Review – Transformers Ratchet Heads

Back in the 1980s several Transformers cartoon characters didn’t look quite like their toys. Skyfire was similar but not identical to Jetfire. Megatron’s cartoon was much cooler that his toy. Even Bumblebee’s cartoon design was different from the toy. But the worst offenders of all had to be Ironhide and Ratchet, two characters who appeared often in the cartoon but had toys that looked . . . well, to be honest the toys looked terrible. With stickers for faces the toys barely resembled their cartoon designs.

Above you can see the Transformers Encore Ratchet* and his awful sticker face. Is there a way we can fix that? Well, just like with the Kup head set I reviewed a few days ago there’s an upgrade that gives Ratchet a new head. But unlike Kup there are two different head sets.

Let’s look at both of them.

Best Toys

Up first is the Best Toys set of new heads for Ironhide and Ratchet. Available in a two-pack* and priced beween $20 and $30 for the pair of heads this is a simple upgrade that snaps directly onto the seat. The sculpt is a decent representation of the cartoon face, the plastic feels suitably durable, and everything is wonderful . . . except that the head doesn’t solve the problem with the arms and in fact makes the arms look even worse.

As you can see in the photo above this head makes it look like Ratchet’s arms are growing out of his ribs. The new head fits perfectly on the seat and generally looks good, but I’m saying that this is the weaker of the two kits because that arm problems really eats at me.

Gear4Toys

The second upgrade was released late last year and comes in between $30 and $40 ($60 for Ironhide and Ratchet if you can find someone selling the set). This kit includes a box that slips down on the toy providing Ratchet with a new head and new arms and a gun. Much, much better! And the way the existing Ratchet arms are used to hold the piece in place was an excellent idea. The plastic is nice, paint is okay, and everything is great . . . except for the head.

Below you can see the new head and my biggest complaint is that the wing detail on the head is far, far too big. It’s massive, clearly covering too much space and dropping down to kinda obscure poor Ratchet’s eyes. Eyes that, with the push of a button, lightup blue. If you enlarge the photo you can get a better look at these eyes. A great feature. It’s just too bad that the wing element on the head detracts from the lit eyes.

I also like that they provided Ratchet with a gun. In fact, if it wasn’t for that terribly large wing detail on the head I’d be saying that this is a Ratchet upgrade worth grabbing. It’s nicely done, locks neatly into place by using the existing arms to hold the part in place, and dramatically improves the toy.

Closing Thoughts

Unfortunately, unlike the Kup head set (review here) I cannot recommend either of these heads to those looking to improve the look of their classic Ratchet or Transformers Encore Ratchet* toys. Both of these upgrades have problems and I suspect that the smartest thing to do is just admit that the old toy design isn’t good and cannot be saved.

Too bad, because the thought of those older toys getting upgrades really appeals to me. It’s just that the execution on these two approaches leaves me suspecting that there are some toys that can never be improved to a point that they’re desireable.

Philip Reed also has an upgrade for G1 Prime that he should review . . . but it’s also not great and he’d rather play with a toy that’s fun.