Toy Review - Generations FOC Disc 2-packs (Wave 1)

(Please post photos, comments or even a fully comprehensive review - these are just brief details to start you off)

Frenzy/Ratbat & Rumble/Ravage
Series - Generations
Sub-line - Fall of Cybertron
Size/class - Legion
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - all new (Frenzy & Rumble are the same mould - Ratbat is mostly a new mould from Laserbeak & Buzzsaw)
Released here - November 2012 (not yet globally)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$13-18 each
Approximate Size - (10cm)
Allegiance - Decepticons
Alt-mode - Data disc... Robot (Rumble & Frenzy), "bat" (Ratbat), Jaguar (Ravage)
Main Features/Gimmicks - Spring-loaded conversion. Interacts with Voyager Soundwave & Soundblaster toys (insert into chest and are launched).
Main Colours - Red/black (Frenzy), purple/black (Ratbat), blue/black (Rumble), black/silver (Ravage).
Main Accessories - Carry case for each.


http://www.toycollectors.com.au/tftoys/gen36.jpg

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/tftoys/gen37.jpg

Nice toys. for the first time ( I think) Rumble is blue and Frenzy is red.
Ravage stands out among the 4. the rest are kinda flat in robot mode but ravage is a nice representation - from a flat disc to a nicely moulded jaguar.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LordCyrusOmega

for the first time ( I think) Rumble is blue and Frenzy is red.

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In Western Fall of Cybertron/Prime continuity, Rumble and his toys seem to be blue. All Rumbles in Japan including this one are red, and all G1 Rumble toys in the western world currently remain red.

Opened these guys this arvo and had a little play.

I'll just type a few thoughts as I have no talent at all when it comes to putting words to paper/keyboard. So i'll let the pics do the talking. Oh and FIRRIB :D


http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...11-2012022.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...11-2012023.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...11-2012025.jpg

As you can see the box art is pretty cool. The bios on the back are pretty cool and combine various media, ie the reference to Ratbat's accounting abilities :).




http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...11-2012030.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...11-2012029.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...11-2012026.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...11-2012028.jpg

Not much to see in Alt-mode. Detail is nice on the top of the disc with a rather small Decepticon symbol in the centre which is very sharp and neat.

They are a snug fit in the cases but these provide a nice storage space for them and are a nice nod to the cases that came with the original cassettes.

Transformation is pretty simple, you drop them. There is a button underneath that triggers the transformation when they hit a flat, solid suface. However the letdown for me is that Ratbat is the only one of the 4 that transforms completely. Rumble and Frenzy (being the same) have their arms up in the air and their feet tucked away (as shown below on Frenzy). And Ravage looks like he needs a tray of kitty litter :o You have to fold his rear legs down (also as shown below).

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...11-2012037.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...11-2012036.jpg




Transforming back to alt-mode is pretty easy and intuitive. However Ravage is quite fiddly as his front feet get in the way of his rear legs tucking in. But overall I was impressed with the engineering involved.

Scale-wise they are a fair size. They're about the same as the original G1 cassette minions. Ratbat has a few holes in him though. Here they are with classics Screamer.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...11-2012033.jpg


Overall they are pretty cool. Great value, I paid $6.50 for each figure. At that price you really can't go wrong and IMO these guys are a must if you are getting/have FOC Soundwave/Soundblaster. Which I still need!!:rolleyes:




Thanks for your patience.:D

excellent review, they look great. thanks for your o:cool:pinions.

So what's the general consensus here - do you consider these cassettes or discs? I've heard people use both terms. IMO these are discs (for obvious reasons). It actually kinda bugs me that some people are calling them cassettes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 5FDP

It actually kinda bugs me that some people are calling them cassettes.

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You're not the only one man :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 5FDP

So what's the general consensus here - do you consider these cassettes or discs? I've heard people use both terms. IMO these are discs (for obvious reasons). It actually kinda bugs me that some people are calling them cassettes.

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They're data discs, but as you know their G1-equivalent subgroup was the Decepticon Cassettes/Mini-Cassettes. It's like the fact that Hound, Ironhide, Ratchet, Trailbreaker, Grapple, Hoist, Inferno and Kup are Autobot Cars despite not necessarily fitting into everyone's sensibilities about what is or is not a car.

lets call them minion frisbees.....

Picked these guys up tonight. Fun to tool around with, which is something I think I can say is true of a lot of Hasbro's releases in the last 12 months - these might not be slavish G1 remakes, but they're fun to play with, which is kind of the point.

Still have Soundwave himself on layby with some other stuff so I can only assume it'll be twice as cool to use them all together.

Interesting that Frenzy and Rumble have the hands to hold weapons from other legends figures. Wouldn't be hard at all for some piledrivers to be made for these guys utilizing those hands.

