(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 G1 Jazz. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of G1 Jazz here.)

    Ricochet hasn't been seen before on U.S. shores, so I suppose it really isn't right to call him a "reissue" over here. But for lack of a better word, I'm going to call him that anyways, so nyah. Ricochet is a reissue of Stepper, a redeco of Jazz previously only available via the Japanese market. Of course, Stepper is a stupid name, so Hasbro wisely renamed the toy here. Just don't be fooled into thinking that it's really a bonafide U.S. G1 reissue of a character that you just forgot about, because it isn't.
    Now, with that said, onto the actual toy itself. The black and white on Ricochet is essentially reversed from Jazz, and when you add in the chrome gold, this color scheme is REALLY awesome. Love love love that chrome gold. The flame deco patterns on the car hood and side doors also look pretty cool. I think he looks quite a bit better than Jazz, and Jazz didn't have a bad color scheme to begin with. Now, there are a few mold changes made to the mold, and all of them have to do with Ricochet's Targetmaster partner, Nightstick. There's a hole near the rear of the vehicle mode that can hold Nightstick's (rather bulky-looking) gun mode. A small connector piece has also been added to the set-- this piece is mounted on Ricochet's upper back in robot mode, and you can attach Nightstick on top of this piece in gun mode so that he's poking over Ricochet's shoulder to add even more firepower. As for Nightstick himself, he isn't much-- in his liddl' robot mode, he can't really move at all except for forward at the hips, and his only paint detailing is on his face. So he's easily forgettable, and he makes a rather odd-looking gun, too. Other than those changes required for Nightstick, though, no mold changes have been made to Ricochet when compared to his predecessor Jazz.
    Ricochet is a very nice, attractive repaint of G1 Jazz, and even though his Targetmaster partner isn't much, it's still something new. However-- even though he has just a few more parts than Jazz, Ricochet costs $5 more than Jazz's already ridiculously inflated price. As such, I can't really recommend him any more than his cheaper mold brother. If you find him on a pretty good sale-- say, for less than $20-- I'd pick him up if you have a thing for G1, but otherwise, pass.

Review by Beastbot

Back to Generation One Reissues Index