| Transformers have been universally a favourite brand, because of transforming mass-shifting robots battling out fighting for “Good versus Evil” Hasbro making it so popular that the brand needs to expand trying to capture a different market that they don’t even have a reach.
Back in 2009, Transformers was already at its peak with a second film “Revenge of the Fallen” a follow-up to Michael Bay’s blockbuster phenomenon two years earlier that made Transformers explode in mass appeal, and with that, the products need to “go beyond” from just transforming toys into other markets that Hasbro doesn’t, and that’s is where the “Robot Powered Machines” came to be. |
Dubbed the “Transformers:” R.P.Ms” was produced, which is in its separate toy line not part of Hasbro’s core brand. They are 1:64 scale vehicles based on the characters from the live-action films.
They can’t be considered to be die-cast, but they are not entirely similar in scale or even “on-brand” with the term “diecast car” although they can be similarly scaled from Jada and Mattel’s Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars.
With the RPMs. Hasbro’s attempt to have a piece of the market on this side caught some collectors' attention. But the difference with this brand is the robots underneath their vehicle form are revealed despite not being a “transformable” vehicle for its concept and that’s where you get the name “Robot Powered Machines.”
Autobot Ratchet
The Autobot medic’s vehicle mode is a customized AM General Hummer H2 type for search and rescue. This 1:64 scale version takes the vehicle translation to be fairly accurate from its transforming Voyager Class figure. Despite the details of all the impressive deco, this is entirely made of plastic.
It doesn’t have weight nor the heft of being acknowledged to be die-cast made, and at the same time with blue tinted windows, it does not even have an interior. But the way it was created they got all the details down pat as this is still a licensed product using the image of the Hummer H2 custom search and rescue unit’s aesthetic.
Revenge of the Fallen
The RPMs were released during the promotion for “Revenge of the Fallen” and this was not the only alternate colour for Autobot Ratchet. The second version was painted in black. The redeco of Ratchet essentially reversed his standard colour to produce this unique look for the character.
In comparison to other brands that take the Hummer appearance, Ratchet’s vehicle form doesn’t appear to be the heavy-duty emergency response vehicle type. The side-by-side comparison with Mattel’s Matchbox clearly shows that it’s a smaller version of a Hummer vehicle that is more used for civilian-type rescue units.
Overall, it is one of the few affordable products from Hasbro that had a short life span that was rebranding from RPMs to Speed Stars towards the late 2010s. Not all of the 1:64 scale vehicles are entirely made of plastic, but the majority of the toy line has inferior quality that some don’t even have interior parts compared to well-established brands that Mattel has with Hot Wheels and Matchbox.
It might not be worth the admiration to even have it in anyone’s collection, but if you are into the 1:64 scale vehicles without no complaint about not having diecast metal parts in them, and you just want to have the Autobots’ vehicle forms, this might be for you. But for longtime Transformers fans, it depends if they have room on your display or a parking space on your 1:64 scale vehicle collection.
They’re enough fun for younger kids, and they do fit on those orange Hot Wheels tracks, but not having diecast metal loses their weight to even compete to win a race.
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