Transformers Prime Rumble

Presenting the new Transformers Prime Decepticon Rumble.

The little cassette tape - if you don't know what that is, you're waaay too young to be seriously collecting toys - has all grown up and now he's a full fledged car. But I'm sure he's still going around saying things like "First we crack the shell, then we crack the nuts inside!" (The Transformers: The Movie. 1986).

This new Transformer is also known as the Prime Revealer Deluxe Class Rumble. Not sure what a Revealer is or why they needed to call him that.

But it's nice to see Rumble all grown-up -  though I'll admit that a part of me still wishes he was a tiny cassette tape that could be ejected from Soundwave.

The Transformers Prime Rumble's blister card reads "Chaos and Destruction are all that Decepticon Rumble lives for, his powerful pile drivers send shuddering shockwaves through the Earth, strong enough to knock Autobots from their feet, collapse building, and open chasms in the ground."

Unfortunately Hasbro didn't really credit him with much power:

• Strength 5
• Intelligence 3 - bordering on stupid :)
• Speed 8 - pretty fast for a small guy
• Endurance 6
• Rank 4 - way down the totem pole
• Courage 7 - I've always thought the original Rumble had a lot of balls - what with being so small
• Fireblast - 6
• Skill - 4

And he now transforms into what I do believe is a modern day Volkswagen:

What's to like about Transformers Prime Rumble?


The Decepticon Rumble is big (relatively) bad and ready to rumble. Rumble's shoulder pauldrons, and vestigial 'wings' (Reminiscent of the original Rumble who had what looked like lasers mounted back there - except these are serrated and look like saws) help to make him look bigger than he really is - probably overcompensating for being small all those years.He looks best when you attach his pile-drivers, which end in what looks like quad barrels so you can also treat Rumble as if he possessed quad laser barrels. But even without them the wings/pauldrons (kinda reminds me of Starscreams')give the Revealer Rumble a very aggressive "Get out of my way or I'll make you!" look.

Then Rumble gets ready to Rumble:

There will be some who will argue that Rumble's face is uncharacteristically youthful in nature and doesn't go well with the Death's Head on his chest, but I think that it's a nice touch that shows the fact that Rumble is growing into his new role as a... bigger guy. I also appreciate the fact that he has a lot of clear plastic parts - around his eyes, the Death's Head and the ends of his pile-drivers - which should make for great photography with the right equipment.

When Rumble transforms into his car mode, you can attach the pile-drivers to either side where they accent the his car mode nicely. I'd rant about how "plain" Rumble is in car mode, but all Transformers Prime figure seem to have the same problem.

What's NOT to like about Transformers Prime Rumble?


The Transformers Prime Rumble has three problems in my opinion. The first and biggest problem is that Rumble is very top-heavy. If you go back to the photos above, you'll note that most of the time Rumble is actually leaning against the wall.

Then if you look at him from behind you'll see why. His legs are relatively empty and there's not much in terms of back support to keep him from tipping over.

You can - and have to - lower him to use his pile-drivers, but Rumble really is top heavy.

The second problem is his shoulder pauldrons. There is a lot of articulation lost because they're really really big, and they tend to clash with Rumble's "Wings". It's difficult, but eventually you'll find a way to make him move his arms forward.



The last is that he doesn't really seem to fit in with his daddy, Soundwave. And we're not just talking about the appearance, we're talking about the feel. When you touch both of them, Soundwave feels like he was built in another company using different materials.



This particular Transformers Prime Rumble was purchased from Toy Kingdom Express in SM Fairview here in the Philippines for PhP 699.75 (Roughly US$ 16.67). He's available on Amazon for a whopping US$ 29.99 (Roughly PhP 1,290 plus shipping).

And Rumble rages on.




Addendum: Transformers Prime Rumble also came with an episode of Transformers Prime DVD which I haven't seen yet because my laptop rejected (Wrong region).