The Binaltech interpetation of "Ravage" was the second of the highly controversial releases of the toyline following the Grimlock Mustang GT. Ravage has been designated BT-11 although it is not technically the 11th release of the Japanese Binaltech line (repaints and all...) and is another Chevrolet Corvette, but this time as a convertible. This is the second figure in the Binaltech line to not originally have had a vehicular alternate form. Ravage was of course originally a cassette that turned into a jaguar. I think Grimlock caused more of an uproar in terms of being a car, whereas Ravage's detractors may not only have been part of the "Ravage was not a car" camp, but also in the camp that thought the whole thing had just been done badly.

Once again, there was virtually no chance that this was going to be widely welcomed by the fandom as a whole, possibly even less than Grimlock. I have to admit that when I saw the pictures of the test shot in late 2004, I thought the vehicle mode was simply stunning. I like the Vette mould very much, and the black seemed to have a very evil look to it, especially with the red highlights. The robot mode however...well I'll come back to that later as it was pretty much the main talking (or shouting) point. Before official release information was available, it was widely thought that this release would be called "Battle Ravage" since the test shots said "BTLRVG" on the license plates. Then it was thought that maybe the BT release would be "Jaguar", but it was eventually finalised as "Ravage" for Binaltech and "Battle Ravage" for Alternators.

The outer packaging has the same uniform and consistent look to it, making it a perfect fit for any collector who displays their Binaltechs packaged next to one another. The circular apertures again provide a nice peek at the front and rear of Ravage's vehicle mode.

As with all Binaltech releases, the car is suspended within a 3-piece clear plastic casing and is held secure in place by twisty-ties and by sellotape which keeps the casing closed. The casing is placed on the display stand within the box. The display stand for Ravage is white, unlike almost all of the other BT releases which had dark blue display stands. The only other previous Binaltech to have had a white display stand was BT-05 Dead End, and BT-13 Laserwave has since been packaged with the same white display stand. It's not just Decepticons that get the white stand seeing as how Swindle had the standard blue stand, so it must be a display and contrast issue. The very dark coloured cars get the white display stand to make them stand out more, and it really does work very well.

Once again, Takara manage to create a wonderfully attractive and contrasting picture when toy and display stand are combined thatnks to the mutual complimentation of the two seperate items. Ravage looks beautiful on his stand that really accentuates his dark and mysterious features in vehicle mode. One of my absolute favourite moments during the process of reviewing a Binaltech is always the moment when I edit the photographs of the toy on the display stand in Photoshop and get to see how they have come out. So far, I have not been disappointed once! That is more down to the design choices made in presenting these toys than my photography. Take a moment to absorb just how awesome Ravage looks on his stand in the second picture above...just amazing.

The usual suspects are all here as far as paperwork and inserts are concerned; the booklet containing the instructions, backstory and system description, the hand weapon/engine and the collector's card. A reasonably expressive pose for the collector's card art has been chosen and the toy itself can of course replicate that pose, although the head probably cannot come up that high. Due to Ravage's very dark appearance, the card art is not as colourful as some of the others and probably doesn't stand out as much, but then Ravage is all about evil and stealth so it suits him perfectly. The standard of the art or presentation is not at all of a lower standard than any of the previous releases and is therefore still highly impressive and an essential part of the package.

Now, the System Description and the backstory contained within the booklet are where things really start to get interesting. The story is that ex-members of an intelligence and information agency ("Triple-I") happened across a capsule, or what they thought was a capsule, from a prehistoric site dig. It turns out that the capsule was in fact a flight recorder from the future, belonging to the Ravage in the Beast Wars series. That Ravage has been referred to as "X-9". Those ex-members of Triple-I managed to set up a correspondance with Ravage/X-9 and in exchange for technology and info from the future, they agreed to provide X-9 with a new body. The Binaltech Corvette body was born and the original cassette/jaguar Ravage (who was being held by the EDC - Earth Defense Command) was forced to remain in stasis lock as a cassette in the Binaltech chassis' dashboard in order to provide a spark for the whole entity. Incidentally, the cassette Ravage is referred to in the System Description graphic as "Jaguar", the original Japanese Takara name for Ravage in the 80s. Despite security precautions, Ravage was able to overcome his latest 'allies', kill them and be free to do as he pleased, planning to change the future.

