Post by Philip Ayres on Apr 16, 2010 8:49:31 GMT
The Rescue Patrol were first released in 1989 with the Battle Patrol & the Sports Car Patrol alongside the 3 teams carried over from the tail end of 1988 under the Micro Transformers brand - the Race Car, Off Road & Air Strike Patrols. That same year they appear in the Japanese Victory cartoon without getting a toy release. The following year - 1990 - they are released in the Transformers Zone line in Japan - as the Rescue Patrol Team - where they're packed with Moonradar & the Rocket base (Countdown) and numbered C-330 and by themselves as C-331. The year after that the Race Car Patrol is re-issued this time with Micro Trailer #10 as Return of Convoy toy C-373. That's quite a complicated release history for a set of toys that have never been repainted !
Like all the Micromaster packs the Rescue Patrol are basically moulded in pairs:
Fixit & Red Hot are co-moulded using red & white plastic.
Seawatch & Stakeout are co-moulded using dark grey & light blue plastic
As with most first year Micromasters each toy appears to be a miniaturised version of an earlier Transformers character.
Fixit
Fixit is a Micromaster ambulance. He's obviously an attempt to do a Ratchet Micromaster bring moulded mainly in white plastic in vehicle mode.
TF: Pull the back of the ambulance back and down slightly. Stand on the rear of the vehicle and raise the arms from the underside.
The robot mode reveals Fixit's second colour red on his head, body & upper legs. He has standard Micromaster articulation of turning shoulders and bending but linked hips & knees.
No real faults on this toy, it's a pretty average Micromaster. Fixit is the only Micromaster I can remember appearing after their initial appearances in the comic - he's present when the Autobots try to separate Ratchet & Megatron.
In Japan Fixit was called Pipo.
Red Hot
Red Hot is a red fire engine making him the Micromaster version of Inferno. He's got a turntable mounted on his back complete with a white elevating ladder which can bend in the middle.
TF: Turn the ladder to it's neutral position flat along the middle of Red Hot's back. Fold the cab at the front forward to form legs. Stand and raise arms.
The robot's colour balance of white chest & upper legs with painted blue head & waist and red limbs looks very nice. Standard Micromaster articulation and you can use the ladder hanging down his back as a support in this mode.
Decent enough Micromaster. It's a shame the ladder - ending in a cannon - can't really be pointed over his head in this mode.
In Japan Red Hot was called Fire.
Seawatch
Seawatch is a pale blue speed boat with a dark grey deck & cabin. There's not a lot of seagoing Autobots before Micromasters - indeed ever! - but I guess Seawatch is roughly a Micromaster version of Seaspray.
TF: Fold the stern of the boat back to form the legs. Stand with the underside facing you. Fold the prow of the boat back onto the robot's back.
The same colours carry over into robot mode with the arms & lower legs being blue while the upper legs, chest and head are grey with red paint applications.
Not enough Autobot boats out there, So Seawatch is very welcome. Be careful when buying him second hand though - there's a small triangular piece of grey plastic forming the deck inside the prow. This easily comes out and is frequently missing and not noticed.
In Japan Seawatch was called Boater.
Stakeout
Stakeout is a grey Autobot Micromaster Police Car. To my mind Autobot + Police Car = Prowl. The car has white painted windows, white writing and a red lightbar.
TF: fold the back of the car back to form the legs. Fold the bonnet onto the front windscreen. Stand. Fold the arms up from the sides of the car.
The robot mode reveals the light blue used for the head, body & upper legs with silver paint on his waist and face. Standard Micromaster articulation.
The police colours and markings are the only thing setting Stakeout apart from other Micromaster Cars.
In Japan Stakeout was called Holi.
Repaints
As I said above there are no repaints for this team. It's a bit hard to repaint an Ambulance and Fire Engine and for them to still make sense. I suppose you could do Red Hot in Hotspot blue, but I'm loathe to change Fixit as all the Ratchet repaints have been dreadful - especially the original Movie versions: AN AMBULANCE IS NOT GREEN ! Stakeout is an easy repaint - grey becomes white and blue becomes black giving a more traditional Prowl look and a decent looking Seawatch in the bargain if the same colour swaps are applied.
Like all the Micromaster packs the Rescue Patrol are basically moulded in pairs:
Fixit & Red Hot are co-moulded using red & white plastic.
Seawatch & Stakeout are co-moulded using dark grey & light blue plastic
As with most first year Micromasters each toy appears to be a miniaturised version of an earlier Transformers character.
Fixit
Fixit is a Micromaster ambulance. He's obviously an attempt to do a Ratchet Micromaster bring moulded mainly in white plastic in vehicle mode.
TF: Pull the back of the ambulance back and down slightly. Stand on the rear of the vehicle and raise the arms from the underside.
The robot mode reveals Fixit's second colour red on his head, body & upper legs. He has standard Micromaster articulation of turning shoulders and bending but linked hips & knees.
No real faults on this toy, it's a pretty average Micromaster. Fixit is the only Micromaster I can remember appearing after their initial appearances in the comic - he's present when the Autobots try to separate Ratchet & Megatron.
In Japan Fixit was called Pipo.
Red Hot
Red Hot is a red fire engine making him the Micromaster version of Inferno. He's got a turntable mounted on his back complete with a white elevating ladder which can bend in the middle.
TF: Turn the ladder to it's neutral position flat along the middle of Red Hot's back. Fold the cab at the front forward to form legs. Stand and raise arms.
The robot's colour balance of white chest & upper legs with painted blue head & waist and red limbs looks very nice. Standard Micromaster articulation and you can use the ladder hanging down his back as a support in this mode.
Decent enough Micromaster. It's a shame the ladder - ending in a cannon - can't really be pointed over his head in this mode.
In Japan Red Hot was called Fire.
Seawatch
Seawatch is a pale blue speed boat with a dark grey deck & cabin. There's not a lot of seagoing Autobots before Micromasters - indeed ever! - but I guess Seawatch is roughly a Micromaster version of Seaspray.
TF: Fold the stern of the boat back to form the legs. Stand with the underside facing you. Fold the prow of the boat back onto the robot's back.
The same colours carry over into robot mode with the arms & lower legs being blue while the upper legs, chest and head are grey with red paint applications.
Not enough Autobot boats out there, So Seawatch is very welcome. Be careful when buying him second hand though - there's a small triangular piece of grey plastic forming the deck inside the prow. This easily comes out and is frequently missing and not noticed.
In Japan Seawatch was called Boater.
Stakeout
Stakeout is a grey Autobot Micromaster Police Car. To my mind Autobot + Police Car = Prowl. The car has white painted windows, white writing and a red lightbar.
TF: fold the back of the car back to form the legs. Fold the bonnet onto the front windscreen. Stand. Fold the arms up from the sides of the car.
The robot mode reveals the light blue used for the head, body & upper legs with silver paint on his waist and face. Standard Micromaster articulation.
The police colours and markings are the only thing setting Stakeout apart from other Micromaster Cars.
In Japan Stakeout was called Holi.
Repaints
As I said above there are no repaints for this team. It's a bit hard to repaint an Ambulance and Fire Engine and for them to still make sense. I suppose you could do Red Hot in Hotspot blue, but I'm loathe to change Fixit as all the Ratchet repaints have been dreadful - especially the original Movie versions: AN AMBULANCE IS NOT GREEN ! Stakeout is an easy repaint - grey becomes white and blue becomes black giving a more traditional Prowl look and a decent looking Seawatch in the bargain if the same colour swaps are applied.
