(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 RID2015 warrior Strongarm toy. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of RID2015 warrior Strongarm here.)

    Just like his other RID2015 toys, Ratchet is a remold of Strongarm, and thus, logically, his Warrior version is a remold of Warrior class Strongarm. The most substantial and transformation-altering remold has to do with the legs; the molding for the lower robot legs is completely different, with fewer details than Strongarm overall but more angular ones (the robot feet also aren't separate pieces this time around). However, the entire top back end is folded into the lower legs in robot mode, and they fold out above the legs for transformation to vehicle mode to make the back end of the vehicle mode higher than the front end, to give the alt mode some needed bulk to make it appropriate for an ambulance. The "shell" pieces on the back of Ratchet that form most of the center section of the vehicle mode are also completely new, being a bit larger that Strongarm's and thus a bit more obviously back kibble-- and unlike with Strongarm, the doors don't "fan out" in a decent manner on the sides of the robot mode. The mold detailing on these new pieces is also a bit more sparse, so overall I consider this change a slight negative compared to Strongarm. The inner shoulder pieces have been slightly remolded so that the arms don't slide around on the inner shoulders if you try to pose said shoulders-- the biggest improvement over Strongarm, in my opinion, because that was rather annoying. The robot chest has also been re-molded to be the typical RID2015 "faux window" chest, which does the job, but I think is kinda plain. I wish they had changed it to make the chest details a bit more like Prime Ratchet, since this IS a new form for him. Of course, the headsculpt is also new, and looks pretty much directly like Prime Ratchet but slightly friendlier-- i.e., with a less pointy headcrest. He looks slightly grumpy, which of course fits the good doctor. The front chunks of the vehicle mode that fold over the front arms have been changed, with blockier headlights and a more angular grill. Finally, the weapons have been changed-- instead of one longer gun, Ratchet comes with two chunky smaller blasters.
    When it comes to the color scheme, there's no surprises here. It's classic Ratchet-- red, white, and black are the main colors, as befits an Autobot and a medical vehicle. There's some light milky gray plastic on his upper legs and some inner parts, which is that unfortunately ugly shade but it's not used all that often, so it's not a huge deal. There's some silver on his face, and some moderately light blue on his eyes as well. The color variation in his robot mode is quite good-- with the black on the waist and tires, the black paint on the chest, the red on his headcrest and toes, and some really nice angular red stripes on his lower legs that definitely are the highlight of his paint apps. In vehicle mode, however, the paint breakup is much less impressive. His front and front-side windows are painted black (though not the rear or rear-side windows); much of the top of the roof is red, and the front bumper has a red stripe along the bottom and cheesy yellow-orange on the headlights. However, the sides in particular feel very un-detailed, and combined with the minimal mold detailing it looks like it's ALMOST but not completely finished. The vehicle mode definitely needs a bit more, like another obvious color or some more intricate paint/mold detailing.
    Compared to Strongarm, RID2015 warrior Ratchet's good and bad qualities cancel each other out and he ends up being just as good/bad as Strongarm is. He has a cooler leg transformation, but less mold detailing; a fixed shoulder issue, but less impressive paint apps; cooler weapons, but a larger piece of backpack kibble in robot mode. If you want a version of RID2015 Ratchet I'd definitely recommend this the most, but it doesn't improve the mold so much as just... change it.
 

Review by Beastbot

Back to Robots in Disguise (2015) Index