General Information:
Release Year: September 2005
Retailer: Botcon 2005 Exclusive
Price: $315 included in Primus Package registration, $265 for fan club members
Accessories: Missiles x 2

Images:

• Packaging Front
• Inside of Packaging
• Tech Specs
• In Polybag
• Vehicle Mode
• Vehicle Mode (Side View)
• Vehicle Mode (Rear View)
• Vehicle Mode (Wings Deployed
• Vehicle Mode (Angle View)
• With Hooligan, Jetfire, Wind Sheer and R-Blade (Vehicle Modes)
• Robot Mode
• Robot Mode (Left Side)
• Robot Mode (Right Side)
• Robot Mode (Back View)
• Robot Mode (Close Up)
• Robot Mode (Posed)
• Robot Mode (Alternate Pose)
• Robot Mode (Missile on arm)
• With Hooligan, Jetfire, Wind Sheer and R-Blade (Robot Modes)

The Botcon 2005 set of toys consists of seven figures: Buzzclaw, Chromia, Deathsaurus, Dirge, Fallback, Ironhide and Ricochet. The concept was to create a story-centered set of toys. The Botcon program with the "Descent into Evil" comic book is included with this set. Attendees who received this boxed set were able to purchase an additional loose, polybagged set as well.
Ricochet is the young Autobot included with this set.

Background Information:
I wanted at least one brand, spanking new character in this set and Ricochet was it. The idea was to create a young hot shot who was not all talk. He was skilled and recognized by the higher ups in the Autobot ranks. I knew I wanted a jet sculpt that was thin and sleek looking, making a Cyberjet sculpt the perfect choice. Fortunately this sculpt had been used recently in both Japan and the US so we knew it would be available.

The name Ricochet was chosen because we knew it would be available, but also because in an early iteration of the "Descent into Evil" story, Ricochet was going to display some amazing martial arts combat skills that would make him seem like he was a bullet bouncing all over the battlefield. Unfortunately this story idea had to be sacrificed for space, though I made it a point to give Ricochet a prominant role in saving the day.

This particular sculpt has been used several times in the Transformers line, and I have reviewed it before, so this review focuses on the changes made to the toy for this release. I suggest reading one of the following reviews for more details on the toy: Hooligan, Jetfire, Wind Sheer or R-Blade.

Vehicle Mode:
Ricochet's primary color is black. The cockpit's translucent color is blue and an Autobot symbol is tampographed onto the area behind the cockpit. Lightning patterns run from the tip of the nosecone all the way to the back of the jet. The sides of the vehicle have silver and red details on them. Ricochet includes two light blue missiles.

As a kid I was very much into Robotech, the Macross saga in particular. The mecha fascinated me, and the base mold for Ricochet is, in effect, the Transformer answer to a Veritech. I remember always wanting to see a black Veritech with silver and red as detail colors, so those are the colors I asked for on Ricochet. Instead of going with a typical pattern of straight squares or triangles etc., I asked for a lightning pattern on him, a visual allusion to his speed on the battlefield (again, a dropped story point). The irregularity of the pattern looks really nice. In retrospect, he could have used a bit more silver detailing such as edging on the wings, or perhaps silver claws on the missile holder. However, I think Ricochet looks pretty cool in this form.

Unfortunately, having been used so many times, this set of tools has begun to degrade. This was first pointed out to me by fans at the convention who noticed the cockpit piece was sunken into the slot a bit more than on previous uses of this sculpt. This is no visual illusion, it really is a bit deeper than say, G2 Jetfire. However, in comparison to Wind Sheer from last year, it's not too different. So the cockpit being deeper in the nosecone began with this sculpt's last use. Also, I noticed some of the etched in details on the jet were not quite as sharp as they were on previous versions of the toy.

Robot Mode:
Ricochet's primary color continues to be black in this form, but we get to see more silver and red detail. His face has translucent plastic in the "T" shaped part, surrounding that is silver, giving the face a nice border. The lightning patterns are on the front of the jet, which becomes the upper body here so that thread carries over from the vehicle mode. On the left arm there are red details on the sides, with the fist painted silver. The legs have silver on the knees and feet, while red can be found on the lower legs.

In terms of deco change, I would have added more color to the claw as mentioned above. Perhaps a tiny bit more detail on the shoulders, but overall Ricochet looks great, almost exactly as how I pictured his character before I had seen the final deco.

In terms of any mold variances from previous iterations, the only bit of degradation I noted was the the joint on the left knee is a bit more loose than the right. However, this was not the case on two other Ricochets I transformed during the convention, so it may just be mine.

Final Thoughts:
Ricochet is one of my favorite pieces from the set partially because he is a new character being brought into the Transformers universe. I think the toy looks great and in a way it's like a childhood dream of seeing my "Veritech" finally being realized.