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StryderK's Review: MP-15 Frenzy and Ravage

Again, read MP-16 review for reasons why this is Frenzy, not Rumble in the box. If you haven't, a refresh from tfwiki for a good look on this whole sorry mess of an issue that started in the 80's.

But anyways, as you may have guessed, I'm a serious RIBFIR knucklehead if you have read my MP-16 review. So yes, this guy is Frenzy, NOT Rumble as the box says....Although if you are a FIBRIR, the two pile drivers are still present here, in Rum-zy or Frenble's red and black colors. Anyways, Frenzy supposed to be the one ending up in Soundwave's chest. Ravage was supposed to be the main lead. In the end though, Ravage was the one inside Soundwave chest. Frenzy joined his blue brother (hehehehe) Rumble, going...well...frenzy while Rumble is pouding the ground. How did that happen? Well, let me tell you....

As for the packaging, if you read my review on MP-16, you should know by now that while this time Takara did not take "Masterpiece boxing, or how Takara is ripping you off" to the nth degree, it's still, well, "empty". Yes, it's much tighter packaged than some of the latest rip off here, but still a rip off nontheless. If Grimlock packaging is a 2, Soundwave is a 1, then this would be a 3....Better, but still nothing to write home about.

Anyways, the repaint....And how this repaint is actually growing on me.

Name: Frenzy
Alligence: Decepticons (Destron in Japan)
Function: Warrior
ALternate Mode: Micro-Cassette
Extra: May get confused with his twin Rumble due to Hasbro mind getting farted in the '80's.

"Sow panic and surrender will bloom."

If FRENZY needed to breathe, war would be his oxygen. He knows no cause, only craves to spread fear and destruction. His efforts are appreciated by other Decepticons. His devotion to warfare makes him hard to deal with on a personal level. Can roll his drums to produce high-pitch, grating sound of 200db. Disorients and disrupts electrical flow in opponent's circuitry which makes them malfunction. Physically weak. His manic attack can be countered with cool logic.


Ok, yes, yes, yes. I know this guy was supposed to be the "true" Rumble. But again, for us RIBFIR'ers who take the cartoons as the main bible (yeah, yeah, yeah. Again, I know the toys and some comics came first. But we are too young to remember those. But we sure are old enough to remember the cartoons! In fact, for us RIBFIRs, we always thought that cartoons came first, toys came second and comics came third until we grew a lot older. But by then, the RIBFIR idea was so ingrained, it dominates all), this guy is Frenzy.

Unfortunately, due to again, the big FUBAR during the cartoons, Frenzy SHOULD have appeared in the first episode...Except the blue guy was Rumble. When Frenzy appeared finally, the red guy took his place. And since by then it was well established that the blue guy was Rumble, Frenzy, as I mentioned in MP-16 review, also appeared with his own pile drivers instead of his sonic confusion boom box....That's because if the red guy even use it once in any episodes, then that's more than enough ammo for us RIBFIRs to pound those FIBRIR'ers like Blackjack to the ground (sorry, I have to go there! :P ) and of course, Hasbro will never hear the end of it. Realizing this, Frenzy never appeared with that shitick in any episodes, and also in the following comics, which he also only every so often appears with the sonic boom least the RIBFIR army rises up again! (don't try to figure this out. You will simply fry your brain if you do!).

So as me and Blackjack agreed, well, agree to disagree that is. And as long as there are Trans fans breathing, this issue will not die. But anyways, whether who you take this red guy, he's a repaint of Rumble. Or is Rumble a repaint of this guy? Ohh well, since I already reviewed Rumble, I'll consider this a repaint.

Alternate Mode:
Again, nothing to write home about. Like Rumble and everyone else, seams and cracks everywhere. Only a dose of Memetic Polyalloy will solve this problem.
Score: 8.0. No way any higher. At least they fit into Soundwave's chest, G1 or Masterpice.

Main Mode
Like Rumble, Frenzy is a little punk ass of dude who like nothing more to fight, obey and defend his masters Megatron and Soundwave...with his pile drivers?!?!?!? No wonder I like to call him "Rumbler" sometimes!

