{"id":23146,"date":"2013-04-15T21:49:13","date_gmt":"2013-04-16T02:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=23146"},"modified":"2013-04-18T22:14:49","modified_gmt":"2013-04-19T03:14:49","slug":"transformers-masterpiece-frenzy-buzzsaw-review-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=23146","title":{"rendered":"Transformers Masterpiece:
Frenzy & Buzzsaw Review (Part II)"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> In yesterday\u2019s review, I covered Ravage and laid out the basics of what went into the Rumble & Frenzy mold. Today, I\u2019ll take a look at Frenzy proper, the bevy of accessories that the figures come with and how they interact with Soundwave. Oh, and let\u2019s not forget ol\u2019 Buzzsaw. We\u2019ll cover him in all his orange glory!<\/p>\n

Out of the four cassettes, Buzzsaw is probably the one that most pushed me most into picking up the import versions. I could be wrong, but I just don\u2019t him to be orange when that set debuts at TRU. He\u2019s orange here because Takara tends to follow the cartoon colors with their Masterpiece line, but Hasbro skews towards toy colors. We\u2019re already seeing this with Soundwave\u2019s yellow visor on the TRU release. So, I\u2019m going to guess that Buzzsaw will be gold or yellow when he\u2019s released here in the states. While that\u2019s no doubt going to look cool, I simply couldn\u2019t pass him up in orange. <\/p>\n

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Part of that is because I love orange. You just don\u2019t get opportunities for that color on your toy shelf often enough. But it\u2019s also because the mold is that damn awesome (I fear that I might want it in whatever colors Hasbro does choose\u2026). It\u2019s funny how colors can change things though \u2013 maybe it was just all the awesomeness that was Soundwave, but I didn\u2019t give Laserbeak a lot of time back when they first arrived. I\u2019ve been playing with Buzzsaw left and right though. Never let it be said that colors aren\u2019t important. <\/p>\n

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Like all the cassettes, Buzzsaw includes a pink case. These are a cool, but extra little feature for the five cassettes if you want to store them in tape mode and make them look rather nondescript. I\u2019ll take anything extra though and if you bought both packs & Soundwave then you have one for each cassette. <\/p>\n

Since I covered the sculpt & articulation of Rumble yesterday, I should just jump right into the accessories Frenzy. To recap in a few sentences tough, the two bot modes have sculpts that are identical in every way (as they should) except for their colors. Like, Rumble, Frenzy features sharp paint and some nice vac-metal. The good news is that means we can flipflop their names around until our hearts are content. <\/p>\n

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What I do need to cover with Frenzy here today is the accessories that the two robots come with. They both have their back-mounted pistols that have a flip-out smaller handle for them to hold the guns, but the accessories I really need to cover are the three-piece piledriver\/batteries set. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad these were included, but, to be honest, I probably didn\u2019t really need them. They have a lot of functions that I\u2019m not completely sure of the origin of \u2013 I haven\u2019t seen every episode or read every comic, so it may just be my inability to appreciate the options. That said, I respect that all this stuff was added in, even if I don\u2019t understand why. <\/p>\n

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The main use of the pile drivers is to use them as pile drivers. Duh. I would like this option more, but I have a hard time getting them to attach on my figures. The idea is that the hands fold in and the tubes slide over the forearm. It should work and be snug, but I just can\u2019t get them to stay in place. They do look cool when they\u2019re on there and I love the extensions so they can look like they\u2019re ground pounding, but I\u2019d really like to see them clip snugly in place. The other useful function of the pile drivers is that they can be used to store the pistols when the figure doesn\u2019t need them. One end just flips up and there are some specific grooves for the pistols to slide into. Soundwave also has a spot in his feet to store one set of the guns, so you\u2019ve got plenty of options for storage on these smaller weapons. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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The other features I might appreciate more if I knew where they originated. The two pile drivers can be plugged into a third cap piece and then mounted on the figures\u2019 back. The cap piece can be mounted on the figures back by itself. There are pictures in yesterday’s gallery for all these configurations<\/a>. I\u2019m not going to knock in any of these options because, hey, options are great, but I imagine I\u2019ll be storing the pile drivers on my Frenzy & Rumble instead of mounting them on the figure\u2019s back. <\/p>\n

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But wait! There\u2019s more! The \u201cbattery packs\u201d also have some Soundwave interactivity. If you thought that would end with just the tapes fitting in his chest\u2026 nuh uh, buster. There are two more fun features with the pile drivers. One, that cap piece can be affixed to Soundwave\u2019s sensor and plugged into Soundwave to make a nifty interface. The cap piece will also snap onto Soundwave\u2019s elbow guards and give Soundwave some nifty cannons on his arms. Again, I probably won\u2019t be doing these all that often, but for $300 I\u2019ll take all the play value I can get!<\/p>\n

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And, finally, of course, Soundwave can hold up to three cassettes in his chest. There\u2019s a cool ratcheting feature in this chest that lets the back of the cavity move back-and-forth depending on how many cassettes you want in there. I tend to leave all the little guys out, but it\u2019s fun to load up Soundwave. It\u2019s a little like musical chairs with five cassettes and three slots though! <\/p>\n

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Overall, I might have to have my head examined, but I love these guys even at $120. In fact, I want more. Ratbat is a must (though I kinda hope he doesn\u2019t come with a Soundwave repaint – $$$). I\u2019d love to see Slugest & Overkill. And primus knows who else in addition to those new sculpts, these cassettes have so many great repaints that I think this is going to be a rather large rabbit hole for me in the future. Oh, and there\u2019s that little matter of Autobot cassettes too! <\/p>\n

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If you\u2019re a huge fan of the cassettes and aren\u2019t bad with money, waiting for the TRU exclusive release is probably a good idea. Even with the yellow visor and possibly other color changes, I think it\u2019s going to be a bang up set. All the heavy lifting has been and covered in these three reviews and it\u2019s safe to say these are some of the best Transformers out there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \t

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