This piece of characterisation and storytelling by Hirofumi Ichikawa single-handedly cemented BT Ravage to the hearts of a truly significant number of collectors who had previously chosen to forsake this release based on its toy design and concept. Simply marvellous work, and an undoubtedly profound contribution to the figure and the toyline as a whole.

The main event. Ravage as a Corvette is sleek, aerodynamic, fast, stealthy and mean. In that respect, he fits the Ravage persona superbly so far. It's lovely to look at and despite being the third Corvette in the line (and not the last), I welcomed it greatly, but not everybody saw it that way. When some of the first test shot pictures surfaced in an auction, I will never forget the furore that surrounded the auctions and the pictures. Despite being so badly received by so many, the auction garnered a huge amount of interest and the demand for the item was huge at that time. It was easily the most controversial thing the line had seen so far and the discussions and arguments were endless. Whatever camp you were in, it seemed as though everybody wanted more pictures, more angles, more information.

Be sure to check out the above thumbnail of the head-on view as it really does portray the best features of the vehicle mode nicely. The proportions, curves and lovely red accents of the scheme as a whole make for a very successful alt. mode. The hubs are of course chromed and are simple 5-spoke compared to the earlier Tracks releases which had dull grey hubs with a slightly more complex 5-spoke design. Black, red and chrome. Very Decepticon.

Looking equally as impressive from the rear as from the front, Ravage continues to be a pleasure to behold. In my opinion black wouldn't work as well for every single mould in the line such as the Imprezas, Mustangs or Jeeps, the way it works for Ravage as a Corvette. One of the only disappointments of the vehicle mode is the fact that you can see the feet under the front bumper, and it disturbs the shape of the vehicle quite a bit. Despite the fact that it stands out, it says a lot for the mould that it doesn't detract a lot from the overall image.

The next few pictures illustrate some of Ravage's extra features in vehicle mode:

All doors bar the trunk open in vehicle mode. The engine that doubles up as BT-11's hand gun underneath the hood matches the scheme Ravage as a whole, although that's more coincidental as opposed to deliberate as far as the engine colours are concerned. The original black repaint of the Diaclone Corvette Stingray and the black repaint of reissue G1 Tracks based on the former were all very nice to look at and worked excellently as repaints, and this follows the same kind of route with a lot of grey (especially the launchers and thighs) on show.

The close up of his left front wheel shows in detail the chromed hub and the brake disc/pad mechanism underneath. The wheels are articulated via the tabbed mechanism seen previously on the BT-06 Tracks and on BT-10 Grimlock, so no magnetic features here.

The interior is reasonably detailed although there are no pedals or even much of a floor, but it's a small detail. Just like Tracks, the sportscar feel and main features and staples have been succesfully translated into a Transformer and only the most pedantic of collectors should be upset with the level of detail of the vehicle mode. The last picture above shows how Ravage comes apart during transformation.

Right then, this is where the temperature starts to rise in the room. The robot mode is of course exactly the same as that of BT-06 Tracks, with the exception of the cat's head where there was previously a humanoid head. I believe that this was where most of the disappointment had stemmed from; instead of trying to maybe incorporate claws and possibly a different chest section (after all this is no longer "Tracks" and therefore no longer really requires the false G1-style chest homage) only the colours and the head were altered to fit Ravage. Maybe it wasn't as last-minute as some may suggest (a la Dead End) since the head mould has apparently been around for a while. Also, I think maybe the general idea of having Ravage as a robot may not have appealed to a number of people. At this point, I was sitting squarely on the fence and I could not decide at all whether I liked the robot mode or not. From some angles it seemed to work very well, but from others it just looked...wrong. Initially I disliked the large Decepticon logo on the fake chest but I've grown used to it in time.

Despite all of the above, I think the head mould is actually very nice and very Ravage and the overall proportions of the robot are good as are the colours.

It's only when you start posing the figure that you get a true picture of how the cat head fits in with the rest of the body. In most of the pictures it looks like it fits in fine, but it really does take some getting used to. I think it looks better when Ravage is posed in a calmer and serene fashion as opposed to an intense fighting or action pose. The mould itself is very good for posing and is afforded extra (and much needed) stability by the heels that fold out from under the robot feet. The red arm cannons, missiles, gun, knees and seats really break up what would have been an otherwise monotonous scheme. The chromed hubs add a little something extra to the figure mode that wasn't present on Tracks, but it's debatable as to whether the chrome actually improves the robot's look anywhere near as much as it augments the vehicle mode.

