War For Cybertron: Siege | Rescue Patrol

The Autobots has taken form of cars, trucks, boats, and aircraft. Mostly, they are also recognizable as emergency crews and rescue vehicles with the exception of Barricade that changed the dynamic as the first Decepticon to be able to disguise as a law enforcement vehicle in the movies and now with Siege. But despite all that there are still Autobots that continue to take the form of Police and Fire Rescue like these two Micromasters introduced in the second wave of War for Cybertron: Siege in 2018-2019 release. The Rescue Patrol Team has been known for not only its name, but the team behind it. They make their return as part of the characters introduced in this new trilogy from the franchise.

The Rescue Patrol team is consist of two Micromasters similar to the modern iteration of these fuel efficient Cybertronians they are not just two robots. They also have special abilities that enhance the bigger robots by either be extra hands on taking down the Decepticons, but also becomes something more.

Their price point is retailed similar to the Legends Class (formerly Scout Class) from the previous trilogy, which is the Power of the Primes. But instead of a single robot they came packed on a blister carded with two new moulds of the Micromasters Rescue Patrol team based from the original released at the tail end of Headmasters.

Then & Now | From Four to a Duo

Packaged in robot mode the Rescue Patrol team is a two-bot crew of Stakeout and Red Heat (Originally, “Red Hot” but due to trademark changes were made) consist of a Cybetronian-type Police Car and Fire Rescue Truck. These two Micromasters are entirely new moulds based from the original with added articulation.

Besides the upgrade on their articulation the figures are more muscular if you compare it to their vintage counterparts. Stakeout looks different from his vintage counterpart being more skinny than muscular, which the same goes with Red Heat that now has an upgraded head sculpt that used to cover with his mouth plate.

Hasbro & Takara Tomy’s designers and engineers made sure to modernize these two characters similar to the Air Strike Patrol released from the first wave. With the changes and upgrade and cost the Rescue Patrol tear are no longer the four original Micromasters of old, which no longer have Fixit and Sea Watch.

Their modern take are not close to perfection either, both figures have issues with flimsy joints and sometimes they tend to detach when you try to make them do action poses. Comparing to the vintage counterparts they’re more durable with the breakaway parts that you only need to attach their limbs back. With the modern take on these characters come some nifty gimmicks like attaching fire blast effects as you can see with Red Heat and Stakout in action.

Featured Articulation:

• Ball-Jointed Shoulder
• Ball-Jointed Hips
• Ball-Jointed Knees
• Waist Joint (Red Heat)
• Limited Head Articulation (Stakeout)
• Swivel Knees

Transformation| Robot to Rescue Vehicles

As mentioned above the issues of joints detaching for action poses also happens when you transform them both to vehicles modes. Though simple transformation, you don’t to read the manual also let you encounter this issue, since they do not have tighter joints and solid joint connections.

Vehicle Mode | Rescue Crew

These two take forms of Cybertronian Rescue Vehicles don’t really emphasis on their alien alt modes, and still carry the old school Police and Fire Truck aesthetics. With comparison to their vintage counterparts the old Red Heat/Red Hot does look more alien while Stakeout becomes two different characters.

The Siege version has more details than simple lines and liveries that say “Police” or looking like a Fire Truck. Though the Cybertronian text on Stakeout clearly shows they are from an alien planet of robots where both works as the Rescue Patrol team.

You can also attach blast effect on vehicle mode, most notably with Red Heat/Red Hot at the tip of his ladder when you unfold it. The side-by-side comparisons with their vintage counterpart show in vehicle mode the difference. But the comparisons end there with the robot to vehicle aesthetics.

Their special use what really makes them stands out, but not as impressive as the Air Strike Patrol. Stakeout and Red Heat becomes a special weapon to larger Siege characters as seen with Sideswipe using them as an all-powerful weapon. But not as solid as you expected, for the assortment that became a shelf warmer in late 2019 and on clearance they’re not as the favourite Micromasters in this wave.

Alternate Rescue Vehicle Features:

• Fold Out Extending Ladder/Nozze (Fire Truck)
• Detailed Light Bar (Police Car)
• Weapon can be Attached Externally
• Lower Arms can't be tabbed properly

Overall the new take on the Rescue Patrol team looks overwhelming, but turns out a slight disappointment on their special gimmick not tabbing properly and becoming a shelf warmer that’s on clearance recently. It is a great pair; you can never go wrong picking up the Rescue Patrol team to bolster the Autobot ranks.

But in the end this depends now on your preference if you have previously owned an original Rescue Patrol. This pair is a quick pass for those unfamiliar with these non-show characters. But for those who have grown up to the original Micromasters this takes you back to your childhood how popular they are. Notably this is due to John Moschitta lending his voice to the TV commercials.

War For Cybertron Siege | Micromasters Rescue Patrol is now on available in general retail across Australasia and Southeast Asia. This was acquired at Toys R' Us which is originally retailed at:

PhP 649.75 Pesos | $ 16.96 AUD | $ 511.15 USD

Now on Clearance at:

PhP 300.00 Pesos | $ 8.06 AUD | $ 6.17 USD Product Rating:

Transformation (Difficulty): 1
Aesthetics: 10
Quality: 6
Robot Points: 7.0

For more news and local updates LIKE Transformers Philippines on Facebook and follow on Twitter: @TransformersPH

Some of the Product Description Courtesy of TF Wiki

** - Philippine to Australian and US Currency Conversion via Google.com