TFSource Review – Mini-Warriors Black Rager

I think there’s no clearer way to illustrate how much I love this mold than to point out that even though this is my third copy of the basic toy (earlier reviews posted at battlegrip.com: Rager review here, Shafter review here) I’ll buy a fourth if iGear gives us another repaint. The mold is excellent; what we get here is a durable and fun transforming robot toy that’s easy to transform and looks incredible.

iGear Toys at TFSource.

An attractive, minimalist design in black and white with just a touch of color, iGear’s Black Rager (at TFSource) is packed exactly like the other two versions of the mold with a durable box and touch plastic blister that locks everything neatly inside. The back cover text shows that someone had a lot of fun writing the story for this toy — “Black Redeco Clan” is a nice touch — and everything about the box is neat and professional.

Below you can see Black Rager in his truck mode. Squat, wide, beefy, and thick are all perfect words to describe this not-Huffer vehicle design. The packaging artwork may show the pipes aiming out to the sides but I prefer to direct them to face back; so the photos here technically show the toy mistransformed in its vehicle mode, but I think he looks better this way.

If you can get all three versions of this mold then I think you’ll agree that they make a great team. I’m hoping that iGear brings us a blue version of the toy — and I’ll be happy if it doesn’t even get a new head sculpt — just so I can add a not-Pipes to the crew. Who am I kidding? I’ll probably wind up buying another one of these regardless of the colors he’s released in. It really is a very nice design.

All four wheels roll, but my Black Rager’s wheels don’t roll quite as nicely as my copies of Rager (review here) or Shafter (review here). I suspect that’s a case-by-case issue and it looks like I drew the short straw this time around. But since I display and play with the toy mainly in robot mode the wheel issue is minor.

And now we get to the real fun. Black Rager’s transformation from truck to robot is pretty easy and intuitive; which is a good thing since the toy doesn’t come with any instructions. The only semi-tough spot that could give you problems is the arms, but just keep in mind that the entire front wheel assembly pops out, rotates, and then pops back in and you’ll have no problems transforming this guy.

I continue to love this guy’s look and am very happy with the design that iGear settled on. At about 3-inches tall he’s slightly bigger than the original mini-cars, but the look fits in nicely with the entire “CHUG” series of official Transformers toys. And if this sculpt is any indication of what we’re getting in the rest of iGear’s Mini-Warriors series then I forsee a lot of little transforming robot toys in my future.

Fantastically fun! The plastic feels good and the toy has enough articulation to be fun. I suggest looking at my earlier reviews (earlier reviews posted at battlegrip.com: Rager review here, Shafter review here) for a point-by-point look at the mold’s articulation, but if you like the look of Black Rager in these photos then I think you can skip any more reading and jump right to the “buy” button; yeah, I really do love this mold.

This mold is a winner, and having bought all three versions that have been released so far I really am ready for a fourth (and maybe even more). The transformation is quick enough that transforming him between modes if fun and the construction is sturdy enough that I don’t worry about breaking the toy when I play with it. iGear has produced an excellent transforming robot toy and I suggest grabbing at least one version of this mold for your collection.