(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the original Movie Voyager class Autobot Ratchet. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the original Movie Voyager class Autobot Ratchet here.)
I'm not sure why an ambulance
needs a "stealthy" deco job. Regardless, like many Bumblebee repaints lately,
this Ratchet redeco has switched the main colors, with black now being
the primary color and green being more of a highlight color. Regardless
of how realistic it is, the green looks quite good as a secondary color--
considerably better than as a primary color, me thinks. The particular
shade of light lime green used for the paint apps contrasts particularly
good against the black, and keeping Ratchet's signature "heartbeat" paint
app along the side helps keep his general "theme" going, despite a lessening
of the whole "rescue vehicle" color scheme for this version. The duller
pea green used for some of the robot mode parts a bit less so-- it's just
not that appetizing of a shade, really. The black "grille" racks have been
replaced with a really blah brownish gray, which is the only color swap
I think is a downgrade from Ratchet's original color scheme. It looks kinda
dirty, but enough to look genuinely like mud-caked metal-- against, just
a really unappetizing color. The transparent greenish blue windows are
still on this version, and look just as good here as they did on the original
(i.e., pretty nice). The bits of metallic bronze and silver paint also
look good as they almost always do, but particularly against the black
and gray. The red Autobot symbols on the shoulders are particularly eye-catching
as well, despite being "just" allegiance symbols.
No mold changes have
been made to Night Ops Ratchet. However, some slight mold degradation is
starting to take place on this version, due to the mold being released
so many times-- the arms can come unpegged from the shoulders a little
easier, for example, and some of the joints don't feel quite as solid.
Nothing toy-breaking, but worth noting.
Night Ops Ratchet may
have a rather unoriginal "color flip" idea behind his color scheme, but
that doesn't mean it looks bad. On the contrary, except for the ugly brownish
gray plastic used for his grilles and a few parts of his robot mode, this
is a great and pretty eye-catching deco job Ratchet's got here. Recommended
roughly as much as the Rescue Ratchet
scheme.
Review by Beastbot