Prime Ratchet

Robot Mode: Two things first: one, the resemblance of the toy to the Ratchet character we see on the screen is very good. But that's only because, second, his entire chest with the grill-belly and the folded-up ambulance doors is fake. Now that isn't necessarily a bad thing, as I'm not sure how his transformation was supposed to have worked otherwise, but still: it does give the toy a bit of a cheap feel. Maybe that's just me.

Anyway, apart from this slight cop-out there is nothing worth complaining about when it comes to Ratchet's robot mode. Cool and very TV-accurate look, top-notch articulation, and I particularly like the head mold. A very nice cross between Animated Ratchet and G1 Ratchet. Weapon-wise Ratchet carries the two blades he wields in the cartoon, too. He can either hold them in his hands, sword-like, or fold down his hands so that it appears as if the blades extend right out of his forearms as seen on TV. The blades can be stored in Ratchet's backpack when he's not using them.

Overall a very nice robot mode that faithfully depicts the TV character, fake chest or no fake chest. Well done.

Alternate Mode: Not much of a surprise, Ratchet transforms into an ambulance. Now we haven't seen much of this mode in the TV series (TV Ratchet himself mentioned that he barely ever transforms into his alternate mode), but the few images we have seen compare very nicely with this figure's vehicle mode. Detailing is pretty nice and the mostly white color manages to camouflage the somewhat puzzled-together nature of the vehicle's rear. Much like it was with Wheeljack, Ratchet can either attach his blades to his front fender for an attack mode or hide them underneath. So all in all not a spectacular alternate mode, but fully workable and more than enough for this figure's needs.

Remarks: Just like in Animated Ratchet rounds out the Autobot core cast as the team's grumpy medic. And just like in Animated Ratchet's toy is the last of the core cast to go onto the shelves. He isn't in Germany yet, so my friend Caked-Up sent me one to sate my appetite. Thanks, James. At least Ratchet's not in wave 5 (or wherever it was in Animated) this time, but he is the only one of the core cast who didn't get a First Edition version, either. Ratchet seems destined to be the afterthought of the modern Transformers toylines.

As a figure Ratchet is good. Solid and good. He's not spectacular, he's not outrageous, he's just a good, solid toy that faithfully depicts the TV character of the same name and seeing as that is all it was meant to do, I can say: mission accomplished. He'll never be listed as one of the all-time classic Transformers figures, but he's fully recommended to all Prime and Ratchet fans.

Rating: B