Dave's Transformers Rant Ruination Team Knockoff Bardigus Team I figured that since I got both the bootleg "Booticus" set and the official Ruination "Combiners" set, I'd review both at once. Normally when I discuss recolors like this, I only cover the differences between them and the originals, but I don't recall if I even reviewed the G2 Combaticons (a Deja search comes up empty), and I certainly didn't review the G1 set. So I'll treat this as a new set and do the complete Rant. CAPSULES Ruination Team: These are typical "Scramble City" style combiner units, with very blocky limb toys and a marginally poseable central unit. Rather disappointing when compared to the highly poseable modern toys, but it does have the attraction of the mix and match combinations. Colors somewhat different from the Bardigus versions in Car Robots (and hence from the cartoon versions), but following most of the same paint mask patterns. All components have Decepticon symbols. Mildly recommended, mostly for nostalgia reasons. $4.99 for Basic limbs, $9.99 for central Mega-Octane at Target. Booticus Team: This is actually a much more faithful reproduction of Bardigus in terms of colors, with only some very minor differences. However, it lacks a number of the individual member weapons, so all the big merged weapons aren't possible. Plastic quality is at the upper end for a bootleg, and the tolerances are very good (no bits falling off at random). However, it's hard to beat the price. Recommended if you can find it, $4.99 at Family Dollar stores and a few Odd Lots/Big Lots or Kay Bee Toy Works. RANTS Okay, almost no tech specs for any of these guys, or for Ruination as a combined mode. I'll start with the combined modes, then move on to the components. DECEPTICON: Ruination Function: Warrior KNOCKOFF: Booticus Function: Decoy Ruination comes with instructions for the two different configurations seen on Robots in Disguise. They aren't named, but I'll call them Air Mode and Land Mode. Air Mode has Movor (space shuttle) and Ro-Tor (helicopter) as the arms, and Rollbar (jeep) and Armorhide (tank) as the legs. Land Mode has Movor and Ro-Tor as legs, Rollbar and Armorhide as arms. I get the impression that Air Mode is more mobile (and can fly), while Land Mode is a tougher fighter. Every one of the five toys has instructions for both modes on the back of their own instruction sheets. The instructions also show multiple places for the ramp/shield, and combined mega-guns (although they do not show how you can attach Armorhide's big cannons to Rollbar's big gun as part of one of the megaweapons. Ruination is 8.5" (22cm) tall at the head. In Air Mode, Ro-Tor's shoulder comes up to 10" (25cm). Poseability is pretty minimal. The arms can move at the shoulders, the wrists can spin (since they're pegged in), the head can turn, and the legs can do the splits. Mega-Octane forms the torso and upper legs, and any of the other figures can form any other limb. This mix-and-match technique has been called the Scramble City style, after an introductory show of the same name shown in Japan. Aside from the colors of the individual components, Ruination's colors are mainly cool grey with some black accents and red eyes. All of the extra body parts (head, chestplate, fists, limbs, shield) are made of cool grey plastic. By contrast, Bardigus has those pieces made of gold plastic. Ruination has no special Decepticon symbol, and the Combatron symbol (upside-down G2 Autobot symbol) seen on Bardigus is simply gone from the chestplate. Ruination has two big guns made from the weapons of its components. One gun uses Mega-Octane's rifle as a base, attaching Armorhide's and Movor's small guns. They don't hold together very well, sadly. The other big gun uses Rollbar's big cannon as a base, with Ro-Tors and Rollbar's small guns on the sides. Mega-Octane's base-mode ramp can either fit onto Ruination's back or be used as a shield, with the spare big gun slotting into the hole on Ruination's back for storage. Movor's and Ro-Tor's other weapons can remain on them in Ruination mode, although you have to fiddle around a bit to get Movor's cannons around the Ruination fist. I managed to fit Mega-Octane's little chest shield into the holes on Armorhide's shins just so that all parts are carried. It would not fit into the gun hole on Rollbar. Booticus is physically the same, although where Ruination's add-on parts are cool grey, Booticus has a sort of brownish yellow that's supposed to look gold without spending money on metal-flake plastic. It also lacks the Combatron symbols, but does not replace them with any other symbols. The Booticus set doesn't have all individual weapons, missing the big weapons from the shuttle and the helicopter, and the shuttle's small weapon. It's the same size overall as Ruination, however. Booticus has good tolerances