Here we have Refraktor in his pen mode. He's got a very unique pen design that makes me think of that pen version of Optimus Prime from 2014. It's got the chunkiness needed to make him uncomfortable but cool to write with. Also neat is the fact that he has the gun work as the pen. All in all, it's so cool to see a Deluxe Class Transformer that can become a pen. Also costs a lot less than the Convoy Prime pens, too!
In all seriousness, it's a really bad attempt at being a spaceship. It's basically a robot with his feet hugging a gun, his arms underneath his body, ski legs growing out of his legs, and his chest opened up. Yes, that can be used to describe transformations, but sometimes, it can be done cleverly! This guy's alt mode looks stupid! Also doesn't help by the fact that his robot mode doesn't look like it can transform.
Let's get the most out of this guy's...mode. I have him used for a combined mode with Brunt, who is using Megatron's weapons. This allows him to at least have more firepower while also having a bit more to do. On the left, I combined Cog and Sixgun together as a weird mobile fortress with guns ablaze.
I also came up with super modes for Optimus Prime and Megatron. While Optimus Prime makes the most out of the Autobot Weaponizers, Megatron is stuck with using Refraktor as a massive shoulder cannon along with parts of Brunt. At least he has his other parts elsewhere.
Here is what they look like from behind. This is my method of storing the parts in for Brunt, BTW. Note that some figures have two posts instead of one. Optimus and Megatron are examples.
Transformation is pretty boring. All you do is close up the chest, flip the head, reveal the hands, move the arms forward, and reconfigure the legs. It's not imaginative, and the resulting robot mode looks pretty average. IF there's one thing I can commend with the G1 designs, it's how unique they can look in terms of design. The Decepticons especially had fewer designs to use at first, but they were able to be unique from one another, whereas the Reflector design ends up looking like a Genericon by comparison. Also sucks how the little in quantity there is with Siege Decepticons at the Deluxe price point, so having this guy with characters like Brunt, Skytread, and the awesome Spinister make him feel like an afterthought. Also, check out the hollow bits he has on his back, hands, and legs; the latter don't even attempt to hide the gaps with those ski treads!
Headsculpt is generic at best, and while it does look like the cartoon character, it's otherwise just a lavender dome with a silver face and red eyes.
Articulation is pretty average, though the way the arms work concerns me. The shoulders move at pretty low points that make them look disjointed while the elbows are humorously thin compared to the biceps and forearms. The weapons look cool, with the unique gun design and riot shield, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that the shard of the camera lens remaining there is safe. Oh and his tummy can have a camera lens, too.
All in all, this figure's pretty underwhelming for what he is supposed to be...generic design, lame transformation, and a spaceship mode that looks more like a desperate pen than anything else. I don't recommend him compared to the other Siege Deluxes. My final ranking is 3/10.
Wait a minute...
...I think I can rectify this issue...
If you have the balls to pay for two extra Refraktors, then you can easily remedy some of the issues of this mediocre Deluxe. Since they're identical in terms of looks, you can at least justify them having the same design as foot soldiers of some kind. In fact, it helps them be the actual cannon fodder instead of using a shit ton of Seeker repaints, right?
You can also customize them to your liking. I have one stock Refraktor with his weapons intact, while the one on the left has two shields as shoulder guards yet lacks the stomach guard; the one on the right has the two guns replacing his hands while the stomach guard is instead used for a new head.
We already know that their vehicle modes are the same (and fuck their vehicle modes anyways), so let's get to the camera mode! While the transformation of the pen mode was pretty lame, transforming the three Refraktors into the camera is pretty nice overall. It feels good to fold them into little cubes, attach them onto the sides of the middle portion, and later attach the buttons on the two sides. Also, using the shields as a lens and combining the guns to make the tripod is pretty neat all around. The actual camera mode we end up with is actually pretty nice. It's got just about the scale you'd expect from one and also feels nice in-hand. You can even pretend to press the buttons since the neck hinges kind of spring back in place despite not being actual buttons.
The back doesn't have much to offer, but it's fine to me. There's so much that's already been shat on with this figure design that I'll let them off for not having a good backside as the front looks pretty good.
If you really want to, you could have a single big camera while the other two-thirds of the camera mode are instead used for cubes for some different reason...
You can even mess up how they look by making a display like this! One Refraktor doing whatever the hell he's doing and the other two trying so hard to get that itch off their backs.
Let's cover the repaints he received in the line. This is the toy accurate version of the mold, which gives the three figures unique decoes from one another as well as a much stronger take on the camera mode that's based on the old toy. From left to right, we have Spyglass, Spectro, and Viewfinder. They already beat the cartoon-based versions by having unique names and color schemes to them, but it's the camera mode that makes them a whole lot better than the retail version. God, I wish this was the version I got from the eBay seller's Siege lot. Not pictured is a Kremzeek accessory that
This is Scrapface, who will show up in the Netflix War for Cybertron cartoon, and he does have a deco that's fairly unique, but I can only recommend him if he's warming pegs at your Walmart because you'd most likely find shit like Sideswipe, Hound, and Chromia, who aren't as interesting as Mirage, Hotlink, Megatron, and I guess Ultra Magnus.
Now it's time to sum up the Siege line up of Deluxes. What a massive display of mostly Autobots. As for Refraktor himself, while he's not a shit-quality toy by a long shot, he suffers from a vehicle mode that is outright pathetic, a transformation from said mode that doesn't do any favors, a robot mode that's pretty generic, and can only be interesting if you have the balls to pay $44 for two more of the guy just so you can have the camera mode and I guess a decent attempt at army building. And it sucks too because at least with the Weaponizers, they're decent on their own but can go well with other copies if needed (especially Cog and Sixgun); just owning one Siegeker mold's not a bad thing, but getting more is a neat thing to do. Those two ideas feel optional whereas it feels mandatory to pay extra for two more Refraktors. Either way, only get this figure if you see three of him and don't mind spending extra cash, or buy the toy accurate version! Wait for some discounts with the Netflix repaint version.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (individually)
⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (with the extra copies)
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