Toy Review: Ransack

07/15/09

Scout Class Ransack

I’ve already talked about how the modern day Scout Class is really the best class for Transformers in my previous Revenge of the Fallen scout class wave 1 review, so if you want to skip the next paragraph, you may do so with no fear of missing out on anything important. However, I feel the need to point out that doing so will rob you of the chance to scoff at several lame jokes, which I’m sure will brighten your day.

The Scout Class toys fall between the mainstay Deluxe Class and the itty-bitty Legends, which means it has the playability of the smaller Transformers and retains alot of the more advanced transformation schemes you see in the main line. Translated from the geek, that means you can bring them to work and not have to wait for you lunch hour to have enough time to convert them to a robot. They’re also the right size to allow for nice ball joints. These are usually not an option for the bigger classes since there’s alot more weight to take into account, but these guys usually have 5 or 6 of them hidden about their persons. Plus, their about the same size in robot form as 3.75″ which means you can have your own version of Deadly Intergalactic Super-Duper Ultra Deathmatch of Death (you’ll need a ring, but I’m sure those WWE toys have that).

Back on track, Ransack is one of those toys that falls into this class of Transformer. He was supposedly in the first wave of the Return of the Fallen toys, but he didn’t hit Philippine shores till last week. I was lucky enough to see him and his case mates in Robinson’s Galleria Department Store, but I’ve heard they’re available in other malls now as well. Since the store I got him at only had the one set, I’m guessing he won’t be as abundant as Knock Out, Deadend, Dirt Boss, and Roll Bar so you’d better do some serious hunting now if you want him.

Is he worth it you ask me? The answer is a resounding YES. He’s got everything that I’ve enumerated above; abundance of ball joints and other articulation (more than enough for something this size), a complex transformation scheme (again, for something this size it’s amazing), a nice choice of cast colors if not paint, a great alt sculpt, and an interesting alternate mode that I don’t remember ever seeing even back in the day.

In fact, the only thing he’s got against him is the crazy expensive price tag. Scout Classes are now p650.00 while the next up the line are just p700.00. More bad news is that word on the street (and by street I mean “forum boards full of my geeky brethren”) is that this indicates an imminent price hike for the Deluxe Class toys. If price is the only thing you’re looking for, I’d say Transformers isn’t the best line for you at the moment (though come to think of it, there aren’t a lot of lines that are much cheaper).

Still, for a lot of collectors this might be a nice addition to the collection. Things to consider about the toy; He’s not much of a “Robot in Disguise”. Where is he going to go? As soon as he leaves the air show, people are going to point him out. Two, He’s not in the movie. There is no mention of him in the latest film, though there are references to old Transformers that were marooned on Earth so took on earthly forms that date back to the turn of the century. You could make a case that Ransack is one of those poor bastards, since his alt mode is an old bi-plane.

[IMG]http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv232/slangardssinned/Toy%20Reviews/TF%20ROTF/Ransack_2.jpg[/IMG]

If you read his bio in the back, it supports that particular theory. He sounds like the Red Baron, straight out of Peanuts, but looking less like Snoopy. You can just imagine him in a dogfight with Starscream and kicking his ass, and laughing about it as he flies back to base. He’s about the right size to to match the scale of the newer, bigger raptors, but since Hasbro has not deemed other Victorian area steampunk machinery suitable for alt modes, it’s unlikely you have anything else to match him to.

His articulation is very nice, if loose. He’s got several of ball joints (head, shoulders, hips), but these get loose after only a day or two of play. Arms an legs tend to fall off, but it’s a small matter to replace them. Knees, elbows and neck are hinge joints that work extremly well and have a full 90 degree or better arc. His ankle joints are a nice add in, and result in part from his transformation scheme. Which brings us to his overall look.

His sculpt looks like it was designed like Jetfire, to resemble an old gimpy bot who likes to scream at people “You know what my father turned into? NOTHING!” His unsymmetrically designed feet lend him a lop sided look that is very nice. One foot is ultra articulated, with a variety of joints that give it crazy mobility. The other kind of only goes back and forth. It’s a nice touch if (if it was done on purpose and not just my imagination).

