(NOTE: Because this set consists of repaints, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the set and the color schemes. For a review of "Thrilling 30" Scamper-- the mold used for Scorponok-- read the review of Metroplex w/ Scamper here. For a review on Combiner Wars Air Raid-- the mold used for Fractyl-- read the review here.)
 

Scorponok

Allegiance: Predacon
Difficulty of Transformation: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Moderately light flat gray, dark purplish blue, and some silver, red, moderately dark glossy red, and orangish "cheesy" yellow
Individual Rating: 7.9

    Scorponok was a bit of a "last-minute" addition to the TFSS 5.0 lineup, once it was realized that these would indeed be the last figures released by FunPub. Scorponok was the only one of the original Beast Wars cast not to have gotten a "Dawn of Futures Past/Pre-BW" figure by this point, so they kinda shoehorned this mold in. (That said, the "main" bio that comes with him-- one wiht an actual card, and not on the instructions-- is from the "Beast Wars Uprising" universe instead.) Yeah, he's tiny-- he was small in the show, but he's definitely even smaller than that when compared to the other pre-BW Pred toys here-- but this is about as close as they thought a current mold could get, so here he is. As is the norm with FunPub releases, they tried to get the color scheme and paint apps pretty much as close as possible to the original toy, but with a few extra bits added to spice him up more. In vehicle mode in particular he's got a lot of paint for such a little guy. His base color plastic is a dark purplish blue, which is pretty much how his main color looked in the BW show as opposed to the black of his original toy. There's some red plastic on the wheels that mirrors his red scorpion legs, and he's got some darker glossy red on his sideguns and the small police siren. His windows are a nice silver, and his front hood is a fairly flat gray with a nice Predacon symbol in the center. The main new addition color-wise is the "cheese" yellow on the rear engine/lower legs, which helps add a bit more "light" to the color scheme. It all goes together quite well, even if the alt mode really doesn't say "Scorponok" much beyond being a ground-based mode. The dual-barreled blaster can sorta look like a little scorpion tail, I guess, but it's a stretch. In robot mode more of the moderately light gray is visible on most of Scorponok's "robot bits" on the upper arms, underneath his chest flap, and on his upper legs. His other parts are made up of vehicle parts, so nothing new there for robot mode. Despite not having a new head sculpt, his head is painted INCREDIBLY well to get it much closer to Scorponok's show face than I thought possible-- he's got the yellow visor, a gray face, and even little yellow bits underneath the chin to simulate his scorpion mandible-like bits there. How tiny it all is makes it all the more impressive.
    No mold changes have been made to Scorponok.

Scorponok Bio (Pre-BW version):
FUNCTION: Desert Attack Commander
Scorponok has proven to be gifted with explosives and cyber-viruses despite an overall average intelligence. His form has undergone several changes as he attempts to find the one that offers the best service to Megatron. Even though his current Thunderclaw configuration grants him high speed while his rifle can deliver a two-shot missile blast, Scorponok desires something with a certain "sting" that this mode lacks.

Scorponok Bio (Unclear which version):
Scorpnok first encountered Megatron when the thug and his brother, Double Punch, were initiated into the Predaconial criminal underworld. While Double Punch and his new partner Beeline soon gained favor as elite assassins, Scorponok stagnated as a street-level enforcer. Perhaps lead by jealousy of his brother, Scorponok quickly fell under Megatron's charismatic influence.

Strength: 8.0
Intelligence: 5.0
Speed: 5.0
Endurance: 7.0
Rank: 6.0
Courage: 7.0
Fireblast: 9.0
Skill: 8.0

Fractyl

Allegiance: Predacon/Wrecker
Size: Deluxe (packed with Lifeline w/ Quickslinger)
Difficulty of Transformation to Robot: Easy
Difficulty of Transformation to Leg: Very Easy
Difficulty of Transformation to Arm: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Dark dull glittery pine green, metallic gold, light greenish gray, and some silver, black, white, red, and dull purple
Rating: 8.5

    This release was pretty much guaranteed as soon as BotCon 2016 Terrorsaur was shown-- you KNEW that headsculpt was gonna be used again, and here it is. Pre-BW Terrorsaur has become pre-BW Fractyl (his bio has another explanation, of course, but that's basically what this toy is). The original Fractyl had a fairly basic color scheme, and this one pretty much copies that one. His main color is a really nice shade of dull pine green-- if it was just the shade it would be okay, but not particuarly great. However, FunPub's put a good amount of glitter in it, so it looks semi-metallic and quite good. He also has gold spots all over his vehicle mode to mimic his original BotCon toy, and has some gold on his hands, lower legs, chest, and head in his robot mode. The gold is a REALLY nice metallic shade, and goes great with the green-- not to mention green/gold is a fairly rare color combo on a TF. In robot mode another main color is a light greenish gray, used mostly on the upper legs and arms, along with some details on the waist. I'm not that fond of this color-- it's not QUITE a blah milky gray, but the greenish gray doesn't look as good as the silvery white plastic on the original. Just like with Terrorsaur, Fractyl has "pterodactyl-like" details on his jet mode cockpit, including sharp "teeth" on the sides and a red cockpit, which mimics the red eyes on the original toy. For some accent colors, there's also just a touch of black-- mostly on the nosecone, tailfins, and missiles, but also on the shoulders. It looks nice on the shoulders because of the contrast, but against the dark green it doesn't stick out that well. There's also a bit of silver on the feet and face, and his hand/foot/gun weapon is purple. It's that color mostly to match Impactor's HFG, but the purple used on Fractyl is just a tad duller, so it's a slight mismatch-- but only if you look closely.
    Fractyl has the same new headsculpt as Terrorsaur-- i.e. it looks mostly good, but the smile is a bit off. The gold, silver, and green look marvelous on it and really draw the eye-- no complaints as far as the paint apps there. Fractyl has no mold changes unique to this release, though.

    Fractyl and Scorponok are a mixed bag, overall. Scorponok has some nice paint apps and I really appreciate those on the head in particular, but he's a lukewarm homage at best, being too small and not "scorpion" enough (though I certainly appreciate him regardless to "complete the set" before FunPub lost the license). Fractyl is pretty much exactly what you'd have expected after looking at FunPub's BotCon 2016 Terrorsaur-- no more, no less. He's got a nice color scheme, but it seems more like he was used more to "fill another slot" since they had the headsculpt as opposed to actually being a highly requested or ingeniously-done figure.
 

Reviews by Beastbot

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