Dave's Cybertron Rant: Ultra Wave 3

     Cybertron Defense Red Alert

     Jetfire also ships with this wave.  Again.

     Updated February 15, 2006 with Key Code Info.

CAPSULE

     CDRA: Big, bulky and battle-ready.  Good (if chimerical) vehicle mode,
decent transformation, Metroplexy robot mode.  Recommended.  $26.47 at
Wal-Mart


RANT

     Packaging: Standard Ultra box.  The left side panel has the Cybertron
Planet story, which is the same as the plot entry on Vector Prime's box.
Co-sells on the bottom are Evac, Dark Scorponok, Optimus Prime and
Starscream.  Note, the one I got simply has him named Red Alert on the
package, with no mention of Cybertron Defense.  However, the instructions do
call him Cybertron Defense Red Alert, and some boxes have "Cybertronian
Defense Red Alert".  The box picture of the robot mode is mirror-flopped.
     Comes with the Earth Map.  A twist-tie holds the Key in place, and one
also secures the firing missile.  Three more hold the vehicle to the blister,
plus one more wrapped around the missile to keep it attached to its gantry.
A single rubber band keeps the missile from opening.

AUTOBOT: RED ALERT
Planet: Cybertron Autobot
Altmode: 8-wheeled missile truck
Planet Key Code: up0t
Previous name use: All over the place

     RED ALERT is, first and foremost, a healer.  As AUTOBOT medic, he has
never hesitated to rush onto a battlefield under heavy fire to assist an
injured comrade.  Indeed, there are many AUTOBOTS (and even one or two
DECEPTICONS) who owe their lives to him.  It is because of his skills as a
healer that OPTIMUS PRIME handpicks him to be part of the team - along with
HOT SHOT and SCATTORSHOT - to return to CYBERTRON and cleanse his home world
of the TERRORCONS infestation.  Though he is uncomfortable with the new armor
and heavy weapons with which he has been upgraded, he recognizes their
necessity, and will not hesitate to engage in battle if his hand is forced. 

STR 8  INT 9  SPD 6  END 8.5  RNK 7  COUR 10  FRB 7  SKL 10  Avg 8.19

Key Code Info:

     In his newly reformatted form, Red Alert has even more diagnostic and
medical abilities than ever before.  Every finger, every panel, every diode
and wire has the ability to reconfigure, re-transform and re-deploy at the
merest thought from Red Alert to aid one of his fallen comrades on the
battlefield.  This was put to the test during one of the massive swarms of
Scrapmetal on Cybertron when Hot Shot - always the reckless youth - ran
headfirst into the swarm.  Overrun with the beasts, they bit off Hot Shot's
arm.  Racing to his aid, Red Alert grabbed the arm and used his massive
shoulder-mounted Ion cannon to knock back the swelling insecticons.  He then
expertly replaced and repaired Hot Shot's arm - even fixing a bad rotator
cuff in the process.
     (Also shows color guide for the toy, both mold and paint, in Pantone
numbers.)

     Planet Key: Standard Cybertron Autobot Key.

     Vehicle Mode: This is an 8-wheeled APC sort of vehicle with a horkin'
big missile strapped to a raisable gantry on top.  Possible inspirations for
the design include the Russian BTR-80, I couldn't find anything closer
(http://www.army-technology.com/projects/btr80/).  It's not exactly a BTR-80,
though, and the others in the BTR series are even farther.  It's not based on
the Stryker, however...about the only similarity between CDRA and the Stryker
is the fact both have 8 wheels.  In any case, I'm pretty sure no real APC has
a rocket longer than it is strapped on top, making this a sort of vehicular
chimaera. 
     The vehicle is 8" (20cm) long and 3" (8cm) wide, ignoring the missile
and its gantry.  The missile, which is more of a space launch vehicle for
putting up satellites, is 8" (20cm) long unloaded, add a centimeter or so
when the fireable missile is inserted.  With everything loaded, it's 9.5"
(24cm) from the back of the gantry to the front of the missile.  The gantry
has a rod 3.5" (9cm) long that slides into a slot on one side of the
missile. 
     Most of the body of the vehicle is white plastic, with charcoal gray
wheels and dark blue plastic on a chunk in the front middle (making a stripe
down the middle, evoking the Deluxe version) and on the gantry that holds the
missile.  Atop the cockpit are two charcoal gray pieces: one looks to be an
armored periscope or something (on the right), and the other holds a
silver-gray non-firing gun.  The missile is largely light gray plastic with a
clear red core (mostly hidden without the Key gimmick) and some charcoal
hinges and bits.  The little fireable missile is dark blue, and the thruster
section at the back of the main missile is charcoal.
     The wheel wells are painted charcoal, with bits of char or dirt marking
around the fenders.  The armored headlights and front window shutters are
painted dark gold, as are some turbine-looking things in the midsection.  A
red "Vanguard" Autobot symbol is printed on a hatch just ahead of the roof
gun, it's a regular Autobot symbol with a shallow V behind it.  In Galaxy
Force, Vanguard is the name of the unit called Cybertron Defense here.  A few
bits of red on the roof gun and elsewhere on the body finish off the paint
apps on the main vehicle.
     There's extensive charcoal paint on the missile, and some dark gold
accents on the six thruster-like projections.  There's no paint on the clear
red parts.  An interesting detail on the nosecone is that it looks vaguely
like a grinning sharklike face.  Annoyingly, there's a little rounded tab on
the thruster bit that doesn't seem to DO anything useful, but it makes it
hard to stand the missile on end.
     The missile requires two AAA batteries, not included.  There are two
sound and light gimmicks available once the batteries are in.  The first is
the Key gimmick: inserting the Key in the slot on the gantry or pressing a
tab at the rear of the missile isn't on the gantry causes the front 60% or so
of the missile to split in two and swing out to reveal the clear red core.
This is accompanied by a quick series of five beeps and two flashes of red
LEDs inside the clear core.  Honestly, it sounds like someone's cellphone.
The second involves a small button inside the slot that fits over the
gantry's rod.  There's a little tab inside the rod that folds out of the way
when the missile is placed onto the rod, but holds firm and pushes the button
on the missile when the missile is removed...or launched by hand, if you
will.  This triggers a blastoff sound accompanied by three slow flashes of
the LED. 
     There is a little control area on the gantry right behind the thrusters,
which strikes me as a really bad place from which to control the launch, so
it's probably just for maint.  :)  Mini-Cons with very small feet (like
Cyb.Jolt) can stand in it.  
     The gantry ratchets up from horizontal to nearly vertical in three
clicks.  Click one is 20 degrees up, click two is 45 degrees, and click three
is about 70 degrees up.  It cannot rotate horizontally.  The roof gun has
three stable positions: horizontal, vertical and 70-75 degrees up.  I can
kinda hold positions shallower than 70 degrees, though.
     There are two dead hardpoints on the sides of the vehicle, roughly
halfway between front and back.
     A final note on the vehicle mode.  The view slits in the cockpit are
actual slits in the plastic, letting you see inside.  The shell parts
containing the slits can be opened out, revealing the robot forearms, so it's
not so useful for putting in pilot figures.

