[REVIEW] Dave's TF Universe Rant: Machine Robot Rescue

Dave's Transformers Universe Rant

     Autobot Ratchet (X-Brawn Recolor) - Yeah, like Dinobot Striker.
     Inferno (RiD Prown Recolor)

     Well, I decided on impulse to get these, then paid for my folly with ten
minutes waiting at checkout while they tried to figure out the price.  Yes,
it's the holiday season again, which means Wal-Mart puts out toys without
entering them into the system.  A LOT.  See below for original reviews of
these molds:

     http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Japan/CarBros (Mach Alert = Inferno)
     http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Japan/Wildride (Ratchet)

CAPSULES

     Ratchet: Decent new colors, but mine doesn't hold together very well,
either due to the plastic quality or just plain sloppy quality control on
this mold.  Mildly recommended.  Somewhere around $10 at Wal-Mart.
     Inferno: Mach Alert repainted as Red Alert, and then renamed Inferno for
reasons probably having to do with trademark fun.  Looks pretty good and
holds together okay, but not as well as earlier versions.  Mildly
recommended.  About $10 at Wal-Mart.


RANTS
     
     Packaging: Standard Universe packaging, although with a few things that
bespeak last minute changes.  The instructions sheets have a weird little
fold at the edge to shorten them by a few millimeters, suggesting the
packaging was supposed to be a little deeper initially.  And there's a
sticker on the back of the card at the bottom as well as one at the top right
of the front.  The main purpose of the stickers seems to be to make the
safety warnings larger (guess a new rull kicked in regarding minimum font
sizes), although the P/N (Product Number) changes as well, rising by 500.
     The insert card in the bubble has "Machine Robot Rescue (TM) Series" on
the right side (as you look at it) as well as "Machine Robot Rescue (TM)"
under the name on front.  Machine Robo Rescue is the name in Japan of the
new Machine Robo (aka Go Bots) series, and it looks like Hasbro is trying to
discourage Bandai from releasing it here by staking out namespace.
Similarly, I'm guessing that they thought "Inferno" was in danger of being
lost, so they quickly renamed a toy as that in order to keep the name long
enough to be used in Energon.  Oh, and the insert cards have P/N's different
from both the old and new cardbacks.  Heh. 
     Finally, there's the usual "product colors may vary" thing, the
cardbacks show Ratchet with white lettering on his hood and sides, the actual
toy has black.

     Rather than having a CDROM, this wave has a mini-poster.  When unfolded,
it's 5" (12cm) tall and 17" (43cm) wide, a panoramic view of all the
characters available up to this point with Unicron in the background in
planet mode.  The art by "Matere" or "Majere" (hard to be sure, probably the
first) is of mediocre quality and "I just learned how to use photoshop"
coloring.  The back shows pictures in no particular order of all the Universe
toys through wave 3 (including Depthcharge as the wave 3 Ultra).


AUTOBOT: AUTOBOT RATCHET

     Hadda do it.  }->  

     This is the fifth toy to be made with this mold for mass consumption
(I'm not counting store exclusives).  Wildride and Super Wildride, then
X-Brawn and Super X-Brawn preceded Autobot Ratchet.  The U.S. versions are
distinct from the Japanese, by the way, if only in small ways.
     Ratchet's outer shell is molded in red plastic, with white along the
lower third of the sides, black "Emergency" and "Emergency Rescue" written on
the hood and sides.  The top has paint apps of a "gumball machine" of
flashing lights as well as a ladder and a stowed firehose.  Valiant effort, I
suppose, but looks like a really pathetic kitbash.  There's black stripes in
various border places, and a black spare tire rack covering a gray tire.  The
hubcaps, engine block and front bumper blade are chromed, but the running
bars are just slightly metallic gray.  The missiles/mufflers are black
plastic otherwise.  The tires are still rubberized plastic, but one of mine
is on backwards, with the "Transformers" imprinting on the inside rather than
outside.  Just a sec, gonna fix that.  The windows are clear plastic.
     Robot mode is much the same, but with more black and gray plastic
visible, and some bronze paint apps as well.  The head is a bit lacking in
paint, though.  The legs on mind are kinda floppy, and the torso doesn't lock
well into position.
     Tolerances on this are...poor.  The missiles keep popping off their
storage positions in vehicle mode, and the passenger side door won't stay
closed.  The paint isn't too sloppy (just one or two iffy spots), but the
seams on the roof of the vehicle mode stand out glaringly as red gaps in
white paint.  
     Overall, you're better off trying to scrape up any of the previous
versions over this one.  While not as bad as an actual knockoff, it's
trending in that direction, and does disservice to an otherwise pretty good
mold.  


AUTOBOT: INFERNO

     Anyone with even the tiniest amount of G1 knowledge who looks at this
name is going to react with some variation of "Who do they think they're
trying to fool?"  This is a VERY close approximation of G1 Red Alert's
colors, and the only reason I can think of to name it Inferno is that maybe
Hasbro was worried about losing the trademark before they could get Energon
out in this country.
     The main outer shell is made of white plastic with dark red around the
bottom and in a stripe on the hood.  "Fire Rescue" is printed on the hood and
the spoiler, and the "fire chief" cross is emblazoned on both doors.  "CHIEF"
is written in white on a black bar on the back of the car.  The engine cover
behind the driver's compartment is painted gunmetal, and the flashers are red
and blue (blue on passenger side, red on driver side).  The windows are
smoked clear plastic, as are the exhaust pipes.  The hubcaps are metallic
(but not chromed) dull gold, and the tires are rubber with "TRANSFORMERS
2000" on them.  The thruster units are very very dark blue that's almost
black, while the missiles are smoky transparent with shades of blue painted
over them to resemble hydrogen flames.  Oh, and the taillights are smoky
transparent plastic too.
     The robot feet (bucket seats in car mode) are dull gold, and pop off
easily during transformation.  In fact, dull gold plastic shows up a lot more
in robot mode, on arms, hips and chest as well.  The eyes are dull gold,
almost invisible in the silver face.  The top of the helmet is red and the
sides white.  The chest is actually smoky transparent plastic, but heavily
painted with red and silver.  The Autobot symbol is painted in blackish blue,
almost invisible.  Forearms and upper legs are blackish blue, lower legs are
painted dark red.  The shoulderpad fronts are smoky clear with silver bits
and yellow "searchlights".
     The launchers don't hold on very well no matter where you put them, and
they don't look like they align quite right with each other.  The launchers
are a soft enough plastic that the missiles don't fire very far.
     Overall, a decent recolor with the wrong name, but still has a number of
production flaws.  Again, any of the previous versions would be better (Mach
Alert, Super Mach Alert, Prowl, Super Prowl).

     Dave Van Domelen, still hasn't gotten around to messing with the
Build-It cards....