Autobot
Ratchet (Specialist)
(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 DotM deluxe Autobot Ratchet toy. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the original DotM deluxe Autobot Ratchet toy here.)
Ratchet's gotten his
prerequisite redeco of his new mold in a more common red-and-white "rescue"
color scheme, but it's not quite the same as his previous G1-homage color
schemes. The amount of red and white are roughly switched on this redeco
compared to G1 Ratchet, with the dominant color being a rather nice tone
of red that's on the darker side of a medium shade. What's neat from a
fan perspective about this redeco is that it homages early concept art
for movie Ratchet, where he had this color scheme. The main secondary color
is a milky gray, though fortunately it's spread across Ratchet's roof,
grills, and a few of his robot bits to the point where it doesn't make
anything look partricularly boring, and in fact does a decent job of contrasting
against the red, particularly on the grill pieces. Much of the "gray" is
also done up in a really nice silver paint, which looks particularly sharp
on the back bumper and bits along the sides and top of the vehicle mode.
The white, meanwhile, is a bit of a tertiary color, relegated to his waist
and face in robot mode and a "RESCUE" stripe doen the sides of his vehicle
mode. Where it is prevalent, though, it makes a really sharp contrast against
the red and looks great. There's a bit of impure "charcoal" black used
pretty much only for the places where it would be appropriate (the wheels),
and a really nice shade of bronze for Ratchet's "siren". That's my only
real beef with this scheme; I wish the bronze was used a little more often
throughout the toy. Ratchet's transparent plastic is a tinted dull shade,
which is good because another bold color in the mix might've been a bit
too much.
The Mechtech weapon
has been switched out for this redeco of Ratchet-- he comes with a red-barreled
version of Skids' Mechtech weapon. It's a
decent enough weapon in and of itself, but nothing beats that addicting
"buzzsaw action" of Ratchet's original Mechtech weapon. This is the only
real point where this toy is inferior to the original DotM deluxe, in my
opinion. Beyond the weapon, there have been no mold changes on the "core"
figure for this release.
DotM "Specialist" Ratchet
is a nice, fairly obscure homage to early concept art that as a fan I can
appreciate-- but I appreciate it even more because it just looks GREAT.
The shades of pretty much all the colors are eye-catching and used in just
the right amounts. The red, silver, and white really work off each other
well, and my only real complaint is that the Mechtech weapon isn't as fun
on this version compared to the original's. Highly recommended, even over
the original DotM deluxe.
Review by Beastbot