He look just as good as he's twin due to "slide-moulding". The transformation is the same and all the accessories in MP-16 is the same here also, namely, the laser machine guns (with hollowed out barrel points), the pile drivers and of course, Frenzy's Sonic Boom.....If there is evidence of the FUBAR the cartoons and Hasbro single mindedness caused, it would be those. Despite what the box says, because each MP, 15 and 16 contains BOTH pile drivers and the sonic boom....It makes both Rumble and Frenzy well, Frenble and Rumzy....I guess it's takara and Hasbro's way of satisfing both camps! So you indeed create either Rumble and his twin Rumbler...Or Frenzy and his twin, Frenzkier so....I guess despite Hasbro's official policy, and the fact in Japanese cartoon, they switched the name around (yes, blue one is Frenzy. But that created another host of problem as you can imagine), they decided having more fights among the two groups would be too much trouble so.....But still, no matter who you think he is, Frenzy is a great figure. And as I found out to my dismay...Actually much better than his brethren that's with him in the box.
Score: 8.6. Much better than his fellow compadre. Same as his fellow twin Rumble. In fact, with the way this go, the only reason you buy MP 15 and 16, is for the little dudes, not Buzzsaw or Ravage!

Now to the reason why I bought this and the big reason why I left sorely disappointed!

Name: Ravage
Allegiance: Decepticons (Destron in Japan)
Function: Spy/Attacker/Tracker
Extra: May be confused with a dog in some countries. I'm not kidding with this one!


Motto: umm....Meowmeowmeowmeow, meow meow, MEOW!!!!??
Ravage operates best alone. A creature of the night. Craftiest of all Decepticons. Adept at devising deadly new strategies. Remains aloft from others, but his deeds command their respect. Can virtually escape detection -- emits an electromagnetic emissions shield, has soundless walk, disappears in subdued light or shadow. Carries 2 powerful heat-seeking missiles. Light-sensitive, can be blinded.

Ravage, along with Rumble (again, the blue guy due to Hasbro's mind fark) and Laserbeak were the original three Cassette-ta-cons that appeared in the first episode of the cartoons in the 80's. Like the cartoons, in the follow up comics, he's the ultimate "ground spy" (Laserbeak was the ultimate "Air spy") , able to quietly sneak into atuobot's base to get info. He also sometimes serves as an attacker, capable of knocking down even Optimus Prime due to the magic of "Mass Shifting". In the cartoons, he also serves as a tracker, capable of sniffing out clues and track down targets, such as the Insecticons home. However, this "sniffing around", and his growls and face (due to poor drawing) make some countries mistaken him for a dog! China for example. In another brilliant case of "mind farting", translated Ravage into litterally, Ji Qi Gou, Mechanical DOG!!! In case you were wondering why Ravage original name did not work, Ravage in Chinese litterally means to rape someone. Umm....That ain't gonna work for a kids cartoon here! Yeah, Has failed to get the concept of "Jaguar", a part of the CAT family across (In fact, His Japanese name is Jaguar). Creating more than a few confusion when I first started the Transformers topic with my Chinese friends (And there are A LOT of Chinese "Trans-Fans" here).

But still, because of that, and his cameo appearence in Beast Wars, Ravage is a huge popular character! Incomplete G1 Ravages, if you can even get your hands on one, can go up to $125 in some cases! So just be glad Hasbro released the commenarative edition! As that one contains both Laserbeak and Ravage, two of the most popular Cassette Babies alongside Rumble (the blue guy).

So with that in mind, Hasbro and Takara has put out all the stops to produce a Masterpiece of Ravage. Was he up to par to his buddies, Rumble, Frenzy, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw? Well, in short, not exactly, in fact, as you will find out, not even close!

Alternate Mode:
A cassette, or micro-cassette like everyone else. Except with the huge defect of a missing back "B" side!

In all other cassettes, yes, they got the seams, the cracks and what not. But at least they are whole. Ravage's "A" side is like this. But "B" side? Nope! It's like someone took a spoon and spooned off a huge chunk of mass off of the "B" side, leaving nothing but poor Ravage's legs and his hip heat seeking missiles. There is nothing but a huge hole here. If there is a warning abut what to come next, then this is it. Those who are optimists will say, well, they sacrificed that for the Robot mode right? I mean come on, RIGHT?!?!? ....Umm...As you will find out, the short answer is...Nope!
Score: 5.8....What an awful score! But as I've said...It's about to get worse.......

Robot Mode:
....And I mean A LOT worse!

The transformation, like all Cassette Babies, are easy. However, after you transformed him...You are left wondering, is this Ravage? That was my first reaction!

This is because Takara/Hasbro decided to "Cure" one of the biggest complain of the G1 figure, namely, Ravage is "too narrow".

Yeah, anyone that had the G1 or the latest reissues will know what I mean. G1 Ravage legs are slapped together, and his body is stright and narrow when viewed from the front. So for the Masterpiece version, we now finally get a Ravage that has its legs split apart and is much wider! Good right...Umm, there is an old adage, "There is no such thing as a free lunch", especially when you got something as small as a micro-cassette to work with. This means this time, it will bite and it will bite HARD!

