General Information:
Release Date: April 2017
Price Point: $297 for the Transformers Collector's Club Subscription Service 5.0 (One of seven figures)
Retailer: Fun Publications (Collector's Club Subscription Exclusive)
Accessories: Blaster, Hand/Foot/Weapon
The theme for Botcon 2016 was the "Dawn of the Predacus", riffing off the "Beast Wars" Combiner character known as Tripredacus. The story told the tale of the fall of the Decepticons and the rise of the Predacons, featuring many Maximal and Predacon characters in their "pre-Beast Wars" forms. Botcon had played with this theme before in 2006 with the "Dawn of Future's Past" set, featuring vehicular forms for many Beast Wars characters.
The "free figure" with a Botcon 2016 Primus level registration was Terrorsaur, which was a redeco and retool "Combiner Wars" Air Raid figure. Taking a cue from the past, Fun Publications took this Terrorsaur figure and gave it a new deco as the Predacon Fractyl. First introduced at Botcon 1997, Fractyl was a redeco of "Beast Wars" Terrorsaur, so in a way things have come full circle with this character. This review will focus on the changes made to the figure for this release. I recommend checking out my Terrorsaur review for a bit of background. This figure was packaged with others but I will focus on each figure in individual reviews to give them their due.
Packaging:
Fractyl is packaged in a cardboard box with a top that flips up. Inside the figure sits in a foam tray. He is packaged with Scorponok (a redeco of Scamper who was included with Titan Class Metroplex). The tech specs, instructions and accessories are all in baggies underneath the foam tray. The stickers keeping the flaps closed indicate this is part of the TFSS 5.0.
Accessories:
Unlike the Botcon 2016 Terrorsaur release Fractyl comes with two accessories. One is a redeco of the dual barreled blaster that Terrorsaur has but this time it is in metallic dark green plastic. The other accessory is a Combiner Wars hand/foot/weapon with the two rockets in the front. This piece is cast in purple with no paint applications.
Vehicle Mode:
The "Beast Wars" version of Fractyl had one of the more unique decos of the time. The figure was mostly cast in dark green plastic and in beast mode there was a pattern of gold designs running along the head, arms and back. His eyes were orange, which contrasted very nicely against the green. For this new incarnation of Fractyl Fun Publications took their design cues from the original figure to create one of the most unique vehicles in "Combiner Wars".
Fractyl is cast in metallic dark green, which matches very nicely with the original. The cockpit is painted orange, calling back to "Beast Wars" Fractyl's eyes. Running along the entire top section of the vehicle are gold splotches similar to those found on "Beast Wars" Fractyl. To add another layer of homage there are tampographs on either side of the front section that look like cartoonish teeth. This is a callback to Fractyl's actual mouth on the "Beast Wars" version of the character. The style of the art however calls back to nose art seen on World War 2 planes making it appropriate for a jet fighter. I love this extra little touch as it really shows some thought and imagination.
Additional deco details include black on vents in the front and the missiles that rest under the wings. There is also some black on the vertical stabilizers in the back. Overall this is an awesome deco and I love how unusual it is and of course the "Beast Wars" homage.
The 5mm port on top of the vehicle still accommodates the weapons nice and tight. The wings that swing out are also nice and tight. Given how many times the sculpt has been used this is a relief.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
- Detach the accessories and set them aside for now.
- Swing the cockpit up, back and bend it at the hinge and connect it to the section behind the robot head.
- Swing the wings forward and up.
- Swing the robot arms out to the sides then up.
- Swing out the front and back halves of the robot legs.
- Pull the lower leg halves down, then push them together.
- Split the lower leg sections in the middle.
- Swing the horizontal fins from the vehicle mode back.
- Attach the weapons to the hands.
Robot Mode:
Like the vehicle mode, Fun Publications took the "Beast Wars" version of Fractyl as inspiration for the deco. The color layout for the plastic on the figure is somewhat similar between the "Beast Wars" version and this one. Both figures use dark metallic green and light grey plastic as their primary colors. The green makes up most of the figure with light grey on the upper arms, waist area and thighs. This matches up very well with the "Beast Wars" version which has a very similar color layout.
