Transformers Review - RotF Ejector (Scout-class)

Hey there folks,

Welcome to the New Planet Cybertron Reviews. Today we will be reviewing Ejector.

Enjoy the video.

Transformers Review: Ravage (ROTF Deluxe)

Intro:

            Ravage – a character that probably needs no introduction. He is one of Soundwave’s most competent minions, and is absolutely trusted by Megatron. A bot with no words, do not let his constant growling fool you – he is probably one of the Decepticon’s most adept warriors.

            His ability in stealth makes him perfect for spying missions; often manage to successfully complete his missions.

            When the character Soundwave was first announced for the Revenge of the Fallen, fans have speculated on his minion(s). It could’ve been Laserbeak, Ravage or both, as so, in the end, Ravage it was.

            Ravage was portrayed as a cunning and deadly beast bot that is not easy to be defeated. Though the character didn’t actually transform in the movie, the figure itself is transformable.

            So without further ado, let’s get on with the reviews.

Alternate Mode:

            Honestly, I have no idea what this mode is. According to what’s stated on the box, this is supposed to be the Re-entry Mode, whatever that is. As far as I am concerned, he looks like some Cybertronian Spacecraft.

            It isn’t exactly an appealing mode, if you ask me. It’s literally having the entire robot mode folded up into something. The kibbles are everywhere and it’s quite messy at best.

            All robot parts are not hidden at all!

            I reckoned few people will actually dig this alternate mode.

Robot Mode:

            This mode is where this figure truly shines – it’s literally the mode that we get to see in the movie itself.

            The head sculpt, which comes with molded teeth, is reminiscent of a Cyclops Beast. The eyes are made from purple light piping, which isn’t exactly effective. The purple color used is just too dark.

            There are also numerous spikes protruding out all over his body. The spikes on his back are made from soft rubber, which a portion of them looking like backbones. The rest of his spikes are focused on the back of his hips and tail.

            I can also imagine Ravage using the tip of his tail as a weapon, especially with those 3 extra protrusions.

            Ravage is also armed with a pair of hip-mounted guns, which cannot be wielded otherwise.

            Articulation-wise: the lower jaw opens and closes; the shoulders are on a combination of ball joints and hinges; the elbows rotate and bend; the hips are on ball joints, and there are also 2-knee joints on each leg; the tail moves up and down; and finally, all feet hinges.

ROTF Soundwave & Ravage

            You can really put Ravage into a whole lot of different poses, and he will excites you.

            Ravage also comes with the Mech-Alive gimmick, especially when you rotate the front legs at the elbow. There is also a dial at the back of the robot that when you press it, the head would protrude out.

            Overall, he has an interesting robot mode.

Overall:

            Ravage is a mixed baggage. You might dig him in his beast mode, but as far as his alternate mode goes, chances are you ain’t gonna like it. I would probably recommend this figure for its robot mode, but definitely not for his beast mode.          

            Final verdict: 7/10

             

Transformers Mini-Review - Knockout (ROTF Scout)

Intro:
Knockout was one of the figures that I won in a contest I entered (organized by Munchy's), running up to the premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, back in 2009.

Alternate Mode:

Fantastic-looking superbike -- one of the best I've seen in recent memory.

Everything looks very slick and smooth.

Kibbles are minimal with fantastic aerodynamics.

Robot Mode:

Interesting robot mode.

Love the head sculpt. It has that vigilante's look.

Due to the many bits and pieces of the bike being all over the figure, Knockout can look a bit messy.

Good articulations, but the figure's lower body doesn't lock into the upper body.

Overall:
Would've been an even better figure if it was not for the lack of locking between lower and upper body, but still, an interesting figure nonetheless.

Recommended.

Final verdict: 8/10

Transformers Mini-Review - Roll Bar (ROTF Scout)

Intro:

Roll Bar was one of the figures that I won in a contest I entered (organized by Munchy's), running up to the premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, back in 2009.


