Rumble: Transformer Prime

Are you ready to Rumble? Oh yes, this time with a bigger size of him. Let’s just forget about him being the small minion cassette working for Soundwave, he has made a comeback with solid samurai looking “beast” in the new Transformer Prime toyline. Though he comes about in the toyline, he doesn’t actually make any appearances in the Prime cartoon series.

Anyhow, there are actually 2 versions of this Rumble. One by Hasbro and another from Takara. Both of the same mold and the differences are the weapons and the colors, which are of the norm. I didnt get the Takara version of him and can’t do a comparison between them. But if you are interested in knowing how different they are, you can click here to see the picture from Seibetron. I will focus more on the Hasbro version here.

(A) Alternate Mode
Contrary from being small cassette, Rumble appears to be in a something like a  Mercedes A180 alt mode. Nothing much to shout out for and it isn’t meant to be sporty. To be frank, it is a bit clumsy with a turtle shell design wrapped with four sport rims to give it more “speedy” look.

Overall colors are of “attractive” neon cyan with a mixture of black and red coloring for all the windows. Personally, i think Takara version has the better dark blue version which closely matches back of how a Rumble should be.

The Decepticon logo is embedded on the front grill of the alt mode with poorly painted black background (as you can see in the picture). Don’t bother looking for different color treatment to the headlights as there are none. Guess they wanna make those headlight “smoky”?

The side profile with simple and plain details. There are 2 5mm ports for you to plug in the weapons on both sides. As normal, no special treatment/color to the rims and tyres.

Another downside of this Rumble is that the clearance between the bottom of the car and the ground  is of very little clearance. This thus making it hard to move or even have the risk of scratching the parts below it. You can refer to the “Bottom view” picture below to have a glimpse of how it looks like.

The rear is the worst part of the entire vehicle. Plain details and no color at all. You will get another smaller “unattractive” Decepticon logo at the rear as well. And the worst part of it, the linings of the plastic somehow depict  a cute smiley robot face. Can’t believe what you are seeing? Look closely. 🙂

The entire vehicle is just plain cyan if you tell me. He is just like a sweet cute candy color which really contrasts to what a Rumble should be: menacing and dreadful.

Here’s the bulky view of the bottom of the alt mode. You have to really make sure the parts are pushed in more to allow for more land-to-body clearance during alt mode.

(B) Robot Mode
Okay, first thought of Rumble in robot mode, he does remind me of the anime Guren Lagann. The resemblance is deducted due to the design of the chest plate which somehow representing a wicked face. The same goes with Guren Lagann characters who have chest part bearing a face.

In the robot mode, there’s an additional color being painted which is something like a luminescence yellow color which looks like they can glow in the dark. But sorry to disappoint you that they do not glow in the dark and they are just merely normal glossy paint.

Rumble does have a big shoulder pad design this round and this make him more like a Samurai looking robot. In the meantime, if you notice why there are 2 thin pieces projecting out of the back of him. Well, that’s supposed to be his back cannons as a reminiscent to the G1 form. They are a bit awkward, IMHO, as first impression you might think that’s a design flaw which is entirely not necessary.

The side profile showing the squarish form of him. The shoulder pad itself constituting almost 50% of the entire side view. The back kibble doesn’t contribute to any weight and therefore the figure is very much stable in certain way. But sad to say, with the poor design lower leg portion (the ankle joint can’t be push forward/upward), you might need some method to make him stand confidently.

A bit hollowness can be observed on the legs and please notice that i have to make the ankle/leg joints to twist a bit in order to make him stand better.

One good thing about this figure is the abundant usage of light piping materials (the same red transparent plastic used with all the car windows) to light up the head and the chest section. With just little light shine thru the head piece, you be sure to get a pair of  light up eyes.

Closed up view to show clearly the chest section depicting a face where you have 2 big red eyes taking dominance on the visual composition of the part.

Articulation Mapping

Note on the waist joint. It does have a ball joint BUT due to the front crotch plate which is obstructing the movement of the waist joint, you pretty much can’t utilize much on that joint.

(C) Transformations
Transformation is intermediate at first. There’s a transformation gimmick in Rumble which is being highlighted below.

(D) Gimmicks

(E) Size Comparison
A simple size comparison with his brothers in arm. Well, seem like Knockout is the smallest in all as compared to the bulky two.

(F) Gallery of Goodies
Some photos of Rumble in alt and robot mode.

(G) Conclusion
Personally me myself don’t quite fancy the alt mode of this figure. Colors are off and so to the details are plainly done in alt mode. Robot mode and the light piping mechanism does pull up some points. In addition, the idea of of having a face on the chest part is something “bold” and daring I must say but it does show the idea are copied from others.

My PCR for him: 5/10
What I like – Light piping mechanism; pretty nice head sculpt; robot mode design isn’t too bad (just minus the 2 weird thin projecting back cannons)

What I dislike?– Candy colored; details are less in alt mode; unattractive alt mode; less gimmick which leads to lesser play-ability; limited land-to-body clearance making the vehicle hard to move; certain joints don’t perform well (waist & ankle/leg joint)

Until then, enjoy hunting and hauling! Click the “Like” above or below the post to spread the poison around! Sharing is caring afterall! 🙂