General Information:
*Images with asterisks above and text in italics below from The Official Transformers web site Race into battle with this 3-in-1 converting action set! Your mighty AUTOBOT RATCHET figure changes from robot mode to HUMMER H2 mode and back again. His Lunar Crawler figure shifts from lunar crawler mode to repair station mode to lunar combat vehicle mode and back again so he’s ready for anything. As the battle rages on, keep converting AUTOBOT RATCHET and his Lunar Crawler back and forth — and face whatever his enemies throw at him! Ages 5 and up.
Lunar Crawler Mode: The middle section is a large platform with small panels out to the sides. The platform is largely flat, but has a series of rectangular shapes sculpted into it reminscent of solar panels. On the back is a panel with details on it including antennae at the end. The top part of the vehicle has a robot arm, with its base set at the front of the vehicle. The other end has a claw hand on it with an optical unit on top. Many of these details were borrowed from various Mars Exploration Rovers giving the vehicle a semi-authentic feel. The Lunar Crawler is cast in white, brown and silver plastic. Most of the top section is white, including the robot arm and the flat platform sections. The treads are brown while the sections that attach the treads to the platform are silver. Paint colors include blue, gold, silver and black. The blue and gold are the most obvious. The top of the platform and the side panels are mostly painted blue. The raised section in the back with the antennae is painted gold on one side with a black Autobot symbol on top. A bit of blue is used for the lense of the optical unit on top of the robot arm while the claws of the arms are silver. It's a very clean color scheme that takes its inspiration from some real life space exploration vehicles and looks very nice. The only improvement I can think of would have been to add some "wear and tear" details as if it were roaming around the surface of the Moon and getting dirty. In terms of functionality the treads are non-functional but they do have tiny silver wheels attached to them. I did note however that these wheels are not particularly loose so they don't roll very well. Count on a bit of scratching if you're going to roll this guy around a rough surface. The robot arm has five points of articulation. It's action feature focuses on the claw and optic unit. Slide it back and the claw pincers come together, push it out and they open up. It is interesting to note that the entire arm can be detached and has a standard 5mm peg at the end, allowing other figures with the appropriate holes to use the arm as an accessory. One word of caution, the side panels tend to pop off rather easily if too much pressure is applied, so be careful If they do pop off, they snap back on easily. If you're attaching weapons, I highly recommend supporting the bottom of the piece as you do so. For an exploration vehicle, the Lunar Crawler has a lot of potential for defense or destructive poewr. On either side of the vehicle are six potential connection points for weapons with smaller pegs such as those included with the Cyberverse Commander figures. On each side four of these holes are on the sides of the treads while two are on the side panels on the middle section of the vehicle. Note however that the holes on the treads are rather close to each other, so you're going to wind up having to set weapons at angles to get them to all fit without overlapping. Not enough weapons potential? Well the robot arm itself also has two more Cyberverse peg connection points on either side of the optical unit and at its base you can attach the satellite dish accessory. If you really want to go hog wild, there are also two 5mm connection points on the treads (one on each side) allowing you to attach Mech Tech weapons to really give the Lunar Crawler that extra bang for your buck. I'm a huge fan of this functionality and the idea of a playset/vehicle being able to acocmodate so much weaponry so I love how this seemingly simple vehicle has so much potential for customization. Transformation to Repair Station Mode (from base mode):
Repair Station Mode: The repair station is primarily a plastform and ramp with the robot arm above it. The platform/ramp section has a pattern of raised, thin rectangles that look like they're meant to offer traction to any vehicle sitting on them. The rest of the details were all seen in the previous mode including the treads (now facing up) and the robot arm itself. Thanks to their flattened out, horizontal position all the aforementioned holes for weapons can be utilized quite effectively in this form, offering defense for anyone being repaired. With so many parts from the Lunar Crawler mode being seen here, there aren't many "new" parts revealed. The only real "new" details are the central platform/ramp section, which is painted silver, making this form look quite different than the crawler in color. I like the use of the silver as it helps differentiate this mode visually from the Lunar Crawler mode. Transformation to Lunar Combat Mode (from Lunar Crawler Mode):
Lunar Combat Mode: Visually there's nothing new here to see, but the conmbination of Ratchet and the Lunar Crawler looks really nice and the way their colors coordinate work out great!
Robot Mode: Like the Lunar Rover, Ratchet's new colors reflect those used in space exploration vehicles such as the Mars Exploration Rover. His plastic colors are white and gunmetal, with white being the dominant color and gunmetal making up smaller sections such as his upper arms and waist. His paint colors are gold, blue, gunmetal and black. The gold is the one that stands out the most. You'll find it on his chest, legs and back. The blue is used on the lower legs and forearms. A touch of gunmetal paint is used on his face, helping bring out the sculpted detail while the eyes are painted blue. The black is used on his chest in the form of an Autobot symbol. Overall, I really like the color scheme. It's not another "emergency vehicle" scheme, but something different intended to align his appearance with the vehicle he is using. All of Ratchet's joints are tight and the plastic looks good and crisp. Ratchet is able to use two of the accessories in this set in this form. The satellite dish can be held up in his fist like a scanner or down (also connected to his fist) like a metal detector. The small Lunar Rover included with the set can fold up into a blaster that can be held in either fist. The small Lunar Rover is cast in gunmetal grey plastic with blue paint on top and looks very much like a shrunken down version of the larger Lunar Crawler. It has a flat panel on top sitting on two treads with small blaster barrels in the front. To convert it to its weapon mode, fold it in half using the center hinge. I'm glad this level of interaction exists between the figure of the set and the accessories. it definitely adds a lot of play value to a redeco with a nice color scheme. Transformation to Vehicle Mode (Ratchet):
Vehicle Mode: This mode has all the same colors as the robot mode, but the gunmetal only shows on the weapon connection point on top and the wheels. Everything else is white with painted details. Gold is the most used color, found on the top and front end of the Humvee. Metallic black is used to paint his windshield and side windows while a blue stripe runs down the sides of the vehicle, alluding to his core emergency vehicle functions. Overall it's a very effective color scheme and I enjoy the way it synchs up with his Lunar Crawler vehicle.
Final Thoughts:
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At a key point in "Dark of the Moon", Ratchet and Optimus Prime travel to Earth's Moon to discover a long held secret: the Autobot vessel known as The Ark! There they find Sentinel Prime, triggering events that would change Earth forever! During this expedition, the two used a small Lunar Rover to help them in their search. This rover and an imaginary counterpart serve as the basis for this set featuring Ratchet and a Lunar Rover.
