12.19.03 TransformersUniverse - Ratchet and Inferno Ratchet (Inferno) Vehicle Mode Just for the sake of relieving any confusion, I'll go ahead and refer to this guy as Ratchet. Inferno would have been a much better name though. X-Brawn is definitely one of my personal top ten transformers. He just looks so nice in both modes. I actually passed on the Super Autobot Brothers back in the RID line, I figured repaints were a generally dumb idea, why bother. I guess this is the exception. The paint job on this guy is fantastic. The original X-Brawn was pretty much just silver with a few green accents. Ratchet is mostly red with details painted all over. New paint ops include Black Trim and bumpers, a white stripe across the bottom of each side (it's larger than the original green stripe), the word Emergency across the front and Emergency Rescue across the sides, the top has silence painted on where the sunroof would go as well as a ladder and hose. A few MINOR complaints, the spare tire is solid gray, it looks generally boring and well, very un-tire-like. I guess it's better than the old green tire though. Also they should have spelled Emergency backwards across the front, you know, so it looks right in the rear view mirror. Also it would have been nice if the roof equipment (sirens, ladder, hose) had been physical pieces. A few other notes, the hood opens up to reveal the engine and both doors are capable of opening. The connection between the silver front piece and the car seems less right and the grille guard tends to fall off. Transformation Notes I've transformed X-Brawn so much I can do this pretty quick anymore. The first time I transformed him I had trouble getting the fist out but it seems to have loosened up. Also this complex transformation is nice to have after all the simplified garbage of Armada. Robot Mode Once again a lot of nice paint ops make this mold really stand out. I don't have an original X-Brawn here to compare, but comparing Ratchet to a few pictures online I see some places that were colored that aren't a some places that were not colored that aren't. It really helps it seem more like a different character personally. The robot mode still has some red visible around the edges due to the vehicle kibble but there is also now a lot more black and gray. the torso, feet, and some joints are black on their base color while the limbs have a lot of gray on them. There is also some nice gold colored accenting on the legs arms and chest. The head is gray with a while mask and gold eyes. The little emblem on his head is also white. Something else that is a nice change from Armada, articulation. Ratchet can take pretty much any pose you want him to take. Ball joints pretty much all around here, and all of them in useful places. Inferno (Red Alert) Vehicle Mode Don't doubt it for a second, this guy is Red Alert all the way. It works out even better since the original mold was Mach Alert. Ratchet's paintjob was superior to X-Brawn's this guy is in the same boat, only his boat is huge and made out of gold. Everything about this guy looks beautiful. I'm thinking the two colored siren lights are the deal closer though. I'm actually surprised they did it that way. Basically one is red, one is blue. I guess I do have one complaint before I go on, the base plastic for the doors and the rest of the body are different, so they are noticeably different colored. The doors were clear dark plastic so the white shows up white, the front and rear were obviously red base colored, so they show up pinkish. There is a red stripe basically where Prowl had a black stripe along the bottom of the car. The middle of the front hood is red colored as well and it reads Fire Rescue in white letters across the front. There are also some rather elaborate Fire Rescue emblems on each side. The spoiler also reads Fire Rescue and on the rear it says Chief. As a side note, Red Alert has Fire Chief on his stickers. Inferno also has a pair of missile launchers with flame shaped missiles. These can be attached to his roof lights or to his spoiler. Unlike RID Prowl, Inferno's launchers have blue flames. Transformation Notes Nothing in particular. His vehicle mode seems to fit together a little TOO tightly when going back to it from Robot mode, i.e. the panels won't fit all the way together. Robot Mode Inferno's Robot mode is generally more comparable to Prowl than RatchetX-Brawn were. The colors are very similar, basically where there is Blue on Prowl, it's red on Inferno. Where it's gray on Prowl, it's now a tannish color on Inferno. Oddly, the Autobot Symbol on his chest isn't painted, the plastic is very dark as well, you can't really see it at all. The clear plastic seems darker as well in general. Like Ratchet, Inferno is loaded with useful articulation. The flame launchers can be stuck on his back as sort of rocket boosters or attached to his arm as a weapon. I believe I will be using them as rocket boosters to help distinguish him from RID Prowl a bit more. Overall I've always liked these molds, it's a shame they didn't redo Sideburn as well. I was thinking maybe Tracks would be a good choice, but then I realized he would just look like normal Side Burn. Then I thought, maybe Hot Rod, but that would compete with Hot Shot, plus Super Side Burn already has that color scheme. I guess maybe they could do him up in Silver with black stripes and all him Bluestreak or something. I think there was a Botcom exclusive that did that though. To bad they won't make the female head for him anymore, they could do a Pink Arcee version. Anyway, back to the Transformers actually being reviewed, These guys are great., Strongly Recommended for both if you don't have the molds, maybe Highly Recommended if you do, especially if you like the originals. The Pain ops on these guys rock. Too bad the rest of the Universe line didn't fare this well.