General Information:
Release Date: July 2009
Price Point: $7.99 (varies depending on retailer)
Retailer: General (Toys R Us, Target, Wal-Mart etc.)
Accessories: None
Text from Hasbrotoyshop.com:
REVERB loves being a DECEPTICON. Since the war began, he’s got to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other, meet hundreds of interesting beings, and help to annihilate them. All that violence has been nonstop fun, as far as he is concerned. The other DECEPTICONS seem to enjoy being gloomy, but that doesn’t bother REVERB. He’s not going to let them ruin his fun.
Add this DECEPTICON defender to your collection! Convert from robot mode to a monstrous motorcycle in vehicle mode! Recreate exciting movie scenes – or stage new battles of your own – right there in your living room!
Not too long after the release of the first wave of "Revenge of the Fallen" Scout Class figures, this set of new sculpts has begun to get the redeco treatment. One of the first redecos released for this line is Reverb, a redeco of Knock out. This review will focus on the changes made to this figure for this release. To get my thoughts on the sculpt and mechanics of the figure, check out the Knock Out review.
Robot Mode:
Redecos are not always easy to do. They are a mixed bag because you need to find a way to distinguish them from the original figure they are based on while also presenting something that is cool as a stand alone figure. The easiest route to take is give the figure a deco that resembles that of a popular character or a character that is part of a "set". The Botcon 2007 set is a perfect example of this. In the case of Reverb, the designers created a character that is new to the movie universe whose deco is very different from Knock Out.
Reverb is made up of four primary plastic colors: red, black, maroon and light grey. This is a very different mix of colors than Knock Out, who was mostly black and darker colors. The visual impact of this is that it makes him look significantly different from Knock Out despite no retooling being done on the figure. The colors are distributed well on the figure. The red is found mostly on parts from the vehicle mode such as the curved panels on his chest and his forearms. The light grey and maroon alternate as parts of his arms, waist and legs. As you would expect, the black color comes from his wheels. The maroon color surprised me the most as it is a very muted shade of red compared to the brighter red used for his arms, head, chest etc. I like this contrast a lot. In a way, it emphasizes that there is a robot in disguise underneath all the vehicle mode parts that may look different than his "outer shell".
Paint applications are done in blue, white, light blue, black and metallic light blue. The blue and white work together to form many of the vehicle mode's design details. Here they are broken up, but you can see them most evident on his chest, where the center is blue with a white stripe on the side. The numbers "9" and "7" appear on the left and right sides of his chest respectively. Similar details can be seen on his arms and legs. The light blue is used for the headlights of the vehicle mode. The black and metallic light blue colors are used together to paint the part of the robot head that resembles a mask sweeping back and up. While all the details on this figure look great, I think the paint design on the head is my favorite part. It really stands out from all the red and blue and looks like colors we're used to seeing from the palette of silvers and greys used in the movies.
I think it was an interesting choice to make Reverb into a Decepticon. Granted, it balances out Knock Out being an Autobot, but his colors are rather "happy" compared to the "dark" colors of Knock Out. Indeed, Reverb's colors seriously remind me of the G2 Autobot Laser Cycle and I wouldn't be surprised if some homage thinking was at work here.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Swing the heel piece on each foot into the front foot piece and swing them up.
- Move the wheels on his shoulders up.
- Rotate the forearms out to the sides.
- Swing the panels of the vehicle mode on the chest up and connect them together in the middle.
- Swing the wheel on Reverb's back up.
- Swing the legs up against the back of the robot and connect the side panels to the clips towards the front of the vehicle.
- Swing each of the wheel halves/robot arm sections back and connect the two arms and the halves of the wheels together.
Vehicle Mode:
In vehicle mode, a lot of the parts come together to solidify some of the colors into cohesive details. The red panels all connect here, covering up almost all evidence of the light grey and maroon parts from the robot mode. The maroon plastic is still evident in the middle of the motorcycle, right where the seat is, and the grey can still be seen on the hinge piece that connects to the rear wheels as well as the handlebars.
The blue and white paint applications now come together, forming a strip of blue that runs from the front of the vehicle all the way to the back, with only a couple small breaks here and there. The white forms the outer perimeter of the blue details, again running from the front to the back of the vehicle. Blue and white are also used on the side panels, where they form angled details. White is used on top of the blue for a Decepticon symbol on each panel as well as the words "Calauy Racing" in script. The numbers "97" appear on the front of the vehicle in white as well as on the rear section on the sides. Metallic blue is used on the sides of the wheels. While we saw hints of many of these details on Reverb in robot mode, it is nice to see them come together. His details definitely give him the look of a vehicle that belongs in races.
Final Thoughts:
Reverb is a really nice redeco. The figure is clearly different than its source figure and through colors, manages to establish a visual identity all its own. Not everyone will want to spend another $7.99 on a redeco, but I do recommend this figure highly if you're into redecos or want to bolster your Decepticon army.