Paint is what you’d expect these days from a Transformer. Non-existent. He’s got Decepticon faction symbols on his wings and some little spoltches of color here and there, but for the most part, he’s cast in beige and some purple violet color with some silver and red. It’s actually very appealing.

Outside the Bayverse, he’s had quite a few incarnations. He was an Insecticon in G1, a nice WWI fighter/bomber in G2, a great looking bike during Energon, and I read there’s a Transformers: Universe toy where he’s a backhoe. Considering that the makers of the film didn’t consider the previous incarnations of the characters when they were designing the new guys, it’s not suprising that RotF Ransack is a total departure from the ones that have gone before.

I like to imagine that somewhere in Hasbro/Takara, there is a big cardboard box with little pieces of paper that have names of all the little know Transformers written on them, all rolled up. There is a hole in the top of the box, and whenever a new bot is made, some lucky guy, still wet behind the ears and eager to learn all about the excitement of the Toy industry, gets to stick his hand in this mythical Box-of-Cool-Sounding-Robot-Names (the BOCSRN) and decides the fate of the new Transformers Universe character.

Toy Review: Scalpel

07/14/09

Scout Class: Scalpel

If there’s one reason I can forgive the new Transformers franchise, it’s these wonderful new toys. If you’ll remember my first review of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Scout Class Wave I was pretty generous about them. The same reasoning still stands for this new set. I ran into a new shipment at Robinson’s Galleria the other day and despite the new price of p650.00, I couldn’t resist picking them up. Not only are they the perfect size to place on your desk while you work, but they also fit with any 3.75″ figures you own. Granted they aren’t to scale (Depth Charge is a BOAT), their robot forms are the perfect size for a no holds barred, knock down drag out fight.

Scalpel is on the other end of the spectrum from his Autobot friend. He’s a MICROSCOPE. Yeah yeah, I’ve heard all the gripes from the geek elite who must analyze every little thing and insist that a microscope is a pretty idiotic alternate form for a robot (remember all the debate about Perceptor and Soundwave?), but face it, having a tiny (or in the case of 3.75″ toys, incredibly huge) microscope is entertaining as all get out.

Scalpel was in the movie. He’s one of those characters that made people groan since he’s got an idiotic accent, and he’s pretty useless. He wasn’t vital to the plot and was more of something to ooo and ahh at. Like the Twins, I could do without him in the movie, but again, like the twins, the toy had enough potential for me to overlook what was presented on screen.

Just like his movie counterpart, plastic Scalpel is an itty-bitty microscope. Back in the G1 days, Perceptor was a human scale microscope that a kid could actually use to look at bugs at like 2x magnification. It was a lot of fun back in the day, trust me. These days, it’s hard enough to get kids to read a book, let alone take an interest in science, so this little guy isn’t functional and tends toward his scale on screen compared to his bigger cousins.

The alt form is nicely done, with no kibble whatsoever. It genuinely looks like a toy microscope. Naturally, he’s not in the same scale as he was in the movie, but he does look good in pictures. The lens assembly goes up and down on the central shaft which is a nice trick.

His robot form is about three times as interesting. It’s not the normal humanoid form, so he’s saved from a lot to the inconsistency between movie toys and their 3D models. Add to the fact that you only see him in select scenes that are short, and thankfully you won’t get many, “I’m going to pass since he’s not movie accurate”.

He is what he is; a robot spider/insect thingy.

Paint-wise, he’s a Transformer. That is to say, it’s minimal. He’s got some purple veining that is supposed to look like wires on his chest, and some more on his legs, plus a purple Decepticon faction logo on his back. The rest is cast plastic. Interestingly, they cast many small pieces in translucent plastic, which gives him a nice look under lights. His light-piping for example is a great touch.

His articulation isn’t all that great, but that’s to be expected given his size. He’s got two ball joints in each “leg”, but they’re a result of his transformation process, so aren’t really functional. They’re either out or in, and if you move them around, he’ll keel over since all his weight is in front. He’s got two “arms” up front that have two joints each, a ball “shoulder” and a hinge “elbow”. He can get some usage out of these at least, so that’s good. His head goes back and forth on hinges, so he can look down. Up? not so much.

