Got this guy today at a Walgreens in Ohio. Total spur of the moment purchase.

I’m glad I did. He’s really well put together. I didn’t buy Ironhide after hearing the qc issues, but wow this figure hits it out of the park.

 

Ratchet is nice, but various things were bugging me.
Other than silver sharpie-ing various small things like missiles, guns, and Prowl's thighs.. I never really did much.



Not perfect, but I'm mostly contented now. Might eventually do something with those tires.. but that crotch was a pain for a newb like me, so I called it quits after.

 

Did you remove some pins/screws for painting that crotch ?

 

No. I wouldn't trust myself with removing pins.
It's glued together.. which under normal circumstances I'd have let well enough alone, but this time felt like tackling for whatever reason.

 

I'm just shocked that Ratchet isn't available any longer on Walgreens website. I just checked and nope nahda right on their website. I'm just really lucky i got mine when i did. I actually didn't see this coming that he would sell out on the site. Then again i do cause when there's no limit those "Resellers"   are just going to go too town on the figure online.

 

Found a pair of Ratchets yesterday at Walgreens, both had a few paint problems - I got the one that looked like it had a crack in the chest piece but was just a line running on the top and bottom section paint. How do these things even happen? There was a lot of overspray and underspray on the other one. Both had the faces underpainted at the temples because of the helmet design. Watch for paint issues if you get the choice, but get one when you can - you know how it is with exclusives: better one than none.

Ratchet is a great figure and should have been a mass release, it's a real shame that the superior version of this mold gets narrow exclusivity. This is the first new Ratchet mold in a decade, and only the third new G1 Ratchet mold in the regular line since the brand's inception (Ratchet shows up in non-G1 lines, but little love in the original). The weapons are great, the scanner's hinge has a 3mm fireblast peg so it also is a rifle, the wrench and blaster fit into it to become some random uber-weapon, there's just a lot going on. The repair bay is a bit silly but I'll take it. Hasbro seems to have gone arctic-style with the deco, the off-white wheels are on the same runner as the crotch and fists, so they're off-white as well, makes the figure a little drab so they added extra red touches to compensate; the arctic look may not be intentional, but the use of a light beige weathering instead of silver continues that premise. The changed the vehicle bumper, the robot head, shoulders, forearms, and fixed Ironhide's problem with the lower leg panels not staying attached.

All in all, Ratchet's pretty neat within the limits of the mold's original design challenges (mostly hollowness) while addressing its manufacturing problem (leg panels) and adding newness in sculpt and accessories to make an all around satisfying figure.

 

Damn, I can't find Siege Ratchet in Aliexpress store or Tokopedia.

Siege Ratchet looks great.

 

Update to my thoughts: just figured out that all Ratchet's accessories fit inside the vehicle mode at once. It's an interesting fit but it works.
This shows how the hinged tip of the scanner has to slide in under the arms and fold down for clearance

 

Man... the quality on this guy is all over the place. I've seen some that are in FANTASTIC shape while others look like someone dragged them across the sidewalk.

I think I might have to buy a few copies and Frankenstein one together to make a decent copy.

Has anyone tried removing the black paint from the head crest? I'd really love to make a red helmet with white crest version.

 

Is it possible to remove the top portion of Ratchet's body (windshield, arms, head assembly) from the rest of the body?

Very cool. Thanks for sharing

 

Anyone else get a Ratchet with no waist swivel?

I think they used too much glue.

 

The paint/QC in general for the Siege line has been very hit or miss. My Ratchet's paint is also far from perfect, sadly I can't go out and buy another one due to being in the UK. But its such a shame that some of us have to pay top dollar for this only to get one that might suffer with bad paint or poor QC.

 

I think Ratchet and Crosshairs should have switched places. Ratchet be the regular retail release with Crosshairs being the Walgreens exclusive.

 

Yeah, no. The point of exclusives is that the retailers commission/pay the manufacturers for something special that people actually WANT, to create a draw into their store. They don't want forgettable cast-offs. This isn't 2007/2009 anymore, where retailers were prostrating themselves to get any Transformers product at all on their shelves.

 

Transformation Matrix Workshop M-21 upgrade Kit for Siege Ratchet new arrive | eBay

Anybody have/planning to get this set? Looks neat but I only need a few of the weapons offered.

 

he is up on Walgreens site for 11 dollars !

I bought three to get free shipping !

I usually only buy two ( two kids ) but getting the third one got me free shipping so it was the cheapest option !

 

Found a Ratchet today. Later I read that Ratched had problems with warped ankle tilts, and when I checked mine, well...


Is this what people are referring to? It's not something you notice unless you go out of your way looking for it, but I am worried about potential breakage, especially since the notches bend out more when moving the joint. I don't think I'll be using the ankle joint to that extreme an angle except for fan modes, but it's still worrying. The camera I have right now is almost a decade old, but you can see it flexing in the second pic.

 

This is the same problem that (first wave) Ironhide's side panels had - the holes are not big enough to accommodate the pegs on the foot parts.
I checked mine as I installed new DSA feet (which are great) and Ratchet has the same problem.
If you use a file/drill bit/screwdriver/whatever your pleasure to make the holes just a tad bigger (not much, just test fit test fit test fit until it works) on the inside where it connects to the foot, it remedies the problem.
I went the extra mile and used almost boiling water then ice water to "restore" them to their normal parallel orientation quicker than just allowing them to go back on their own over time. It also helps tighten the foot tilt joint which might be a tad loose after expanding the holes.

 

I'm interested in an upgrade kit that fills in the vehicle gaps (although Ratchet is way less problematic than Ironhide.
AND
Allows the feet to fold into the trunk. The way they sit back there but have all that tilt and clearance makes it feel like they were almost intended to. I keep thinking all it needs is to cut away some of the obstruction inside the joint and put in a toe hinge.

 

Overall I’m extremely happy with how this turned out. Dyed the core and hands, removed damage paint on shins as best I could and gave him new feet courtesy of DSA.