MP-11NR Ramjet. The Conehead Seekers are like the cousins of the original F-15 Seeker trio, almost but different. Takara's new design is just that. All the new features are directly inspired by the G1 cartoon model. The main skeleton is already familiar but the new retools bring lots of surprises. It's very understandable that Ramjet is built from the MP-11 mold for Seeker consistency and to save on cost. The first Masterpiece moment is the way the wing thrusters disappear in robot mode. In the G1 animation, Ramjet's wing thrusters were only ever visible in jet mode, in robot mode his red wings were all clean. All versions of Ramjet up till now have just left the thrusters on the wings. To achieve this discrepancy, Takara designers have pulled a slight of hand worthy of Houdini or Penn & Teller. With clever use of seamless panel flipping and crafty exploitation of geometry, the engine is gone. Poof! I'm blown away by the designer's sensitivity to the source material and the cleanness in the way it was executed. We need more of this kind of magic in future Transformer designs. Another new feature is that the huge red wings are now attached to the legs just like the cartoon model. They can also tilt for a welcomed swept back look that adds to the pose ability. There are still tiny separate wing bits mounted to the back that the huge bombs can attach to in robot mode. Unfortunately, these bits can hinder the legs from moving back while posing. The MP-11s were like that too. Another vestige from the old mold is the empty space where Seekers head use to be in jet mode, since the new one is in the cockpit, oh well. The other Masterpiece moment is the way the new cockpit conceals the new head. This genius design hides the famous coneshaped head inside the cockpit itself. It does a marvelous 360 spin to form the head without having to going thru the dreaded chest gap. The result is a well proportioned cone without having to actually use the jet's actual nosecone, which wouldn't work anyway. The face sculpt captures the essence of Ramjet and the Coneheads well. Where the original Seeker trio's faces are refined and even handsome, this new face is menacing and thuggish, like a bruiser. The flattened nose and sunken cheeks resemble a face that's taken a few punches and is coming for more. Everything about Ramjet screams fighter. The new knees are huge ball busters that resemble padded armor. The hip section is remolded to resemble the details from the cartoon model. Another pleasant surprise is the way the arm mounted blasters can be stored inside the huge bombs in jet mode resulting in a clean jet appearance. They can also be left on the arms to mimic the G1 toy look as well. In jet mode, the 4 jet thrusters make Ramjet look very fast. The newly enlarged cockpit and rear mounted wing make him really standout against the other Seekers. He brings true variety to the Decepticon ranks. This new mold has a bit of everything; It has sculpted detail all over with the MP-11 "old school" era feel so Ramjet will bend seamlessly into any Seekers display. However, it's also has some of the most faithful features from the cartoon model. He is well made and tight, I've found no QC issues on mine. If you like Seeker, this was made for you. Update: Board member Liampope had a great idea to modify the small wing bit's transformation to allow for a better range of leg movement. Simply flip up the small wing bits like the old Seeker method. The result is a more streamlined appearance and the cluster bombs can even still be attach on , although slightly higher. Pic below. Update 2: There has been a few reported QC issues of misassembled shoulder hinges and duplicate "null rays" and/or cluster bombs so check yours. Also, the null rays are cast in white plastic and painted black so take caution when sliding it in the cluster bombs, the corners can get scraped. -Winstobot Magic! G1 Toy mode New transformation step. Alternate wing bit configuration
Looking forward to the 'review' part of the review. Interesting that they apparently reworked the knees.
wow...Thats..kinda hard to wrap my head around after having the seeker mold for so long and knowing it so well. Not a huge fan of the new knees, but the engine trick is neat. The face looks a bit funky..but that can change over time for me. Not bad at all. Its really weird to know this mold so well, and then see some big differences all of a sudden on a official design. Really need some good, clean jet mode pics. Thanks for the pics!
After having rewatched G1 S1 & most of S2, I see why Ramjet tends to be the first Conehead release in a TF line. He's by far the most prevalent Conehead in the series. Really quite looking forward to the end of the month and his non-Japanese release. Then hoping for Thrust next.
Thanks for the review Winstobot! They really nailed this one by the looks of it. Hopefully Dirge and Thrust aren't too far away.
Fantastic review and pics, young Winstobot! Great poses! Also, MPs + Marshalls are the stuff dreams are made of I think I'm going to display mine with the thrusters forward, though, like I do with the rest of the jets.
Thanks DML. Regarding the intake shoulders, I did that on purpose. They appear in most animations to be tilted back like the toys were since the Conejet's look was inspired more from the toy look.
I'm going to cross-post this in the MP appreciation thread, the Ramjet news thread and the Ramjet review thread: Got my Ramjet today, literally ran to the post office to pick him up before it closed! Always nice to add another Decepticon to the ranks. The paint blemish in the intakes isn't great but I can overlook it. The jet mode is really beautiful though, and the transformation is like MP-11's only even simpler. All-in-all I'm happy with the purchase, except.... I got two of the same Missile Parts!! If ANYONE gets two of the same on the opposite side, please let me know so we can swap! Man, what a bummer.
^Awe Crap Sam! Sorry to hear they packed the same missile twice. I'll keep an eye out for anyone else posting the same problem and direct them to you. At least your pictures are nice.
Thank you. I'm constantly checking the thread to see if anyone else has gotten theirs yet. It's a nice release, despite the packing mistake. I always knew that for me the release would be overshadowed by Shockwave's imminent arrival, but I was pleasantly surprised. Although things don't tab together all that well around the back area, it's still a very nice release. Ultimately I'm happy to have sold my Sunstorm to pay for Ramjet, it's nice to have some greater variation amidst the seekers.
I got mine but the missiles are correct on mine. Sorry. It is nice but his transformation is fiddly as all hell. It's like the tabs locking the wings into the arms for jet mode, aren't lined up properly. Almost like they're a millimeter off or something.
Might your copy also have this misassembly? http://departuretime.fuyu.gs/18_masterpeace/MP11NR_RAMJET.html This reviewer's Ramjet had its shoulder hinges switched in the factory, causing the tabs to misalign in jet mode.
There's nothing to read, the purple section should be the longer part (front) and the yellow section should be shorter part (back). If yours is the opposite, you might have it misassembled. A fix is possible only if you have opposing shoulder hinges but not if you have the identical hinges. Also, if you are comfortable with removing pins then just swap shoulder hinges . Good luck Optibotimus. -W
What i mean is that on the actual page, there is something written below it. I was wondering if it had a solution. I do think mine is assembled wrong because those tabs just don't go in easily. I can force them into place and it holds, but it's worrisome that it's held there by force
