Dave's Device Label Rant Tigatron Operating USB Memory Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Japan/USB1 The latest box from Wonkimus Major has arrived, including Shattered Glass Rav...er, Tigatron as a USB. Given the shrinking physical size of the "guts" of USB drives in recent years, a working USB drive that transforms into something was nearly inevitable (I worked out a possible design years ago, and I'm not even a toy engineer), and here we have it! This is one of two color versions, the other one being a traditional black Ravage. A Cheetor redeco is coming in 2010 to Japan, and there's indications that Toshiba will be releasing Tigatron and Ravage in the United States (possibly with a larger memory). CAPSULE Tigatron Operating USB Memory: It's a little bulky and fragile in jumpdrive mode, but has a good transformation and a very nice beast mode. A bit pricey as either a toy or just a jumpdrive, but if you have the money to spare I recommend getting yourself one of the decos (Tigatron, Ravage or the upcoming Cheetor). 3299Yen at Toys R Us, which worked out to about $36 at the then-current exchange rate. (The American release is supposedly going to be over $40, but it might also have 4GB instead of 2GB.) RANT Device Label: Music Label gave us Soundwave as an MP3 player and the Frumblyphones, Sports Label was Optimus Prime and Megatron as shoes, Disney Label has Mickey Mouse/Convoy and Donald Duck/Bumblebee...and now we have Device Label. Device Label has working computer accessories that turn into mecha. Ravage and Tigatron turn into USB drives, Grimlock and Trypticon turn into optical computer mice (and look kinda hinky in beast mode, like chickens with big thighs) and Blaster turns into a USB hub that's molded to look like a small laptop computer. Initially, this was to be another Japanese-only line like the other Labels, but as mentioned above, it looks like Toshiba will be selling at least some of the toys in America. Packaging: A cardboard box with hanger tab, and a window in the front to show the figure in USB mode. The body of the box is 14cm (5.5") tall, 10cm (4") wide and 3.5cm (1.5") deep. The hanger tab makes the back of the box 17cm (6.5") tall. The logo "TRANSFORMERS DEVICE LABEL" with Japanese subtitle is on the front of the hanging tab, on the top of the box and at the top of the front of the box in large size, and much smaller on the top edges of the back and sides. The front of the box is a photo of the beast mode (near the bottom) with a laptop displaying an Autobot symbol on its screen in the background. The actual toy is visible through a window above the photo of beast mode. At the bottom of the front is "TIGATRON Operating USB Memory" and Japanese subtitles. The Transformers 25 Years Anniversary logo is in the lower right. The right side of the box shows off the virtual pet Tigatron that comes on the USB. A sticker claims something about Windows 7 and Mac OS compatibility, but most of this is in English, and it could just mean that the memory function works with Mac. The left side has photos of both modes. On the back, there's a photo of Ravage in memory mode plugged into Blaster (who is in laptop/hub mode) along side mouse-mode Grimlock. There's a lot of dense technical specs talking about usability under various OSes (Windows XP/ Vista/7, Mac OS 10.0.2) and helpfully giving the dimensions of the USB mode (28mm wide by 65mm long by 10mm thick). At the very bottom is the only mention of Toshiba, the company that made at least the electronics if not the entire thing. The bottom panel of the box is the usual legalese. Cutting the two circles of tape on the top flap lets you pull out a clear plastic tray in which the USB is embedded, a loose sheet with instructions in Japanese for installing the virtual pet under XP or Vista, and a bagged set of instructions (including another sheet for XP and Vista, suggesting that the loose sheet is errata). The front of the main instructions sheet is entirely technical stuff and warranty card (warranty service only available in Japan, natch). The back expands on the compatibility list, not including Windows 7 (the sticker on the box was probably added later, once they were sure the USB memory function would work under 7), and notes that this is USB1.1 and USB2.0 compatible. For the particularly thick, there's instructions on how to insert a USB memory stick into a computer. The actual transformation instructions take up a quarter of one side of the instructions sheet. CYBERTON: TIGATRON Altmode: USB Memory STR 8 INT 3 SPD 8 END 7 RNK 4 COUR 10 FRB 7 SKL 6 Avg 6.625 They just used his original Beast Wars numbers. Also, the Ravage numbers are available in the setup menu (see below): STR 5 INT 8 SPD 5 END 6 RNK 7 COUR 4 FRB 7 SKL 10 Avg 6.5 And these are Ravage's G1 numbers. USB Jumpdrive Mode: Well, they worried more about making the beast mode look good in this case. It's very obviously a robot tiger folded up into a roughly rectangular shape, and it's a bit oversized for a modern jumpdrive. Okay, for a jumpdrive of any era, to be honest. It certainly won't fit into a jumpdrive case, and my 8 year old 8MB drive will fit into a standard case. I suppose that Ravage would be a little less obvious, being more black, but I think this would have worked so much better if they'd included a slipcase of some sort. This would also help protect it from damage while in transit and improve stability. I mean, I don't really want to carry this anywhere without putting it back in the original packaging first, lest a leg break or something. It feels reasonably sturdy for what it is, but "what it is" is a toy containing a lot of slender pieces. With the USB plug retracted, it's the 65mm long that's listed on the box. When you slide the plug out (it's one of those "push in on the tab and slide in or out" locking types) the full length is 77mm. The USB guts are all in what becomes the beast's ribcage section, a piece about 20mm long and 16mm wide. Oh, and if you're thinking of making a custom slipcase, the actual thickness is 12mm, not the listed 10mm, due to the top of the beast head rising up a bit in the middle. The beast head ends up almost dead center, flanked by the legs (front legs on top, rear on bottom) with the pelvis fodled open at the non-plug end. The plastic parts are all what I'd call icy white...an extremely light gray with just a tinge of teal to it. It's subtle to the point of depending strongly on your lighting