Fully painted Cherry Vannette adds light bar for roof which is a really tight fit in bot mode. Actually worried about the paint there for the door frame. Head sculpt change; face can fall out easily now. Diaper change and thigh change. Be very careful as diaper is painted a dull red on white plastic and I assume will scrape over time. Hands are molded red thankfully. Again, he's painted, but a letdown. First bad paint job from Vietnam I've gotten, but maybe it's the norm and the other ones were an anomaly. The white really picked up some impurities. White might be the hardest paint to pull off so I might be nitpicking. Will actually be the first MP I use the included stickers from to hide his shoulders lol. No other real quality issues per se. A lot less accessories than Ironhide. 3 wrenches, extra pistol, new rifle, and two new arm attachments. Has a happy face for medical comedy with Ironhide. Good figure. But again his brother set the bar this year. Crappy phone pic but I'm sure some of our more talented photographers here will do him justice. When he rolls in for others. Recommended to complete G1 S1 collection or if your a fan. If only one get the red one at the same price point!
I got mine today and i gotta disagree with you on your assessment. I personally prefer that the figure is painted. It keeps all the white matching. If you have a molded piece of white plastic next to a painted piece of white, you will clearly see a difference. I also don't agree with the statement about "a lot less accessories". Ironhide came with 16. Ratchet comes with 14.
I haven't opened mine yet but may I know what you mean by 'impurities'? I'm not a fan of TT painting the figure. I rather they use white plastic.
I like paint on toys just when it's done well. I don't recall saying I don't like paint on toys in general lol. I tend to collect Japanese versions of releases I like specifically because they have paint. White paint and plastic can work well again if done well I feel. TBH I didn't count the items, they just looked sparse on the tray. That and I was making him hold a few lol. You are right they do have almost the same amount of accessories! My fault. By impurities I mean any dust or imperfections in mold cast or any dust during painting. They pop up like blemishes with lighter colors. Tak doesn't sand or prime them (wouldn't expect them to at this pricepoint) and my Ratchet has a few blemishes on the roof and a really bad piece of dust that got pulled around leaving a red line above the stripe on his door. These things are harder to spot on darker colors, but on white they really show up. Same issues with prowl and red alert a ways back. Only one coat of white doesn't really help either as the plastic does peek out from where the spray wasn't covering enough especially near the rear side windows. Mileage may vary, just my thoughts. Most people wouldn't notice or could care less lol. Hell you could be lucky and get a perfectly painted one. Still a good toy, but as basically a rehash he had to wow which I don't feel he did. EDIT: Disassembling him now. You can actually press and click the lightbar down flush with the roof so it doesn't interfere with shoulder transformation. Pretty cool. I actually appreciate the engineering more now. Will report back again if I find anything else. Probably helps if I would have read instructions lol. EDIT+: Might have been said on 28s MP thread but I'd like to mention it. The skirts sit on thin railings (insert joke). If you open up his bum (joke 2) which is only 3 screws (joke 3) you can access the rails which each skirt is attached to by a screw (give up). You can loosen these screws to make the skirts spin freely and put less stress on the rails. When you put the bum back together, leave the top two screws a little loose for the rails to slide in and out freely and tighten the bottom one normally as it is responsible for leg movement. I'd usually use silicone oil and avoid the disassembly but I'm not sure how they'd affect the paint. Easy fix and save you a headache down the line if you transform them as much as I do. Do be very careful with the top two screws as they are in poles. In general anything with rails I'd take a look at (Magnus). New Kobayashi tell is rails?
Yes I prefer colored plastic myself. Yes paint looks better, when done right. Takara is cheap so I just think and don't trust them when it comes to paint and chrome.
Yikes! I get what you mean about the impurities now! I'm nervous now as I didn't open mine up since I picked him and by the time I saw your post it was pretty late! ^This. I'm ALWAYS very worried when TT uses chrome and paint. I've nothing but experience whenever those two are involved! I really dislike the usage of chrome. TT should have just stuck with silver paint or plastic on Ratchet and Ironhide.
Yea I just prefer a nice painted silver for chrome or colored plastic. Badcube insecticons have that nice painted silver instead of chrome. Which works for me just a chrome. I don't have future it or worry about it wearing over time. Fact is, Takara doesn't properly or apply chrome or paint. At least not like the original g1 toys of old.
^Yeah, that's how I feel personally too. Its not like TakaraTomy or Hasbro have perfected chrome or something. I still can't believe the audacity that one Hasbro rep mentioned (in one of previous threads - can't remember where) that they had perfected 'chroming' during the AOE line. Especially when some collectors had their chrome chipping right out of the box. If I recall correctly, the question was raised because Hasbro had returned to 'chroming' their TFs - after a long absence. If American collectors have concerned about the chrome tarnishing...what more about collectors living in Asia - where the humidity is higher? I don't know how Bandai Japan does it but all of my Abarangers (dinosaurs theme) and Gao Rangers (animal theme) zords still retain their 'chrome' or whatever they called it. Positive Kudos to TakaraTomy for giving us options for the crosses...they didn't have too but they did and it does show their 'love' for the line. Something I can't fault them. Their only issue all these years is their 'spotty' QC. Negatives Anyway, I just checked my Ratchet and yeah, it has that 'imperfections' that pfcparts mentioned and even worse, it has 'paint chips' on the roof - right out of the box. I think this has got to be the worst QC on a MP figure that I have in my collection but thankfully Ratchet is 'white' so the imperfections are not so glaring. The shop I got it from was willing to do an exchange but I didn't want too as the shop would swallow the 'loss' and the flaws will be hidden in robot mode. Neutral Face sculpt. I'm fairly neutral about it and I can understand if some collectors complain that it doesn't look like Ratchet. I can live with it because TBH I always found Ratchet to have a rather 'generic' face. He doesn't have any distinguishing facial features such as Jazz's visor, Optimus face-plate or or Hot Rod's 'goatee' of sorts. I won't dwell too much on the figure (such as articulation and transformation) because it is essentially the same figure as Ironhide (to me) with a different paint scheme and minor modifications. However, I will like to point out that Ratchet is a welcome addition to the Master-piece line and I hope TakaraTomy completes the entire MTME cast at the very least. *Fun fact - Ratchet was a key-player in the original Marvel G1 comics where he helped defeated Megatron not once but twice!