Also, the bot modes for all four do suffer considerably to accommodate the gimmick - Ravage in particular is a bit of a mess and certainly not as cool as the one that came with Hound. But it's still impressive regardless that they're able to get 3 different shapes out of the one 'alt mode' that's mostly spring activated.

Oh, and the packaging images are pretty misleading. Rumble is shown with piledrivers, Ravage and Ratbat both have weapons. Ratbat's design, particularly his face, doesn't match at all. Which is odd since I didn't think that he had a pre-established FOC character model to use anyway, although I could be wrong.

i haven't seen it said anywhere, but ratbat only shares about 3 peices with laserbeak. these are the black neck, black body and clasp, the wings, tail, head and coloured back are all different moulds, just shaped similar and using the same transformation

Okay, updated first posting about Ratbat.

what are the exact dimensions of the data discs?

This is a compilation of my posts in the general Transformers discussion, collected here. Hope they're of interest, and please remember, these are just my thoughts, based on the figures I got. Yours may or may not have the same issues as me.

We go from purchase to opening, first Soundwave, then the data disks two-pack:


I picked up Soundwave today. Had the choice of either version, but went with Soundwave. I will admit that the mold does look better in black though.

I'm surprised at how big Laserbeak is. He's much bigger than I was expecting. I don't know where my Booster X-10 is, and my memory could be wrong, but I reckon they're about the same size.

I haven't opened it yet though. I don't think I actually like the look of the mold that much. I think I prefer the WFC version, despite the drawback of no companions.

The size of the chest on this figure is ludicrous. He wouldn't be able to describe what his feet look like...

It's just not doing much for me.

It looks better in the Soundblaster version, but I don't think I'm that enthused by it. I'm starting to think I'm over the FOC designs.

If I get the other Recordicons that'll hopefully spur my interest, but as of right now (and again it's still unopened, and I do open everything) it's just not doing much for me.

These are my thoughts after I opened it up:


Mine won't eject the discs at all.

Laserbeak is an extremely tight fit, and requires a bit of force.

Because of that he's impossible to eject from the chamber.

So the awesome auto-convert-upon-ejection gimmick simply doesn't work. If I was a kid I'd be pretty upset.

The arm articulation means the arms look weird if you want a normal vertical elbow bend. It limits your posing options a bit, as it stands out.

I noticed that the toy featured on the box photo has much longer grey arm stalk connectors than on the final product. A curious change.

I really don't like this figure very much. I regret this purchase.

I honestly can't remember the last Transformer I regretted buying. I tend to overlook a lot of flaws with figures, as I just display them and usually only transform them once or twice. I'm usually happy to have that representation of the character, even if I own other versions of the same basic modes.

Rumble/Ravage Two Pack:

First, the included cases are really quite nice. They're well-made and don't feel cheap, and the figures look great in them. Really nice touch, Hasbro.

In the other thread I complained about a fit problem with Laserbeak and Soundwave, but didn't know which was the problem. It's Soundwave. The gimmick wouldn't work with any of them. Got a little closer with Rumble, but still mostly in the chest. It seems to be a fairly common issue, so check yours upon purchase, if the chest>auto transform data disk is important to you.

I now own one of each of the three body types, so I can finally give a good comparison.

The winner is easily Laserbeak/Buzzsaw/Ratbat. (Ratbat has many pieces that are remolded, but use the same transformation, so I've included him here. He may be in his own category, it's up to you) It's a good little mold, and also has the simplest transformation. Only drawback for the birds is no painted eyes.

Frenzy/Rumble - this is a decent little mold. It reminds me of a minicon from Armada, just a little bigger and an extra joint or two. It's a little more complex than Laserbeak, but not overly engineered. The shoulder joints are swivels. There is a joint there to give outer movement, but it's not able to hold a pose, it's strictly for transformation. No piledrivers, of course, though its funny to see them present on the packaging art. He has clown shoes, and gets bigger as you go down, but it's all fine. Nothing overly good or bad about him. You can't really make him look tough or interesting, like Laserbeak, he really can just stand there.

Ravage - this is a hot, floppy mess of a mold. Nothing holds together in jaguar mode, and moving him kinda pushes him out in the opposite area. Like pushing a corner of a rectangle, and it all moves with it and changes shape. He has a large back flap, which sits there slightly on an angle. It doesn't look good from some angles. Its like a rectangle with an awkwardly sitting flap on top. The poseability is good with the legs. It's partly for the transformation, but you can utilise it for kitty mode too. The tail pops off very easily, so keep an eye out so you don't lose it. The face sculpt is really good, with a great snarling expression that's brought out by the silver paint for the teeth. Very nicely done. His transformation is the most complex, and feels a little bit awkward. He doesn't have the hip missiles. It looks the most cut-up in disk mode, if that matters to anyone. I like the one that came with Universe Hound better overall. The disk's head on 2.0 Ravage's body would look great.

