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Transformers Toy Review Archive (older series, 1984 to date)
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Sir Auros' review of: Battle Ravage

Name: Battle Ravage
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Saboteur
Sub-Group: NA

I really think the Tracks mold is the worst out of all the Alternators released so far. It isn't a bad mold, but it's just not as good as the other figures in the line. Battle Ravage...I know to be the same mold, but it just doesn't feel like it. Maybe part of the problem was that my Tracks had loose missile launchers and was poorly made or maybe it's that I've had enough time with the mold that I know the strange tricks for transforming it, but I like Battle Ravage a lot. I don't know if I'm comfortable enough with the mold to buy the third version coming out sometime in the future, but I can't give Battle Ravage a very low rating.

Vehicle Mode:
Black Corvette. Do I really need to say more? Ravage's main difference from Tracks is that it's the convertible model without any sort of top. The other glaring difference is that Ravage has chrome rims instead of gray plastic. A disappointing similarity between the two is that the red paint over the black plastic of the seats looks like crap. My Tracks had a big black spot on the driver's side seat where it hadn't been painted and Ravage's seats are covered in red paint, but the coating seems thin and you can tell through the paint that the seats were black. Aside from that, Ravage has a stunning vehicle mode and is one of the better overpriced convertibles in the Alternators line.

Robot Mode:
This was where Tracks lost a lot of esteem in my eyes, but I somehow appreciate Ravage more now than I liked Tracks back when I reviewed that figure. The biggest issue is, I think, that I've finally made my peace with the mold and figured out a way to avoid the annoying door problem that made me dislike Tracks so much in the first place. Instead of folding the doors down beside the legs, I flip them up going along the sides of the torso. It doesn't look too bad and gives the figure more manueverability in robot mode. I photographed the robot mode with this change so you can see for yourself what I'm talking about. Ravage's missiles are both better painted and better quality than my Tracks'. I'm glad they added some red to the tips of the missiles to avoid making them look like plain white plastic like on Tracks. I'm also estatic that the things can actually display well without being so loose that they fall into Ravage's face like one of the launchers on my Tracks does. There still isn't a lot of articulation for this figure compared to most of the other Alternators, but by changing the way the doors are transformed, you can give Battle Ravage a decent amount. I'm still not fond of the hood of the car on the backs of the calves. I think that looks sloppy and hurts the achievable poses, but that's really my only significant complaint about this mode.

I'm sure I'd be flogged with a hose if I didn't comment on the most significant change about this mode, so I'll speak my mind about it. I like the panther head and I love that it can move (even if it's only a little) up and down instead of just side to side. The mouth can also open a little bit. I think the unusual head is great because it manages to differentiate the figure from Tracks a lot more than I imagined it would.

Transformation: 8 - Don't know if there were some minor changes or I'm just used to the mode now, but it's much easier to transform than Tracks. The legs are still irritating to transform though.
Durability: 9 - Pretty good so far, I'll update this if the launchers start getting loose on me.
Fun: 10 - More Decepticons = more fun. Plus, it's a character people could root for.
Price: 10 - I've dropped over $200 on all these things at this point and I can't even come close to regretting it. The $20 pricepoint for such highly-detailed, kickass figures can't be beat...unless Hasbro were to drop it down even lower.
Summary: 9 - There are still a few problems and it's not the best Alternators mold, but it's still heads above most Transformers released in the past 20 years.

 
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