Dave's PRiD Legion Rant: Blizzard Optimus, Ratchet

[Dave Van Domelen]

Dave's Prime: Robots in Disguise Rant: Legion Wave 6

Blizzard Strike Optimus Prime (Optimus Prime redeco)
Autobot Ratchet (Strongarm retool)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/PRiD/Legion6

A few reships are in with these, looks like Steeljaw is in the mix, but
not a redeco or retool of it as far as I can tell.

http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/PRiD/Legion1 - Originals of both


CAPSULES

$6-8 price point (low end at Walmart, high end at TRU)

Blizzard Strike Optimus Prime: Original mold was recommended. This is,
um, my fourth copy, I think? More of a Nightwatch redeco than Blizzard
Strike, really only worth getting if you're desperate for something new-ish
while waiting for Titans Return. Very mildly recommended.

Autobot Ratchet: Original mold was strongly recommended. This retools
the chest/head piece. Paint job in vehicle mode has significant issues and
highlights one of the few flaws of the mold. Cool that he got a toy of any
kind, at least (and he's got One-Step and Warrior retools of Strongarm coming
up, I hear). Recommended.


RANTS

Packaging: Same as previous waves, no ties, just partial blister pieces
that keep the figure from rattling around inside the form-fitting outer
blister. Ratchet has new instructions, not just a rename of Strongarm's.

App Game: Both characters are in the game now, but oddly I couldn't get
Ratchet to unlock by scanning it. "Blizzard Legion Optimus Prime" unlocked
fine.


AUTOBOT: BLIZZARD STRIKE OPTIMUS PRIME
Assortment: B5593
Altmode: Truck
Transformation Difficulty: 5 steps
Previous Name Use: PRiD (Warrior class with the name)
Previous Mold Use: PRiD (many times)
Weapon: None
Function: Emeritus Leader
Motto: "No, I can manage without your help, Bumblebee."

Packaging: As per normal with the redecos, the card art is in the normal
color scheme, using the same pre-power-up model as the original toy's
packaging, but a new pose (more aloof).

Color Swaps: Medium blue becomes a sort of stoneware blue, very cool
gray kind of color with significant metalswirl (as in, some Gold Plastic
Syndrome level of metal swirl). Red becomes bright blue, the same shade used
on the Ultra Magnus redeco. Black becomes a warm medium gray, which looks
okay on the wheels, but not great.

Paint Apps: In robot mode, the thighs and the fronts of the shoulderpads
are painted gloss white, a bit sloppily. The fronts of the forearms/hands
are painted a decent match to the stoneware blue plastic, but not the sides,
d'oh. This paint is also used on most of the back of the shoulders and
arms. Bright blue paint (good match to the plastic) is used on the kneecaps
(VERY sloppily) and lines down the middles of the shins, as well as on the
eyes. The fake window on the chest and the real front windshield are metal
flake black, the face is silver. The code circle is on the front of the left
shoulder, as usual for this mold.
In vehicle mode, the trailer is mostly stoneware blue on the sides and
back, but bright blue on top. Still no paint on the smokestacks or grille,
but at least the look is reasonably unified. There's no attempt at actual
arctic camo paint or snow-spray airbrushing.

Mold Changes: None that I noticed.

Other Notes: None.

Overall: If there hadn't been a fairly long drought in new toys, I
probably wouldn't have picked this up. It's an okay blue redeco, but more
Nightwatch (a commonly seen redeco in the first few movie lines of Legion
Optimi) than Blizzard Strike. I'll stick this on my Ultra Magnus shelf with
the Ultra Magnus redeco and the TRU-deco one.


AUTOBOT: AUTOBOT RATCHET
Assortment: B5594
Altmode: Rescue Truck
Transformation Difficulty: 5 steps
Previous Name Use: Yes
Previous Mold Use: PRiD (retooled)
Weapon: Sarcasm
Function: Medic
Motto: "I NEEDED that!"

Packaging: The card art uses the show model.

Color Swaps: Black stays black, blue becomes white.

Paint Apps: Most of the paint is a metalflake dark red, found on the
shins, helmet crest, central hood, front bumper, and the bottoms of the rear
fenders (but not connected up acruss the bottom of the doors or the front
fender). No paint on the lightbar. Black on the front and side windows, as
well as on some not-window details on the chest (see below). The face is
silver with blue eyes, the headlights are yellow, and the Autobot symbol code
circle is on the left arm (driver's side door). On the shins, there's some
white stripes painted over the red, presumably easier than making sure the
masking has the right holes.
Annoyingly, the red on the rear fender sides really makes the heel spurs
obvious, something that was more ignoreable on Strongarm. I may remove the
paint from the spurs. Definitely going to be doing some repainting on this
toy in general. Here's what the URL will be once I do it, although it might
not go live for a bit:
http://www.dvandom.com/kitbash/PRiDratchet.JPG

Mold Changes: The head/chest piece is remolded. Strangely, rather than
using the show model seen on the card art, they molded the torso to look more
like the Prime show model (it's not painted much like EITHER, but it's
clearly meant to look like the Prime robot mode).

Other Notes: A Warrior class version is coming that will be a more
extensive remold of Strongarm, giving him a more accurate vehicle mode and a
show-style chest. The app game does have the actual toy appearance
available, not the show model.

Overall: Well, this is only my third version of this mold, and it's a
good one, but the paint is pretty unfortunate this time. Still, if you're
going to retool anything into Ratchet, Strongarm is a good choice.


Dave Van Domelen, hasn't actually played the app game in a long time,
just uses it to check for info.