None of them have any weapons included or molded in.

They all feel fragile to some degree, as a result of the auto-transform. This gets worse with the increasing complexity of the mold.

Keep in mind these are just my opinions, and I was trying to be critical for review purposes.

I'll be keeping Ravage displayed in the case.

It's a bit weird that the best of them is included with the toy, though some may prefer the Ratbat variation.

They're worth it for the price. The cases really boost their value. The lack of any weaponry may knock them down a notch for kids. Ravage's fierce expression looks pretty deadly though.

I have also warmed to Soundwave more. I still like the overall sculpt of the WFC version better, but the FOC version is SO much bigger!! He really looks good in your display, which also negates the dodgy gimmick. I do wish we'd have got the weapon as pictured on the packaging and instructions, but you do get quite a lot of toy for your money.

The Rumble/Ravage pack is about a C-, going to C+ due to the nice cases and the increased value because of them.

Soundwave is a solid B, with a possible B- if yours doesn't have a working ejection feature, and/or a difficult/impossible fit for the disks.

Ravage can be a pain in the butt to reform to disc mode, you have to get the order of parts exactly right. Not hard, but more fiddly than any of the other disc formers.

My Ratbat had his wings overextended in the packaging, had to reclick into their correct position, thought I was going to snap his wings off.

I personally am not fussed on the Rumble/Frenzy mold, they look okay, but nothing more, but that is to be expected with what they had to work with to get alt mode to robot.

Colours are suitable and the metallic contrast in disc mode looks very nice. Ratbat is my favourite colour scheme, but I think that is a remnant of my love of Turbomaster pink.

All are very clever and well worth the $15 they are meant to cost, for the $12 I nabbed them for even better. Even if you don't have voyager Soundwave to eject themf rom, but collect the FoC toys/classics these will make nice display additions, but you'll likely keep one purely for the auto transform gimmick to play with.

I absolutely love these little guys. I've nothing bad to say about them as a figure. But the real downside is I find none of mine fit in the cases they came with. And I don't want to force it, not for the sake of snapping, but more scratching. As I imagine they'd come out the case looking like a few trains had run over them.

Can you get an exchange? Because all of mine but Ravage fit in their cases.

I love these, the engineering is brilliant, as much as the design to make them work, but also designing them so they can be assembled by hand!
Consider how fiddly it is to fold them back up, now take away some of the parts that are stopping springs from bouncing away and try adding more bits before a spring gets you in the eye.!!:eek:

These are very impressive.

the Frumbles do have a slightly small looking head to me, but no big deal.

With regard to getting them into their case(I have these) or soundwave/soundblaster (I don't have either of these), they do fit and they do require a little force. I think the tolerance is small to stop them slipping out too easily, may be necessary to get the button to trigger on release as they are pushed out.

The tightness will also be partly due to the spring loaded nature of the toy. If you hold them in your fingers and hold them closed, you can close up all the seams across the top and bottom of the disk.
If you just sit it in your palm, you sill be able to see all the seams as the parts strain under the spring tension and try to transform, to the limits of the un-triggered button mechanics.

These are brilliant, about quarter the size of the last activator type toy I purchased which was from animated. and more complex, just with less articulation.
:cool:

all mine are snug, they dont fit well within Soundblasterwave chest cavity to well tho..

my Nephew loves them tho when they pop open and jump up after you touch them and drop them down laughs all over. he is 3! he was disapointed when all the cases did was open up....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

Can you get an exchange? Because all of mine but Ravage fit in their cases.

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Considering the figures themselves work. And I'll next to never use the cases. I'm happy, so in the end that's what it comes down to for me. The cases do look like giant odd shaped energon cubes which is cool though.

Mine all fit in the cases no worries. they are firm but they fit.

I wouldn't mind getting Laserbeak and Ratbat but I'll wait until they end up in the secondary market in a few years.

I had pick one set up as well. Nicely design and very clever.

The down side is that Ravage is quite hard to make it into a disc.
I think the price is fair for these two packs. Not a toy must have but defiantly worth picking up.

The FOC data disc are all one touch transform. The design is ok, I mean, they are cute(!) and something you would like to have. I did not buy Soundwave, but I bought his discs. The two robots are good for "posture", that's all. Ratbat is good looking, well, Ravage, unfortunately, looks like a Dachshund.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...90866950_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...11574244_n.jpg

We have a thread for the FOC discs here : http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=14807

Could an appropriately powered mod do some merging please

Video review on the discs for those interested: CLICK ME