source. The plastic has a moderate UV glow, but not as strong as paper does. There's various bits of black and metallic teal paint, but they're mainly relevant to the beast mode, so I'll describe them there. The Autobot symbol on the beast's back is on the top side of the jumpdrive, on the core chunk. Stability is so-so, due to a lack of pegs to hold things together. You need to be careful plugging it into a USB port, since too much force in the wrong place will make it bend along some joint. The drive comes partitioned with 56.6M devoted to the virtual pet (the Transformers Desktop Defender) on one drive, and 1.8M free to use in memory. When I plugged it into my work computer, the pet grabbed E: and the memory was F:. I decided to not try installing it on my work computer. :) The installer is an Autorun.exe file, not known for running on a Mac that isn't using a Windows dual boot or emulator. Plugging it into my XP-based EEE netbook caused the installer to auto-launch (it didn't auto-launch on my work desktop, but it has understandably stricter permissions set), and it claimed E: and F: again. The installer startup screen shows both Tigatron and Ravage, and I had a bit of a wait while InstallShield decided how to deal with this. For a sixty meg file, it certainly took a while to install...sure, GUIRON (my EEE XP) isn't the most powerful machine, but still. Fortunately, the PDF user manual included is in English. Also, while the manual refers only to Ravage, the Tigatron USB does default to a Tigatron Desktop Defender, which will stalk about your computer and eat icons (right-click on Tigatron to restore icons, or just remove the USB). It will go behind open windows as far as I can tell, so on a netbook where I keep windows at full screen it's not as impressive. Not that much of my desktop screen is visible on my work PC.... The Desktop Defender only works while the USB is plugged in, although I'd bet someone's worked out a hack already to let it operate without the neo-dongle in place. (Yes, I know that USB dongles have been around for a while, but to me a dongle will always be a block that connects port pins together to unlock software...USB dongles are neo-dongles as far as I'm concerned.) About all you can do from the tray icon when Tigatron isn't plugged in is change whether the Desktop Defender auto-launches on plug-in (and you may not want it to launch every time, if you actually use the jumpdrive as a serious memory storage device). [Later note: a hack of the .exe does seem to be required. Whatever the program checks for, it's not something that can be normally copied from one drive to another. Either it's a physical chip, or a specific formatting trick that cloning doesn't catch. Someone has already hacked the .exe, but it's not the sort of thing I plan to do myself, being a Mac guy.] When you right-click the Tigatron, you can choose demonstrations of various behaviors (if you don't feel like waiting) or enter a setup menu. This shows the various properties (you can speed it up, make it lazy, tell it not to eat your icons, etc), along with techspec numbers. You can also switch between Tigatron and Ravage designs, and name your Desktop Defender (mine is now SG Ravage). You can also access this stuff from a tray icon (Autobot symbol in my case, switching to Ravage doesn't change this, but the Ravage USB might come with a Decepticon symbol tray icon). Transformation: Fairly straightforward origami sort of deal. You have to retract the USB plug in order to transform it, but then slide it back out when it's inside the body to lock things together. Essentially, he has a steel spine. In going back to jumpdrive mode you have to be a little careful about order of operations to avoid stressing parts, but you can scramble a little in going to beast mode. The smoothest order for going to beast mode is to fold out the tail first, then swing the rear legs out to the side. Now fold the rear legs together underneat the beast, rotate the core chunk and slide the USB plug out. The rest is just positioning the legs. The only locking bit is the USB plug, there's no pegs and friction is used to hold everything together. This does mean that too much play can make the toy floppy, and it won't hold together in jumpdrive mode. Beast Mode: Robokitty! Okay, it really does just look like Ravage in new colors, not like the somewhat beefier Tigatron, but it's a good try and it definitely qualifies as Shattered Glass Ravage (in case you don't know, Shattered Glass is the "mirror universe" seen in several BotCon fictions, with good Decepticons and evil Autobots, SG Ravage has his own facebook page where he utterly fails at being stealthy). 11cm (4.25") from snout to tail tip, he's white with black stripes that are a cross between proper tiger stripes and mechanical circuit-paint stripes. There's several accents in metallic teal as well, and a red Autobot symbol on his back. His eyes are metallic neon green, the metallic teal bits are on his flanks and rear thighs. The stripes all come in pairs, on his head, thighs, small of his back, and two rings near the tail tip. There's also black bits on the outer surfaces of his forelegs that aren't stripes, but kinda evoke the patterns seen on the G1 cassettes. His nose is black. The articulation is quite good, given the design. The head moves up and down with a range of about 30 degrees independent of the transformation hinge, and the mouth can open wide (although if you don't have long fingernails it can be a little fussy). All four shoulders are swivels, and the tail is on a hinge. However, the tail can only be raised up, the hinge doesn't let it go below about 20 degrees above horizontal. There are hinge joints at all true-ankles (the backwards knees) and all paws, plus at the true knees of the rear legs. The forelegs only have the two hinges each, though. He's very good at stalking and pouncing poses. Overall: Okay, I don't even use all the jumpdrives I already own, I certainly didn't need another. And this cost me as much as an Ultra, but I don't regret it. Oh, I wouldn't spend the money to get any other deco schemes, but I like having one of 'em. It's pretty well made, my only real quibble is that they should have included a slipcase of some sort to make the jumpdrive mode more stable and protect against breakage. Dave Van Domelen, currently has Tigatron set up atop his monitor at work, about to pounce on a little toy squirrel (who is my Power Outage mascot).