Red Alert

Height: 14.5cm (robot mode)

Articulation: 20 total points - Ball joint neck; 5 points each arm: ball joint shoulder, pre-elbow swivel, double hinge elbow, swivel wrist; swivel waist; 4 points each leg: ball joint hip, pre-knee swivel, hinge knee, ball joint ankle.

Colors: Molded white, dark grey, red, black, colorless clear, clear red; Painted red, black, silver, white.

Accessories: Pulse Pistol, engine supercharger.

Release Data: Released in the United States in September, 2010 at a retail price of US$11.99.

Author: ExVee

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As security director for the Autobots, Red Alert tries to keep his eye on everyone and everything. All the time. He installs hidden cameras and security sensors everywhere, and keeps detailed records of the known movements of enemies and allies alike. Nothing escapes his attention, and - to him - everything is significant. His paranoia keeps him constantly on edge, but it's paid off more than once by stopping Decepticon plots before they did any damage.

The bio from the original toy makes passing mention of his attention to detail, and frequently sensing approaching trouble. The cartoon took this to a certain extreme by playing Red Alert with raging paranoia, allegedly inspired by and poking fun at Richard Nixon. This bio actually strikes me as going beyond this. Indeed, what jumps to mind each time I read it is the Transformers version of DC's The Question. All that's missing is calling him a rampant conspiracy theorist.


How much mileage can you get out of one mold? Sometimes a lot. There are more numerous examples around (hello double-digits of Classics Seeker Body!) but the Universe Sunstreaker mold has seen its fair share of reuse since being introduced just two years ago. American and Japanese versions of Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, Punch/Counterpunch, Botcon exclusives G2 Breakdown and G2 Sideswipe, and of course Henkei and now Generations versions of Red Alert. Not a bad run for a mold so comparatively young. And strangely out of all of those only one other toy officially uses Sunstreaker's robot mode transformation. Kind of a shame to have a figure designed to be able to have different robot appearances and then mostly use it to make guys who look pretty much the same.

Notably, Red Alert is a minor retool of Henkei Alert, to use a similar style of rooftop lightbar as those seen on Universe Prowl and Ratchet. Otherwise it's basically just a deco change. Unlike the American vs Japanese Smokescreens, I think we got the better end of the deal, though. Possibly for the best this toy had to wait until after the movie died back down to be released here.

We're not far removed from Sideswipe here - afterall, Red Alert is as his original toy self a minor retool of Sideswipe. So I'll be referring back to my original review of that toy in some places.



Vehicle Mode

Though popular consensus has it that this mold was largely Gallardo, in the time since my original writing it's struck me that the identifiable traits of the car seem to hew more to the Murcielago. But as I said once before, when you get right down to it all Lamborghinis looks basically alike with just the minor element of particular details remaining. In that way this alternate mode is a good choice as it is likely to continue to look more or less contemporary with its real-world model for years to come.

As you may expect, matching color of white paint to white plastic is a losing battle. I say this as a person with a history of ineffectually trying to cover models with white paint. It takes a great many coats to get anywhere, and that's just not going to happen on a toy like this. The paint seems just thin enough to get a sense of the dark plastic beneath, but since the roof is textured it almost looks like intentional panel-lining. And I'll give it credit: to casual inspection the lines and edges all seems straight and clean, even around the frame of the windshield.

The red lightbar takes up the space previously occupied by the slots that would originally accept the engine supercharger in robot mode. This remold replaces them entirely with screw holes, so even removing the lightbar won't get you the backpack option back. The roof piece is molded in what's either colorless or very light blue clear plastic, I can't really tell which and this toy has always used multiple colors of clear plastics. Ultimately Red Alert has the most transparent windshield of any of the versions if this mold I own, allowing you to see robot mode elements inside for the first time. There's a reason I always mention my preference for painted windows.

Otherwise, this is effectively the same as Sideswipe or Sunstreaker's vehicle modes. Sadly the license plate still is obviously split in the middle. But instead of the result of a painted white background, it's that one of the painted letters on the bare plastic is cut off on one edge. The original alignment problems I noted still happen, except now parts seem to want to bend and flex more than they used to. It's more difficult to try to press things into place in the completed vehicle mode as they'll tend to just snap back where they started. So mind how things line up when transforming back from robot mode.


