Mastermind Creations Jaguar

Prelude: For all that he was “just” a cassette and never spoke so much as a single word for the entire run of the G1 cartoon, Ravage has endured as a fan favorite character for over 35 years now. Most recently he played a large role in the IDW comics during Megatron’s redemption run and it is this Ravage that third party company Mastermind Creations has decided to adapt into a figure. For legal reasons he can’t be called Ravage, of course, but apparently giving him his original Japanese name, Jaguar, works out fine. Here we go.

Beast Mode: In most of his incarnations Ravage never had a humanoid robot mode, his primary mode being that of a jaguar (or rather a generic black robot feline). The MMC figure’s beast mode is about Deluxe-sized and presents a very nicely articulated robot cat. All four legs are articulated, the head sits on a multi-jointed neck, the mouth can open, there is a waist joint, and the tail consists of multiple ball-jointed links, too. So no complaints here at all, Jaguar can move with the best of them.

Ravage was never the most colorful fellow, so Jaguar is mostly black and grey with a few golden highlights. For weapons he carries his trademark missiles on his hip. The missiles can be removed, but are non-firing. Jaguar can also be separated at the hip, in order to simulate his being torn in two at the hands of Tarn / Kultur. Not really that much more I can write here. Jaguar ticks all the boxes you’d expect from a robotic cat, so no complaints here at all. Thumbs up for the beast mode.

Robot Mode: Where G1 Ravage turned from jaguar to cassette, MMC Jaguar transforms from jaguar to robot. And by transforming I basically mean that he stands up. There is some minor transformation involved to give him hands and slightly modify his neck, the hind legs straighten out, but it’s a pretty minimalistic transformation all things considered. Jaguar basically just stands up.

As a robot he naturally retains the full articulation of his beast mode, no problems here. Apart from the missiles on his hips he also comes with two small pistols, which he can hold in hand or holster in the back end of the missiles. Side note: the two pistols and the fact that his robot mode is basically a jaguar standing upright transforms this figure - for me at least - into Beast Wars Ravage (as seen in Beast Wars’ “The Agenda” three-parter). Given that he is about Deluxe-sized in robot mode, he even fits in scale-wise with Beast Wars figures. So bottom line for the robot mode: not really all that different from the beast mode, but it still works great in my book.

Accessories: In the IDW comics, Ravage hung out with Megatron a lot when he was on the Lost Light, so it is somewhat fitting that Jaguar comes with a lot of extra accessories for Tyrantron, MMC’s interpretation of IDW Megatron. First, there is a huge sniper rifle, which can be used by either Jaguar or Tyrantron. Then there are arm fillers to plug up those holes in Tyrantron’s arms when he hasn’t got his big fusion cannon(s) plugged in.

The main accessory, though, is a new head for Tyrantron, which references that Megatron, in the IDW comics at least, actually has hair underneath his trademark bucket helmet (which is also an extra accessory here). So if you want, you can now have Tyrantron display Megatron’s wavy hair period. It’s something so weird that it’s cool and I’ve heard of lots of people who don’t want to buy the whole set, but would really like this replacement head. Sadly the bucket helmet doesn’t actually fit over the hair, but you can still display Tyrantron with helmet in hand, letting his cybernetic hair flow free. Again, so very weird, but cool. I’m not saying it’s worth buying Jaguar for the replacement head alone, but it was certainly a bonus in my mind.

Remarks: Ravage played but a minor role in the IDW comics for a good long while, but then he snuck on board the Lost Light in order to follow his leader Megatron, who was in the process of trying to redeem himself. Ravage was skeptical at first, but in the end he stood side by side with Megatron when they battled the Decepticon Justice Division. After being mortally wounded by Tarn (he tore him in two), he told Megatron not to change back before perishing.

While I was never that big a fan of Ravage, I loved his appearance in the Beast Wars TV series and that’s pretty much my main reason for buying this figure. Jaguar’s robot mode is the best version of the Ravage we saw in Beast Wars yet, both in appearance and in scale, so this old Beast Wars fan here now has him standing next to Transmetal Megatron on his shelves.

Overall this is yet another very good set from MMC, at least if you are both a fan of Ravage (be it IDW version or Beast Wars) and want those extra parts for Tyrantron. If you just want the Ravage figure, I’m reasonably sure you’ll find someone to take the Tyrantron head off you. If you just want the head, though, the set might be a bit pricey for just that. So bottom line, definitely worth it for me.

Rating: B+

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