"It's been a while since I last posted, mainly due to financial issues but I thought I'd let everyone know about the latest Japanese release: Device Label Jaguar (Ravage).
I got the figure earlier today after passing on Tigatron yesterday, and I have to say, I'm not disappointed. As a toy, this figure is amazing. The posability is incredible. His legs each have three joints; at the hips, knees and ankles. Additionally, there is a fourth joint on his rear leg halfway up the thigh which is part of the transformation. This allows him to sit down. His tail can move up and down at the base, his neck can move (though he can only look down, not up) and his mouth can open. His overall look is very sleek and nice, though his head seems slightly wide. It doesn't look bad though. The USB plug even forms a shiny underbelly for him.
In USB mode, he's nothing special, though he's certainly not unattractive. His black and silver colouration looks very classy, as does his faction symbol, but he's essentially just s block.
The transformation is simple, though not distressingly so. Some have said that 2 gigs is very low for a memory stick, but given how little physical space there is on this toy for the memory, it's pretty reasonable. The USB plug actually retracts inside his body during transformation, so there's physically virtually no memory space at all.
He has two gigs of memory, and works with windows xp and vista, though not windows 7 or mac. His computer software is done by toshiba. He comes with some pre-installed software comprising a desktop background, and a little Ravage avatar that runs around on the desktop. I'll try these out once I get home.
There are only two flaws with this figure, to my mind. One is his total lack of missiles, or points to attach the g1 missiles to. The other is the price. Taking import costs into account, fans will be paying the price of a voyager for a figure the size of a legend. I can only recommend this if you're a diehard Ravage fan or if you really need a memory stick and can justify such an expensive one.
With Steeljaw.
Sleeping.
Transformed.
Good kitty!
A few interesting notes on the software:
The installation and Adobe help file automatically came up in English, and everything has been very competantly translated.
The software seems to be the exact same for Ravage and Tigatron with the only difference being which "desktop defender" is the default.
The "desktop defender" can transform, walk around the screen, eat icons, jump on and off the screen and sleep. Its walking speed and behaviour can be adjusted, and you can rename it. The "desktop defender" is only active when the memory stick is plugged in.
The software also includes English language bios and techspecs for Ravage (not Jaguar) and Tigertron. Interestingly, Tigertron is firmly placed in G1 pre-beast era since he is described as being "under the command of OPTIMUS PRIME and BLASTER" which explains his Autobot insignia. Another headache for the TF Wiki guys.
EDIT: My computer recognises the memory stick as having 1.8 gigs of free memory. Guess the "desktop defender" takes up a little space."
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