Dave's Transformers Legacy Rant: Target Exclusive Red Cog

Red Cog (redeco of Cog, with extra weapons pack)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Legacy/RedCog

Yes, it's just called Red Cog, like they decided, "Yeah, the inevitable
fan name is good enough."

https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/DeluxeS1 - Cog mold

CAPSULE

$32 at Target.

Red Cog: Original mold was recommended, barely. I like the looks of
this better, and the armory is a nice addition, but the price shock is
significant. Still, recommended if you're inured to the new price
structure.

RANT

Packaging: Almost the standard open-window Legacy Deluxe packaging, with
no special Target branding or sticker, but with one notable difference. The
plastic hook on top is replaced by a folded cardboard hook using the same
light purple with speckles pattern as the backing card inside.
Unlike the previous accessory pack Deluxes (Centurion and Tricranius),
this is just normal size. Of course, a bunch of weapons take less space than
Fire Blasts, much less the Centurion pack (we shall likely never see its
equal).
It's got new art, with the combined vehicle on the front (Siege had art
of the two separate vehicles) and the robot on the left side. In addition to
all the modes shown in original Cog's instructions, the instructions also
spend a lot of space showing how to attach All The Weapons in both modes.
Legacy Skids is the model showing off the Weaponizer modes, although it's
hard to tell given that he's shown in blue ink on a purple background.

AUTOBOT: RED COG
Assortment: F4241
Altmode: Weapons, sort of a truck
Transformation Difficulty: 8 steps (robot to truck)
Previous Name Use: None
Previous Mold Use: Gen:Siege
Weapon: Very
Function: Weaponizer

Red Cog is loosely inspired by the red "security officer" using Cog's
model in the Siege cartoon, although with a lot less red on it.

Packaging: Four strings hold the robot to the tray, securely enough that
pulling parts out without opening the box or cutting the strings is going to
be very hard (especially since one of the strings goes through both fists).
The weapon pack, which includes Cog's rifles, is wrapped up in tissue paper
in a folded bit of tray under the feet.

Color Swaps: Light gray plastic gets a little lighter, very dark gray
becomes black. The head, shoulders, and forearm armor pieces become a
slightly dark red, all the other blue parts from Cog are now black.

Paint Apps: There is red paint on red plastic. Well, a sort of
orange-ish red paint, so you can pretty easily tell which parts are painted.
This paint is on the same parts of Red Cog that it was on regular cog, except
that the knee 5mm pegs are also painted red now. The wheel hubs are also
orangey red. The gunbarrel bits on the elbow spikes are painted matte
black. The circles on the fronts of the shoulders are silver, the visor slit
is metallic blue, and the guns are painted over entirely in dark silver
except for the pegs. The red Autobot symbol is printed on the right shoulder
tower, same as regular Cog.

Mold Changes: None that I noticed on the main Cog stuff. The accessory
pack is all new molds.

Accessory Pack: Here's the mostly accurate blockquote from TFWiki as of
August 2, 2022.

* * * *

Red Cog comes with an additional arsenal of weapons, mostly inspired by
the War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon. These include Siege Chromia's RT-5
Anti-Thermo Blaster with detachable SR Hushfuze silencer, as wielded by both
Chromia and Elita-1 on the cartoon, and a retooled version of Siege Ultra
Magnus's RT-15 Stethoscopic Detector with a 5mm post-hole at the end to
acommodate an additional long barrel that can be attached to evoke a sniper
rifle also used by both Chromia and Elita-1 in animation. Also inspired by
the show is a short, rounded weapon whose model variously appeared as a
medical tool, welding device and face-removal laser in the cartoon, an
energon vial based on those offered to Soundblaster, and a two-part time bomb
seen in several episodes (and previously as grenades in Prime). Rounding out
the selection is a triple barrel based directly on Combiner Wars Streetwise's
weapon, and an original gun that can also plug into Earthrise Arcee's back to
provide a mounting point to replicate the scene where she combined with
"normal Cog" in Siege episode 5.

* * * *

The Ultra Magnus and Chromia weapons are actually entirely new tooling,
not the same size as the originals and with other tweaks. Really, new
weapons based on the same CAD (or Sketchup or whatever) files.
Everything is cast in a slightly shiny gunmetal gray plastic.

