Alternators Ricochet

I suprisingly found Rollbar and Ricochet at my local WM (well, two local WMs, now). Thought I'd put up a quick review...

Packaging
Ricochet comes in the new Alt. style Bubble packaging. I noticed that there's already been a slight change in the packaging between wave 1 and wave 2- for wave 1 (Skids and Sunstreaker), the manufacturer's logo was on the bottom left corner of the front of the box. For Ricochet and Rollbar, it's the bottom right corner. Ricohet's motto is "If I don't catch you, my missles will." It's too bad they didn't include a imssle pack, like the ones made for a couple of the BT Smokescreen. Ricochet is Alt. # 20, for those of you keeping score at home. I've really come to dislike the bubble packaging, as three of the 4 I have have small tears along the side from opening the bubble.

Car mode

Ricochet is a Subaru Impreza WRX, just like Smokescreen and Silverstreak. He hasn't been remolded from 'streak as far as I can tell, just repainted. His primary color is black. He also features yellow, orange, and gold flame decals on the hood and front doors. The spoiler also has a gold sticker, and the wheel rims are painted gold as well. The decals are a little tacky, but they're growing on me. A new feature to this wave of Alts are that the license plates represent actual states. Ricochet is apparently from New Jersey, which makes sense, considering the tackiness of the flame decals FYI, Rollbar has a Colarado plate. For his interior, Ricochet has the same deatiling as the other Subarus, except he has red stripes about a 4th of the way across each seat

Transformation
Transformation is the same as the other Subarus. I've found that the joints on my particular Ricochet are a lot tighter than I remember those of 'streak or Smokescreen being.

Robot mode

Robot mode is where Ricochet really shines. His chest, upper arms, upper torso, shins and feet are black, with the hood's flame sticker still on the chest and the spoiler gold decals on his shin guards. His forearms, waist, head, and upper legs are predominantly white. The white/ black effect really helps him stand out. Ric's head is the same as Silverstreak's, but with a yellow face and black...horns. Ric also has a change in his leg paint apps. Where 'streak's legs were red until they were level with his pelvis, Ric has black paint apps just above the knee, and then his legs are white again as they become approach the pelvis. While the white on 'streak's front license plate stood out, Ric's Autobot plate fits right in with the rest of his paint scheme.

And some more fun...

Summary
I like Ricochet a lot. The flame decos are a little tacky, but they look great in robot mode. The black and white really sets him apart from the other Alts, and gives him a nice look. If you're an alt collector, or don't have the Subaru mold yet, he's a definite buy. If you're a casual Alt buyer, it probably depends on your affection for the character, or seeing him up close. 8/10.

Nice review! I think Richochet is growing on me. Might consider picking him up now...

Nice Review, WRX's are my favorite car. Can't wait to pick him up.

Kind of a stupid question, but is Rollbar red or orange? I can't find a definitive answer anywhere and the official pictures go either way

Just picked up Ricochet today myself. I must say it is indeed a cool repaint, although the face paint on mine was sloppy and had some nasty chips in the white on the nose (I fixed them with some white paint of my own, but I really shouldn't have had to). I think I may actually like Ricochet better than Smokescreen (although still less than Silverstreak).

Just finished inspecting Ricochet and just like Rollbar, he is missing a small detail... paints apps. of the WRX and Subaru names on the back of the car. Makes it look like it's a knockoff TF Alt.

You know, now I'm questioning myself as to why I even bother with repaints, especially about characters I don't even know or care about (Sunstreaker is an exception).

If Hasbro wants to do a straight repaint and keep the fans interested at least make it right and not put a half arse effort

NIDARAM12: Yes, Rollbar is orange.

Forgot to post in here when i forst found Ricochet...

There's really not much more to add. The flame details....gah. They look REALLY bad. Even Cybertron Runamuck's flame detailing looks better. If Roco was solid black it might be a major improvement.

The unpainted nose doesn't bother me TOO much...it just looks like an extended nodepice from his helmet from afar...up close it looks like a major f**k up. I really only bought it and Rollbar for the number and because I like having my Alts out on display and the more the merrier, AND I understand it's expensive to make these toys and repaints offset the cost a bit, but damn...Hasbro pull your head out of your ass and put some effort into it.

C-

Check out Grimlock_13's Attempt at Funnies if you dare! (Updated 11/20/09 with Comic #532!!)

I was worried that , since he's a third/fourth iteration of the Subaru mold, Ricochet woul have the same crapful tolerances seen in the Binaltech Asterisk line, and in Alt. Sunstreaker. All the Subarus are a bit tough to get all parts lined up for car mode, but my Ricochet doesn't appear to have any more trouble doing so than Smoke or Streak, so the tolerances seem fine to me.

The colors and flame decos look very lame in car mode, but look striking in robot mode. The white nose is a little off, but not too bad really. Oddly, I think it might look better if the chin-guard were white as well.

It would've been nice if Ricochet had a little more to offer than just a repaint, such as a new head sculpt or a new weapon, but overall I like the toy a lot more than I expected I would. Still can't convince myself to get Rollbar though.

How the Animated toy line REALLY came to an end

I got mine about a week ago and I can't say I'm terribly impressed. The gold and yellow on the flames clash horribly, the gold rims are tacky, the nose is atrocious, and it's the third time we've seen the mold. That said, he looks decent enough in car mode. Not stellar, but he's grown on me enough that I'm not really thinking about selling him anymore. Though when Meister comes out again I may just make a custom Ricochet that'll be much more fitting.