Cliffbee.com Command Ravage Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Command Ravage
Series: Energon
Allegiance: Decepticon
Alternate Mode: Robotic Panther



PANTHER MODE
Height: 7cm at the shoulder, 11cm if the tail is up Length: 16cm Width: 6cm

   A dull mid blue panther with dark blue claws, a brown tail and a dark blue head with gold on top. Command Ravage has yellow eyes and a silver video camera module moulded on top of his head. Twotone blues usually work well and this one is no exception, with the brown a nice compliment. The lighter blue is quite dull, giving the toy a nice dark look. This in turn highlights the gold on his head and allows the transparent yellow weapons to compliment the toy without being garish as is the case for many transparent energon weapons.

   The yellow guns not only suit his colours, but both are of the right scale to be useful here, and mount on either shoulder. While some basics' energon weapons look a little forced, Command Ravage's look quite natural. The right side weapon is a missile launcher with a brown 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 dark blue plate that wears a stamped Decepticon logo (which is kinda lost on the blue, being purple). The lower jaw is solid moulded but still has moulded hinge joints. Mine at least has some poorly moulded rear ankles - I'm not sure if this is a unique defect or as a result of a cheaper plastic than was used on Battle Ravage (the original version of this mould).

   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 pretty nice panther mode. The detail is good, the weaponry effective and the colours work well (and are an improvement on those of Battle Ravage).

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 mid blue with dark blue extremities, Command Ravage has gold on the front of his shoulders and thighs, while his head is dark blue with a gold face and green eyes. The brown is again present, mainly on his groin and sternum. The colours are again pretty good although I'm not that keen on the extensive gold on his limbs. The spark crystal is central on his chest while the stamped Decepticon logo is on the outside of his right arm.

   Command 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.

   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 gold paint I could have done without. The worse of his two modes, yet oddly Command Ravage is sold in robot mode, which is against the norm.

VARIATIONS

   A repaint of Battle Ravage as mentioned. The Japanese version, Desert Jaguar, has pink paint in place of gold.

OVERALL

   Nice colours and details make a great beast mode, but a simple transformation takes its toll on a disappointing robot mode. The weaponry is good - especially considering that many basic Energon toys have bad weapons, and it even scales to Command Ravage. The end result is a rather average toy - 6/10

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