............................ OMG that is so AWESOME Ra88!!! You have to post that in the customs and kitbashes section!      

 

Sorry, not mine. Is from a kitbasher over at Livedoor.  

Although I do intend to do the same if I ever get the Cybertron version.   Then again, he could make a great Grimlock as well without that rocket...

 

Just got this guy tonight and I ahve to say I'm pretty impressed. It's not the best from the line but it's still awesome in it's own right.

Not much to add that others haven't already said, but my main gripe does have to do with the shoulders...if they had outward movement, it would go from a B-quality toy to an A.

So, yeah Red Alert gets a B from me.

 

I love this toy, big, but not too big, nice alt mode, and kickass robot mode.

 

Man, I must be the odd one out here. I just picked this guy up and he's below average to average at best.

First of all, the Transformation is dead simple and not very creative, and I hate simple by-the-numbers transformations. It's enough to kill a toy for me if the two modes don't look fantastic. Some simple Transformers look good enough for me to love them. Vector Prime and Cybertron Scourge come to mind. This brings me to Red Alert's second problem:

He doesn't look very good. In either mode. Too much bare white. Too little detail. Too little to look at. No interesting curves or surfaces. The alt mode is litterally a brick with a missle. Speaking of bricks...

While the alt mode looks like a brick, the robot mode moves like a brick. Ok, Ok... just his arms move like bricks. Again, Scourge overcame this problem because he was a great deco and a great sculpt. As for Red Alert...see problem 2 above.

Problem 4: the hollow leg fronts really bug me.

Problem 5: I really don't like a weapon that's needed for transformation. And yes, I'm also looking at you, beast toys with detachable tails.

And finally, I'm not going to list this as a problem because I kind of like it... but this toy's not an Ultra. It's a Mega with a big missle.

 

Despite what the instructions say, you really don't have to remove the missile to transform it. Just lift it up a bit.

 

I think, though I may be wrong, that he's talking about the arm gun, which is part of the front of the vehicle mode.

I see his point, but think it's sorely misplaced. In BW, the weapons were a convenient way to take off a chunk of the animal so the robot mode looked OK. Hence you got some pretty crappy things like tail, wing and horn guns. I'd say this is pretty similar to the Cyberkey guns in the basics like Clocker, Ransack and Brakedown.

In the case of Red Alert, the gun is fairly minor, and could easily have been left out without a fuss - simply make the legs a few mm's wider is all. So I don't see this in the same sort of "cheat" category as the BW tail guns.

In the end, weapons must come from one of two places - as part of the alt mode, ala Red Alert and Megatron, or separate accessories, ala G1. Neither one is necessarily better than the other, and each can be handled very badly. If the weapon is part of the body/alt mode, you could end up with a poor excuse for a weapon (again, see tail guns). On the other hand, unless some space is provided for them, you end up with a bunch or leftovers after transforming your toy.

 

The arm gun can be left on, too. Just seperate it from one of the arms and leave it attached to the arm that you want it on, unless you want to invert it. I keep it so that it flips up when you insert the key.

 

After spending more time with the toy, I might have been a little harsh on my initial evaluation. I won't go as far as calling him above average, but he's certainly not below average. He has his play value.

 

Well, at first, I wasn't really interested in the Vanguard Team. After all these shining reviews, and seeing CDRA on the shelves, I decided to give him a chance.

What a great decision.

See, I had, at first, been turned off by Scourge on Ultras - Scourge was quite badass, but the transformation was WAY too simple for my tastes. I would have paid $20 for him, but not $30. CDRA stomps all over Scourge. But this isn't a comparison. His transformation isn't overly complex, but one or two steps gave me pause. It's very effective for this guy, I like it. Not quite as original as our old friend Deluxe Red Alert, but well... that one's probably not going to be imitated much.

I thought I'd hate the space ship missile. I was very happy to see that it was removable. But it's grown on me. I'm still glad that he has his arm-mounted cannon for a sidearm, though.

He's not winning any prizes for being the best at anything (except maybe weapon size?), but he's damn cool, and definately worth getting. B+.

EDIT: Alright, after spending some time with this guy... I can't seem to put him down. He just seems to be getting cooler and more fun to transform. As much as I dislike changing grades, I'm bumping him up to an A. He's pretty much, to the Ultra class, what Hot Shot is to the Deluxe class, as far as I'm concerned. Simple, but really freakin' cool.

 

In the words of the my brother who bought the figure:

"I wish there wasn't a big gap in between the legs and panels that hide the hammer and claw."

There you go.

 

I managed to build a complete Cybertron Defense Red Alert from parts of two incomplete Red Alert toys and one Universe Countdown. Fun toy.

The red stripe down the middle hardly looks out of place.

 

I was wondering what ressurected this thread, well done with your frankensteining. That was a good figure,especially for its time.

 

Wow. My opinion since 2005 has changed quite a bit. Must be the nostalgia. I count this guy as above average these days, the the thread bump made me smile.

FYI, this toy is one of the few that I held on to from Cybertron. Still have it. Must like it a fair bit.

 

i'd say it looks even more on point with the red alert concept.
fun toy, i'm surprised it was never repainted as g1.5 stalker, given how much OBVIOUS the big bertha on him is.

 

I notice my CD Red Alert seems to have a slightly different missile than my Countdown.

The Countdown missile seems to be correct.

I wasn't sure if there was a variants of the missile, or if I was using a missile from a different figure. Any ideas?

 

I'm almost positive the missile on the right is a missile from the Cybertron Primus figure.

 

Yep.

Thanks.

Primus (2006) - Autobot - www.tfu.info