Getting as much juice from each design as possible, Hasbro has been recycling engineering - with numerous new parts - much more frequently lately. Autobot Ratchet shares a transformation with Strongarm [FOTD #1,137] thanks to their similar alt modes. Well, of the toys, at least. It's close to the cartoon.
If you can transform Strongarm, you can transform Ratchet. The vehicles and robots are strikingly similar, but some of the interior bits are shared (or seemingly shared). The lower waist, thighs, parts of the torso, shoulders, and elbows all seem to be cut from the same cloth. Given the car shell and various legs, fists, and head look nothing alike it's quite remarkable to see how Hasbro succeeded in making a male and a female robot out of the same engineering. Kudos. I should note, there are some differences in how the legs work - Ratchet doesn't have articulation in his foot, for example - but it's darned close.
The head sculpt is wonderful - it's surly, grouchy, and decorated enough to not make you angry. The white plastic dome has a silver face, blue eyes, and a red crest to bring Jeffrey Combs' medic to life. He's also got a strong chin. The body is light on paint, with some red stripes and a little black breaking up the seas of white and grey. Each hand can hold one of two pistols, which can also store neatly under the vehicle chassis. He has no problems standing or sitting, or assuming most normal robot poses.
As an emergency medical vehicle, it does the job. It's red, it's white. It rolls, more or less. The Warrior-class toys - indeed, much of this line - doesn't do much with the alt modes. They just merely are. I assume it's a cost-cutting measure as of late, as it gets us back to the core mechanic of the toys while eschewing such niceties as rocket launchers and painted wheels. It works. It does what it advertises.
Due to the ongoing popularity of Ratchet you will no doubt want to buy this one on sight if you're so inclined. It looks good, it's sturdy enough, it stands well, and it turns into a nicely sized (if hollow) vehicle. If you dig the character, this is a decent enough little toy. It's not huge, it's not groundbreaking, but it's certainly Ratchety enough to give you a reason to go out and buy one.
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