Yeah, we got a Ravage with a wide stance, but as you can imagine, the body has to be split down the middle, and folded in half, with the legs and even the head split in half in order to fit into the cassette (leaving a nice seam right down the middle of the head which Takara removed using Photoshop on the cover)! And as to add insult to injury, in order for the head to fit into the cassette, there is hole where the nose is so it can fit inside a cover! Yes, Ravage face sculpt is far more "fuller" than his blank G1 counterpart (practically the only part where this figure beats G1), but Ravage without a nose?!?!?!? sigh, and that is not the only part. We are about to hit the "worst" part of the whole thing!

Due to the "body splits in the middle and folds in half to get into a cassette" transformation, it leaves Ravage, how do you say this, "starving".....To borrow a nickname that the U.S. Navy uses to describe one of its worst jet fighters, the Chance-Vought F7U Cutlass, Ravage is a "Gutless Cutlass", or in this case a "Gutless Kittiekat!" This is because once folded out, the cassette runs on a "stright and narrow line". Without that much mass to work with (this is one case where Takara could've really used "mass shifting"), this left Ravage looking like it is suffering from energeon starvation! AKA, without a "gut" whatsoever, just a spine running down the length of a body, nothing like the lithe, sleek jungle cat that Ravage was in the cartoons. Say what you will about the G1 Ravage, at least from the sides, even from the front, he has the sleek lithe feline form of a jungle cat? This guy? Not even close!

So to solve that a bit, Takara have you notch the shoulders upwards a bit, giving the cat a hunched shoulder, as if it is ready to stirke something. Unfortunately, this is worse as it makes the cat look uneven and even smaller due to the fact they had to make those heat seeking missiles fold into the figure (this meant Ravage, like the two "birds" also do not have any accessories. GRRRRRR....) and even thinner and ready to fall over due to energeon starvation! All in all, he does not look even half way decent compared to his G1 counterpart or anything like the cartoons (despite what the box art will have you believe as that is PS'ed to hell and back). This is not a cat, unless this one is ready to fall over and die due to starvation!
Score: 5.5 Even worse than his alternate mode. This is not Ravage. Last time I remembered him, he did not have a hole where his nose is, he is definately not this thin, so thin he looks like ready to fall over and die of energeon starvation, and with a tail that looks like an afterthought, almost as if Takara did not know where to put it (Probably is). AND, his legs are so thin, you are left wondering whether they will break just by looking at them!

Overall:
Transformation: 3.
All not hard to figure out. If you already have MP-16, then Frenzy won't even need instructions. Ravage may take a little more time as his transformation is slightly more convoluted. But they are cassettes, how hard can they be? If you can't figure this out. Just drop this whole entire shitick and go home!
Durability: 4-7. Frenzy should be plenty tough and more durable than his G1 counterparts, especially the head popping up after awhile issue. But again, as stated for Rumble, you can't have it both ways. Ravage won't last long. He is just too thin, too small, and too convoluted to last long. I won't trust him when he meets kids, unlike his G1 counterpart.
Fun: 2-8: Frenzy should be plenty fun, especially if you get his twin Rumble as you can create RIBFIR AND FIBRIR version of each...Or if you like it, Rumble and Rumbler or Frenzy and Frenziker! Ravage?!?!?! Ughhh...What a waste! He is too small and somewhat flimsy. This is why he will stay in Soundwave's chest most of the time.
Playability: 2-8. Again, Frenzy is plenty fun to play with whether you think of him as Rumble or his true self. His playability goes up when you have his twin. Ravage? I won't play with him too much, least his legs fall off or something!
Price: 4. With Ravage falling flat on his face due to his poor likeness to his cartoon an his G1 counterpart, it leaves Frenzy to hold up the value. Unfortunately, he can't do this alone, especially for like $50!

Overall: 6.0. Yeah, brought WAY down due to Ravage being only a poor representation of the whole entire thing. He is small, far smaller than his G1 counterpart, he look like nothing like his cartoon counterpart and his aesthetics is just plain poor. Frenzy is great and all that, but Ravage is one of the most popular G1 Cassette-ta-cons and the big of fail is just plain no excuse! In fact, if you are not a fan of Frenzy (most likely a RIBFIR), then don't get this one. Just track down the G1 version of Ravage. That one is worth it. They are releasing G1 Soundwave with Beaky and Ravage again so that's the way to go. Only get this box if you are a completionist like me. Otherwise, not worth it.
 
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