It's been a while since I've done one of these reviews, and admittedly, I'm not the best when it comes to doing one. However, this little guy was enough to make me do so.
I'll start with this statement: Pictures just don't do Frenzy justice.
And it's true.
For one, when you look at the pictures, you expect him to be bloated and exaggerated. This is clearly not the case. In fact, he's actually quite a bit smaller than expected, the massive disk of death (or at least how it looks in pictures) is actually about the size of a silver dollar (give or take) giving you an idea of how small this guy really is.
Two, F.A.B.s look quite simplistic in their transformations and while this remains true with Frenzy (to a degree), he's what I'd call the Alternator of the line. Everything (and I mean everything) has to line up and lock in place just right, or he won't go together, at all. Pulling him back out of radio mode is a bit of a chore because of how he locks up and how tightly. His transformation (other than that one frustrating factor) is pretty much simple and straightforward. Fold, swing, snap. Repeat 3-4 times. Rotate head assembly. Done.
Three, the F.A.B. "action" or Automorph is quite neat on this guy, in fact I'd say he has two.
1.) Turn speaker/head unit 180 and his body halves automatically swing into place for robot mode.
2.) Push speaker and face pops out (panel in front of it drops down and connects to chest.)
Both are definitely fun to tinker with.
Four, they captured his likeness and overall character just perfect with this figure. There's no doubt that this little mechanical gremlin from Hell is Frenzy. The fact that they could do this is a positive in my book.
Five, he's got quite the range of movement in terms of poseability.
1.) His head turns left and right. (Up and down of course isn't present, but due to the construction, I'm not going to complain.)
2.) Full range in his shoulders and hips. (elbows and knees only move up and down (elbows) and left and right (knees) but all things considered, that's quite an achievement.)
3.) No waist unfortunately, but that's consumed by the gimmick (which is quite powerful I might add).
Six, detailed. An amazing amount of detail for what amounts to be pretty much a basic figure. They molded every nook and cranny of his face, almost perfectly (except they gave him red eyes when he clearly has blue in the movie, but that's a paint issue...) The paint job for the rest of the figure is quite good as well...not too much to make him loud, but just enough to break up the monotonous gray that he's comprised of. I'd say it's quite a nice balance.
NOTES: I have to admit, the speaker/head assembly isn't exactly how I'd have done it, but once you own it, you'll see why it's necessary to have it as it is. Still, even after seeing why they did what they did, it doesn't mean it doesn't detract at least a little bit from the figure overall.
He's pretty much the same size as the Deluxe Class, and seems to fit in quite well with them. He's a little taller than Swindle (or so it appears, I'll have to measure to be sure), and right around the same height as the other Deluxes. So if you were worried about his size being a problem, don't let it be.
All in all, he's the one F.A.B. that I just had to have (and the only one...) and he was well worth the purchase. At $10.00, a Deluxe (or close to it as possible) Frenzy with articulation and full transformation is a terrific addition to the collection and aside from his head set up (which still isn't enough to warrant not buying him), he's nothing short of wow. (A simple wow, but one nonetheless.)
I give him a solid
(again I apologize for using this "star" setup to whoever came up with it, but I take no credit for it, and I have to admit, it's easier and far more colorful than the alternative "*")
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