Ratchet's vehicle mode is, predictably, an ambulance, though in fitting with the Animated style, it's a bit more rounded and "cartoony" ambulance than has been traditionally found in a Transformers line. His color scheme is pretty much a direct homage from G1, being white, black, and red (with a touch of blue on the windows). The white's a bit more of a grayish white this time, probably to give him a bit more of an "old" look. It's not the most original color scheme, but it works well and is appropriate. In fitting with the Animated look, Ratchet also doesn't have much mold detailing, though the front bumper and the "circuitry lines" in the front windshield are molded pretty well. Ratchet's got his fair share of paint, as well, with no place looking too barren of detailing. Ratchet's also got the "heartbeat" symbol on his sides that was popularized by the Movie version of the character, which is another cool nod. He doesn't have his sirens painted, though, which is a bit of an oversight. The blue paint used for his windows also doesn't match his translucent front windshield much-- I hate it when they combine painted windows and translucent windows, either use one or the other! You can see seats molded inside the front windshield, though there's zero leg room so to be honest it's not very convincing. I do like how the taillights are transparent though, that's a nice, unexpected touch. There's also no robot mode extras whatsoever, which is of course always a good thing. I do have one major beef about this mode, and that's that the four tools that Ratchet comes with-- a wrench, a hammer, and two other tools I honestly can't name-- can't store in this mode. And if you've been reading my reviews for a while, you know I HATE parts that aren't storable in both modes. Bleh.
    Ratchet's robot mode just screams "old, worn out 'bot", which of course is exactly what Ratchet is. The toy has tons of personality in this mode that wasn't apparent in the other-- a bit of a "gut" formed from the crumped front of the ambulance, an old, weathered face (though he looks so sad!), chunky arms, and a bit of "battle damage"-- namely, one of his forehead crests has been "broken off" and there's path on his left arm. If you watch the show, this patch was where Ratchet's EMP generator went before it was stolen by Lockdown. In fact, if you take the deluxe Lockdown toy and remove the EMP generator from it, it's SUPPOSED to fit in that patch. Nice thinking, except it DOESN'T WORK. The slots are a perfect fit, EXCEPT for some reason there's a raised peg on both the EMP generator and Ratchet's arm patch, which means you can't attach the generator. Talk about a bummer mold defect. Still, Ratchet does have his fair share of tools. First, the four aforementioned tools can now be slid onto his upper back for storage, or slid into his hands so he can "tinker" with other 'bots. If his hands don't have any tools in them, his "magnets" from the show can also flip up into his hands-- however, the spring-loaded feature sets off rather easily, which is kind of annoying. Also, the "magnets" don't look a thing like they do on the show, being only one uncolored black bar on each hand versus the very obvious two-pronged colored magnets he uses in the show-- another missed opportunity. As far as vehicle mode kibble goes, Ratchet has some-- namely, his collapsed-together roof pieces on his upper back and the side panels on his shoulders-- but they don't get in the way of movement, and the former folds away and out of sight. The panels stick out rather obviously, but compared to how well the other vehicle mode parts meld into this mode, it's easily forgiveable. Ratchet's articulation is quite good-- he can move at the neck, shoulders (at three points), elbows (at two points), at the base of the thumb and at the base of each four fingers (as one piece) on each hand, and at the hips (at three points) and knees. His ankles can also move a little, as well, so you can get a ton of great poses out of this guy-- the only major joint that's missing is a waist pivot.
    Ratchet is a fine Animated toy with tons of personality, though a bit unoriginal in his transformation. Quite frankly the gimmicks detract from the toy and make the overall score worse than it otherwise-- his "magnets" are lame and deploy too easily, and his tools can't be stored in vehicle mode. If neither of those things bother you, than this is a highly recommended purchase-- otherwise, only mildly recommended.

Review by Beastbot

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