Ransack

www.botchthecrab.com

Continuing with the overall goal for this year, I have yet another Transformer from the 1985 assortment.  This time, we're going to look at Ransack, the Deluxe Insecticon warrior.  I purchased him with his box and an unused set of decals for what I consider a steal at the first part of the year.

 

Being a figure that was imported by Hasbro from Takatoku Toys, and not Takara, Ransack was not featured in either the animated series or the comic.  This seems to be a running theme of the 1985 assortment.  Like many of the non-Takara produced figures, Ransack didn't start making appearances in fiction until Dreamwave decided to use him.

Ransack and his fellow Takatoku brethren in Micromaster #1 by Dreamwave.  tfwiki.net

Once that happened, Ransack started to show up all over the place.  He's shown up in the Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs the Transformers series, 3H comics, and multiple issues of the IDW comics as well as the Regeneration One continuity.  This is one in demand bot!

Ransack's alt-mode is a locust.  It's a fairly good looking mode.  The black, yellow, and orange make for a good grouping of colors.  His antennae are moveable, for what reason, I'm not entirely sure.  The wings move up and down as well to simulate a flying action.

I do have a few issues with Ransack once he's in robot mode, however.  If you notice the box art at the top of this review, Ransack is holding his shield in a way that might actually be useful.  He's doing the same with his gun.  Try that with figure and prepare to be disappointed.  Unlike the other Deluxe Insecticon that I currently own, Venom, Ransack is unable to move his arms up and down.  His arms move to the side, and that's about it.  As a matter of fact, that's the only articulation Ransack has besides the wings that flip up, which is a shame, really.

Lack of articulation aside, Ransack is a very nice figure to look at. 

This is the box that I got with the Ransack.  I didn't get the insert, but I'm not really concerned about boxes or inserts.  The price tag from Kay Bee stores is still on it, and I find that more fascinating than the box itself. Seeing price tags just reminds me of the good old days, I suppose.

My particular Ransack box has an "AM" sticker on it.  Some boxed samples had this sticker, some didn't.  I used to know what that meant, but I can't remember now for the life of me.  If anyone has any info on this, please let me know.

Back of the box.  Sadly, the Robot Points were cut out, but I still have the tech spec, and most importantly, the awesome box art showing a red Tracks gunning for Jetfire.

The seller did include a tech spec decoder, the instructions, and an unused decal sheet, however.  As you can see, they're in rough shape.  It's still nice to have them.

Well, that's two Deluxe Insecticons in the collection, and another 1985 figure added.  There are only a few left for me to get, and only 7 more months to get them.  Will I get them all before the year's up?  Most likely, but it's always fun to add a little suspense.  Next week, we change things up a bit by reviewing a Transformer that I purchased.  Hope everyone's okay with that.