Toy Review: Legends Class Ravage

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has come and gone and it’ll be at least a year before the viral campaigns for Transformers 3 start (were there any viral campaigns for the movies? You’d think there would be). Since the collective memory of our society is about 10 minutes (Erap, people? REALLY?) , Hasbro can’t keep using that same “Revege of the Fallen” subtitle on the toys. They decided to go ahead and replace it with the inspired “Hunt for the Decepticons”.

There have been a few changes from the last batch of toys to this one, but they’re mostly cosmetic changes to the packaging. You can see that the overall shape is similar to the old cardbacks, but yellow instead of red. Both the “Revenge” and “Hunt” packages are the same size so if you’re a Mint-On-Card (MOC) kind of guy, that means easier storage for you.

Another change is a welcome switch from wire and plastic twist ties to what looks like recycled paper. I’m not sure if any landfill space is actually saved by getting rid of the much maligned twist tie, but it sure is easier to cut though these paper suckers than it was before. On a toy this small though, I don’t know why they bother. The plastic insert should have been enough to hold him in place.

There’s some online content that’s also available if you buy the toy. You get a small leaflet, about the size of a credit card that has about a gajillion digits on it. You need to go to Transformers.com and enter the code in order to play 3 games and unlock some secret whatnot. The games are pretty simple, made for kids. I played one where Bumblebee chases a Decepticon down a street and your supposed to force him to crash into obstructions by ramming him. You need a different code to play each of the 3 different games which means at least 3 different purchases. Way to milk it Hasbro!

I prefer mail-in offers. You know, trade proofs of purchases/robot points for a free toy? Whatever happened to that? Kids these days.

When I first heard about the Legends Class Ravage, I wasn’t that interested in it. I’m not a fan of the new version. Now, I’m sure I would piss my self if this hulking thing made of spikes and teeth came at me, but aesthetically, he doens’t look as cool as a black robot panther. When the deluxe version was released, I passed, but when I saw this at the recent Autobot Alliance event, I couldn’t resist.

Despite my dislike of the general look of the movie model, this little guy is an entirely different enchilada. When I saw it on the shelf, I was amazed at how DETAILED the guy is. Remember. This thing is only about 3″, long, not including the tail. Yet somehow, Hasbro has gone and fit all sorts of little techy nooks and crannies in there. He’s like an English muffin (OK, bad similie, but I couldn’t think of anything else with nooks and crannies).

The result is something that looks a whole lot better than any toy this small has a right to. He puts my G1 Legends set to shame. The Transformers Universe Ravage that comes with Universe Hound pales in comparison. I’ll still need to find one of those USB Ravages to check him against this one, but I’m thinking the balljoints on this guy trumps the questionable value of the working USB feature on that one. Plus that thing costs like p3,000.00 or something.

This one cost about p350.00. It’s weird how they’re pricing these right now. Legends are p330, Scouts are p600 or so, and Deluxe Class figures are p700. Why the huge gap between the tiny ones and Scouts and the tiny gap between the Scouts and the big guys? Who knows. Quantity discounts?

The real nice thing about the itty bitty size though is that the ball joints are good enough to support the weight of the limbs. The ball-joints on Transformer toys naturally get loose very fast. Since you’re constantly moving them while they transform, there’s a lot more wear and tear. Yet, if the toy’s limbs are small like those of this Legends Class figure up to the Scout size, there’s a wider margin from ok to “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”.

Another thing to like about this guy is that despite being too small to be in scale with the bigger bots (at least in the perspective the “show accurate or nothing” geeks), he’s a great size for playing with 4″ scale figures. About the size a cougar or leopard would be in real life. Makes for some fun play options.

He transforms into a “re-entry” vehicle. I’m not sure how “show accurate” this thing is since the form was only on the screen for what, 10 seconds?

While the cat mode is great, the vehicle mode is pretty much an afterthought. Sort of like, “well, we’ve got a leg here… can we fold it up to make it look like a wing? What about that one? Oh, ok… just fold it on top of the other one. duh…” The result is something that looks totally half-assed as opposed to a fully integrated alt form. Instead of trying to integrate kibble they basically just said, “Forget it. Close enough.”

That’s exactly why I hated the Leader Class Megatron

The real draw of this toy is the detail of his mold, his favorable size, and the nice ball-joints at his shoulders and hips. He’s also got hinge joints at the “knees” and some movement his ankles. Plus the gun goes up and down. huzzah.

If any of those things are reasons you think would make a toy fun, then you’ll be as impressed with him as I am. He really does make a great toy for the desk at work.