Modified Ultra Magnus Gun: Well, I'm not sure what Siege Ultra Magnus
the TFWiki writer owns, but this is a *shrunken* version of the gun, but with
the barrel aperture kept at 5mm. The original does have a 5mm opening, but
is 3.75" (9cm) long, where this new gun is only 2.5" (6.5cm) long, about 2/3
size. It wasn't a simple shrink, since all the connectors were kept at the
5mm size, although the grip is proportionally shorter.
It still has usable 5mm sockets on both sides (a through-hole in the
center of the gun, shallow holes right above the grip). The grip peg is only
6mm long, Ultra Magnus himself would have trouble holding onto it, it's
scaled more for Deluxes. Of the four barrel tips, the sniper rifle one looks
best on it, yielding a weapon 4.5" (11cm) long.

Modified Chromia Pistol: This one is actually bigger than the original,
and the silencer has been altered so that it can no longer mount on top like
a sight. The pistol is 34mm long, compared to the original's 30mm, but also
ends in a 5mm socket instead of a 3mm stud, so the actual size difference is
a little greater. They reshaped the top so it's symmetric and lacks a slot
for mounting the "hushfire" as a scope. It's proportionally a lot thicker,
so the hollows cut more deeply, so it might be a brand new file rather than
tweaking the original.
No sockets other than the barrel opening, the rounded-rectangle grip peg
is 6mm long but there's less stuff behind it so larger figures might be able
to hold it securely. Obviously, the silencer goes with it, but the tribarrel
looks okay on it as well.

Face Removal Gun: This feels like something out of a 90s comic, a
rounded box shape with a circle detail on either side and some random seams.
Only 31mm long, with a 5mm peg grip at the back end. The business end has a
3mm stud in the regular barrel location, and a 5mm socket underneath it for
plugging in extra barrels or just looking like a grenade launcher. With four
guns and three barrels, this is the one that probably should go solo.
There's silver on the upper rear bit and on the stud barrel area, while
the circles on either side are a sort of very pale yellow. It looks vaguely
like it should be glow in the dark, but it is not.

Arcee Connector Gun: This one looks the least like, well, anything.
That's because it's more for function than form. It goes into the big rivet
hole in her back and also connects to the 3mm socket in her belt, locking her
waist in place and creating a 5mm socket that sticks out just past her car
hood. She has to have the rest of the vehicle top removed for this to work.
http://www.dvandom.com/images/ArceeRedCog.JPG for what it looks like
attached.
Anyway, it's basically a tube with some tech greebles on it, a 5mm post
grip at the back end, 5mm sockets in front and back, and then a hooked bit
with a 3mm stud. The stud can technically hold Fire Blasts, but as shown
above, it's there to lock into Arcee's 3mm socket. 30mm long, with a band of
metallic blue just ahead of the grip, and another area of metallic blue paint
on top.

Sniper Barrel: A 51mm (about 2") piece that's 5mm in diameter along most
of its length, widening out to a muzzle for the last centimeter. There's an
iron sight on the front end, and a couple of flanges near the root to keep it
from going too deeply into any sockets (might cause problems getting it back
out, I guess). It can only plug in to a depth of 3mm. Still, you can use it
as the haft to create a sort of hammer out of it and a couple of other
pistols. The Face-Remover makes for a good hammer/axe head.

Silencer Barrel: This is inspired by the Hushfire from Chromia, but they
removed the rectangular peg on the bottom, and the attachment end is now a
5mm peg instead of a 3mm socket. The tip is still a 3mm stud, though. 31mm
long compared to the original's 22mm length, but the longer connection point
again messes with the effective proportions. The details are sharper and cut
more deeply, again possibly a brand new file.

Tribarrel: Unlike the other two barrels, this cannot attach a Fire Blast
to the end, as the three apertures are only about 2mm wide each. There is a
sort of laser sight bit on top that is a short 3mm rod, but not enough
clearance for most Fire Blasts (a couple of the shapes do fit okay, though).
43mm long with a 5mm peg at the back end, the front end is airbrushed black
for barrel carbon scoring effect. It looks okay on Chromia's pistol, a bit
weird on Ultra Magnus's rifle, and kinda has to be upside down on the
Face-Remover. If you put it on the "wrong" end of the Arcee Peg gun, it
turns that 3mm rod strut into more of a stock detail.