Hot take: Ratchet deserves at least as much hate as Soundwave for having an outdated alt mode. Can you imagine modern EMTs trying to work with Ratchet's usual alt mode? It would be a disaster.
You were very kind to the Universe Ratchet. He was definitely a flea market level figure (mainly because of how sloppy he looks). If there wasn’t any context to the G1 version I would say the same about him too, but knowing the history of diaclone and how in this instance the toy released first he gets a bit of a pass. Otherwise pretty close to how I would have rated them. Thanks for your take and look forward to seeing more content.
I had all of the G1 Transformers as a child and the ‘84-‘85 are some of the best. Ratchet/Ironhide, yes they were quirky ‘bots, but didn’t all of the G1 toys have limitations of the era they were designed and produced? I agree with you that G1 Ratchet/Ironhide were fun toys.
My favorites are the Earth mode Animated Ratchet and the yellow Studio Series version. I loved Animated, and I always liked Ratchet's movie design and it's a nice figure. Oh, and the Prime figure as well. That was great.
I'd had a thought the other day. G1 Rodimus Prime had a Battle Sled, rather than a mobile base like Optimus. I'm surprised there was never G2 retools into Ironhide and Ratchet.
The only Ratchet I've managed to get my hands on is the first Japanese reissue of G1 Ratchet, complete with cardboard head. Someday maybe I'll get a more modern version. As for the van, maybe he scanned one from a small village town that couldn't get a real ambulance so they mocked up a van?
9:40 THANKYOU! The G1 Ratchet and Ironhide toys get _so_ much flak for not being like the cartoon, when it's really the other way around. I actually loved that in the first comics, they actually _did_ depict them in those forms, until the more cartoony design took over. I actually do like the Earthrise Ratchet (though I did have to just repaint a Shattered Glass one to get him), but I've always hoped they'd revisit that G1 design someday, maybe as a third mode for a Voyager figure. One you're missing is the RiD Ratchet, the Strongarm retool.
I think Studio Series movie Ratchet belongs lower on the list, and I think DOTM Ratchet deserves to be a bit higher. SS Ratchet just copied a lot of DOTM’s stuff but made the backpack worse, lost a lot of the color detail, and threw in some faux pieces.
I really enjoy your video TJ on your tier list of the Ratchet toys. I would agree with you of how you place them on the tier list. Animated earth mode Ratchet is a very good Transformer I recently maybe in the last year got one for a very good price at a toy show minus one of his tools. He is not my favorite Transformers Animated figure from the line but he is still a good figure from the line. I will say I did have the NEST Global Alliance deluxe Ratchet a long time ago when he was release. I will say I did like a couple of things about that movie Ratchet deluxe. First off it was very cool he had his EMP Generator which was a nod to Transformers Animated Ratchet and that you could plug his EMP into one of his forearms and there would be gears that are built into his forearm that would wrap around the EMP and look like his arm is transforming into the EMP Generator. I also like the fact that his legs were accurate to the ILM character model of Ratchet from the live action movie and lastly I like that if you pull his bumper down the small little lights on the front of the vehicle mode would move in a triangle formation. I will say it is not my favorite deluxe Ratchet I have since sold that NEST Global Alliance deluxe Ratchet a year or so ago. My favorite Deluxe movie Ratchet is the Dark of the Moon deluxe. I like the fact that Hasbro painted the back windows and doors of the vehicle mode which makes the alt mode more complete. I also like the part of transformation where you rotate the front part of the vehicle mode in order to make the front of his chest in robot mode. Fun bit of engineering that went into the Dark of the Moon deluxe Ratchet. Enjoy the video keep up the great work TJ Omega.
I share your general dislike of the movie-aesthetic (and the Bumblebee and RotB both proved it was very possible to do something closer to the G1 look), but the movie Ratchet design is top notch. And like you, I was very happy with the Dark of the Moon Toys. I always kind of liked Beast Hunters Ratchet. He didn't feel like much of a Ratchet, but it was a cool, almost Junkion-ish design. Regular Prime Ratchet has a lot of really neat engineering tricks, though if they ever return to him (or Animated Ratchet), I'd like to see either as a Voyager rather than a deluxe. The universe toy is just trash.
I think age of extinction and combiner wars was when transformers were at their lowest point. It’s sad because that’s when I was really big into collecting figures. I would now, but it’s too damn expensive to do so also I hate that the definitive versions of figures are coming out later on instead of first.
Aren't G1 Ratchet and Ironhide technically gerwalks? I was so excited for Combiner Wars and it ended up being such a repaint/retool cash grab run. I was pretty let down by it.
For the first time ever I disagree with you. I actually cried when I opened my G1 Ratchet thinking it was Jazzz., because I had the black knockoff Iron Hide already I was humiliated as a child to have both , where I substituted my GO Bots in those must have battles.
G1 Rachet belongs in the Flea market tier. I get your point but I still disagree with you. The proportions even for a G1 toy were off, the battle sled was meh, and they really couldn't have figured out how to retool it to have a proper head? Really? Not even some crummy clip on plastic head that would get lost with all the spring loaded missiles and fists?
They didn't retool anything year 1, the point was to be a quick cash grab toyline but it was too popular to stop making. So no, no additional parts or retools.
Like TJ said, blame Sunbow for the inaccuracy. The toy was designed for a previous line and the G1 aesthetic didn't exist then. I still blame Sunbow for making Rumble lavender.
I'd move the one from Flea Market and put it at the bottom of Bargan Bin and take all of the Movie Ratchets and put those in Flea Market. I HATE Ratchet's movie design. It's not even an Ambulance. It's been 17 years since the first movie came out and I've still never seen that vehicle in real life. It seems to be a totally made up emergency vehicle that does not exist. He's a Hummer painted puke green with red emergency logos on it and you know why this doesn't actually exist as a real emergency vehicle. Cause people need to be able to easily spot an emergy vehicle so they can get out of the way and let them have the right of way but movie Ratchet's color scheme is not something that can be easily spotted and recognized as an emergency vehicle. It looks too much like a civilian Hummer. Green and Red, red/green color blindness is one of the most common forms so a lot of people can't even see the emergency markings on that vehicle. That's why real ambulances are WHITE not green to create as much contrast with the red as possible so people can actually see it. It's not just that it's an ugly design that looks nothing like the character, it's an ugly design that looks nothing like an ambulance and would be a safety hazard that can never actually function as an ambulance in real life. Of all movie Transformers Ratchet is the absolute worst. Even when he's repainted into his proper G1 colors he still doesn't look like anything. Kinda hard to be a robot in dusguise when your vehicle mode is literally the only one that exists. Flea Market all of those puke green things.
