely, then you may want to add a bit of superglue, floor polish, or nail polish to the red tabs to thicken them up and hold tighter.

Again I will do a full review soon, and will go over the order of operations, as well as some other concerns I have over the figures longevity. for now, he stands as one of the better kingdom figures imho, and the best Rodimus figure, even trouncing the MP ones (not that that's generally hard) but just like every Roddy figure made, they could still have done better.

and I will leave off with another pic of effects swap between ss hotrod and kingdom roddy~

Thanks very much for that info, it was very informative. I will probably come back to this page whenever Pulse ships my copy.

his windshield act6ually terrifies me with the amount of force needed to unclip it from his torso to go back to car mode, I would have much preferred it be made of an opaque, sturdy plastic, painted a nice pastel metallic blue (ala the ss constructicons)

Usually, if there's a box, then it's hopefully not stolen.

One thing that would help me to resubscribe/watch videos from PVP would be proof of where they sourced their TFs from. Currently, I don't trust them.

Anyway, I'm more interested in this official toy than the 3P, faux-MP version, due to the official version having transformable hands/paws and no parts-forming (even though the 3P one looks really nice).

So this second look raises the question, why did that first Ravage sample have two of the same guns? Was it just a fluke one-in-a-million QC issue, or was that from an earlier run made for the Hong Kong Expo... and if it's the latter, that's raises some questions about why PvP has two different guns (because by normal means he would have that release's weapons)

In case anyone else was curious like me, there are photos of Tigatron and Agent Ravage together on primevsprime's instagram account
Tigatron makes ravage look pretty small haha

Razorbeast88 wrote:In case anyone else was curious like me, there are photos of Tigatron and Agent Ravage together on primevsprime's instagram account
Tigatron makes ravage look pretty small haha

Cheetor may feel quite puny besides Tigatron.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Razorbeast88 wrote:In case anyone else was curious like me, there are photos of Tigatron and Agent Ravage together on primevsprime's instagram account
Tigatron makes ravage look pretty small haha

Cheetor may feel quite puny besides Tigatron.

That too haha but now it makes more sense for them to call eachother "big cat" and "little cat" as opposed to the original toys that shared a mold

Possible first look at kingdom shadow panther on instagram

Razorbeast88 wrote:Possible first look at kingdom shadow panther on instagram

Screenshot_20210807-085333_Instagram.jpg

Yeah it originates from some sale website (I'm not sure the details) I think.
I can't tell if it's a combination of angle and black plastic but I think he has a new beast head? That's something I've been hoping for.

Nuclearxpotato wrote:

Razorbeast88 wrote:Possible first look at kingdom shadow panther on instagram

Screenshot_20210807-085333_Instagram.jpg

Yeah it originates from some sale website (I'm not sure the details) I think.
I can't tell if it's a combination of angle and black plastic but I think he has a new beast head? That's something I've been hoping for.

The beast head does look pretty different haha hopefully our minds aren't playing tricks on us
Looks great though! Very cool beast head

Had some fun with Kingdom Paleotrex and Cyberverse Grimlock (Spark Armor version) and Power of the Primes Slag

Before scrolling down to see the pics, I thought you were gonna post pics of Spark Armor Grimlock wearing Paleotrex since the Spark Armor guys have 5mm holes.

Sabrblade wrote:Man, the BM Dinobots really need their own activation code. "Fossilize" would be perfect, but it's already taken by the Predacons' own dino subgroup, the Raptoricons.

I'm sticking with "Rex and Rule", it sounds really great to me

So, having had rodimus for about a week, I can safely say that he does feel like a commander class figure, in his parts count and some of the transformation details. I completely understand the sentiment about his price compared to his size, but he honestly feels like a masterpiece figure without the obscene price tag and overpriced fluff TT has been shoving into recent MP figures of late. All the small details like the pistons on the rear ramp, the butterfly shoulder joints, the arm transformation, the hands just really make the figure feel like the designers really used the budget on him instead of slapping a price tag on him.

Lucked out and found the Ark back on pre-order on Amazon while I was at work Thursday night. Slapped $60 in gift cards on it so I got it down to $120 after tax. Sold out before I got home so I didn't get a chance to post about it. Has a release date of 9/1, not sure if that's the same as earlier pre-orders or not. Hope that date holds because work forgot to pay me for a week I was on vacation and I wont see that money until next Friday.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:Lucked out and found the Ark back on pre-order on Amazon while I was at work Thursday night. Slapped $60 in gift cards on it so I got it down to $120 after tax. Sold out before I got home so I didn't get a chance to post about it. Has a release date of 9/1, not sure if that's the same as earlier pre-orders or not. Hope that date holds because work forgot to pay me for a week I was on vacation and I wont see that money until next Friday.

Emerje

Both Rodimus and the Ark say arrival date of 9/3 on my orders page. Can't wait! Pictures of Teletraan-1 show it in scale with Optimus.

Indemand are getting their first shipment of Kingdom wave 3 this week, so if all goes well I should have the Tracks, Scorponok and Rhinox I pre-ordered back in May by the end of this week. Scorponok also will also mark the first time I've ever bought an upgrade kit for a Transformer. A company named So Cool have made leg extenders for his robot mode that increase the height of his thighs so he's no longer a manlet, but they do seem to mess up the scorpion mode quite a lot, so I may remove them whenever I transform him. I've also seen an upgrade kit for Tracks being advertised that fix his dodgy knee joints, I plan on buying that too.

Munkky wrote:Indemand are getting their first shipment of Kingdom wave 3 this week, so if all goes well I should have the Tracks, Scorponok and Rhinox I pre-ordered back in May by the end of this week. Scorponok also will also mark the first time I've ever bought an upgrade kit for a Transformer. A company named So Cool have made leg extenders for his robot mode that increase the height of his thighs so he's no longer a manlet, but they do seem to mess up the scorpion mode quite a lot, so I may remove them whenever I transform him. I've also seen an upgrade kit for Tracks being advertised that fix his dodgy knee joints, I plan on buying that too.

I found this upgrade kit for Tracks that I will probably get for Road Rage if she ever drops. I follow JRC Design on Twitter and they've made some really cool stuff. My first purchase was their G2 Megatron upgrade kit.

A picture of the upcoming Transformers deluxe Kingdom Shadow Panther surfaced late last week on the Shopee website and was reposted on Twitter. Shadow Panther is a redeco of the Kingdom deluxe Cheetor mold with a new headsculpt homaging the mutant head that option that came with the original toy (and Cheetor's). For those unaware, every mold from the original 1996 Beast Wars line, bigger than a basic, had a robot head and a mutant head. While most of the show characters used the robot heads (like Cheetor and Blackarachnia), some used the mutant heads (like Tarantulas and Waspinator). Shadow Panther is part of Kingdom's fourth wave, and will be out in the 4th quarter of 2021. This is a mainline toy and not an exclusive. And while the image shows 2 tail weapons, he will only come with 1.