Name: Rattrap
Function: Intelligence/Surveillance Expert
Motto: "My mind is my ultimate weapon!"

Wisecracking Rattrap always has something snide to say, and is known as a chronic complainer. Recon and surveillance expert. Fits into the tightest of places. Although weaponless in beast mode, his tail is a major asset - tacticle capabilities grab objects and act as an electro-whip weapon. In robot mode, weapon serves multiple tasks - can tap into computer systems, break codes and pick locks. His resourcefulness and intelligence are major assets to the Maximal cause.

Rattrap has been a long time favorite among Beast Wars fans. Now he returns in Beast Machines with a whole new look. Interestingly enough, the look of this character was widely rejected at first, mostly because the character spends the entire Beast Machines series on wheels instead of
having robot legs. Eventually, this rejection turned to acceptance and made Rattrap one highly anticipated toy. This also marks another step up for the character of Rattrap who was originally a basic sized toy, then a deluxe. Now he's a mega!

Beast Mode:
In beast mode, Rattrap is a techno-organic rat. His primary colors are green, silver and shades of grey. Orange and red are used for detailing such as mechanical details on his rat head and legs. Some translucent plastic can be found in this mode. His lower jaw is dark translucent grey and his beast mode eyes are translucent orange.

As a rat, Rattrap has twenty three points of articulation. Five points of articulation alone are focused on the tail, and the head and neck have five points of articulation altogether. Why so much articulation for that section? Well, just move the tail from side to side and see what happens. Rattrap's rat head will move to the opposite side you are turning the tail towards and the head will cock to one side and the ear perks up as if he is listening to something. A wonderful feature that adds an element of personality to the toy.

Rattrap's beast mode looks almost like the one on the television show, but the rat head on the show looks a bit more viscious than this one. Also, he does not have any gadgets in the "pouch" on the back of the main body. However, the detailing is very nice on his toy, blending both organic looking and mechanical looking parts well.

Transformation to Robot Mode:
Begin Rattrap's transformation by removing the tail. Set it aside for now. Fold in the front lower rat legs into the green upper rat leg sections. Flip the toy over so you are looking at the rat stomach area. Flip up the red and silver panel to reveal the robot head and legs. Swing the legs out to the sides.

Now fold the rat head forward and then move the entire section with the front rat legs and the rat head up to where the robot legs were. You can now see the orange Spark Crystal. Now swing the robot leg sections back towards the middle and connect them to form the robot mode's waist. Swing the chest piece with the robot head attached to it back down. Turn the robot head around so it faces forward. Straighten out the robot legs and swivel the wheels to the sides. Be sure to flip out the rear sections of each foot, this helps him stand in robot mode. Gently move out the translucent orange pieces in each of the wheels to reveal his blades on each leg. Move the rear beast mode legs down and fold down the thumbs. Place the tail into one of his hands as a whip weapon and Rattrap is now in robot mode!

Robot Mode:
Rattrap's robot mode shows off a lot more silver and red than the beast mode. the only green appearing are the details on his shoulders, face and some from the exposed beast mode parts. The sides of his upper body are painted red with silver around them. His feet are a dark silver and the translucent orange blades are quite striking.

The detail work on Rattrap looks great. His is literally choc full of detailing. Check out the face where the teeth and mechanical parts are sculpted very nicely in a snarl. Look at the point where the main body connects with his shoulders, the joint is even sculpted well.

As a robot, Rattrap has eighteen points of articulation. This does not include his tail weapon which has three. Aside from the blades on his wheels, Rattrap also has another cute action feature. Push back the visor piece on his robot head and his mouth opens contorting his face into the open mouthed screaming look that the television show used so many times. There is one drawback to this however. Because the beast mode head/neck mechanism is right behind his robot head, it is difficult to push the visor back enough to get this feature to work properly. Another thing which may disappoint fans is that the visor cannot come down fully over his face as it does on the television show. However, it was never meant to, the television show just took an interesting feature and ran with it.

Transformation to Wheeled Mode (from robot mode):
Detach Rattrap's tail/whip from his hand and connect it to to gear on the bottom of the back section. Collapse the blades on the wheels. Now fold the robot foot heel pieces back under the feet. Fold the robot feet up and then fold the lower legs upwards. Move the arms up a bit so they do not drag on the ground. Rattrap is now in wheeled mode.

Wheeled Mode:
Rattrap's wheeled mode is the mode that most fans will recognize from the television show. It looks just like the robot mode, minus the blades on the wheels and robot legs. The wheels really do not roll, but between the wheels and the tail, he balances out nicely. In this mode, Rattrap has sixteen points of articulation since some points are lost on the legs.

Despite a couple drawbacks (the visor/mouth opening mechanism), this is one cool toy. It also shows the progression towards more show accurate toys in the Beast Machines line that will lead into the "Battle for the Spark" line. The option of having a "legged" or "wheeled" mode is fantastic, appeasing fans who thought the mode was cool or lame. The detail work is fantastic too. B+