TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:
Alternate Mode:
Box Art:
Technical Specifications:
STR
INT
SPD
END
RNK
CRG
FPR
SKL

Civ's review of: Rumble

Name: Decepticon Rumble
Function: N/A, does not say on the box.
Sub-Group: Alternators
"Chaos is the seed of victory."

For the Alternators version of Rumble, no tech specs are made available. As far as I know, there is no biography of the character in this alternate G1 universe and no Binaltech or Kissplay equivalent at this point-in-time.

Alternate Mode:
Alternators Rumble is a Honda Civic Si coupe with a red paint job similar to the Rallye Red color available for the real car according to www.honda.com. While in car mode, Rumble has front wheel steering, opening doors, opening trunk, opening hood, and folding seats. The steering wheel for this model is not able to turn. The interior detail is superb for the Alternators line and Rumble is no exception. The dashboard, air conditioning, glove box, and all the usual can be made out but Rumble also appears to have a GPS system that is highly noticeable since it's painted silver.

The exterior detailing is once again superb for the Alternators line. Rumble has a spoiler, windshield wipers, gas tank cover, detailing on the grill, real-looking rear and head lights along with turn signals, the standard rims that come with the Civic Si, a chromed muffler, a Honda insignia, and a Hawaii license plate that says, in black letters, "RUMBLE" and "ALOHA STATE" with a faded rainbow pattern on white background. In short, it looks like a real Honda Civic Si but as you'll find out later in this review (if you're not familiar with TFs, which leaves me to wonder how you found this page), there's more to this car than meets the eye. Okay...yeah...that was cheesy.

While in car mode, Rumble's guns are folded and hidden in the trunk and hood. The guns are of distinctly different shapes and are not mere copies of one another. As a special note regarding the folding of the guns, since this is not in the directions, when transforming Rumble from robot to alternate mode, make sure that the small black tabs that allow the guns to hook to Rumble's back are pointed downward at a 45-degree angle. This will ensure that the hood and trunk close properly when the guns are placed inside. If this is not done, I guarantee that you will be frustrated trying to make Rumble look like a proper car since the trunk won't close at all and the hood will give you some trouble. Please refer to the pictures for visual references.

Robot Mode:
First, I'll start with the appearance of the robot and work into articulation and special features. In robot mode, aside from the red, Rumble is also painted black, dark gray, with gold and sky blue highlights. Strangely, Rumbles visor is also painted blue. Rumble's chest is particularly interesting since it is a direct nod to the original G1 toy that transformed into a cassette. The Alternator version even has tape player spokes engraved into it. Rumble also has a very distinct G1 cartoon nod with his chromed pile drivers. Overall, it is a very pleasing aesthetic look in my humble opinion. As written earlier in this review, Rumble's guns unfold and clip onto his back for another nod to the G1 cartoon and toy; however, I'm not sure how useful those guns will be considering he can't hold them in his arms.

Points of articulation are as follows:

• knees that allow rotation a full 180-degrees thanks to the transformation
  
• ankles thanks to a ball joint
  
• hip sockets that allow for sagittal, lateral, and frontal plane movement though mind the car doors as they can be a hindrance
  
• shoulders that allow for full sagittal plane movement; however, lateral and frontal plane movement is greatly hindered due to the design of the arms. You'll get roughly 15-degrees of movement at most per each arm.
  
• 360-degree head rotation but it cannot look up or down
  
• technically, I guess Rumble does have a waist since his transformation involves a waist rotation; however, once you put the hip flap down, they block they waist completely from rotating. While the hip flaps are another nod to the G1 toy, they are a hindrance to poseability.
  
• Spring-loaded pile drivers, which do move up and down. Rumble has no hands and cannot hold his guns. There is no hidden way to give him hands unless you kitbash him like some TFans have already done.
  

And before anyone asks, no, you cannot put Rumble into his classic G1 cartoon pose while using his pile drivers. I've tried and I had to put him on his knees before his pile drivers touched the ground.

A few other notes about Rumble's robot mode:

• As a word of caution, beware Rumble's license plate on his left shoulder. It is a cantilever beam and is subject to bending and/or breaking if you are not careful.
  
• Rumble can have a hard time standing. I'm constantly fidgeting with mine to get him to stand upright but that may just be me getting used to the figure.
  
• Beware of the car doors since the rear-view mirrors tend to scrape along the along windshield/roof of the car.
  
• Watch the hood of the car because it can snag on the back of Rumble's "calves".

Transformation: 4. Rumble isn't particular difficult to transform once you get the hang of him. I would say the trickiest part for him is his feet. You have to rotate them and make sure they are moved as far back towards the car engine as they can go. Otherwise, the figure's feet will shift to in front of the dashboard and not transform properly. Other than that, remember my suggestion about his guns while in car mode and everything else is easy and you can get from the instructions.
Durability: 6. Rumble is fairly sturdy and would probably not break easily from an accidental 3-foot drop. Just make note of the advice above and be careful.
Fun: ? This is a tough one to grade. He's not that poseable but he's a great nod to the original G1 toy and cartoon model. I'm not sure in all honesty, so I'll leave this one blank.
Price: 3. I paid 20 USD at a Wal-Mart; however, I was lucky. Apparently, distribution is terrible and I happened to come across mine by accident while looking for a Classics Devastator. May whatever powers that be help you if you have to buy him on e-bay. Hopefully, he won't become the next Swerve or Camshaft.
Overall: ? I can't really say since I left Fun with a "?". Rumble's not a badly made figure and has a rather unique mold, which adds to the variety of the Alternators line; however, it really depends upon your tastes whether or not you'll find the figure fun to have. If you're into G1 nods, then this is a great figure to get and helps add to the miniscule Decepticon "army" in Alternators. If you're not into G1 at all, he may not be such a great figure to pick up due to poseability issues, particularly in the arms department since all he has are his pile drivers and no elbow and hardly any shoulder movement. Also, his ability to stand properly will play another factor.