Revell RAMS Series

By Michael Benolkin

Introduction

Revell-Monogram has been aware that they needed to attract younger audiences into the ranks of modelers. They were among the pioneers that created the concept of snap kits.

In order to attact yet a larger audience (translated to "more buyers"), the model company has stepped squarely into the toy business. Enter RAMS - Rebuildable Action Model System - a cross between their Snap Tite line and bionic versions of the Lego/Duplo building systems. We recently received two samples from the RAMS lineup - the 4xForce truck and the Wave Warrior jet ski. Each set comes with an action figure, stick-on markings, extra/optional parts for different missions, and illustrated instructions how to pull it all together.

Take for example the 4xForce truck. The parts are sealed in plastic bags and some portions are pre-assembled. You have but to scan through the instructions to see what mission you'd like to put together, and in a few minutes, you're there. I am certain a kid could cut this time down to seconds. First up was the Undercover Truck.

To begin with, I pulled off the relevant parts and replaced them with all of the parts for the long range warrior configuration. The rockets on the front are spring loaded, but they are safe in the hands of all but the youngest hands, as the rockets will only fly a matter of a foot or so.

The jet ski goes together in much the same way, with configurations ranging from stock jet ski to armed rescue. Parts are merely snapped on and off. If you own two or more of these sets, you'll also find that many of the parts are interchangeable, yielding many more potential configurations.

I am afraid I didn't have any kids available to test these new products out, so I used the next best thing - engineers.

Let the cubicle wars begin! I've noticed that some of the strangest things appear in the cubicles of engineers (transformer robots, starships, you name it), so it was only natural to put the RAMS to work at work!

The results? Well, the rockets scored direct hits on my neighbor's US Naval Academy mascot statue, and I suspect that some Tim Allen-styled enhancements are in the works. I am just afraid that kids will suddenly find as shortage of these RAMS series at the stores as other engineers learn about them.

My sincere thanks to Revell-Monogram for a look at these new products and I hope that these are a big success!