Rapid Run (RID)
| The name or term "Rapid Run" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Rapid Run (disambiguation). |
- Rapid Run is an Autobot from the Robots in Disguise continuity family.
Rapid Run is a member of Team Bullet Train, a trio of Autobots who patrol the railways. The physically strongest member of the team, Rapid Run is always eager for action. Cool-headed and sarcastic. You don't have to ask him twice to tackle the Predacons or Decepticons... in fact, more often than not he's already firing away before you could ask once. And with the ability to generate an almost impenetrable force-field, he can take just about any punishment they throw back at him.
- Japanese name: J-Seven
Fiction
Robots in Disguise cartoon
- Voice actor: Keith Diamond (English), Eiji Takemoto (Japanese)
When Team Bullet Train was called in to help protect the Linear RFG, Rapid Run was forced to abandon a trainload of commuters, including an indignant Kelly. He was keen to test the Linear RFG's speed in a race and almost got his chance when the experimental train's control was overridden by the Predacons. He and the rest of Team Bullet Train linked up and used their brakes to halt the Linear RFG and, once it was safe, combined into Rail Racer in order to drive off the Predacons. Bullet Train to the Rescue
The team was called into Metro City to thwart another attack on the part of Megatron and his Predacons. After clumsily traversing narrow streets, the team found the Predacons and engaged them in combat. Rapid Run was extremely impressed by Railspike's experience and tactics. After a pitched battle with the Predacons, the team merged into Rail Racer and chased them off. Although, as it turned out, the attack was a diversion while Sky-Byte investigated some ruins. The Secret of the Ruins
Rapid Run was less than impressed with the smoky and ageing steam engine nicknamed "Grandpa" when Team Bullet Train was detailed to protect it, and even less impressed with Midnight Express' insistence that the train was somehow self-aware and could understand what they said. The team successfully got Grandpa safely to his destination, but the steam train was promptly hijacked by the Predacons. Secret Weapon: D-5
Team Bullet Train helped to try to track down Skid-Z after the Autobot scanned a racing car and was possessed by an urge to engage in races. They entered the Great Race, but were halted partway by a rock-slide they were unable to pass. Skid Z's Choice
Another new arrival, Tow-Line, was reprogrammed by the Predacons, forcing him to tow away the other Autobots. Rapid Run found himself being carried through the middle of Metro City, scraping along the sides of buildings. He was then unceremoniously dumped down a pit with Side Burn and X-Brawn. Tow-Line was eventually brought back to his senses and rescued the trio, apologising profusely. Tow-Line Goes Haywire
Rapid Run interrupted Slapper interfering with a statue and chased him off. The Autobots subsequently realised that the Cave of the Dragon was likely the Predacons' target, and Rapid Run and Railspike disguised themselves as a dragon as part of a ruse to make the Predacons think it was home to a giant transforming robot. Rapid Run resented being the hind-end of the dragon and didn't think much of the Autobot Brothers' acting. After Railspike fired on the enemy, the pair returned to the cave to let Optimus Prime and Midnight Express take over as the dragon's statue "robot mode". The Ultimate Robot Warrior
After practising their link-up manoeuvre, Team Bullet Train returned to the Autobot base to review footage of previous adventures in an attempt to find the Predacon base. Hope for the Future After the creation of the Decepticons by Megatron, the team was sent to Sherman Dam, where they combined into Rail Racer and fought Ruination. Commandos They would subsequently spend a lot of time using the Global Space Bridge to arrive at locations under attack from the Decepticons and form Rail Racer to fight the enemy off.
