Ratchet has never really been a “tough guy” in the conventional sense; however, he is someone who can be counted on when his back is against the wall or when he knows he has to act. He’s the medic ‘bot who’s been through enough wars that very little is going to phase him. With that in mind, this new Beast Hunters figure is a bit of a curiosity because everything about it definitely does suggest war-torn “tough guy.” In fact, if I didn’t know this figure was supposed to be Ratchet going in, based on the ‘bot mode, I probably wouldn’t have guessed it was supposed to be Ratchet at all because it is a bit of a departure from what we’re used to and from how he’s usually portrayed. What’s more, until the show picks up again later this month, we have no context for this look for the character, so we have to fill in the gaps on our own for now.
His packaging is standard deluxe Beast Hunters fare. No frills.
His stats are 100% Ratchet — his skill and intelligence are among the highest of all the Autobots, but there’s not a lot here that suggests “warrior.”
His extremely brief bio on the back of his card hints at what we may be in for in the remaining episodes of the Beast Hunters season. Looks like Ratchet is putting down his scalpel and is heading out to kick some Decepticon and Predacon butt.
We’re used to seeing Ratchet in a very stark red and white color scheme, but here his colors are primarily light brown and orange, with white serving as only as an accent. As for the green circle in his chest, again, we won’t know what that’s all about until the show starts up again. His head and face are curiosities as well. Could be a mask and helmet, or it could be a complete reconstruction as a result of injury at the hands of the Predacons. The green eye thing is particularly intriguing because it does immediately bring to mind a certain Beast Wars character, but more on that later. Right now the ol’ imagination has to connect the dots with everything we’re seeing here.
From the back it almost looks like he’s wearing some sort of jet pack contraption. Optimus Prime is a flyer in Beast Hunters, so why not Ratchet? We’ll have to wait and see what the deal is. I’m starting to feel like a broken record, as is often the case with these Beast Hunters figures, but I guess that’s what happens when the figures hit before the show does.
Viewed as a standalone figure, this seems like a pretty big departure from what we’re used to in a Ratchet figure, but when compared side by side with the standard Transformers Prime Ratchet figure, the similarities become strikingly evident. Most of what we’re seeing here are just slightly retooled parts from the original figure, aside from the head and chest piece, which look to be completely new parts. If you’re only interested in one version of this character, the original is certainly the way to go, but the new version is cool enough and different enough to justify the purchase.
A lot of people have pointed out that this Ratchet reminds them of Dinobot from the fan-favorite Beast Wars series. There were a few different renditions of Dinobot released in that line as well, and while Ratchet’s colors may be sort of similar to the original Beast Wars Dinobot figure, I think it’s the Transmetal Dinobot figure that he has the most in common with. It’s mainly the heads: they both have that eye-scope thing and and what looks to be claws wrapping around the sides of his head. They both have a “circle” in the center of their chests too. This all may be purely coincidental, but I can’t help but think it’s some kind of subtle homage, but that’s probably just because I’m a big Dinobot fan and I may be seeing what I want to see.
His weapon, fittingly enough, is a drill. Makes sense for the ‘bot doc to have a drill, but in this case it’s a big green drill that spins when that orange lever is pressed down. The green and blue colors add a nice contrast to the earth tones of the figure itself.
When the drill opens up, further similarities between this figure and Dinobot spring up. Dinobot’s tail weapon opened in a similar manner and looked very much like this. Even the action feature is similar. The drill opens up and reveals an orange gun hidden within. It doesn’t look like a very formidable weapon by any means, but the action feature more than makes up for that.
The spinning feature is honestly pretty cool, but that could be just because it’s reminds me of Dinobot. Regardless, as lame as action features can be at times, this is among the less obnoxious.
And it can store on his back! This gives me a chuckle; it’s like he’s Conan or something storing his weapon.
Ratchet’s vehicle mode maintains that “Road Warrior” vibe all the Beast Hunters Autobots have had so far. It retains elements of the ambulance from the previous figure, but there’s enough added here to make it look more like a battle-scarred war machine.
The turbine on the back suggests Ratchet can move really fast. I hope that’s the case.
The drill can be stored or wielded, depending on how you look at it, in his vehicle mode. It looks a little goofy here, to be honest, so on my shelves he’ll only be carrying it when he’s in ‘bot mode.
It’s cool to think of Ratchet in a different context, and this figure definitely allows you to do just that. I don’t want this to be a permanent thing by any means because Ratchet should be a medic first and foremost, but it’s fun to think of him as a warrior and it’s even more fun still to imagine what could have happened to push him to the point where he felt he needed to suit up and take on the role of a warrior. I guess we’ll find out what the story is in a few weeks!
