Arms Microns Frenzy & Rumble

Review by Laserwave13:

Prelude: When Hasbro announced a figure named Rumble, there was some amazement about him and how he would fit in. Followed by some measure of disillusionment. He quickly became the perfect example of just how little paint you can use on a figure and for a change, that one can even use almost no paint at all. Despite a pretty good Bot mode it seemed that a small, blue, unpainted car was simply enough. Including two also unpainted guns. And who needs his red brother anyway? At least no one working for Hasbro, it would seem. Only a matter of time before Takara took this figure for their own release. And again, many complaints followed, things like Hasbro’s version looking better, even though it was previously condemned to look like nothing at all. So let us see what the deal really is. Any by the way, Takara seems to have a bigger heart for Frenzy, because they released him. What color goes with what name I leave to your personal preference, of course.

Alternate Mode: In this case a red and a blue car, physically unchanged. No, not even Arms Micron ports were added. Everything besides body color and stickers is the same. Talking about color, next to Hasbro Rumble most Dark of the Moon toys appear to be really colorful. So no wonder the AM version can easily do better than that. Without the stickers the cars have no headlights, but you also get taillights this time and stickers aside, Takara did actually use more paint on the cars than Hasbro. You may have guessed it, yes, the silver painted rims! And what a difference that makes, really, it does. Next to Rumble’s red, the blue of Frenzy is a lot darker, looks good, and both have a kind of reverse effect to them. Blue car with red windows and red car with blue windows. They simply look good and far better than the no-paint toy that Hasbro did. Small, but nice.

Robot Mode: Just like the vehicle mode, there are no technical changes here. But the resultant picture is still totally different. Together with the stickers these robots look a hell of a lot more colorful and bright compared to Hasbro’s version. It’s a little odd that they gave the new head mold to both of them instead of only one, but I like it just fine. The new one fits better for those characters. And they did the reversed colors again, blue with red eyes, red with blue eyes. I love it when there is attention paid to such small details. Again, the stickers work wonders with both of them, together with the chosen plastic colors they both look very shiny. Some might say that Frenzy has too much blue on his body. Cannot agree with that, the darker colored vehicle parts make up for that and give him a very nice, unified look. Both look great and are nicely articulated, which makes for good solid robots. But one point I will concede to Hasbro. Unpainted or not, Hasbro Rumble has the better weapons and two of them to boot. But that is not enough to compensate for using no paint. Personally and in favor of Soundwave with these two I would definitely go with Takara anytime over Hasbro. Great figure design with a shiny look make them a win-win for Takara!

Stickers: Usually not worth mentioning, but in this case it might be interesting. If you have or know some of the later releases down the line, you may have noticed that all figures come with more stickers than actually necessary just to add some extra details. In this case there is a nice effect. Both come with a sticker for half a Decepticon symbol and their name to be put on the roof of the car. Again, each has half of it. Since the roof will end up on the shoulder in robot mode, you can place them next to each other and combine the sticker and Decepticon logo that way. For me I thought it unnecessary, but I think it is a nice idea that one should know of.

Arms Micron: Both of them have the same Micron and except for the stickers where one gets blue, the other red ones, they even have the same name, mostly. Dago F or R, that is it. Looking at the robot mode, you could easily mistake them for one of the many droids from Star Wars. Kind of nice. Weapon mode, well, not really pile-drivers, but nice handguns or rocket launchers, whichever you prefer them to be. So not the best, but one of the better Arms Microns overall.

Conclusion: In the end this is a flawless victory for Takara over Hasbro. Even though with Arms Micron that is rather unusual, but in this case it worked and Takara totally nailed it. The figures themselves are great and if you want to do your Soundwave a favor, then get both of them. Yes, you could go with Rumble - the red one – and call him Frenzy, but he would make your Hasbro Rumble look even more pale and pathetic than he already is. If you have Hasbro Rumble, dump him and get the Takara duo. Fully recommended.

Rating: A-