Dave's Robot Heroes Rant The Final Battle - Wal-Mart Exclusive Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/123/RHX3 Another store-exclusive recolor set. All of these molds come from Movie Wave 1: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/123/RH3 Unlike previous RH recolors, there's no new characters here, just deco tweaks. CAPSULE The Final Battle: Nifty backdrop, but uninspired recolors of weaker molds. Two "battle damage" recolors with scorch marks and more metallic paint, a straight up metallic repaint, and two with splashes of AllSpark Blue. A good deal if you didn't get any of these molds before, but not nearly as cool as Decepticon Sneak Attack. Mildly recommended. $9.96 at Wal-Mart. RANT Packaging: Same style as the "Decepticon Sneak Attack" box, but I found that it can be opened from underneath without even having to cut tape, just pull out a tab and open the flap. Oops. The co-sells on the bottom are for the second wave movie Robot Heroes, while the back has line art of the five characters with their names and epithets. Down the middle of the back is the following story text: Together with their new human comrades, the AUTOBOTS battle the DECEPTICONS to the finish in the final fight for possession of the AllSpark. The crowded streets of a human city are the battleground. The pavement craks and melts from the power of the giant robots' weapons. The destruction is legendary as the mighty metal warriors hurl each other against the sides of buildings, and fill the air with laser fire. Neither side will stop fighting until their enemies are totally destroyed. The diorama is a shattered cityscape with cratered streets and burning cars and buildings. There's a little 3D building on the left side behind the Autobots, and a cardboard car with flames shooting out of it on the right side behind Megatron. The toys are rubber-banded onto a blister tray that's taped down. Front row left to right is Ratchet, Prime and Megatron. Back row left to right is Jazz and Blackout. AUTOBOT: AUTOBOT RATCHET with AllSpark Power Previous Mold: Autobot Ratchet (Movie wave 1) Plastic: Allowing for batch variation, pretty much the same yellowish green used on the original. Paints: Mostly the same as the original, but with most of the gold apps replaced by AllSpark Blue (well, a bright blue that's somewhat darker than the ASB seen on other toys). However, there are other differences. The zigzag on the left arm is slightly different. The Autobot symbol on the right arm is a bit bigger. There's a gold strip above the hazard stripe on the left shoulder. The red bit on top of the head is replaced by an ASB bit slightly lower. The gold on the ankle pistons is replaced by gunmetal, and the antenna is painted gunmetal. There's also extra ASB on the shins and the chest. Overall: I would really have preferred a Rescue Ratcher recolor, even if it didn't "fit" the diorama scene. At least they did a little more than just swap out one of the masks with ASB, though. AUTOBOT: Battle Damaged AUTOBOT JAZZ Previous Mold: Autobot Jazz (Movie wave 1) Plastic: I think it's white, but it's hard to tell. Paints: First, coat the whole thing in a metallic silver paint. The black paint masks are glossier and cover a the wheel hubs too. The gold masks are replaced with metallic copper. The red and metallic blue masks of the original are completely gone. The visor and face are the same, as is the placement and size of the black Autobot symbol on the shield. There's a crack printed on the visor, and several black smudges painted in various places. Overall: You can barely make out the battle damage, it's more of a Metallic Finish variant. It looks nice enough, although this would have been a good place to slot in the G1 color scheme, or even a Smokescreen. AUTOBOT: OPTIMUS PRIME with AllSpark Power Previous Mold: Optimus Prime (Movie wave 1, with cannon) Plastic: Dark blue, like the original. Paints: The red on the shoulder fronts is gone, and the red on the chest wraps around the sides and covers the "ribs" area, replacing the flame decos there. No gold paint on the abdomen or ankles. However, add silver on the left elbow, black on the ankle wheels, silver on the bottoms of the toes, and red on the full ankle fenders instead of just the fronts. ASB is found on the shoulder fronts, eyes, chest windows, abdomen, gunbarrel tip, thighs and shins. Also, the flame decos on the sides of the boots are brighter and have more flames, and the Autobot symbol on the left shoulder is slightly bigger. Overall: the ASB isn't as obtrustive, in part because his eyes and chest were that color originally anyway. And several of the paint masks are more thorough, a nice touch. On the other hand, it's not obviously different other than the ASB...and I now have three slight variations of the same mold, thanks to the Best Buy version. DECEPTICON: MEGATRON with Metallic Finish Previous Mold: Megatron (Movie wave 1) Plastic: Again, I think this one is white, but like Jazz it's pretty hidden. Paints: Cover the whole thing in metallic silver paint. The smile and Decepticon symbol paints remain the same, the eyes are a bit more metallic red. There's a few bits of black on the chest detailing, and all the remaining paint details are metallic copper, little bits here and there, not exactly duplicating the paint masks of the original. Overall: Well, it's shiny. The copper's a bit tacky, though. DECEPTICON: Battle Damaged BLACKOUT Previous Mold: Blackout (Movie wave 1) Plastic: A somewhat darker blue than the original, still a bit grayish. Paints: The black masks are the same, but glossier. The silver on the head wraps to the top and sides, but none of the other silver bits are present. The center of the chest is gunmetal. The greenish gold mask is the same pattern, but a shinier version of the color. A bright blue Decepticon symbol is printed in the middle of the back, and here's scorching wash on the foreams and shins (no white mask). Overall: A bit more drab. The scorch marks almost vanish against the darker blue, and the lack of most of the silver drabs it down more. Set Overall: The only really good mold in the bunch is Jazz, and it's a decent recolor. The rest are so-so molds with either no improvement or minor improvements. Nice diorama backdrop, though. Dave Van Domelen, had a big day for recolors.