I do love the way the evil red eyes stand out so much in every picture...

On second thought, Ravage actually looks pretty good even when in an intense action pose, so I guess it really does just depend on the angle, the lighting etc as to whether this guy really works or not as a robot. I especially like the way Ravage looks when the missile launchers are pointed upwards as opposed to forwards. He is just as poseable as Tracks was and the head certainly gives it a character all of its own and it's a 100% recogniseable and unmistakeable Ravage...so I guess they succeeded in that respect.

As mentioned above, the head sculpt is actually pretty nice and captures the feel of the character extremely well. Well-proportioned and positioned features, and a jaw that opens a small amount (the extent of which can be seen in the first pic). Unfortunately, just like Tracks' head, it doesn't enjoy much vertical neck articulation so the poses are a little limited in that regard.

I'll come back to the head sculpt a little later, but for now here's the Alternators version of "Battle Ravage" underneath the BT release:

Alternators Battle Ravage was released with the later-themed red packaging as opposed to the earlier blue Hasbro packaging. There is also no plastic window, just the bubble around the toy secured underneath the cardboard. Battle ravage is No.11 in the Hasbro which matches up nicely with BT-11 in the Takara series (Alternators Windcharger No.10 had a lower designation number than Battle Ravage, the numbering order was reversed for BT). The Alternator package as usual looks a little more colourful and the character art on the front is unique and very welcomed. Having said that though, if you look at the wheelhubs on Battle Ravage's boxart, they are in fact the wheels from Tracks, not the simpler 5-spoke chrome set that Battle Ravage should have. A disappointing oversight really, but none that has any effect on things really.

The co-advertised figure on the bottom of Alternators Battle Ravage's box is Windcharger, so unlike Binaltech where the co-advertised figure is almost always the character with the same base mould, with Alternators it tends to be recent/upcoming releases.

Can you tell which is the Binaltech and which is the Alternator from the pictures? If you can then you're a good deal better at this than I am, because even in person, from a reasonable photographic distance I still can't tell the difference. When you get up closer you will start to notice the smaller differences between a painted diecast section and moulded plastic section. Obviously, the minute you pick either figure up you will know instantly which it is. It's no secret that I generally prefer the feel and presentation of the Binaltechs compared to Alternators, and therefore it's no surprise that I would say the BT is the superior item. The hood is a good example of a major difference as it feels almost flimsy on the Alt. whereas it's solid on the BT. The Alternator won't suffer paint chipping however.

The Alternator came out earlier than the Japanese Binaltech Ravage. It was first seen in Asia and then in the US. It actually felt like quite a long wait between the Alternator and Binaltech release. The wait for BT-12 Overdrive after Alt Windcharger was equally long.

One major difference I did spot between the two figures was the hand gun/engine paint application. The red paint goes all the way down the sides of the engine on the BT but only about halfway down the sides on the Alternator weapon. Interestingly enough, the Alternators Swerve which is also a Corvette with the same weapon has a hand gun much more reminiscent of the Binaltech release, i.e., the red paint goes down to the bottom on both sides.

Now to compare Binaltech Ravage to his G1 predecessor:

The original cassette Ravage didn't have any red highlights so that is a new standout feature of the Binaltech, and other than the robot head there's really very little comparison that can be made. As I said before, both have sleek, dark and stealthy modes...although there's probably not very much stealth involved with a Corvette roaring down the street. OK, it LOOKS stealthy.

Because of the backstory, it is not such an unusual situation to have the original form alongside the newer incarnation of Ravage, but the idea is that he is held within the car's dashboard to provide a spark, so none of the above shenanigans are actually possible if the story is to be followed.

Speaking of Ravage's head...