Transformation

I'm basically restating the same thoughts as when I wrote about Sideswipe at the end of 2008. Getting past the start of the transformation wherein you pull the hood free is very uncomfortable, and certainly not an intuitive process if you haven't been exposed to a version of the toy before. While the so-called "dramatic head reveal" is the same as always, it's also the same as always. By which I mean the roof may come slightly off alignment and be pitched to a slight angle when the head is fully elevated. I'm pretty sure nothing short of disassembly can correct this problem.


Robot Mode

There's not much that can fail in the vehicle mode unless the plastic tolerances changed so severely that none of the tabs fit together anymore. But if that were the case, the toy would likely shatter around its metal pins and other tight fittings. However, the robot mode has more wiggle room. In particular, the ankles and thigh swivels feel looser than I think they should. The ankles especially are troublesome. They were never the greatest designed ankles, but if you have them get particularly loosened, the toy will simply be unable to stand up no matter what. We are thankfully not at THAT point right now, but I have concerns for the future. If not this toy specifically, then at least future uses of the mold.

One other mold difference is that the peghole on the right shoulder has been made very slightly smaller, such that it cannot accept the peg on the handle of the gun. This is such a bizarre thing to purposely change, I have to wonder if this isn't accidental somehow, like the red plastic used there curing to an ever-so-slightly smaller size.

The most important difference from Henkei Alert is that Red Alert's head is black instead of red. Being tied to the tires and a few other elements, there's no choice but to mold the head in black. Takara solved this with paint. Hasbro instead left it black, which is consistent with the original G1 toy. Sadly this does leave you with nearly identical robot heads between Red Alert and Sideswipe, which would be why the animation model had a red helmet, I suspect.


Paint and Deco

You know I don't typically do this, but there's an important warning to be had in this case. It's really hit or miss in regard to the quality of the Fire Rescue tampo on the hood. It's a fairly complicated bit of deco and a lot are misaligned, sometimes so badly that the text is unreadable. It's a big gamble to order one online, and really calls for a measure of scrutiny at physical stores if at all possible. Helpfully for photographic purposes, I managed to get a good one.

Accessories

-Pulse Pistol and Supercharger

Very similar to Sunstreaker's instances, aside from Red Alert's grey plastic being darker. As noted, the gun cannot plug into the shoulder on this figure and can only remain a handheld weapon. Further, as there's no place else for the supercharger to go in robot mode, it has to get lost or wrap around the gun to make the larger weapon. Maybe this configuration is the "high-energy particle beam rifle" of the original toy?

Sadly the combination works no better on Red Alert's copies of these pieces than it did on my previous two mold uses. Eventually you're fiddle it to a position where it'll manage to not fall off, but it's anything but stable. You'd think at some point they could have added some little tabs or nubs or some duct tape or something to make this work better...


Closing Remarks

The Japanese version shot up in price not long after release when it was determined there would be no Universe equivalent. A lot of people got left out in the cold when that happened, unwilling to pay the going prices even when a Red Alert became available. Happily it only took a couple months from the outset of Generations to get back around to this particular toy.

Thankfully while there are one or two points of concern in this, there's no critical failures versus Sideswipe. The loss of the shoulder cannon mode is regrettable, but I was told once that a movie '76 Camaro Bumblebee's missile launcher and a Sideswipe (or Red Alert...) missile makes a good stand-in for the original shoulder cannons, and conveniently that piece still fits Red's shoulder if you must have the launcher piece. Ultimately, Red Alert is basically as good as Sunstreaker or Sideswipe ever were. I mean, at least it's not the Prowl mold again.

With the new and awesome made since 2008, plus the little stumbling points Red Alert runs into, I'm only going to rate it Good instead of the Very Good I originally gave Sideswipe. But you probably won't be disappointed if you've been holding out all this time for an affordable alternative to Henkei.

-ExVee