Transformers Studio Series 86 Core Frenzy review

Frenzy has been a figure I’ve been trying to add to my Transformers Studio Series collection for months. I got his brother, Rumble, with no trouble and assumed that would be the case for ‘ol Frenzy. With no luck at retail, I tried Entertainment Earth and after some dramatic months of delays, Frenzy is all set to join the Deceptions.

While Frenzy got little burn on the G1 cartoons, he did have several memorable moments in Transformers: The Movie shattering the dome Perceptor was broadcasting the emergency call to Optimus Prime and then challenging the Constructicons on behalf of Soundwave.

I already know what’s in store with Frenzy since he’s just a repaint of the very solid Rumble figure, but the Decepticon cassette crew needed Frenzy. Let’s see if he’s a strong addition to Soundwave’s mini army or if he’ll disrupt the shelf.

Packaging: Frenzy’s packaging is the exact same as Rumble’s just repainted to match his red and black color scheme. In the toy and comic book line, Frenzy used sonic waves to disorient the Autobots. The cartoon just made him a swappable clone of Rumble with the same piledriving earthquake creating powers. The packaging is less busy thanks to streamlined colors and character focused artwork. This is a tiny box so there wasn’t much room to do anything else.

This was probably too much to ask for, but I do wish the artwork for Frenzy was different just to mix it up a bit. His packaging lacks any personalization thanks to the various languages crammed on the back, but we do see his robot and alt modes.

Likeness: Frenzy is fairly streamlined with a small frame.

Still, the details are impressive in this scale included the opposite sides of the cassette base body being sculpted instead of just painted on.

The head sculpt is also solid suggesting plenty of bad attitude personality from one of the smaller Decepticons. And of course, his blasters plug into his back for that signature default look.

MORE:

• Extraction 2 review
• Hot Toys Avengers: Infinity War Doctor Strange figure review
• Marvel Legends Odin review – 85th Anniversary wave
• G.I. Joe Classified Series Serpentor review
• DC Multiverse Firestorm review – McFarlane Collector Edition

Alt Mode: Frenzy transforms into a cassette, which is scaled pretty nicely with Blaster’s cassettes.

Transformation: Frenzy is relatively easy to transform, which is fitting since it only takes nine steps to change him into his cassette mode.

Scale: Frenzy was tiny compared to the other Decepticons whether the Insecticons, the Seekers or Devastator.

Paint: Frenzy‘s paintjob is excellent with clean applications of the gold and silver paint pairing up with black and red molded plastic.

Frenzy’s legs also have more detailed work with the grated sections in blue. The red of his goggles is also applied very cleanly.

Articulation: His articulation is fine for this scale. He moves just fine despite missing some of the standard joints of the larger size figures.

Frenzy has:

• neck
• bicep
• ball-jointed shoulders
• wrists
• wrist hinge
• hips
• knees (swivel)
• ankles

Accessories:  Frenzy comes with his two laser blasters and his piledrivers.

Beyond the face off with Perceptor & Blaster and the mini war for control of the Decepticons inside Astrotrain, I’m probably not going to pose him with the piledriver attachments. His piledrivers slot into his arms and lock into place with no trouble.

He’ll be using the sonic blasters most of the time.  The lasers plug into his forearms nicely. I do wish they would stay locked into his back. Minor movements will cause them to pop right off.

Not bad for a $12 figure.

Worth it?  I got him for $11.99, which wasn’t bad considering how expensive he is on the secondary market these days.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Frenzy is a great cassette figure. The only knock on him is the lack of elbow articulation and the lasers not staying plugged into his back stronger.

Where to get it?  He’s very hard to find at this point. You could grab him from Amazon from secondary resellers. Entertainment Earth has him listed as out of stock, but I definitely recommend keeping it on your radar in case of a restock.

As an Amazon Associate and Entertainment Earth affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.