     Transformation: Most of the side armor ends up on the boots, folding
down and locking around the shins.  If you just transform the legs, and
manually pop out the "repair arm" barrel, you get a sort of weapon platform
mode, with the missile pointing forward and the robot arms locked around the
repair unit.  This also has the maximum number of hardpoints available, since
the ones on available in vehicle mode go inside the shoulders in robot mode
(but two more are revealed on the ankles in robot mode).  A panel flips down
to cover the chest and pull up the head.
     And I'm certain someone's already worked out several "base" modes too.
And here's my attack platform mode, with the Armada Red Alert trick mentioned
later employed: http://www.dvandom.com/images/CDRAbase.JPG

     Robot Mode: 7.5" (18.5cm) tall at the head, I get a real Metroplex vibe
off him  Not just the colors, but also the general blockiness, and the hollow
shin guards.  The arms and upper legs are made of dark blue plastic.  The
chestplate is actually charcoal plastic, but painted dark blue with silver
and metallic orange details.  The white parts of the torso have more red and
metallic orange bits, and the shoulders (which have those turbine things
mentioned above) have metallic orange stripes on the front.  The abdomen is
charcoal plastic with mostly white on the front.  The pelvis is white with a
bit of dark blue.  The head is mostly dark blue, with dark gold face and
helmet "tablet", and a clear red lightpiped visor.  The face is seriously
recessed, which seems in part to let a projection on the chest hook into the
face and lock it down in vehicle mode. 
     Head and waist turn smoothly.  The shoulders are swivels, the elbows are
hinges, the wrists are swivels.  There is also a swivel right below each
shoulder.  No ratchets in the arm joints.  The hips are ratcheting universal
joints, the knees are ratcheting hinges, and there's a smooth swivel above
each knee.  The feet have transformation joints on the to and the heel spur,
but these are of limited utility in posing.  The fists have 5mm peg holes and
the repair unit has 5mm pegs, but it's not designed to be held in CDRA's
fist.  Rather, it stays pegged to one of the forearms.  Oh, and yes,
"fists".  For the first time in the AEC setting, Red Alert has both hands,
with the tools being moved to a separate repair unit.
     Inserting the Key into the back of the repair unit causes its barrel to
pop out, but the bit holding it in place is pretty weak, and it doesn't take
much to just tap it out without the Key.  Inside each shin is an attachment
for the barrel.  In the right shin is a claw, in the left is a hammer with a
springy striking face (the face has a spring behind it, so can compress a
bit).  Getting them out requires partially untransforming the lower legs, and
either long nails or a pry tool to fish out the attachment.  Or a lot of
patience, lacking either of the previous.
     There are dead Hardpoints on the armor panels over the ankles, and you
can pull off an Armada Red Alert trick with them.  The armor panels can be
folded up to the horizontal, and then Mini-Cons attached to the posts to give
supporting fire (or to help with repairs).  The Air Defense Team recolors are
particularly good for this.

     Overall: Well, compared to the other Ultras (Jetfire, Scourge, Dark
Scorponok), it's okay.  It's nice to have a Mini-Con playground toy again,
and the missile is impressive (and bound to be the butt of many lewd jokes).
Not massively impressive, but impressively massive.

     Dave Van Domelen, done with Transformers backlog for the moment, but
those new Alternators should be here soon....