The top picture is from the G1 cassette Ravage (of Takara Microchange series heritage of course), the middle picture is the Binaltech and the bottom picture is taken from the G1 US series cartoon. Obviously the dimensions of the cassette head have to be particularly angular so that when it is brought together it can resemble a cuboid cassette as well as possible, plus, since it was originally a Microchange toy, it was never based off a cartoon or character so there isn't a lot of merit in discussing the similarities between the G1 toy and the on-screen representation of Ravage. The Binaltech, however, does what other BTs have done before it and has come up with a head sculpt that honours the on-screen character it is based on. Red eyes, outward-pointing ears, correct fang placement, protruding sections after the jaw and a muzzle that looks almost the same as the cartoon Ravage. The eyes of the BT head sculpt are a little more forward-facing and not so much on the side of his head, but overall, an excellent effort.

Here's a picture of all the Alternators and Binaltech Corvettes released up to July 2005:

You can spot a few things from that above picture; the change in display stand colour for BT Ravage, the changing location of the yellow triangle (that houses the release number) on the Alternators packaging and of course the fact that there hasn't been a mass-release yellow Alternators Tracks or a Binaltech Swerve, although the latter may be seen soon.

It's an attractive car that makes a lovely Binaltech/Alternators mould, and they do look lovely together. From left to right in all five pictures above we have: BT-06 Tracks (yellow), BT-06 Tracks (Blue), Alternators Swerve and BT-11 Ravage. Ravage definitely holds his own against the others visually, and in fact due to it's modifications, stands out nicely. Definitely one of the stronger things Takara have done with the Corvette mould thus far. The colours above do tend to mirror original G1 repaints of Tracks. Swerve (red Corvette) was the first incarnation of the original mould as a Diaclone and later as the repainted E-Hobby exclusive Road Rage, Tracks was of course blue as a TF so the BT-06 in blue is perfect for that and black is of course Ravage's original colour as a jaguar/cassette. And of course there was a black Diaclone Corvette Stingray from Finland as well as the Lucky Draw Black Tracks reissue so that too has history as a Corvette colour. What about Yellow Tracks? Well there are some whisperings that a certain collector owns a yellow G1 Tracks mould as a test shot/factory thing...hmmm....aaaaanyway, the robot modes...

As before, they do all look very very good together and that is a tribute to a mould that possesses a very strong vehicle mode and a very good figure mode as well...if you can deal with Ravage's head on this body. Which I can. And of course, whenever you have this many BTs/Alts in close proximity, there's bound to be some silliness...

Here's a little something special now. Binaltech Ravage is of course a black repaint of what was originally the Binaltech Tracks, so in essence it is a 'Black Binaltech Tracks". So here are a couple of shots of the Binaltech Ravage with another "Black Tracks"...

Obviously the Binaltech has not been based at all heavily on the G1 Black Tracks the way that BT-06 has been based on the G1 blue Tracks, but things to note include grey launchers on both (but G1 Black Tracks has grey missiles not red)...and that appears to be it. However, if I had compared the BT to the ORIGINAL Diaclone Black Tracks (Corvette Stingray) you would have seen that both share not only grey launchers, but grey thighs, arms and hands...so maybe it was half-modelled on the original. And maybe not, it is supposed to be Ravage after all, nothing else. Beyond all of that, the two do look excellent together and it goes to show that it's hard to go wrong with a black Corvette repaint...if you can deal with Ravage's head on this body. Which I can.

That's really all there is to say on Binaltech Ravage, which may be a little surprising considering how much people had to say about it when it was first announced and the test shots/salesmen samples were seen on the Internet in late 2004. Ravage has a beautiful vehicle mode, a robot mode that is not to everyone's tastes and a bio whose ingenuity and originality stunned disbelievers into becoming believers. Takara must have had some idea that parts of the fandom would have a tremendously hard time accepting a feline head on a robot body in a toyline that is considered by so many, possibly too many, to be a G1 homage line. Sometimes it's hard to NOT think of it as such when Takara and Hasbro go to so many efforts to incorporate nice touches and memorable features from the original toys and cartoon. But maybe they should be considered as just that; nice touches on what is a NEW toyline, with NEW toys and NEW ideas. Binaltech Ravage is certainly something very new, mostly untried and the product of an open mind and an idea that takes a significant risk. The result is a distinct Love/Hate appeal with very little room on the fence.

But let's concentrate on the positives, and it doesn't get much better than this...

...if you can handle the head that is. And I can.

All the best
Maz

You can pick up your own BT-11 Ravage here