Red Alert [Age of the Primes/Voyager Class]

In Transformers Armada, fans got introduced to a new character named Red Alert whom was much different than the G1 original. This Red Alert was a different character who served as the teams medic. If you're noticing the similarities to Ratchet, you're not alone. That was his name in Japan. Red Alert was styled after Robocop and Power Rangers. I strongly remember the conversations about how much he looked like Robocop before it was confirmed. At BotCon 2002, there was some design art inside the convention booklet.

A few images of Red Alert were there, this lead to my friends and I talking again how much he looked like Robocop. Later after the convention and getting home, my job had screwed up my scheduled time off and I had to go in just a few hours after getting in from the long road trip. Later that evening, a very tired me stopped by Walmart on the way home for some food and they had the newly released Red Alert in stock. After talking about how much he looked like Robocop the days before... I bought him on the spot. Initially I wasn't very interested in him, but at that point had to have him. He looks like Robocop, ever notice?

Opening my new toy while eating my frozen pizza... I quickly became a fan and have been ever since. He was great! Though I initially thought he should have been a smaller toy, something that the Deluxe Class Cybertron figure would be a few years later. Still, there's nothing better than a big chonky robot toy. So thankfully this new figure is a Voyager Class, but it's a little smaller than that original despite being a comparable price class (Voyager Class wasn't the term until Cybertron, they were called Max-Con during Armada). Times have chance in the 23 years since that original... and so has the price.

This new Red Alert still is a very good update of that toy bringing it to the year 2025 with current engineering. He looks pretty much the same but there's a lot more articulation (and sadly no Mini-Con gimmicks). The left hand retains the swappable gimmick with two different weapons that can be plugged in. Whichever is not in use can store in the alt mode kibble on his legs. Since there's no Mini-Con gimmicks (and you get less toy for the money), the kibble doesn't fold down into a repair bay. His gun still attaches to the vehicle roof and can unfold into a shoulder mounted cannon from there, or be removed to be held traditionally. It still has that claw missile, but doesn't fire anymore. I don't mind that honestly.  Since we're talking about that vehicle mode, transformation is pretty easy and could probably done by veteran TF fans by muscle memory as it's similar to several other toys. The only real challenge is some of the joints are pretty stiff.

Red Alert's cool Rescue SUV looks just as great as ever. It's super satisfying and all around pleasant. There's no electronics, so you'll have to just say "RED ALERT WOO WOO WOO" on your own... and I assume many of you are doing that anyway. As someone who enjoyed the original upon it's release, this is a real treat... even if it's a stark reminder of how much $20 got me then, vs what $35 gets me now and it's kinda a bummer. I do wish there was Mini-Cons... but they're just not in use currently. There is some ports throughout his body where at Battlemaster could probably fill the roll. Regardless, it's an excellent toy that I'm very happy with. Yes, he's got some long legs. It's a thing.