Toy Review - TF Prime AM30 Rumble & AM31 Frenzy
Note: TF Prime Rumble and Frenzy sold separately
Series: Transformers Prime
Sub-line: Arms Micron
Size/Class: Deluxe
New/remould/redeco: Retool of TF Prime RiD Decepticon Rumble w/ new head and Arms Micron weapons
Wave: AM30 & AM31
Released here: N/A. Released in Japan January 2013.
Retail Price: 2100JPY (approx. $21) each
Size: 11cm to head, 14cm to highest kibble point
Allegiance: Decepticon
Alt mode: Rumble = red compact car, Frenzy = blue compact car
Main feature/gimmicks: Arms Micron partner can be used as gun or piledriver
Accessories: Arms Micron partner; Dago R (w/ Rumble), Dago F (w/ Frenzy).
Stock photos:
Frenzy
Rumble
Note: I've only ever seen pics of TFPRiD Rumble (hereby just referred to as "Decepticon Rumble"), so any comparisons made between the AM figures and that toy are based on what I've seen. I've yet to handle TFPRiD Rumble IRL
This page has comparative pics between Decepticon Rumble and AM Frumble.
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Mould
The head looks much nicer than Decepticon Rumble's as they bear closer resemblance to G1 Frumble's heads rather than looking like Snaptrap or Hot Spot. The chest is moulded to vaguely resemble the G1 characters' cassette chest, with two spool-like structures. There is also a neat 'collar' just below the neck, which looks better on Rumble. The overall look of the body is squat but powerful looking. This is accentuated by the broad shoulders that carry the roof kibble, giving the toy a sort of 'grid iron quarterback' look. i.e. they look like a pair of tough little punks who'd rip your arms off if you so much as glance at them! I find this to be a nice tribute to the original G1 characters, who were pretty much a pair of Decepticon thugs.The compact car mode looks great, another good example of fairly every day vehicles being incorporated as alt modes instead yet another exotic muscle/sports car or military vehicle or robotic creature etc. These things really look like robots in disguise. One really neat feature of the mould can be seen on the inside of the two pieces of back-mounted kibble -- a pair of guns, mimicking the way that G1 Rumble and Frenzy carry their guns on their backs. The only drawback is that there is no colour at all to highlight this excellent mould feature. Decepticon Rumble also suffers from the same problem -- this part of the mould desperately needs some metallic silver or gold highlights to draw attention to it. The hands are sculpted in a fairly neat "Kung Fu grip" position that lets him hold the weapon quite well.
Colours
Surprisingly good for Arms Microns. I've made it no secret that I've often not been fond of the colours used on previous AM figures -- many of them relying too much on stickers to add details rather than paint apps (Smokescreen is the worst example of this) -- but Frumble have gone the other direction. There's actually a surprising amount of paint apps on these figures (at least, more than what I was expecting), and it's not just 'paint by numbers' between Rumble and Frenzy.
Frenzy: Blue with electric blue highlights on the upper arms, upper legs, feet and shoulder joints. The waist plate, hands and front fender are a dark metallic grey, with a blue highlight on the groin. The head is black and silver around the mouth. The eyes, spools and windscreens are transparent red, which nicely offsets the blues. The tyres are black with a faux-rubbery grain on the tyre walls rather than just being flat, and the hubcaps are silver.
Rumble: Metallic red with black highlights on the upper arms, upper legs, feet, hands, front fenders and shoulder joints. There is additional metallic red highlights on the waist/crotch and collar, which looks very nice. The eyes, spools and windscreens are transparent light blue, which nicely offsets the reds.
Stickers: both toys have stickers that add gold highlights to the chest and knees. Stickers also cover the headlights and tail lights of the vehicle mode, as well as a Decepticon insignia applied to the centre of the grill. Unfortunately this logo is not visible in robot mode. They also come with bonus stickers for "Team Soundwave" and Frenzy comes with a logo resembling the left side of Soundwave's head that says "Frenzy," and Rumble comes with a logo resembling the right side of Soundwave's head that says "Rumble." The instructions don't tell you where these stickers should be applied, so it's up to the user. I personally placed the Team Soundwave stickers on the doors, and the Frenzy/Rumble stickers on the bonnet, but in hindsight I probably should placed the Frenzy/Rumble stickers on the roof like this guy did. Ah well. While I'm still not a big fan of stickers (paint apps would have been so much nicer), the chest stickers are well designed as they're made to resemble the chrome deco on G1 Frenzy/Rumble's chest. It's these sticker that made me realise that the chest is designed to be a homage to the "cassette chest", because prior to that I looked at Decepticon Rumble's chest and wondered, "Why does his body look like a skull??" It does still sorta have that skull face look, but the stickers tone it down and make the cassette-chest homage much more obvious than on Decepticon Rumble which is completely unpainted. I wish they gave each toy a Decepticon logo sticker to attach the robot mode, like on the front of the shoulder (there's certainly enough space for one).
Design
A nice fun transformation that works well as a Deluxe. It's not too easy, not too hard. The vehicle panels for the front and rear portions of the vehicle are incorporated well as the legs and shoulders. The side panels work well as the rear-mounted weapons (though sadly lacking distinguishing paint apps -- even extra stickers would've greatly helped), and the roof panels work well as big shoulder pads/armour. The head springs up as a sort of 'automorph' gimmick (though on advertised as such) which is neat. Thirteen points of articulation makes Frenzy and Rumble quite fun figures to play with.
Accessories
I don't like these Arms Micron models. They're dumb. I dislike have to build them, I dislike having to apply stickers to them, and I don't like how they feel more brittle compared to just a solid regular toy accessory. The simple solid weapons on Decepticon Rumble looks a whole lot better (and more like piledrivers anyway). I also like how Decepticon Rumble's piledrivers look like they cover the hands, making it look like the piledrivers are an extension of his arms instead of being hand held weapons. Unfortunately Dago R and Dago F don't do this at all.They're quite chunky, so they very much look like hand held weapons/tools - there's no effort to make them look like part of the arm at all. And of course, Frenzy and Rumble only come with one Dago each - so if you buy just one of these toys, you only get one piledriver.
Now having said all that, the Dagos are probably the best Arms Microns that I've seen. They seem a lot more solid and intuitive to construct that previous Arms Microns that I've come across. The Energon Chip on my Dago R isn't properly moulded, and keeps popping out.
Overall
These would have to be the best TF Prime figures I've come across! AFAIK these toys were designed as toys, without having to adapt any cartoon model. This has given designers much greater creative liberty, resulting in a far more satisfying product. The retooled head and colours work brilliantly on each toy, truly evoking the Rumble and Frenzy characters, whereas I just don't get that vibe from Decepticon Rumble, whose head and colours make me think of Hot Spot. :/ The use of metallic coloured plastic (as we saw in TakTOM's First Edition toys) is also a neat touch. A lot of consideration has gone into making these figures compliment each other so well. I managed to get these figures on sale for 1600JPY (about $16) each, but I think they're well worth their full 2100JPY ($21) RRP!Highly recommended.
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Originally Posted by BigTransformerTrev
) Now just to get out TFPrime Laserbeak, BH Ravage and put all four together in a group shot with the big SW to make "Team Soundwave!" from the Prime universe 