for a knockoff, although some pegs are a little loose, and some are a bit tight. It's possible to store the small chestplate of the main unit on the jeep's gun post, for instance. Due to the smaller number of pieces, and a few extra holes on the figures, it's easier to store all pieces in combined mode. However, the hole on the copter's small gun is too small to fit on the peg of the jeep's big gun, so they can't combine unless you push really hard. DECEPTICON: Mega-Octane Function: Combiner General Altmode: Flatbed Truck Previous Versions: Onslaught (G1, G2), Greatcannon (Japanese Battle Gaia), Dolrailer (Car Robots) Motto: "I command you to destroy!" Mega-Octane is the cruel, cold-blooded Combiner general and command center. He merges with the other Combiners to become one Decepticon - with Mega-Octane in total control of them all. He is the only one with the strength and skill to use the weapons he carries - and he uses them with steely accuracy in battle. STR 8 INT 8 SPD 7 END 8 RNK 8 COUR 9 FRB 9 SKL 8 Avg 8.125 Mega-Octane is packaged as a Deluxe, on the wide cards seen for other Deluxes. Unlike other Deluxes, MO's bubble is full to bursting, as all the combiner kibble (head, hands, feet, chestplate, shield) comes with this figure. The picture on the back of the card shows Mega-Octane with his cannon facing the wrong way, oops. (Aside: I tend to agree with the theory that the black Laser Optimus recolor Black Convoy was going to be called Mega-Octane for Robots in Disguise, but when they renamed it Scourge, the Mega-Octane name settled on Onslaught/Dolrailer.) There's a few twist-ties and some rubber bands in the packaging as well, and the vehicle mode is partly folded up because it's otherwise too long to fit with everything else in the bubble. Vehicle Mode: 9" (23cm) long, it's a military flatbed artillery truck in forest camoflage (forest green with black and tan rippled stripes). Dolrailer had black and brown camo striping, but with black where Mega-Octane is tan. It makes for a subtle but noticeable difference in appearance between the Car Robots and Robots in Disguise versions. The vehicle mode has ten wheels and room to carry any one of the Basic limb vehicles. You might be able to squeeze on two if you remove the cannon. MO's rifle can mount atop the big dual cannons, but with mine it's a bit loose. Also, an orange rifle on an orange cannon piece looks a bit too orange. There is a Decepticon symbol on the top of the truck cab. Base Mode: A fairly simple transformation (the only hard part is snapping the ramp into place) yields a 7" (18cm) by 3.5" (9cm) rectangular firebase with a central ramp. Any of the smaller component vehicles can drive up and down the ramp. It's a pretty plain base, compared to some of the Scramble City central units' bases. While it looks as if the base is a mobile one, the ramp stretches too far down to allow free rolling. Plus, MO's chestplate is used to jack up the back end, so it's a stationary base. Transformation: Pretty simple, as with most G1 combiner molds. Robot Mode: A somewhat disturbing mix of forest green and safety orange with camo pattern legs make Mega-Octane look like a demented hunter. He stands just over 6" (16cm) tall at the head, 8" (20cm) tall at the cannon barrels sticking up from his back. The lack of paint on his chestplate (they removed the Combatron symbol and didn't replace it with anything) makes for a pretty bland color scheme overall, at least from the front. Dolrailer's chest was gold behind the chestplate, but Mega-Octane's is cool grey. Poseability is pretty limited, considering that Ruination gets its poseability from Mega-Octane. The shoulders are a bit more poseable, though. Mega-Octane has a big orange rifle in one hand (same color as Dolrailer's), and uses the base mode's ramp as a big shield. Booticus Version: The knockoff has the same paint patterns, but with white instead of Dolrailer's brown, leading to more of a winter forest camoflage pattern. His orange is a bit lighter than Mega-Octane's, and he has the previously-mentioned off-gold color for other accessories like the ramp. Note on instructions for limbs: Each limb unit comes with a sheet that has instructions for two of the limbs on one side (Armorhide and Rollbar together, Movor and Ro-Tor together) and all of the Ruination instructions on the other side. DECEPTICON: Armorhide Function: Combiner Altmode: Tank Previous Versions: Brawl (G1, G2), Sandstorm (Battle Gaia), Danger (CR) Vehicle Mode: A compact little tank, 3" (8cm) long and 1.5" (4cm) wide, with a mmovable turret and peg-in extra cannons that attach behind the turret. The overall pattern is desert "chocolate chip" camo, but with a main color of light blue and bits of black and white camo. The turret can pop up for a weird sci-fi-tank effect, but the gun does not elevate. Armorhide's