The Rapid Runner with Chief Torpedo was one of those Built To Rule sets that was a series 1.5 of a sorts. After the first series came and went, there was a rumored second release including the Rising Tide w/ Barrel Roll, Night Prowler w/ Shadow-Viper, Rapid Runner w/ Chief Torpedo, and the Sand Snake w/ Firefly. Well, only the Rising Tide and Sand Snake saw the light of day at that point, but it was immediately obvious that the second series of BTR was a country mile beyond the first series, just with the figure design.
So it took a little while, but the Rapid Runner and Chief Torpedo finally made their illustrious debut. At first they were extremely limited edition items, along with the other two rumored sets, and a nice group of other assorted items, too. As they became only barely available and started selling for small fortunes on eBay I resigned myself to the fact that I would most likely not have all of the Built To Rule sets for my collection. While I am a completist, technically the BTR stuff was a separate line, right? No need to concern myself with spending hundreds of dollars on building block sets with figures saddled with combersome BTR pegs on their arms and feet...no big deal, right?
And it really wouldn't have been a big deal, except that so many of the BTR figures were just so darn great sculpt-wise. We had a nicely modified Heavy Duty (using Hollow Point from series 1 as a base), a very cool Shadow-Viper and similar A.V.A.C. update...not to mention a great new sculpt Flint that actually wasn't a disproportionate freakshow! But, out of sight, out of mind...at $50-60 for a medium set, all the way to over $100 for the larger Headquarters, I didn't need the cool new figures that badly, and I promptly forgot about them.
But then something funny happened...a little discount chain in Pennsylvania named "Ollie's" started getting some stock trickling in. Then other places got it...and other places...and suddenly the midwest was a treasure trove of this previously super-rare second series of Built To Rule. And once eBay started getting more reasonable, I finally took the plunge on the Groundstriker and got my Flint! Shadow-Viper wasn't far behind (two of them, in fact).
Originally, even at the lower prices, I wasn't going to go crazy with these...I still didn't feel the need to have them all. But shortly before Christmas, a mystery gift showed up at my house. A "Secret Santa" present, when in fact, I hadn't even signed up for any of the various Secret Santas around the 'net. To this day I'm not sure who sent it, but I am ecstatic that they did, because there were some of the mysterious second series Built To Rule sets contained within!! The Sledgehammer w/ Heavy Duty...Groundstriker w/ Flint...Venom Striker w/ Firefly...and the Rapid Runner you see here. It was...well...like Christmas! ;) I hope to thank the person one of these days, although I'll still have to find out who it is first...if you're reading, drop me a line, I'd like to give you a big "thanks"!
And then my good buddy Dragonfly helped me out as well, scooping me up a HISS w/ COBRA Commander, and the monstrous Headquarters! Previously a $100+ investment, when I got it in the mail and saw the $12.99 price tag on it, I laughed out loud.
But, anyway...I digress. The reason I take up so much space with these random thoughts is because there really isn't anything to talk about with the Rapid Runner itself.
It's basically a few small slabs of BTR blocks with some other angled, sloped pieces to make up the front and the thruster wings. It looks to be designed to be a water-skimmer of some kind, but there is really nothing to it. It's overly small, not very powerful, and is probably the very least impressive of the BTR sets from either series. However, this set does have some redeeming qualities.
First of all, the price tag is downright cheap. $1.99 for this set, and for that $1.99 you get a small pile of so-so building blocks, and then you get a great version of Torpedo to go along with it! As has become the norm for BTR it would seem, besides the blocks on the limbs, the figures included here seem superior in many ways to their original versions. The same way Barrel Roll from the Rising Tide was a great new imagination of the familiar character, here Torpedo is the same.
The basic body mold is identical, with a water-based uniform with single zipper up the front, nicely proportioned legs, the wrapped papers on the thigh, the whole nine yards. However, a couple of things spring to mind with the BTR version.
To start with, the uniform color is much darker, deeper, and more appealing. Almost a dull blue/black/gray, this version of Torpedo looks much more well suited to night operations and is given a much darker and more covert color scheme than his previous Spy Troops counterpart. Given the choice between the two (if the BTR blocks were not an issue) I'd definitely go with this newer version over the older, as his colors just don't stand out as much and just look better overall.
But that's not the only improvement. It also looks like (as with Barrel Roll) that this Torpedo actually might have a new head sculpt...or at least very refined, compared to the original. It quite obviously uses the original as a base, as the faces do look quite similar. But if you look at the picture below:
You can see that the BTR Torpedo is almost more "sculpted" and more defined. His nose is more angular and realistic looking, his face is more countoured, and not quite as "fat" per se. Even his hat looks more detailed and intricate. While the faces definitely look similar, it's pretty obvious that the new BTR Torpedo is at least a modified head sculpt if not new, and that it makes a big difference. I almost wish they had used this BTR head for the last DTC Low Light figure, as it would have not only been a better head sculpt to use, it might have separated him a little bit better from the Spy Troops Chief Torpedo that everyone already has.
So this set pretty much takes over where the Rising Tide left off and gives you a pretty cool new figure to go along with a pretty forgettible vehicle. It is too bad that the BTR pegs have to be here to get in the way, but minus those little drawbacks, you still have a pretty neat update here, and overall a better looking figure than he was originally. If you can find these on shelves somewhere for the $1.99 price tag that was on mine, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
So it took a little while, but the Rapid Runner and Chief Torpedo finally made their illustrious debut. At first they were extremely limited edition items, along with the other two rumored sets, and a nice group of other assorted items, too. As they became only barely available and started selling for small fortunes on eBay I resigned myself to the fact that I would most likely not have all of the Built To Rule sets for my collection. While I am a completist, technically the BTR stuff was a separate line, right? No need to concern myself with spending hundreds of dollars on building block sets with figures saddled with combersome BTR pegs on their arms and feet...no big deal, right?
