One of the earlier posts this year was a Ratchet toy, so I suppose it's only fitting that one of the last posts of the year would also be a Ratchet toy. As the 40th Anniversary year comes to a close, it feels super appropriate to me that Ratchet makes an appearance. I've mentioned it before, but those older issues of the G1 Marvel comic where Ratchet took a starring role have always stood out and endeared the character to me. This specific figure of Ratchet represents him as he appears in the War for Cybertron video game. As the game is set during the early days of the war, Ratchet has a Cybertronian based design. That's something I've always gravitated towards in Transformers, I love those creative takes on the characters. Ratchet looks badass, which was a hallmark of those games. Everything and everyone was just awesome looking.
Ratchet is a Voyager Class figure and the larger build suits his bulky design. These War for Cybertron Studio Series figures have featured a removable arm to mount the weapons on in a way that mirrors the game. That's present here, but in a pleasant twist, Ratchet can forgo that gimmick and just hold his 'Energon Repair Ray' in a more traditional way. Or the gun can be stored on his back in case he wants to hold his battle axe with both hands. Considering how big it is, I understand. Fortunately Ratchet is articulated very well and can assume whatever pose you'd like to put him in. Well, I think he can anyway. Transformation is pretty easy and it doesn't take too long to get from robot to Cybertronian Medical Vehicle form. It's definitely not an ambulance, but I can see him rushing to the front of a battleground to administer some first aid in this form. It looks cool and I love the white and red colors on this design. His weapons store on the vehicle nicely and in all is a satisfying little car-like thing.
Ratchet is one of those characters who gets a lot of toys and that's ok. The main cast in a long running series tends to get the most attention. The War for Cybertron games were a lot of fun and spawned some great toys. These more recent Gamer Edition Studio Series figures are much more screen accurate and have a premium feel. Ratchet comes off great here and looks amazing. I love the more sci fi look of the toy and really enjoy the colors on the design. The figure is well articulated and the vehicle is cool. It's hard for me to find anything about this toy that I don't like. Nice things are nice.
This year, Marine Toys for Tots has set an ambitious goal to donate 11M in toys. A partner since 1996, Hasbro is proud to champion this challenge by donating more than 4.3M toys in 2024.
Transformers: Reactivate is a video game that will allegedly come out at some point. That point is probably never, but allegedly should come out at some point maybe. Fortunately Hasbro released figures based on the game on a time table that possibly included a time that the game was promised to come out... but didn't. The figures were initially released in two packs that I passed on, but are now also being released as Gamer Edition Studio Series. I decided to get them now, because they look cool... despite being tied to vaporware. Bumblebee takes a somewhat new look at the classic character as he might have appeared in the game if it ever comes out. It's not going to, but if it did, this is what he'd look like. Maybe. Part of me thinks in an alternate universe, this could have been a live action movie design for Bumblebee.
Bumblebee is a realistic sci fi take on his classic look that looks pretty neat even with those tiny pistols he's packing. Those same pistols can be mounted on his shoulders as well. Robot mode is fairly articulated and looks bigger in pictures than in real life. I say this because I swore it was a larger toy prior to getting one. Alt mode is a sporty dune buggy type vehicle. I like this quite a bit. It manages to resemble the classic Volkswagen vehicle form while being something else. This is a completely solid alternative to the Bug. I recall thinking Bumblebee should be a dune buggy before and having one is great. It just works. Transformation isn't terrible hard, but is pretty involved. There's a few parts you have to really work into place and it's not clear how to do so until you've got it. Once transformed it's a solid car and those guns I spoke about earlier can either store in his undercarriage or mount on his hood (it's the same joints as the shoulders in robot mode). I liked this toy more than I thought I would. It's been funny laughing at the games failure to launch and the fact that there's figures from a game that might never see the light of day. Though the designs are cool and I'm looking forward to getting the others when they find their way out in Studio Series.
Hello there Zone Base readers, welcome back to another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! We've been celebrating Christmas the past few weeks and if there's one thing most of us expect to see under the tree is a new video game! Therefore, welcome to a specifically video game flavored week! Hit start and let's have some fun! This will also be the last normal week for a bit as Christmas and New Years will be going on for the 2 weeks after this one. As usual during holiday weeks, there will be content, but it will be abbreviated. I hope you all understand, but hope you have a great holiday even more!
This weekend was a busy one. The Mrs and I spent all of Saturday finishing our Christmas shopping. Stores were busy and things got hectic, but by the time it was done... so were we! Now we can enjoy the rest of Christmas without much stress. That's nice. I did manage to get a few toys for myself. I usually don't buy myself stuff during Christmas, but after I'm done getting everyone stuff, I do end up with a little something here and there. I found a Legacy United Slipstream at Target who didn't initially ring up at the register. Unexpectedly the cashier shrugged and generically entered $5. I'll take a win when I can! Later at a Ross I was hoping to find some of the random toy deals that may can be found at Christmas time. They mostly had Earthspark and Rise of the Beasts toys I had already purchased, but there was one Vintage Reissue Shrapnel to be found under a pile of random crap. Not to mention the Bombshell ordered from Walmart on clearance. Score! I love me some Insecticons!
Sunday morning meant a last minute run to Target for some extra stocking stuffers before playing some games on my Switch. I maybe slept 7 hours over the entire weekend and honestly have been dealing with some extra body aches that were a little unbearable by Sunday. An Icy Hot patch and some Tylenol came in handy! Sunday evening my Mom came over and we had a little dinner for her birthday. Well, I've got a busy day ahead of me. There's plenty of presents to wrap and household chores to be done. I'm also looking at a hectic few weeks of juggling the holidays and my graveyard shift work schedule. Get in the car, when the going gets weird, the weird go pro. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. I really appreciate your support. I know your busy enjoying the holidays with your loved ones and dealing with the business of the season yourself. If you could take the time to spread the word and share the site with your friends... that would be awesome. Thank you all. Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and Mutual High Fives everyone!