Alternate Mode:

Roll Bar transforms into a Red Bull transport truck.

Overall, quite nice. He is probably one of those objects given life during the events of the movie, when the Allspark dropped to the ground, simultaneously giving life to a vending machine, an electronic steering wheel etc.

If there is any doubt that this is a Red Bull truck, here is a closeup.

Kibbles are there, but acceptable.


Robot Mode:

Transformation from truck mode to robot is interesting, complete with Automorph function.

Love the head sculpt -- looks like a mini Optimus Prime.

The designs may be a bit awkward.

For a Scout figure, Roll Bar's articulations are not bad at all.

Comparing the size between Roll Bar with ROTF Knockoff and United Deluxe-class Bumblebee, he is quite bulky.

Overall:

Interesting figure.


Recommended.


Final Verdict: 8.5/10.

Transformers Review: Mindwipe (ROTF Voyager)

Intro:

            The Revenge of the Fallen line have proven to be a succcess for Hasbro and Takara-Tomy. HasTak seems to be really capitalizing on the movie franchise by releasing many assorted figures that are unrelated to the movies, although they do share the same aesthetic qualities as most of the figures of the toy line. Some of which includes Bludgeon, Skywarp, Stratosphere, Ramjet and many more, not to mention the numerous others Scout-class and Deluxe-class figures. Some of these are surprisingly very good, while some of them are just reasons to rake in more money from us TransFans.

            Anyways, one of these said figures is none other than Mindwipe. Back in the G1 days, or should I say, back in the Transformers Headmasters series, Mindwipe was a giant robotic bat that specializes in hypnotism. Well, he’s kinda like a natural successor to the Insecticon Bombshell, but minus the Cerebro-shells.

            The name Mindwipe has since then remained unused until now, although the character itself never appeared in the actual movie.

Alternate Mode:

This time around, Mindwipe takes the form of a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk – a very futuristic stealth fighter, akin to a UFO. 

I don’t know about you, but Mindwipe here really reminded me of the Galaxy Force Sideways and Soundwave, due to the very slick designs and the Cybertronian marking on top of the wings. 

There are no other features here that really require any elaborations.

Robot Mode:

            Now we come to the best part. The transformation sequence isn’t really that hard, but it is kinda tricky when you transform him for the first time. 

            Overall, Mindwipe still maintains the slickness that was prevalent in his alternate mode, making him really ninja-esque. 

             His head is on a ball joint. His shoulders have a full range of motions and also have ratcheting joints that allow the shoulders to rotate. The arm rotates above the elbow, and sadly, due to the none-existence wrist joint, it really limits the amount of poses that you’d really wish you’d get from him.

            Mindwipe doesn’t have any waist articulation, but the hips have full range of motions, which really helps the figure a lot. And finally, the knee bends, albeit limitedly, and the ankles bend up and down.

            Apart from the limited arm movements, I really think that they could’ve done better with the legs. I mean, Mindwipe really can’t stand up straight, as the legs bended too much at the knee, so he’ll be like, always arching forward. The figure would’ve been close to perfect, had those issues were none-existence.

Gimmicks:

            Since he is an ROTF figure, he is laden with the Mech-Alive features. First of all are the shoulder wings. As you bend the wings backward, the tip of the wings will fold up and two spikes would rise up at the top of each wing. Then there are also the spring-loaded daggers that appear as though they are held by the back of Mindwipe’s hands.

Overall:

            Overall, I think HasTak could’ve done better with this figure. Don’t get me wrong though, Mindwipe looks very good and very slick. But it’s the minor things here and there that really ruin this figure.

            Final verdict: 7/10. 

Transformers Mini-Review - Ransack (ROTF Scout)

Intro:
In line with the movie-verse, based on the alternate mode, Ransack could possibly be one of the old Seekers, along with Jetfire.

Alternate Mode:

Ransack transforms into an old biplane.

Lovely paint job.

