Transformers: Alternators Jaguar XK Ravage is Something that Exists

 

The 1984 Transformers Ravage toy

While largely forgotten these days, Alternators was a precursor to the now-endless neo-G1 lines, the modern (not-)masterpiece scene, and the endemic East versus West fandom disputes of the 00's and 10's. I was around at the time, but never actually had one before this article. The alternators were pitched as modern updates to G1 characters with then-modern car altmodes, but car modes of the highest possible fidelity and officially licenced. Hasbro provided them without fiction, but Takara did a Takara, adding diecast metal to the toys, as well as tie-in fiction. This of course made the Takara Binaltech versions more desirable to certain collectors, and I can see where they are coming from, but diecast is a mixed blessing. Alternators and Binaltech eventually faded away, replaced by smaller and more accessible toys, but not before Takara revamped the line. And I am still too angry to talk about that, so you can read up on that abomination on your own time. More generally though, Alternators was pulled in several different directions, the car manufacturers being difficult, Takara being Takara, Hasbro being Hasbro, and an often inexplicable character selection. One notable example of this was Ravage, one of Soundwave's chest tape minions, whom somehow ended up with two distinct toys. As opposed to literally anyone else who could turn into a car already.

The other Alternator Ravage, circa 2004

I have two somewhat contradictory opinions on Ravage. The first off is that he is a cat, and therefore I'm predisposed to love him as a precious murder-baby whom can do no wrong. The other is that Ravage was the focus of possibly the best example of geewunner pandering ever animated, the Beast Wars episode "The Agenda (Part 1)". Built up as a badass special agent, the lad turns up and basically ends the beast wars in ten minutes. Arguably the least physically capable of the original Decepticons, which the cartoon depicted purely as an animal, is so overwhelming as to reset the series. By comparison, when Starscream's Ghost made an appearance, they remembered what a walking failure he was. I mention this as that episode as Takara used it to justify the first Ravage toy in this line, a headswap/convertible retool of Tracks. Via time travel weirdness and deep cut lore too convoluted to quickly recount here. In fairness, that may very well have been the original design intent, but I should mention that Japanese fiction is absolutely riddled with continuity porn like that. My research did not turn up a similar explanation for the second Ravage toy, our subject, as it was a 2007 example that never had a Japanese release. What I believe however, is that this toy exists as fortuitous result of licencing, where somebody said something like "Jaguars are cool cars, and we have somebody who is also a Jaguar.". That's too good an idea not to use.

Ravage's first toy was a Micro Change Micro Cassette Robo Jaguar, geddit?

So, the car mode. It's a Jaguar XK in 1:24 scale, part of the famous British Jaguar brand. Its a fairly memetic brand, one associated with style, wealth, and being a bit of a cad. They are viewed as luxurious and capable with a price to match, especially in running costs. Top Gear had strong opinions about these, before Clarkson had his mardy. I can imagine them not liking the brand's recent turn towards electric. Anyways, I wasn’t previously familiar with the XK, but its something very much in that vein. A stylish thing in black, a car for Englishmen to covet and occasionally squee over. The toy comes packaged like this, in a fancy bubble box. I'd imagine your average gearhead would be quite onboard and its not immediately obvious that this is actually a transforming toy, something the Alternators was consistently good at. It achieves this by avoiding anything in the transformation that would break the lines of the car, and adding all the little details commonly omitted from Transformers toys, both then and now. We're talking rubber wheels with visible break disks, actual wing mirrors, numberplates, translucent lights and an actual interior with opening doors. As a collectable model its very on point, if you look at it properly outside of that display bubble you will find robot bits, like the back window for example, but Its otherwise nicely done. Getting the car right was clearly the focus of the enterprise. That said, actual play features aren't here, yes it rolls, but that's about it, and it is not in right-hand drive. Boo.

 

After a somewhat fiddly panel-forming transformation, the jaguar mode, sorry, robot mode is somewhat less impressive. On the one hand, its not trying to be humanoid, its a cat. Its the first and last Alternator to try that, while being one of only two unique Decepticons in the line, and thus needs to be graded differently. On the other, there's an awful lot of loose panels here. The head and paws are doing a lot of work to characterise the toy, and it looks decidedly skinny beneath the car bits. I do like how much more colourful the robot mode is versus the car, adding more accents along with the grey. Articulation is mixed; there's much in the head, and neck, although the limbs are limited at the shoulders and hips. The hips are especially worrying in that they use translucent plastic and were very tight. As there's no outward motion, Ravage looks a bit stiff, although he is quite stable. His distinctive missiles meanwhile have their own articulated arms, so you have options. Not the worst cat mode Ravage ever had, and he's had some awful ones since, but far from a triumph with all those car bits everywhere.

 

 
As my first foray into the Alternators line, Ravage is pleasant but flawed. I'm aware that this toy isn't that representative of the line as a whole, but that was part of the reason why I got it. Flawed as it is, I do like the exceptions. I suspect that the earlier Tracks-retool might possibly be better overall, going by the numbers as it were, Beast Wars etc, but this is clearly the fun one. I also suspect some of the negatives here are things I wouldn't like about the more conventional Alternators. The slavish devotion to the car mode is both a strength and a weakness, and this supposedly one of the simpler examples. That said, its far from bad. And its not often that you can say you have a jaguar that turns into a Jaguar.