pistol can be attached either to the big behind-the-turret cannons or plugged into one of his fist holes up near the front of the tank. Despite appearances, the turret can still turn when the big cannons are plugged in, although you can give the vehicle a different look by plugging the big cannons into the rear holes (the ones where feet or fists go in Ruination mode). Transformation: Pretty simple, although you need to turn or pop up the turret to accomplish it. Robot Mode: 3.5" (9cm) tall at the head, add an inch for the tank gun barrel poking up behind his back. Arms move at the shoulders, legs can bend at the knees, pretty much a brick. There is normally no place for his big cannons in this mode, but there's a nifty little undocumented feature someone pointed out to me. If you reverse the pistol weapon, you can plug the big cannon onto its back (there's a hole in the big cannon's base just the right size for the back of the pistol), giving Armorhide a megacannon to carry in robot mode. Also, you can use one of Ruination's feet as a sort of hoverboard for Armorhide. Booticus version: Same pattern, but with a tan base so it's proper desert camo. There's also a peg hole on the tank turret so that you can mount just the pistol without using the big cannons as well. This version retains Danger's pseudo-US-Army symbol, which was replaced with a Decepticon symbol on Armorhide. DECEPTICON: Rollbar Function: Combiner Altmode: Jeep Previous versions: Swindle (G1, G2), Leeland(Gaia), Greejeeber/ Greenjeeper (CR) Vehicle Mode: A squat jeep (not really a Hummvee, but it has some design elements of one) 3" (8cm) by 1.5" (4cm). Olive green with tan "dirt" on the front and a Decepticon symbol on the trunk. The windshield is silver, the wheels and seats are black, as are the guns that mount "Rat Patrol" style from a central post. Greejeeber had no dirt pattern, instead a stenciled Army star, plus a black windscreen. In this mode, Rollbar's pistol plugs into his main cannon. Transformation: Very simple. Robot Mode: A very squat 3" (8cm) tall, with orange chest and pelvis coloring. His arms connect by pegs at almost elbow positioning, and look pretty pathetic. He can carry his guns either joined or separated. Like Armorhide, he can use a Ruination foot as a hoverboard. Booticus version: Colors true to the original, with the US stenciled under a star on the hood, and stars on the doors. Comes with both guns. DECEPTICON: Movor Function: Combiner Altmode: Space Shuttle Previous versions: Blast-Off (G1, G2), Shuttle Gunner (Gaia), Shuttler (CR) Vehicle Mode: A somewhat "chibi" (squat and cutesified) space shuttle 4" (10cm) long with a 2.5" (6cm) stubby wingspan. The main colors are light grey and black, with some tan "charring" patterns leading back from seams, as if the seams caught too much heat on re-entry and seared. The cockpit windows are silver, and there's a Decepticon symbol on each wing. Large cannons can be plugged into the rear boosters or under each wing. There is no good place for Movor's pistol in this mode, although it can be plugged awkwardly into the upper booster. Transformation: Simple, but with a couple little tricks. Robot Mode: Standing a little over 3" (8cm) tall, with an orange chest and metallic purple faceplate to add to the existing color scheme, Movor is one of the more poseable Commandos, with ball joint shoulders and swivel "wrists". The big cannons mount on the legs. Ruination feet can be used as hoverboards, as with the others. Booticus version: No weapons at all, but faithful to the Bardigus color scheme. DECEPTICON: Ro-Tor Function: Combiner Altmode: Helicopter Previous versions: Vortex (G1, G2), Target Hawk (Gaia), Heptor (CR) Vehicle Mode: A helicopter gunship 5" (13cm) long in blue and black with red accents and weapons. A nose gun snaps into place at the front, and big tribarrels connect to the sides of the tail. The tail is a bit bulky compared to real helicopters, but it has to be, since it splits into the robot's arms. The rotor blades and rear steering rotor spin freely. The main rotor can also be removed. This toy was packaged with the rotor assembly backwards, presumably to help it fit in the bubble better. Transformation: Another simple one, but using the more complicated aspects of the others. Robot Mode: 3" (8cm) tall, not counting the rotors, this also has ball joints for the shoulders, but no wrists (the stabilizing rotors fold out of the way). Heavily armed, all three weapons mount on the arms of this figure. In addition to the blue, black and red parts, the chest is orange and white. Booticus version: No patterns on the sides, and no large weapons. Both Ro-Tor and the bootleg are pretty close to the Heptor color scheme, though. The main mold difference is that while the main rotor does not detach, it does scissors closed for flat storage.