Not so obvious kibbles, which is always good.

Robot Mode:

Skinny robot mode.

Nice head sculpt... makes him look old.

A bit too skinny, but it works just fine.

Nice articulations for a figure his size: head looks up and down; ball-jointed shoulders and hips; rotatable waist; and bendable knees and elbows.

Overall:
A really good looking Scout-class figure.

Recommended.

Final verdict: 9/10

Transformers Review – Demolisher (ROTF Voyager)

Intro:

            This is one review that I’ve wanted to do for quite some time, but only got to it now.

            Demolisher was one of the figures that I won in a contest I entered (organized by Munchy’s), running up to the premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, back in 2009. (For the umpteenth time, thank you Munchy’s)

            Demolisher’s screen time, though relatively short, was quite memorable. It was at the beginning of the movie where a chase ensued in Shanghai city center, which wrecked a huge part of the city. Demolisher was quite large in size, almost to the size of a combiner, and it took a combined effort of several Autobots to take him down.

            That can only mean that he may as well be the biggest individual Transformers in the Movie-verse thus far.

            So anyways, without further ado, let’s get down to our reviewing business.

Alternate Mode:

Just in case if you haven’t watched the second movie (shame on you), Demolisher transforms into a red-colored excavator. 

Although in the movie, Demolisher was depicted as this really huge monstrosity on a vehicle, in real life, he’s rather… diminutive. That doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing, but I kinda think that it should’ve been a Leader-class figure instead? He’d probably had been a Leader-class already if it would’ve had a longer screen time.

Ladders on the sides

Anyways, the excavator mode is incredibly detailed. There are two ladders on both sides of the vehicle – one leading up to the cockpit, while the other leads up to the top of the vehicle.

There’re also other molded in details such as the numerous cylinders on top of the vehicle, gears and screw, and also the rubber threads. 

The MEch-Alive Gimmick

The colors are just nice; especially the shovel looking worn out; and also shade of blackness along the excavator arm, depicting greasiness.

It’s absolutely fantastic.

My only complaint would be the two dangling pieces at the back of the excavator, which kinda looks out of place and serves no purpose in vehicle mode whatsoever.

Another one would probably be the head of robot being exposed underneath the excavator.

Robot Mode:

             I have to admit, the robot mode is kinda odd. Yes, it looked damn good on the big screen, but when it comes to action figures; it may not be pose-friendly.

            The two tank threads now transforms into 2 huge wheels – one at the bottom, while the other is on top. This means that this figure can’t stand up on its own, without using the arms to assist him.

            However, if you remember from the movies, Demolisher moves either by using only 1 wheel as a unicycle, or both by circulating the wheels from top to bottom.

            While the size itself is deliciously big, he is hollow and he really doesn’t do that much.

            For its gimmick – the Mech-Alive – when you bend the arms at the elbows, there is a gear in each biceps that would move. The gimmick is kinda lame, but heck, whatever.

            Articulation-wise: the arachnid-looking head can’t at all; the shoulders rotate on ratcheting joints; there is also another shoulder connection that allow the arms to swing forward, and another joint further front that offers the same thing; then the outermost ratcheting shoulder joints allow sideways movements; the elbows bend; the hands (shovel) swings; and finally the wheels roll, that’s about it.

            As you can see, there are very limited articulations for this figure, and it is clearly meant as a display piece.

            It would probably a good idea if HasTak would’ve provided a display stand along, at least there would’ve been a lot more use for all the available articulations.

Overall:

            To be honest, this figure is a mixed baggage for me. It’s a nice looking figure, and for a character that had only about 5 minutes of screen time, he’s quite memorable. The figure itself looks real good and paint application, although differed from its on-screen depiction, suits the figure quite well.

            However, due to the designs of the figure itself, its pose-ability is heavily restricted, and it wouldn’t helped a lot if there were some sort of a stand provided in the set.

            Final verdict: 7/10.