Name: Battle Ravage
Series: Energon
Allegiance: Decepticon
Alternate Mode: Robotic Panther
Thanks to Goktimus Prime for loaning me Battle Ravage for the purpose of this review.
PANTHER MODE
Height: 7cm at the shoulder, 11cm if the tail is up Length: 16cm Width: 6cm
A black panther with white feet and head, a purple tail and silver on his head and hindclaws. Battle Ravage has yellow eyes and a silver video camera module moulded on top of his head. While I get the distinct impression that this toy is meant to be tributing G1 Ravage, the colours are those of Apeface, so the tribute kinda falls flat. They're not bad colours as such, but the transparent yellow of his weaponry really doesn't fit in with the G1esque colours used. The end result is an awkward use of good colours.
The yellow guns might look out of place, but at least they're at the right scale to be useful here, and mount on either shoulder. They don't work so well visually because of the colours, but the idea is right. The right side weapon is a missile launcher with a purple missile and the left side is a mini fusion cannon which is clearly inspired by G1 Megatron's fusion cannon. The fusion cannon can also mount on the outside of the missile launcher. The spark crystal sits on his back, and a little bit of kibble (the robot mode's sternum) gets in the way of adding the energon chip here - it can only be attached during transformation between modes.
The detailing here is pretty good. Aside from the camera the tail has moulded joints along the length and ends in a mace. The left shoulder sports a white plate. The lower jaw is solid moulded but still has moulded hinge joints.
The play value here is pretty good. The missile will fire about half a metre while the head and tail are on ball joints. All four legs swing while the knees all bend and the rear ankles are hinged. The front paws also have hinges, but they're transformation hinges that can't really pose here. Annoyingly they have a habit of flopping, which reveals the robot hands. The effective poseability isn't as good as it could be, since the static front feet limit his options somewhat and the head can only really move down. Still, the swinging mace tail is cool, the weaponry useful and there's still a fair bit of limb movement.
Despite the limitations on his poseability, this is a decent panther mode. The detail is good and the weaponry effective. The colour get in each other's way and confuse the tribute - I get the feeling the design team changed directions half way through designing this toy. While he doesn't reach his potential because of the colours, there are nice aspects here.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Remove the energon weapons, rotate the waist and straighten the hindlegs to form his robot legs. Swing the torso back, fold the head down and clip the sternum into place. Rotate the head, flip back the front paws to reveal his hands and fold his elbows forward. You can remove the tail for handheld use as a mace or fold it up onto his back.
It's a bit of a "stand up and fiddle with the limbs" transformation - which is not terribly imaginative, although not really unexpected for a basic.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 13cm Width: 7cm
Again black with white extremities, Battle Ravage has some red and silver accents, including a silver face with blue eyes. The purple is barely present here, so the Apeface colour scheme doesn't carry over. Having said that, there's not a Ravage feel here either. The spark crystal is central on his chest, providing an allegiance symbol. I don't really like the colour layout here, since the white on his arms highlights hollow forearms and the white boots highlight the fact that his feet are merely the hindclaws.
Battle Ravage's proportions aren't so good, which partly a result of a simple "stand up and fiddle" transform and partly a result of the beast mode being quite well proportioned. The thighs are unusually bulky for a Transformer's while the feet are rather arched. The groin sits very low, coming down almost to his knees. I don't like the foreclaws hanging quite obviously off the back of his wrists while the narrow waist just looks odd. Along with the poor highlighting effect of the white elements, Battle Ravage really does look awkward.
It's not all bad news though. The shoulder mounts are again useable and the fusion cannon and missile launcher can both sit there, or in his hands. I'd recommend the fusion cannon since it wont get in the way of his shoulders nearly as much as the larger missile launcher. The launcher works in his hand while you can pop the mace into the other for a melee weapon.
The poseability is pretty good, largely because the major joints are shared with the beast mode. The shoulders and hips are somewhat restricted ball joints, the elbows and knees are hinged, while the ankles are also hinged. The head turns as does the narrow waist.
The best features of the robot mode are the weapons, which is not a good thing. The shape is weird and the colour layout is counterproductive. This is his weaker mode, and again it appears that the design direction change, holding back this toy.
VARIATIONS
None as such, although there is a more focused, if less traditional repaint, called Command Ravage.
OVERALL
Battle Ravage has a decent beast mode but a slightly awkward robot mode. His transformation is simple and the colours - while good in theory - end up hurting since there are different themes competing with one another. The weaponry and poseability are both good but he doesn't display that well - 4.5/10
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