Name: Jaruga
Series: Japanese Generation 1
Allegiance: Destron
Sub Group: Breast Force
Function: Cybernetics Soldier
Vehicular Mode: Dune Buggy (although his box claims he
"transforms to baggy and back"!
Note: His name is _not_ Jaguar, which is the Japanese name for Ravage.
Comes with JaguarBreast, a small companion that changes from a jaguar to a breastplate and also becomes Jaruga's gun.
BUGGY MODE
Height: 4.5cm Length: 9cm Width: 6.5cm
A black dune buggy with an enclosed cabin, Jaruga has gold windows and a missile rack over the top of the cabin. He's got two claret missile sets, which can clip into the holes on his rack to form an array of missile tips, or can attach to pegs on the sides to form side lasers. He's got white and yellow stickers on the sides and on his hood - there's a Destron logo on the hood sticker. Jaruga has some off white at the rear of the vehicle, but is still essentially black.
I'm not sure how many dune buggies actually come this well armed, but since the rest of his team form military vehicles (with the exception of Drillhorn), I suppose it's fitting. At any rate, the overhead weapons assembly works. It points up, and since it's the robot legs folded over, it can actually rotate upwards allowing him surface-to-air capabilities.
Adding to the positioning of the missile rack, if you attach the weapons as lasers, they can independently pivot. His wheels also spin allowing him to roll, although with no axles he'll only roll so far unassisted. The tyres are sand tyres, by the way - wide with big tread patterns. The rear tyres are quite a bit larger, and the rear axle is a fair bit wider.
Jaruga's weakest point in this mode is probably a lack of mould detail. He's got a front spoiler with what looks like a winch line behind it. There's no rear spoiler as such - the missile rack is the closest thing he's got. Most of the detailing on this part is robot leg stuff, but being black it doesn't really stand out here.
It's hard for a black colour scheme to look bad, and the colours they've added don't hurt at all. He doesn't have much detailing, but this mode looks cool and the weaponry is impressive, although there's nowhere to stick JaguarBreast's gun mode.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Remove the missiles from the rack if they're inserted - if they're on the sides they can stay. Fold the missile rack down and lift up the front of the car. Stand him up, attach JaguarBreast as either a chestplate or handgun. Attach the lasers to his ankles if they're not already there.
JAGUARBREAST
JaguarBreast's main body and wings a white, his head, tail and legs are claret. The wings form the chestplate itself. JaguarBreast has a pretty good level of detail, especially on his head - it's better than Jaruga's car mode, in fact.
To transform JaguarBreast to jaguar mode, fold out the legs, flip out the head and tail. To transform to chestplate, retract limbs, head and tail. To transform to gun, fold in the legs and the head to become the handle, flip out the tail to become the barrel.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 10.5cm Width: 6cm
The black of his buggy made takes a back seat to the off white now. His arms and lower legs are black, but his thighs, torso and head are white. He has a gold face, with a good level of detail that shows up quite well through the gold paint. Adding the chestplate doesn't change the colour scheme, aside from adding a little bit of claret. The base chest and chestplate both have Destron logo stickers.
JaguarBreast works well as both a gun and a chestplate - it's almost a shame Jaruga only comes with one sidekick. While most of this set have a sidekick that works better in one form, I can't really recommend what's best for JaguarBreast - who's easily my favourite sidekick in this set.
Jaruga has small cat ears on his head, and the big rear wheels sitting on his hips. He also has the claret lasers on the outsides of his ankles. These give him a somewhat unusual look, but it does mean that even with JaguarBreast as a chestplate he's still armed, which is a bonus. His arms are quite short, but he manages to not suffer as a result, largely due to the hip pads and wheels, which save him from having gaps where most Transformers have hands.
Jaruga does pretty well in play value terms. His poseability is limited to his shoulders rotating, but he's got the dual-mode JaguarBreast, as well as the removable lasers on his ankles. The other fun feature he has is a panel on his chest which pushes in when you clip on JaguarBreast. It's spring loaded, and when it's pushed back there's a screw that pops out of his back. Pushing on the screw sends JaguarBreast flying out (he shoots a few inches), which is kinda cool. Sure, there's no autotransform or anything, but it's a lot of fun to fidget with (c8
As with the car mode, sensible colours mean it's difficult to go wrong with the colour scheme. But Jaruga's robot mode colours go beyond that, they look quite good. He's got a good aesthetic overall, in fact. JaguarBreast really adds to this mode, and the short arms, his only major failing, don't really hurt what is otherwise a good robot mode.
VARIATIONS
None that I know of.
OVERALL
A good toy, with good colours, both modes look great and he's got pretty good play value. He's also a core piece of Liokaiser, further reason to get him. JaguarBreast is nice in his own right, too, so Jaruga's really a toy I'd recommend, assuming you can find him for a price that you're happy with - 9/10
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