Hasbro's been poking at some enjoyable buttons for me this past year. We got a new Dinobot AND a retool/redeco of that Dinobot as Grimlock. We got a toy colors Galvatron. We got a Shattered Glass Goldbug (who I can steal a head from to give to Bumblebee). And this year's PulseCon exclusive is... Beast Wars Ravage? C'mon you guys, it wasn't even my birthday.
This is the second Beast Wars Ravage toy -- the first, "X-9" Metals Jaguar, was a retool of Transmetal Cheetor, reusing only the toy from the legs down and the cheetah's forelegs, with everything else essentially being new. The robot face became the janguar face, and the robot arms had no where to go in beast mode so they just kind of hung underneath. You could open up the chest to reveal a sticker of your choice. I chose a screaming, drunken G1 Megatron, because obviously. This sold for about $30 at the time, but now will cost you hundreds of dollars if you can even find it for sale.
So, you know, a newer one is nice!
Covert Agent Ravage is similar in execution to the original -- it keeps Kingdom Cheetor's robot from the legs down, plus the cheetah's forelegs, with everything else once again being essentially new. The two big differences are 1) this transforms into an organic, furry beast instead of a robotic one, and 2) the robot arms actually have a place to go! You open up the abdomen, stuff the arms inside, and the furry backsides of the forearms poke out the top of the beast to fill in the shoulders. A greater attempt at Beast Wars cartoon accuracy is made here, with the robot head looking more like the Tigatron CGI model as it did in the cartoon, rather than Generic Robo Cat. Unlike the cartoon, the head is sculpted furry to match the rest of the organic beast mode, and so while it looks more like CGI Beast Wars Ravage, it does have a furry rather than metallic texture to it.
And, of course, since it uses Kingdom Cheetor's legs rather than a Transmetal Cheetor's legs, this Beast Wars Ravage has the distinction of looking more like CGI Ravage from the waist up, rather than from the waist down.
Benefits to this newer Covert Agent Ravage include: the head can turn. Metals Jaguar's head was completely immobile, as it was on a telescoping series of hinges to accommodate the transformation. Neck articulation is built into this new Beast Wars Ravage, though, and the requisite War for Cyberton-era ankle tilts are also present. Covert Agent Ravage has two show-accurate rifles that he can wield in his hands or holster on his hips.
He comes with an original 1984 Ravage, albeit with the microcassette deco painted on both sides of the microcassette mode for the first time -- there's no jaguar side and microcassette side to this version. Both Ravages come packaged with a cardboard diorama of the interior Ravage's Beast Wars spaceship, including a cardboard sleeve to put G1 Ravage inside. The idea is you can pretend Covert Agent Ravage can transform into the other Ravage's cassette mode, as he did (magically and impossibly) on the cartoon.
This PulseCon exclusive was made for me. I like it. It's not currently sold out (and is priced above the Free Shipping threshold), so maybe give it a looksy.