Very happy with the fit and finish on my Ratchet. My copy is even tighter all around than Ironhide (who has nice tolerances to begin with) and the only paint chip I've found is a very small one above the insignia on his chest. Tiny and negligible. There is a small speck of grey paint in one of his eyes on his serious face, but again, it's barely noticeable. Chrome is fine out of the box but I've avoided touching it. I'll get around to applying Future soon. No big surprises from what we've already seen with Ironhide and Ratchet's preview shots except that all of his glossy, vibrant white paint is even more stunning in hand than I'd hoped. Ratchet and Ironhide are the most extensively painted figures in the line and I'm thankful the paint qc has come a long way since MP-12. Nearly flawless. Face sculpts look even better in hand as usual, especially the smiling face. Bumbeblee's smiling face looked less like a smile and more like a stoner's grin, but the expression is perfected here. That the interior of the mouth is painted dark grey helps makes it work. One small thing that surprised me is that the sides of his chrome missile launcher are painted grey. Not sure why, but it's a nice little touch that helps further differentiate Ratchet from Ironhide.
One other thing I've found on my copy of Ratchet - the neck won't retract flush into the collar like my Ironhide's neck will. It's always sticking up a bit. Not a big deal, really.
Good catch. I only noticed they cast the base of both weapons in his diaper base color. Must have been on the same sprue. If you press it forward and down towards his chest it should lock into place with the bar underneath. Would take care of the clearance issues with his gundam unibrow and his shins. I actually kept his face off during alt because of this earlier on. Same figure essentially. We have plenty of pics of Ironhide. Just imagine him white lol. I'd let the more talented deal with pictures if they'd like to but that's probably not the way to ask for it. Though if you'd like, you could add any pictures you have with your review.
Got Ratchet in today and have to say I'm happy with him. No paint chipping, no signs of QC. I still have difficulty with the transforming him to robot mode here a bit in the chest region as I did Ironhide as I worry about something breaking, but otherwise, I have no complaints. Nice to have the Autobot medic on hand in a more cartoon accurate appearance in toy form.
You will have to treat them as those types of reviews found on Amazon etc then. Oh yeah, thanks for the back-handed compliment for those who even bothered to share their thoughts - especially for others who are new in attempting such a write-up. IMO Pictures are only useful to point out flaws in a figure. In this instance it will be difficult to capture the impurities and paint chips on Ratchet due to the white paint. If I want a detailed review, I'll check out Youtube...nothing beats a video review.
Well, my Ratchet's paint is fine. His face definitely looks better in person just like Ironhides. My only two little issues is that like some people have reported, the neck won't go all the way down like Iornhides, and his left elbow is loose in the same way that Road Rage's right knee was. The joint itself works, but the hinge that moves the lower arm into place is lose, so his arms stays in a position but will also wiggle a little. Still, great figure and the best Ratchet toy we have ever gotten.
Mine was broken in the box - the flap that makes up the back of the leg just crumbled around the pin that makes up the joint. Very weak engineering and pretty poor plastic quality. Not cool, Takara. Unfortunately Kapow don't accept returns out of the box, so I'm basically stuck with a broken toy 30 seconds after unboxing. I had no problems with Ironhide, but this has really soured me on TT's build quality. I can press the panel into place and will probably have to glue it, but his transforming days are definitely over. At least the mould works well in this colour scheme, the face sculpt is nice and the crotch is happily quite a bit simpler than Ironhide's flap-tastic area, but as much as I'm happy that we have a decent looking Ratchet, I find it hard to enjoy given the crappy QC.
Opened mine up this afternoon. On first inspection everything looked fine. I started to transform him and some of the parts were so tight I was afraid I was going to snap something. I thought I broke one of the back wheels off trying to fold it into his leg but thankfully it was fine. For the most part, MP Ratchet is fantastic. His joints are tight and the white glistens in the light. Ive got him posed with his dual blasters like in TFTM. His face sculpt is superb too. However when I went to change faces is when I found out some of the paint is scraped off on the left cheek of his "serious" face. It is mostly hidden behind his helmet but its hard to unsee. Im going to contact TCP to see what can be done. But all things considered, still pretty happy with him and definitely recommend him for anyone's MP shelf.
Did a photo shoot and full review on MP-30 Masterpiece Ratchet. I ended up liking the figure a lot more that I thought. Now, I really want to get MP Ironhide next! Review and photos are here: Primeconvoy1's Action Figure Reviews Couple quick thoughts from the review. The glossy white paint looks incredibly nice on Ratchet. It gives a nice premium appearance to the figure. I do have some blemishes with the chrome paint apps as mine aren't perfect. I may get some future to apply to it, as I hear some collectors are having the chrome rub off. I also think he looks good in both modes. I know some pics show the odd space between his back/waist, and the hip panels can disrupt the flow of the design. Once I had Ratchet in hand, those issues didn't bother me. This is my definitive G1 Ratchet! The best part of Ratchet is all the accessories that are included. He has a ridiculous amount of play value with those accessories, and it really gives Ratchet a ton of display or posing options. I definitely recommend getting him.
I did actually get his neck to snap into the slot to sit flush with his shoulders. Just have to use some force and you'll get a good snap.