The Autobots' ability to get to remote locations quickly did not go unnoticed by the Decepticons, who managed to sabotage the space bridge, depositing Team Bullet Train on a busy motorway. Rapid Run blamed the Build Team for the incident and was only prevented from coming to blows with Wedge by Railspike. A second attempt to use the space bridge dropped him in Metro City stadium, where he caught a baseball. Once the space bridge was repaired, the three bullet trains arrived at the North Energy Research Facility and prepared to form Rail Racer. They were stopped by Wedge, who asked them to let the Build Team defeat Megatron as a matter of honour. Landfill
On another occasion, the team formed Rail Racer to prevent the Decepticons stealing some energy, and kept Ruination busy while the Build Team recovered the stolen energy. A Test of Metal They were also sent looking for the Autobot Brothers, who had disappeared while tracking Ultra Magnus, a recent arrival to Earth. They were approached by Magnus himself, who informed them that Optimus was being led into a trap, and the three trains rushed to help the Autobot leader. The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus
When the Autobots were on the verge of locating Fortress Maximus, Team Bullet Train were dispatched to the location under Metro City to protect the Build Team. Railspike and Rapid Run battled Ro-Tor and Movor in the confined space until Ultra Magnus showed up to lend a hand. Magnus accidentally flooded the subway and the two trains were swept away in the resulting torrent. Reunited with Midnight Express, they arrived in the cavern where Maximus was located and formed Rail Racer to defend the giant robot from the Decepticons, and later tried to draw them away from where the Build Team were trying to hide Maximus. Fortress Maximus Koji Gets His Wish
Team Bullet Train also attempted to defend Maximus from the Decepticons once his location was exposed. Scourge managed to successfully activate Maximus, but proved unable to control him. Maximus Emerges When Scourge then magnified the human portion of his bio-signature in another attempt to control Maximus, Team Bullet Train was sent into the desert with Build Team and a thousand children to halt the titan. The Human Element
Gathering at a predetermined location, the Bullet Trains and the rest of the Autobots ambushed the Decepticon forces. The team combined into Rail Racer to fight Galvatron's Megastar, but the battle station was eventually felled by Fortress Maximus. Surprise Attack! After Galvatron used cyber-bats to gain control of the world's children, the Autobots were forced to retreat into the space bridge and were followed by the Decepticons. Galvatron ruptured the tunnel during the battle which followed, flooding it with molten lava which the Autobots were only narrowly able to escape. They were prompt seized by a powered-up Galvatron. Galvatron's Revenge Team Bullet Train reformed Rail Racer in order to protect Optimus Prime, and were subsequently held in a paralysed state by Galvatron until the Decepticon leader's defeat at the hands of Omega Prime. The Final Battle
Toys
Robots in Disguise
- Rapid Run (Mega, 2000/2001)
- Japanese ID number: C-013
- Rapid Run transforms into a "Rail Star" 700 bullet train. In this form, he can link up with the other Bullet Trains to form one long locomotive. In robot mode, a portion of his train-mode forms a shield with spring-loaded missile launcher; the missile is the train link-arm. He can also form the midsection/backpack to the team's combined form Rail Racer.
- There are significant differences between the Takara and Hasbro versions of Rapid Run. The Takara version has several portions cast in transparent plastic to give him clear windows, requiring extensive paint applications to blend in. The robot mode's head was also painted a golden yellow.
- The Hasbro version released in 2001 replaced the transparent plastics with opaques to cut back on the number of needed paint applications. However, this also enabled them to add several other piece of deco, including an Autobot sigil on the roof, golden stripes on the robot-mode shins and gold on the very tip of the train's "nose". All of the yellow paint was also replaced with metallic gold. Early versions of the Hasbro Rapid Run had unpainted windows; later runs added metallic blue paint to them.
- JRX (Multi-pack, 2000)
- Japanese ID number: C-015
- All three members of Team Bullet Train -- J-Five, J-Four and J-Seven-- were also available in a complete box set in Japan.
Trivia
- Rapid Run was portrayed slightly differently in the two different versions of the cartoon. For the Japanese Car Robots, "J-Seven" was a gruff, older veteran combatant. In Robots in Disguise, Rapid Run was seemingly the youngest of the trio, with a much cooler attitude. They were both pretty battle-eager, though.
- The Takara versions of the Bullet Trains appear to have had a particularly bad run of quality control regarding the paint applications, with many having sloppily-applied decos. While the individually-packaged Bullet Trains came in clear-window packages to see the toys, the box set was completely windowless, so it was kind of a crap shoot as to the quality of paint you got with the set.
- Reportedly, the Bullet Trains, which were developed with Takara's very flexible pricing structure, really did not fit into Hasbro's more rigid existing price-points, budget-wise. They cost too much to be sold as Deluxes, but weren't really up to Mega-costs.
