Toy Review - RATTRAP (Kingdom)
RATTRAP
Series - Generations
Sub-line - War For Cybertron Trilogy
Hypo-line - Kingdom
Size/class - Core
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 1
Released here - ???
Approximate Retail Price - $20
Approximate Size - 9cm
Allegiance - Maximal
Alt-mode - rat
Main Features/Gimmicks - N/A
Main Colours - grey, amber
Main Accessories - pistol
The Core Class is the new Legends Class (which was the new Scout Class which was the new Basic Class :p).
At 11.5cm long in beast mode and 9cm tall in robot mode, Rattrap is a wee bit shorter than most other Legends Class figures, but not significantly so. He is dwarfed by the original Basic Rattrap, but I suppose this size class has been gradually shrinking that when we compare him to more recent toys of the same size class he's only a bit smaller.
BEAST MODE
The beast mode has some nice paint ops on the face with a pink nose and ears, as well as black eyes with white eyeballs, as well some fine white airbrushing on the muzzle. Not sure why... has Rattrap been sniffing flour? :confused: The feet are also pink. Unfortunately the tail is unpainted and there is no brown airbrushing on the rump fur. The nape of the neck (back of robot head) is a darker and glossier shade of grey from the rest of the body. I understand why it's painted but it's unfortunate that they couldn't match the shade of grey better. The beast mode is incapable of stowing the gun inside as on the original and Generations Deluxe Rattraps, however, the gun can attach to the side of either hind leg for, uh... attack rat mode? :/ The sculpt is quite well done, with good fur detail and realistically sculpted rat face. This rat mode is only capable of being quadrupedal, unlike the Deluxe figure which is capable of being both quadrupedal and bipedal. The weird thing is that this rat seems to have the body (and general colour) of a brown rat but the face of a black rat. Brown rats have more rounded noses like on the original and Deluxe Rattrap, but black rats have pointy noses like on this toy. The body is definitely proportioned like a brown rat though. I suspect that the pointier nose was done to make the rat head smaller as the robot chest.
TRANSFORMATION
A pretty nice transformation. Obviously not a one-step flipchanger like the original, but also not ridiculously complicated like the Generations Deluxe figure either. The panels on this toy clip in more firmly and easily than the Deluxe - no where near as much panel massaging required.
ROBOT MODE
This is why the paint ops on the beast mode was relatively sparse - because they've poured more paints on the robot mode. Sure, you have the chrome "brain" part of the head and chrome forearm panels, but there are also finer details like red eyes, red inner mouth and chrome front teeth! There are also teensy tiny Maximal insignia tampographed on each forearm! The gun is sculpted more like the cartoon gun, but here's the weird thing - it's a 3mm post, not a 5mm post. The downside being that he can't share weapons with other CHUG toys, but the odd upside is that he can share guns with the original Rattrap! :eek: So yeah, if you prefer this Rattrap to be holding a toy-accurate gun which is quite different from the cartoon gun, you can just switch guns! :eek: There are even fake cogs beneath the head - a nice nod to the Flipchanger gimmick from the original toy! :D My main gripe with this mode is that the robot shoulders don't seem to lock into, making them prone to dislodgement when you swing the arms down. :( The pistol can be clipped on the back of the robot (seriously, I'd rather them forgo this feature and place tabs on the robot shoulders). The robot feet are literally just the hind feet of the rat, and are therefore pink, making the colours the biggest departure from the original. Having said that, I don't mind them. If anything, I see them as really fulfilling the intention of the original toy's feet. Some of the original BW Basics had faux beast mode feet for their robot feet, but most were coloured the same as the beast mode's (e.g. Iguanus, Armadillo etc.). Rattrap was one of the exceptions in that the feet were sculpted to resemble the beast mode's feet, but they were never coloured that way (the other is croc Megatron who has golden claws on his robot feet). Kingdom Rattrap's feet means less beast mode kibble - the back kibble is far better at being compact compared to the Deluxe. Some people may not like this as it is arguably lazier to make the beast feet the robot feet... but the alternative would be to give him fake rat feet anyway (but just colour them grey). So really, this is the first non-TM BW Rattrap toy to not resort to using fake parts. Except for those fake cogs (which may grind some people's gears). :p
OVERALL
+ Even adjusting for inflation, the original is still about $5 cheaper than this Core Class toy, and it's not too badly compromised by the Flipchanger gimmick. Plus the shoulders aren't prone to dislodging.
+ This is the first Rattrap who isn't a freaking Backpacker.
+ The Deluxe is only about $10 dearer but it is really the Deluxe that's a "Poor Person's Masterpiece." If you are looking for a toy that's basically an affordable MP, then stick with the Deluxe (which is even retroactively scaled with the BW MPs and can connect with MP Optimus Primal).
+ This toy is fiddlier than the Basic (obviously) but way easier than the Deluxe.
+ This Rattrap better scales with other CHUG BW toys, whereas the Deluxe scales better with BW MP toys.
+ The relocated beast feet does make the toy far less back-heavy and doesn't make the toy rely on having fake rat feet in robot mode, but it does visually make the toy less cartoon-like.
+ The lack of gun stowage in beast mode is unfortunate. But this is the trade off you get for having a non backpacker.
+ Obviously this Rattrap doesn't come with explosives like the Deluxe. They'd be choking hazards at this size!
+ I really wish that the robot shoulders would tab/lock into place firmly. But maybe I got unlucky and they secure more firmly on other people's Rattraps.
Conclusion: I honestly don't know if Kingdom Rattrap is inherently better or worse than the original Basic and Deluxe figures. Each have their pros and cons and I think your individual kilometreage will vary depending on what you want from a Rattrap toy. Is it worth getting? That really depends on what you're after.
PHOTOS
On card
https://i.ibb.co/27Lx485/kingdom-rattrap01.jpg
Robot
https://i.ibb.co/LtmV88B/kingdom-rattrap02.jpg
Comparison with Basic Class Rattrap
https://i.ibb.co/XkZGVQh/kingdom-rattrap03.jpg
With Basic and Deluxe
https://i.ibb.co/v3DCspj/kingdom-rattrap03a.jpg
Swapping guns with original Basic Rattrap
https://i.ibb.co/nrfYh1H/kingdom-rattrap05.jpg
9cm of rodent goodness
https://i.ibb.co/Z2Dn5bm/kingdom-rattrap06.jpg
Gun stowage in robot mode
https://i.ibb.co/4gCCKgH/kingdom-rattrap07.jpg
Beast mode
https://i.ibb.co/RCtVL6t/kingdom-rattrap08.jpg
Battle Rat mode
https://i.ibb.co/2s7HqfX/kingdom-rattrap09.jpg
Comparison with Basic and Deluxe in beast mode
https://i.ibb.co/JqDw8DG/kingdom-rattrap10.jpg
Comparison with the other CHUG Rattrap's bipedal beast mode
https://i.ibb.co/dP8s0WW/kingdom-rattrap11.jpg
Tail comparison - Kingdom is the only one without a differently coloured tail. Deluxe Rattrap has the most zoologically accurately coloured tail.
https://i.ibb.co/6RzNcX4/kingdom-rattrap12.jpg
