September 21, 2001 CURRENT RUMBLE Rescue Relief Darren 09.21.01 Support your firemen! One of the many groups that suffered tragic losses during the NYC disaster was the NY Fire Department. You might even see fire fighters around your town collecting money in "boot drives". In support of the NYFD, we present a Rumble on Rescue Roy, an icon of the heroes all fallen fire fighters are. You'll forgive me if Rescue Roy isn't exactly Japanese, but he's more Japanese than you might think, as we'll discover below. So, buy a robot to help the economy, and stuff a boot while you're at it. The International Association of Fire Fighters is accepting donations online, if you wish. Ok, let's Rumble ... Rescue Roy comes to us from Tonka, but is designed by Takara. In fact, despite those Tonka logos, it has Takara written all over it. Students of Takara projects such as the Transformers and Brave Series will recognize a lot of the engineering here. There are even gross parallels with Sentai fire trucks -- but Takara and Bandai have been known to share design houses on occasion. Indeed, Rescue Roy stands as a "What If" project. What if Takara were asked to design a henkei fire truck in the Tonka style. I can't stop myself from picking it up and thinking, "wow" ... Those folding joint shoulder plates ... those tuck-under legs ... those gold-brick engines on the wings ... that head popping out of the truck's cab chest. It's all Japanese transforming robot, dear Toybox readers -- just with a loving, friendly, childlike, Tonka bulbousness. He's all plastic -- but he's plenty poseable in almost every way and heavily detented. There are hours of clack, clack, clack with this guy. Keith was right -- this is a toy you can't put down. He has water cannons on his arms, and large wheels on his feet to help him roll around Armored Trooper style. The stickers are pre-applied and nice. There are no accessories to lose. Yappy remarks that the large Tonka logo across Roy's belt is reminiscent of the days of older hero robots ... we recall Jumbo Machinders and vintage Chogokin with names emblazoned in heroic style across their bellies. Roy's fire truck transformation is second nature to any Japanese robot lover. If you need instructions, you've clearly been sniffing kaiju far too long. The angularity of the cab and large, bold tires especially stand out. Did I mention Roy's battery operated functions? His light up eyes and chest is tied to his arsenal of sound effects. Those flashers on his shoulders actually strobe in a sequence not unlike real rescue equipment. It's quite cool. Push a button on his back, and pop-out wings are chased by an obligatory, commanding battle cry, and sound effects of jet engines. Roy occasionally honks his braaaping horn to remind you he's ready to go. Being Toybox, we had to throw in the required GERWALK mode, too. Don't hate us because we're geeks. Yes, we totally made this one up. He's cheap, and he's available nearly anywhere toys are sold. And he's a darned cool fireman. We remember you, NYC.  RUMBLE INDEX  |  CURRENT RUMBLE