Review: Transformers Generations FOC Decepticon Rumble and Ravage

Spies and Saboteurs!

Ravage and Rumble

As 2014 marks the 30^th anniversary of the Transformers, it seems appropriate that my interest in the Robots in Disguise is peaking once again. On a standard trip to B&M (the UK’s premiere discount chain store) I found the Generations Mini-Cassette Decepticons for the bargain price of £3.99, and so took the opportunity to scratch a decades old collecting itch – I now finally own Ravage! This two pack set contains Rumble as well (definitely blue), and two energon-like clear purple containers for their alt-modes.

Shelf Fresh!

Ravage was packed mid-transformation, which isn’t the most flattering look; but thankfully he’s much better when free. The card art continues the attractive Generations branding, with the red and white grid background reminiscent of the old boxes and cartoon intro, and some tasty character artwork. The back of the pack features both robots prominently, and includes a small teaser picture for Generations FOC Soundwave. Other than the standard multilingual warnings, there’s not much else to report.

Data Disk and Case

For both robots the transformation is straightforward. I’ll start with the alt-modes, as they can both be covered in one go. Both robots transform into round data disks, with a spring loaded release button. The disks themselves don’t have fantastic play value, but I suppose the real purpose of this mode is to interact with Soundwave. However when the disks are put into the purple containers, it actually makes quite an attractive little set piece, and I like the idea of being able to walk around with a Decepticon in my pocket that no-one would suspect. Well, other than the fat Decepticon logo giving the game away, of course…

"Destroy what's below and what's above will follow."

I’ll start with Rumble for the robot mode. He reminds me of a Micromaster, in terms of size and shape, but with slightly worse posability. The articulation sacrifices are in service of the transformation, and do lead to some strange positions he can make - his knees bend the wrong way, and he can pull his shoulders back to look like he’s fronting up (not unknown for Rumble). He’ll also do the splits before he can sit down, and so for the most part is best standing there and moving his arms. The thing is though; he doesn’t actually look too bad doing that. The sculpt detail for a figure this size is pretty decent, and the paint apps, on his face and Decepticon symbol in particular, are very fine.

"Today's Autobots are tomorrow's scrap metal."

Ravage is the better of the set though – it’s truly impressive how much more they could make of his ‘robot’ mode than they could with Rumble, as he stretches out just over four inches from head to tail, and then has shoulder and knee joints for each leg. The tail is also posable, although that’s part of the transformation. Ravage has got a good shape to him and wins on play value out of the two for me, but he’s not perfect. Because the bulk of the data disk shape has been stretched so thin, it’s readily apparent quite how hollow Ravage is from the clear daylight you can see when you look at him from most angles. He also suffers from having no neck articulation, leaving him constantly staring at the ground a small distance ahead. The paint apps and sculpted detail are both pretty tidy again however, and for the purpose of this set Ravage does a good job.

Operation: Interference!

Ultimately these toys are accessories to the larger FOC Soundwave figure, and without owning him I can’t really judge them in that context. They do succeed as pocket money Transformer toys however, and when both Rumble and Ravage are stood with their container cases, the pieces look more than the sum of their parts. If I’d paid the £9.99 TRU wanted for these, I would’ve felt mugged – but for less than a fiver, I’d definitely say they’re worth it.

*****

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Review: Mezco Scott Pilgrim 6 Inch Scale Figure

Scott Pilgrim VS. The World

A belated Happy New Year, everybody! To kick 2014 off in style I’ll be looking at Mezco's Scott Pilgrim 6" figure from the 2011 line, "Scott Pilgrim VS. The World".

 

Whilst the line shares its name with the 2010 film adaptation (and the second book in the series, but I digress), this figure is basically a perfect 3D version of Bryan Lee O'Malley's original comic hero. For the uninitiated, Scott Pilgrim is a Canadian slacker/musician/fighter/goof ball who, in order to date Ramona Flowers (the roller skating, Amazon.ca delivery woman of his dreams), has to defeat, in combat, her seven evil exes.

Whilst that's the pitch, the actual story is far more about Scott eventually growing up and learning to fight for what he believes in, amidst a tangled web of believable and character driven personal relationships. The series, published by Oni Press and with O'Malley's superb and continually evolving artwork, is a must read for any fans of comics, gaming and general geek culture, and is the only comic I've been able to get non-geeks invested in. Well, apart from Preacher – but that should be compulsory reading, right?

The package proudly promotes that this guy is for adult collectors, and is "unsuitable for anyone under the age of 14", but there's less here to harm a pre-teen than you'd get with, say, the Wolverine: Origins Deadpool figure. Scott comes packed with his bass guitar and the Power of Love sword (the latter a superb power up at a later point in the series), and he wears them both extremely well. I think that the warning may be more for the sake of the figure itself, as it feels fragile – not like bone china, but I wouldn’t trust it falling even just two feet onto a hard surface. I imagine that was part of the reason Mezco omitted the phrase ‘action figure’ from the cardback…

Scott has a ball jointed head and ball joints with pivots at both shoulders. The arms swivel at the T-shirt sleeve and the wristbands, he has a swivel waist, and that's it - solid from the waist down. Whilst this articulation range has proven an issue before (as with Clone Commando Boss), the upper-body articulation and the dynamic posing of his legs allow this figure to do what he needs to do – Scott can pose with either or both of his accessories or empty handed and still look good.

A massive part of Scott’s expressiveness is due to the design, sculpt and articulation of the head. Scott carries a determined, punchy expression that captures the nuances of O'Malley's character exquisitely, and the ball jointed neck allows a range of motion that accentuates the pose. Whilst Scott Pilgrim is a goofy character most of the time, the head on this one looks much better than what was eventually released for the second figure. The paint apps are superb on both the figure and the accessories, with big, crisp eyes and sharp lines on Scott (including his trademark sweatbands and a snazzy pair of Adidas kicks), a harlequin-style hilt for the sword, and a sunburst paint finish on the guitar, with details for the pickups and dials. This one does O’Malley’s work justice.

The bass guitar has a faux-leather strap which fits snugly over his head to allow for some nice axe-wielding poses, and the sword is a single piece of nicely sculpted plastic. For his standard on-the-shelf pose I like to tuck the sword into the guitar strap across his back, Leonardo style. I don't know if it was designed that way, but I like it when a figure can keep all its accessories together.

As a display piece this Scott Pilgrim is superb, and the articulation lets me switch up the pose every once in a while to keep my shelf looking fresh. As a figure it's slightly less impressive, as it feels too fragile to withstand any real action... but then I don’t really think that’s the point with this guy. Either way, I'm a huge fan of the character, and Mezco have delivered a solid figure of him.

*****

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