oh my god...
NOTHING TO DO, NOTHING TO SAY SO,....JUST copy a statement as A tribute!!
whispering...soooooooooooooooooooooooooo amazing.....my god...
TRIBUTE !! TRIBUTE!!!
Transformers Beast Wars Metals X-9 Ravage review
Submitted by: Sol Fury
One of the greatest moments in Transformers history, argueably, is the three part Season Two finale of Beast Wars, "The Agenda". Featuring heavilly in that story was a returning face from the original series, Ravage, who sadly never saw a toy release in the US. Later, there would be an exclusive repaint of Transmetal 2 Cheetor as "Tripredacus Agent", but a show accurate Ravage never saw the light of day domestically. However, in Japan, there was a limited edition release of a repainted and remolded Cheetor to represent Ravage as he appeared on the show.
Ravage comes very nicely packaged in his robot mode in a window box. The box is bright and colourful, which is a contrast to the rather dark and shadowy looking Ravage within. One nice feature is Ravage's biocard, rather than being hidden away in a baggie at the back of the box like so many others is proudly displayed at the front of the box. It's also a lenticular card, which is a very nice extra. Other nice extras include a full colour intruction manual, in the style of the old G1 manuals, which also has what I am guessing is an explanation of the plot of the Agenda and how Beast Wars ties into Generation 1. A very nice extra. He also has a sticker sheet, which has both Predacon and Decepticon faction stickers, as well as some extra stickers for his chest, which I will talk about more below.
Ravage's robot mode is very nicely done. His head, chest and arms are all romolded from Transmetal Cheetor, but the rest of Ravage's body is the same. This works well, as the paint scheme and these small remolds make Ravage look like a new robot. His main colours are black and grey, and parts of his back (the same areas as Transmetal Cheetor) have a nice metallic finish. The colours work extremely well in spite of their simplicity, making Ravage seem lithe and stealthy.
The new molding deserves some mention. Ravage's new head is much bigger than the old Cheetor head, as it forms his beast mode head as well. There was a risk that the head might be too big or small because of this, but I'm happy to say that it works very well in robot mode. The new arms are much slimmer and more humanoid than Cheetor's, with an added bonus - the now have (non removeable) flip around sections on them, so that you can attach the barrels of Ravage's guns and have them flip around for a "quick draw" action. It's a pity you can't remove the whole gun, but the piece that is left when you remove the barrel is small enough not to be that noticeable. The barrels, when they aren't in use, can be pegged into the sides of Ravage's legs for storage. Ravage also retains Cheetor's removeable tail / whip, but he cannot hold it so it merely remains attached in both modes or else has to be set aside. Ravage's new chest also deserves a mention. While never shown on the show, Ravage's chest can be opened to reveal a sticker, showing his alleigence. This is where those other stickers come in. You can choose to attach a different sticker to change Ravage's image here, from Predacon, the Decepticon, to G1 Megatron. The Predacon and Decepticon emblems are really well done, though I'm baffled by why an original Megatron one was included. Perhaps Ravage misses his old boss and wants to keep a picture of him close to his spark? Sadly, the stickers are not interchangeable, so if you are thinking of stickering up the chest, choose wisely, especially since one of the faction stickers is pre applied.
Ravage's robot mode retains all the points of articulation that Transmetal Cheetor had save one, making him capable of pulling some nice poses. While he does lack neck articulation, the head can be tilted back to make it look like Ravage is gazing upwards at something, and his jaw opens. A nice trade, though not as useful as the side to side neck articulation it supersedes.
Transformation is much the same as Transmetal Cheetor - with one or two differences. Instead of being formed by the arms, the beast mode head is the same as the robot mode head. Ravage's back folds down and his front legs pose the same as Cheetor, except his robot mode head extends to fit beneath the panel. The rear legs are formed the same as Cheetor, simply fold away the spurs and position the legs. Unfortunately, the robot mode arms just hang from Ravage's belly. They don't tuck away, they just... hang there. This makes the panther mode a little bloated in appearance, rather than the lithe and sleek cheetah mode of Cheetor. This is a pity, but it is the trade off of such a strong robot mode. Even so, it does not destroy the toy, though it is something of a let down. A bonus in this mode, Cheetor's Transmetal jet engines are deployable, so Ravage retains this extra feature as well.
Overall, Ravage is a very nice piece, looking spot on to the show in robot mode. He is, however, hurt by a few small flaws, like the non removable gun handles attached to his hands and the arms that go nowhere in beast mode. Despite this, he is a very well designed toy, and a perfect representation of the character. Unfortunately, he commands a pretty penny on the secondary market, owing to his limited nature, but if you ever find one cheap, I'd wholeheartedly recommend him. I'd give him an A- for the aforementioned beast mode problems and the gun handles.
