Dave's Alternators Rant 26: Ravage (not Battle Ravage) Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Alt/Ravage2 I actually got this in non-U.S. packaging initially, so it doesn't have the 25 on it, but I'll amend this review with notes on the U.S. packaging once I get it (no, I'm not planning to own both, but I've promised a few people I'd pick some up for 'em, so I'll at least have one in my hands for a little bit). Thanks to Steve Strong for selling me the non-U.S. one he decided he didn't need anymore. 8/23/07: Correction, the U.S. packaging Ravage is #26, not #25. That leaves a gap that I guess Nemesis Prime is supposed to be in, but he's definitely labeled 24. Ah well. CAPSULE Ravage: Nice, exotic car mode. Somewhat frustrating but easy to learn transformation. Rather different robot mode, although some of the innovations don't work as well as they hoped. Recommended. About $20 as a Wal-Mart exclusive. RANT Packaging: The international packaging is pretty close to the standard fishbowl wave U.S. packaging, but the need to do some things in *twelve* languages has reduced total wording and eliminated a few things, like the "25" that it would have in the U.S. There's also an "i" in a circle and arrow design that I presume means "international". On the box bottom are photos of both modes and a shot of the interior, with numerical call-outs pointing to the rockets on the beast mode's hips and to the interior detailing, then a key listing what they are in 12 languages. The languages are, I think: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Greek, Polish, Turkish (had to consult a listing of flags for a few of those). There's also some stickers in Japanese applied after the fact. The instructions inside the base box are likewise tricked out in 12 languages, as is the sheet of contact info for the distributors included in the baggie. The usual blister construction for fishbowls, and plastic strap around the middle. There's no motto here, I doubt it'd fit in 12 languages. :) RULE BREAKING It's worth mentioning that Ravage breaks the "rules" of Alternators in more ways than just having a beastmode rather than a humanoid one. - Front wheels do not turn side to side, nor are they linked. - Neither the hood nor the trunk/hatchback open. - No stowed hand weapon (which goes with having no hands, I suppose). - British license plate, not American (granted, this may well be just for the international release). [Update: someone with the U.S. packaging version tells me that it has the Brit plates too.] VEHICLE MODE This is a Jaguar XK, which is appropriate given that Ravage's name in Japan is Jaguar. So he's a Jaguar that turns into a jaguar. Neither of which, by the way, is pronounced "jag-wire". For more on the real life XK, check out the official Jaguar USA webpage entry for it, at: http://www.jaguarusa.com/us/en/xk/highlights/highlights/introduction.htm Just a shade under 8" long (19.9cm), it comes as close to 1:24 scale as I can measure (real thing is 4.76m long, for 19.83cm at 1:24 scale). The body is gloss black, either black plastic or black paint over clear colorless plastic. Clear plastic is also used for the headlight and taillight pieces. The brake discs and tailpipes are made a a very faintly lavender light gray. This gray is also used for the floor and center "island" of the interior, plus some of the dash section as well. The top of the dash, the steering wheel and the seats are matte black plastic (no rubbery wheel). Some "Decepticon purple" joint bits are visible, including the door hinges. The purple reacts strongly to UV, the gray weakly, and the others not at all. The tires are rubberized black plastic, as is the gear shift. There's silver paint trim around the side windows, on the "trunk" lid lip, and on little bits ahead of the door hinges. Silver chrome is used on the hubcaps, side mirrors, grille (with black paint mostly over it, the paint is a bit patchy) and under the headlight and taillight pieces. Metallic orange picks out the turn signals and red for the brake lights. The third brake light at the top of the rear is painted non-metallic red. At the middle of the chromed disc on the grille is printed a very tiny jaguar head logo. On the back, on either side of the license plate, "XK" and "LZ" are raised and painted silver (badly...looks more like an L7 on mine). The license plate itself is white with black "RAVAGE" vanity, and along the left side is a blue stripe with the EU's circle of gold stars and a small GB. So it's a British license plate. The plate itself looks like it should be able to flip over (which it does as part of transformation, just not in car mode alone), a nice spy vehicle touch, even if inadvertant. Of course, that's not the only touch of James Bond...my web-researching revealed to me that the XK has a good deal of Aston-Martin styling to it. Aside: The LZ is a mystery to me. It's not on the car's own webpage, and while Ben Yee's review suggests it means this is a convertible sub-model, I don't see it as working as a convertible, even a fancy hard-top variety. Nor can this refer to the Nissan LZ engine, not an allied company. The XK featured in the initial press releases has the LZ on it, though, and is a non-convertible. There's a bit of kibble visible from the side, parts of the beast mode rear legs peek out from under the doors. The doors open on struts, the wheels spin, the seats fold down and the steering wheel can drop. That's pretty much it here. No front wheel turning, no other opening bits. The trunk sort of opens, but it's not meant to in car mode. TRANSFORMATION Most of the top side of the car, from front to back, just ends up folding into a sort of cape for Ravage. Getting the roof and rear window to separate and fold properly is a REAL pain if you don't start off just right (fold it wrong and it's very hard to undo), and it's even worse trying to get them back into car mode. It's not obvious, but the sides have to pull out a little bit, both the front and back fender areas, in order to unlock the top pieces, else you need to flex thigns dangerously to unlock them. The sides only pop out a couple of millimeters, and you can always push 'em back in when you're done if you prefer a slightly narrower stance...just don't forget you did so when going back to car mode! The car underside pieces fold down to form credible chest and abdomen for the beast mode, but the abdomen piece just swings back and forth when you're done, I can't find a way to lock it into place. The tail flips out cleverly, but be careful to note where it was before transforming it the first time....if you put it back even a little wrong it can be impossible to get the rear to close up right in car mode. The hip missile launchers are on a complicated bit of folding strut pieces, and I popped one off the first time I tried transforming them out, so beware of that. (It has also been pointed out to me that these can be popped out in car mode as well, as rocket boosters.) BEAST MODE Hard to give the exact dimensions, since the tail folds around, the stance can change the height, etc. It's about 10" (25cm) from snout to tail tip and about 5" (13cm) tall at the shoulder in a reasonable pose. This is a big cat, of a size to brawl with Leobreaker or Lioconvoy. Most of the purple joints are now visible, they seemed to use that plastic whenever they needed good piece-against-piece motion on connections. The rear wheels stick out like weird dewclaws, but the car doors cover up the front wheels on the forelegs. The head, neck and tail pieces are all black plastic, with a purple joint at the base of the neck. The missiles on the hips are chromed plastic with the tips painted the same red as the third brake light and the rears painted a good match for the purple strut pieces. The head has red eyes, silver fangs, and some purple "eyebrow" patterns. A purple and silver Decepticon symbol is printed on the left side of the neck. Claws on all four feet are painted silver. Poseability is decent. The jaw opens on a hinge. Both the head and the base of the neck are on ball joints that let them turn or bend down. The tail is segmented with three hinges, plus the swivel up and down at its base connection. All four hips are just swivels. The rear legs have hinges for knee, ankle and toes. The forelegs have ball joints for the ankles (the "chicken knees") and hinge toes, but no true knees. You can't quite get a proper "slinking low to the ground" pose since bringing one foreleg back doesn't leave room for the rear leg on the same side to move forward, but you can get a decent "ready to pounce" pose. OVERALL Well, it's certainly a significant departure from the Alternators standards, and welcome in that regard. It's also the first time the same character has gotten multiple molds in Alternators, if you presume that Battle Ravage is Ravage. :) Anyway, a lot of points for innovation, making up for some of the losses in execution. Worth getting if you can find it, it seems to be getting spotty distribution (i.e. piles of them in some areas, none in others). Dave Van Domelen, wonders which'll happen first...finding out what the LZ really means, or finding Ravage localy.