So what’s my verdict? Is Scalpel a must have? No. His limited articulation and deviation from the Transformer archtypes preclude that. Is it a cheap toy? No. He costs nearly as much as what a Deluxe figure goes for these days, and paint applications and accesories are nil. Was he a big part of the movie? No. He was in two scenes that are barely 5 minutes of the films 2 and a half hour runtime and could have been replaced by a brain scanner and a generic fix-me-upper bot.

So why buy him?

‘Cause he’s FUN!

Blog: Plastic Addiction

PLASTIC ADDICTION

So how was your weekend?

Mine was excellent, thank you. As an obsessive compulsive collector, it’s hard to resist a draw like one of Cybertron Philippines toy line launches. It’s not a San Diego Comic Con, or a Toy Con Philippines, but damned if I don’t spend more green at these. Toy hunting is a lot more productive when everything’s in one place and you don’t have to run around trying to beat out the scalpers.
I tend to get to these things rather early, which often sucks because most of the great things happen later in the day. Since I’m on nightshift and am usually running low on juice by 1pm, I don’t get to participate in the raffles or line up for the really hard to find stuff. That’s ok, since for the most part, I trend toward the stuff that hasn’t been hyped, or at the very least find it retail a few days (or months depending on when the eBayers eventually give up).

All of this was great this time around since 1) there weren’t a lot of people this time and 2) there were a ton of re-stocks of the 25th Anniversary Joes, which I felt looked nicer than the new line. As a result, I was able to go through the pegs and find all those Snake Eyes and Stormshadows I had missed out on back when my Transformers urges were vying for my funds against my Marvel addiction. GI Joe just didn’t rate.

Now though, woohoo! Go, Ninja! Go, Ninja, Go!

Right after that, I got a text from a fellow collector who wanted to buy one of my Marvel figures to confirm that he’d be available. This meant I had about 3 more hours to kill. Okay. Make the rounds at Toys R’ Us. Nothing new. Go down to the Department Store, one of my favorite stops, since it’s like a little Bermuda Triangle that re-sellers and collectors tend to forget. Lo and behold, I get luck into the one and only Scout Class restock set. It’s got the two missing figures from Wave 1; Ransack and Depth Charge, and 3 new ones; Scalpel, Reverb, and Dune Runner. Granted, Reverb is a re-paint, but Knock Out’s mold is just as fun as the old Energon Arcee.

By this time, I’m happy as lice on a bum. I’ve got GI Joes AND Transformers. These are the two toy lines I grew up with and here I am carrying a ton of new ones. This is what addicts must feel like when they’re high.

And it wasn’t over. I arrive at Megamall, but the guy I’m meeting is late. Okay. I’m used to this, and It’s gotten to the point where I just find ways to kill time. Among those is interwebbing at various Net cafes, searching for obscure movies at St. Francis, watching a new flick, or of course, shopping at Toy Kingdom.

So I stop in and, what do you know, there are still 2 more Gargan Venoms. Get one for a friend who asked, and couldn’t resist getting the other one. It’s so pretty. I also saw the new Deadpool 3.75″. I compared it to the first one that was released in a single pack and was impressed. Say, didn’t i just buy a mess of 3.75″ ninjas to kick Wade’s ass? Why, yes I did!

Move over to the NECA section and… HOLY SHIT! They’ve finally gone and loosed the sets that have been eating up space here for months. Wink is FREE! I pick that one up, cause I’ve been wanting him since he came out and was seriously considering getting the set and selling off the rest. Win!

Looking back on this day, I feel sick that I can’t resist the pull that plastic has on me. I’ve been saying I need to buy a new computer, or buy a new TV or DVD player. Maybe replace Zombie Phone, and yet again, I’ve gone and blew my wad on toys. But then I look at my shelf of ninjas whupping Deadpool’s keister and can’t help but feel better.