Beast mode is a rat-
a green technorganic rat, but a rat nonetheless. This mode, overall, looks
pretty nice. In fact, out of all the beast mode forms Rattrap has had,
I'd have to say this is my favorite toy-wise. For once, his legs actually
have near-unrestricted movement, which is nice. In fact, posability is
one of this form's strong suits. This mode is very posable, and he can
even stand on his two hind legs, just like on the show! This toy has a
veritable plethora of colors, which are most prominently displayed in this
mode as well. Rattrap also has a pretty fat rear in this mode, which enhances
his personality some too. One thing I don't like visually about this mode,
however, is the fact that Rattrap looks decidedly cute- it definitely doesn't
fit his persoanlity. Detailing on this toy is also only so-so in most areas
when compared with other more recent Transformers. Another annoying thing
about this mode is his gimmick- if you turn his tail from side to side,
his head will move about some as well, and his ears will twitch. Although
cool at first, it just becomes annoying later, as you can't move his tail
without moving his head, and vice versa. This can be partially fixed by
unlocking Rattrap's head from the gear slightly, but this still is annoying.
The only visible "extra" in this mode is Rattrap's robot head, which can
be easily seen from the rear embedded in Rattrap's beast butt. Kinda sick,
actually.
A note about the spark
crystal: Like Tigerhawk's, Rattrap's spark
crystal can only be seen during transformation- it is on a medium-sized
gray panel near the middle of Rattrap's workings.
Robot mode, to put it
quite blatantly, is hideous. The proportions are way off- Rattrap looks
more like Quasimodo than an actual transformer in this mode. His arms are
also very oddly jointed, and it's hard to put them in any position that
seems "normal". His weapon is very weak, as it's just another tail taken
off and passed off as a "whip". Although it's nice to see Rattrap have
some legs, the "sawblades" are pretty weak. They don't even spin by themselves,
and collapse in on themselves pretty easily, leaving you with just a ratbot
with wheels on his knees. His legs are also too small proportionally, as
well. His head has a "talking" gimmick- pull back a bit in Rattrap's visor
and his mouth will move a bit. Normally, this would be nice, but Rattrap's
mouth is twisted in such an odd way that he looks like he's talking like
a gangster. "Nyah, see? Nyah!!" It's a shame Rattrap's visor can't be pulled
over his face, like on the show. That would have been a nice effect. Pushing
back too much on the visor will cause the chest plate to become unlocked-
not that it doesn't become unlocked ridiculously easy in the first place.
It's very hard to get the whole rat-head-and-front-legs assembly to fit
snugly behind the chest plate while transforming him, so this will consistently
push his chest out and unlock it. His chest also can open in the front
for an inexplicable reason- this is not needed during transformation or
in any of the modes, so I don't know why it was put on. I guess the only
good things I can say about this mode is that it's reasonably stable, and
the "light piping" effect in the eyes works very well.
Wheeled mode has all
the ugliness of the robot mode, minus the legs. Although he's slightly
more show-accurate in this mode, his proportions are, again, horribly wrong.
His wheels aren't big enough, and they can't enough roll!
A great beast mode,
but a horribly done robot and wheeled mode. Could have been a much better
toy than it was- not to mention the fact that this toy is a LOT bigger
than it is supposed to be.
Review by Beastbot