The paint deco on this figure is inspired by the original Fractyl. Here's a rundown of how the two are like:
- The head is painted gold, with some of the green plastic on the crest exposed. His eyes are gold as well while the face is silver. This matches up with the way the original Fractyl was painted except his face was painted light grey.
- The sections of the chest that angle inward are painted gold. This is a rough visual callback to the gold spots on the original Fractyl's chest.
- The fists and the sides of the forearm are painted gold. On the original Fractyl the fists were painted gold, so this is a nice callback.
- The lower legs have gold details on them, matching the approximate area where the original Fractyl also had gold details on the lower legs
A couple other paint details help add some color to this mode. This includes the black on the shoulder vents and silver on his feet. Overall it's a really nice looking deco and I love how close it comes to the original figure.
Much to my delight, the joints on this figure are all relatively tight. Given that this base sculpt has gone through multiple uses already I was very happy to see this.
Transformation to Arm Mode (Starting in vehicle mode):
- Detach all weapons.
- Transform the fist piece into the hand. Flip out the four fingers that are sculpted together, then swing the thumb up to the side you want to form.
- Swing the horizontal stabilizer fins up.
- Swing each robot arm out to the side.
- Open up the halves of the robot legs and swing them down, then reconnect them together.
- Swing the cockpit section up and back.
- Swing each wing up, the swing them in so they flank the cockpit section.
- Swing the shoulder sections up, then fold the forearms up, bending the arm at the elbow. There are notches on the forearms that align with the tabs on the missiles from the vehicle mode.
- Swing the robot head down to reveal the limb connection piece.
- Attach the hand to the bottom of the feet.
Arm Mode:
While Fractyl may seem like a standalone character, his instructions indicate he is actually potentially part of a Combiner named "Wreckage" (whose team members include fellow Subscription Service figures Counterpunch, Toxitron, Impactor and Bluestreak).
The arm mode has a nice color break up with the light grey plastic contrasting nicely against the dark metallic green. The purple hand is a bit jarring as it does not match the theme, but the shade is dark enough that it is not an eye sore. In terms of how tight the joint is, the arm can hold a Legends Clas figure up in weapon mode, though you'll probably have to bend the elbow to get the arm to stay up. The ratchet joint at the shoulder still works well, so no worries there.
Transformation to Leg mode (Starting in robot mode):
- Detach all the accessories.
- Take the fist/foot piece and push in the fingers (if they're out) and swing the thumb back to form the heel.
- Swing the jet cockpit piece back.
- Swing the head back and point the connector piece up.
- Swing each rear half of the legs back, then swing the legs up on the knee hinge and reconnect the pieces together (as if you were forming the vehicle mode).
- Swing the shoulders down.
- Swing each robot arm down to the sides, connecting the notches on the forearms to the tabs on the sides of the legs.
- With the cockpit sections facing front, attach the foot piece so the rocket launcher details are facing the same way.
Leg Mode:
The leg mode is largely a variation on the vehicle mode, compressing its parts. Thanks to the way the jet parts are arranged here, a the orange on the cockpit and the gold spots from the vehicle mode are obvious and they add quite an interesting splash of color to any Combiner.
Final Thoughts:
Recommending figures from the Transformers Collector's Club Subscription Services are always a bit difficult because of their after market price. As of this writing the average price for Fractyl by himself on ebay hovers around $85-90 USD (before shipping in some cases). That is a steep price to ask for a Deluxe Class figure, but it is a limited edition figure and the deco is better than your typical retail deco. For those fans who are hardcore "Beast Wars" collectors, this figure should be part of your collection. More casual fans may want to skip it given the cost.
Pros:
- Tooling has held together well. Joints are still tight and weapons still attach firmly.
- Deco is very nice and pays homage to "Beast Wars" Fractyl very well.
- The Terrorsaur head sculpt is really nice and looks like the Terrorsaur animation model jumped off the television screen.
Cons:
- Limited release means a high after market price.
