I kept going back and forth on whether I would classify the 1-step Ratchet mold as a "redeco/remold" of the 1-step (2016) Strongarm mold, but eventually I decided it should get its own (mostly) full review as opposed to an abbreviated redeco review, simply because SO MUCH of the toy is new-- basically the mechanics of that Strongarm mold are kept inact along with a few parts (most of them minor), and the rest is completely changed. So, anyways, in vehicle mode Ratchet is, of course, an ambulance. All in all this is a fairly solid mode proportionally, with no major maladies (though the back end could stand to stick up a BIT more). Unfortunately in a completely unnecessary move, the back end of the top portion is hollow, so from a rear view you can see "inside" of the vehicle and see Ratchet's lower legs up in there and everything. Of course, due to the transformation the bottom of the feet are also blatantly obvious from the back end too, so it's not like it looks all that good regardless. (The taillights are molded onto the back end like you'd expect them to be.) All in all, however, those are fairly minor issues for a 1-step changer. From a close comparison to the 2016 1-step Strongarm mold, it becomes apparent that the wheels, the front side sections (which become the robot arms), and most of the front grill are taken from Strongarm, but the rest of this mold is new. There's now more grill details near the center of the front section, and as opposed to a molded-in Autobot symbol on Strongarm, there's merely an Autobot symbol-shaped place for a paint app (which sadly doesn't have one) on the front this time. The mold detailing on the rest of Ratchet is relatively sparse, but on-par for a RID2015 toy, with some angular lines here and there to break up the large relatively blank sections, some necessary details like the windows and rear-view mirrors molded in, and not much else. What's really lacking in this mode-- and easily its biggest weakness-- are the paint apps. Almost all of Ratchet is white in this mode, the wheels being the only plastic of another color that shows up. There's some red paint on wheel covers and on the center portion of the front hood, and black paint on the front window, but that's it-- his side windows are unpainted, as is his roof. This makes for a pretty bland color scheme, overall-- yes, it does have Ratchet's basic colors, but that's WAAAY too much white on the middle and top sections.
    As you'd expect from the toy, it transforms the same as the 1-step Strongarm mold already discussed-- you flip the entire top section of the vehicle mode over and onto the back of the robot mode, and this auto-transforms everything else except the arms, which you just fold downwards at the shoulders, and you're done. The vehicle top section locks into place securely so it won't come undone unless you want it to, but it's definitely the weak point on this mode, as it sticks out from behind ALL of Ratchet's body, head, and legs, and is quite the huge piece of kibble. If you ignore that huge bit, though, the core robot proportions are pretty good. As discussed before, Ratchet shares the same arms as Strongarm-- and, as is more evident in this mode, the black portions of his main body and some minor connector pieces on the shoulders are shared too-- but the rest of this mode is new. His chest is sculpted like the RID2015-usual of having a blank, faux black window on the center and little else on it. The headsculpt is spot-on, with Ratchet's signature red headcrest, a no-nonsense look on his silver face, and moderately light blue paint on his eyes. The rest of his head is white, with a relatively large square chin, as befits his demeanor. The legs are also completely new, with detailing calling back a bit more to Ratchet's Prime version, with what look like large, pointy kneecaps, and some more angular legs and feet. The sides of the rear portion of the vehicle mode do hang off the sides of the lower legs a bit, but this is a relatively minor issue for a 1-step changer, and again not that big of a deal when you consider the entire top section is behind Ratchet here. The color scheme is broken up much better in this mode, with not just the black plastic and paint on his shoulders, chest, and waist, but a good amount of red paint visible on his lower legs and on the wheel covers from vehicle mode, plus the face paint apps I've already mentioned. (Oddly, though, there's another one of those bits left on his chest that is in the SHAPE of an Autobot symbol, but is completely ignored and painted over with black paint like the rest of his chest.) As with Strongarm, Ratchet can move at two points on the shoulders, but that's it-- articulation isn't the point of 1-step changers.
    While taking the same general transformation of the 2016 version of 1-step Strongarm-- and a few parts from her, as well-- Ratchet is extensive enough of a remold to definitely be his own 'bot, and the most extensive remold of any of his RID2015 toys. Hasbro did a decent job replicating his robot mode details and the large section on the back of his vehicle mode, but this mold still suffers from the same major issue as that version of 1-step Strongarm-- that is, a HUGE piece of vehicle extra on the back of the robot mode-- but makes that extra even bigger, and with not enough paint apps in vehicle mode. Still, if you want an easy-to-transform version of RID2015 Ratchet that's a decent size, this is your only option (and there are certainly worse 1-step changers).
 

Review by Beastbot

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