RID 2015 Fracture (Deployer)

Robot Mode: Remember the cartoon where Fracture launched his two Minicon partners from his shoulders? Remember how you thought that was really stupid and wished the toy would instead have a separate bulky module hanging off its ass to launch a single Minicon from? Yeah, me neither, but apparently someone thought so. While Fracture has sculpted missile cones on his shoulders, those are merely ornamental. Instead he has this separate launching module that not only looks utterly ridiculous (especially when the Minicon isn’t attached), but also unbalances the figure quite a bit when it’s flipped up. But I’m sure someone thought it was really neat.

Also, Fracture is a prime example of a figure built around a gimmick with everything about it subservient to said gimmick. The figure’s articulation is sub-standard (it can only bend its knees because it’s a transformation requirement), no weapons, and even if you entertained the notion of simply removing that stupid Minicon launching thing, the figure you’re left with would be far, far inferior to the Warrior-class version in just about every way.

Bottom line for the robot mode: nothing to write home about unless you are really, really gung-ho about the Minicon Deployer gimmick.

Alternate Mode: Fracture transforms into a futuristic motorcycle and by transform I mean he lies on his back, bends his knees a bit, and slides up his shoulder pads to somewhat hide his face. That’s pretty much it. The Minicon launcher now becomes a sidecar, which at the very least looks better here than it does in robot mode. Airazor can be launched in this mode as well, of course. Not much else I can write here. An alternate mode barely worth the few seconds it takes to convert the figure into it.

Partner: The best thing about this set is actually the Minicon Airazor. Okay, he is basically an unmoving brick, no articulation beyond what is required to fold him together into his torpedo mode, but at least he looks pretty cool and comes with a nice set of add-on parts to clad him in armor and at least some of the armor pieces can be used on the larger figure as well. So the looks are good, but I am a bit disappointed that they couldn’t at least give him rudimentary articulation. The Armada Minicons did that a lot better 14 years ago.

Remarks: There are times I really don’t understand the decisions made in the Hasbro development department. Okay, so the RID toy line is geared towards kids, I get that. The figures have become somewhat smaller and simpler, okay. But given how big a role Minicons play in both the toy line and the cartoon, too, one would have expected Hasbro to do what they have done pretty successfully once before in the Armada toy line and make the Minicons compatible with every figure from the line (something the cartoon has explicitly shown, by the way). But no, instead the Minicons are incompatible with the vast majority of the RID toys, working only together with these dreadful Minicon Deployers (plus apparently some of the really big n-step toys). At least Takara had the sense to add pegs to their versions of the Minicons (shades of Armada / Micron Denetsu) so they could plug into some of the bigger figures. But on the Hasbro side? Just these Deployers here. I really don’t get it, sorry.

So bottom line here: stay away unless you really, really want to have the Minicon Airazor in order to place him next to Warrior-Class Fracture, because you’re only getting him in this set. But Deployer Fracture is really very, very useless. Certainly from a collector’s point of view, but I can’t really imagine a kid being very entertained here, either, after they’ve shot off the Minicon a few times.

Rating: D+