G1 Protectobots/Defensor

Back in the days of Generation 1, I wasn't very successful in completing gestalt sets. I picked up all the Stunticons, Terrorcons, and all of Piranacon's limb-bots, but only acquired Snaptrap comparatively recently, on the secondary market, having already bought the Collectors' Club's boxed set back in 2008... On the Autobots' side, I didn't manage to obtain a full set of Protectobots, and didn't even start the Aerialbots or the Technobots.

Since I was closest to completing the Protectobots, I made a point of trying to obtain the two missing components - Streetwise and Hot Spot - as soon as it became practical. Both are reasonably easy to find on eBay, but the former is frequently broken, while the latter is normally missing some, if not all of his accessories - particularly the 'arms' for his base mode. I got lucky eventually, though, and even managed to get my hands on Streetwise complete with his packaging and a Hot Spot who was complete apart from missing stickers...

Still, Defensor is as good as complete, so let's now - finally - take a look at... The Protectobots!

Combiner Wars First Aid

It always puzzled me, back in Generation 1, that there was technically only one Autobot medic - Ratchet - despite the ever-increasing character roster of the toyline and TV show. When a new medic eventually joined the team, he was one of the Protectobots, and transformed into a smaller, less detailed version of much the same so-called ambulance as Ratchet. He also got lumbered with the most boring and obvious name in the history of the brand.

With Defensor being the second Autobot gestalt in the Combiner Wars series, Hasbro granted First Aid his official return as one of the limbs of the Protectobot behemoth, but how does this update shape up?

Galaxy Force First Aid

Once upon a time, the TransFormers ambulance was always going to be Ratchet... Sadly, that seems to be a difficult name for Hasbro to hang on to these days without some form of prefix. First Aid, meanwhile, is somehow far easier to use and reuse and, since it was first applied to the Protectobot who also transformed into an ambulance, it's just as appropriate.

Galaxy Force First Gunner

The upgraded form of Deluxe-sized Galaxy Force First Aid, First Gunner is now an armoured mobile missle platform, and part of the Vanguard Team (read: Autobot Elite Guard) to boot. Supposedly this upgrade happens after a particularly ignominious defeat at the hands of Megatron, which might explain why First Aid's original Ambulance alternate mode goes through such a drastic change.