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General Information
Release Date: November 28, 2021
Price Point: $31.49 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: Target Exclusive with limited quantities available on Hasbro Pulse
Accessories: Blaster, Impaler Claw, Cape
Official images and text in italics are from the original information provided by Hasbro PR:
- MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: Transformers robots have always been: More Than Meets the Eye, but now, through the Transformers Collaborative, fans can experience these larger than life characters as they team-up, mash-up, and meet up with other characters, teams, and people who share this same special quality
- TRANSFORMERS-DRACULA MASH-UP: We are dealing with the undead…an undead Decepticon! When night falls, the vampire Draculus awakens from stasis and stalks the darkness, preying upon those unfortunate enough to cross his path
- INSPIRED BY DRACULA: The Draculus figure converts into bat mode in 23 steps and features deco and details inspired by the 1931 Universal Pictures Dracula movie
- AWESOME DETAIL AND ACCESSORIES: Draculus figure comes with cape, blaster, and Impaler claw accessories and features black and white deco in robot mode inspired by the black and white movie release
- SPECIAL DRACULA -INSPIRED PACKAGING: Packaging is inspired by a video tape copy of the movie Dracula. Not for use as an actual video tape Transformers robots have always been -- More Than Meets the Eye -- but now, through the Transformers Collaborative, fans can experience these larger than life characters as they team-up, mash-up, and meet up with other characters, teams, and people who share this same special quality.
Worlds collide in this Transformers-Dracula mash-up pack! The mysterious Count Dracula takes on a new form as a Transformers robot, called Draculus! We are dealing with the undead…an undead Decepticon! Draculus rises from stasis under the cover of darkness and feeds on the Energon of the living. The Draculus figure is inspired by the vampire from the 1931 Universal Pictures film, Dracula. Figure converts into bat mode in 23 steps. Figure features details inspired by the Dracula movie, including black and white deco inspired by the black and white movie release. Comes with cape, blaster, and Impaler claw accessories.
Transformers and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro. © Universal City Studios LLC and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Includes: Figure, 3 accessories, and instructions. • Figure scale: 5.5 inches • Ages 8 and up • Warning: Choking Hazard - Small parts. Not for children under 3 years.
Background:
In 1897, the book Dracula was released. Written by Bram Stoker, this story chronicled the story of Count Dracula and his confrontation with Van Helsing. In 1924, a stage play adapted the book. Years later in 1931 a theatrical film would be released by Universal Pictures starring the legendary Bela Lugosi. This film laid down the template which future "Dracula" movies would use for decades to come. This film also became one of the pillars of the Universal Studios "Monsterverse" which includes other creatures such as Frankenstein and the Wolf Man.
As part of its Collaborative series of figures, Hasbro released Draculus, a retool and redeco of Titans Return Mindwipe. This review will cover the changes made to the figure for this release.
Packaging:
The packaging for the "Universal Monsters" Collaborative figures is one of my favorite in recent years. As a nod to the classic monster movies by Universal the box is designed like a VHS tape with a slip cover. The outer cover features a "Universal Monsters" logo at the top with the "Dracula" logo under it. The "Transformers" logo is set vertically on the right. The Collaborative logo is towards the bottom. The artwork for the character shows a close up of him with a staircase and candles behind him. This imagery comes from the film where he stands at the top of a staircase when he introduces himself while carrying a candle. The back of the box features the figure in both modes and a third picture shows the cape attached. The "Transformers" logo is above the figure and under it is a Decepticon symbol with the Collaborative logo on top of it.
Pull the tray inside out and Draculus is sitting inside with his accessories. Look on the other side however and you'll see the details of an Old Skool VHS tape printed including the "tape" on the left side and a label reading "Dracula" in the middle (the name "Draculus" is under it in smaller letters). For someone who grew up with VHS tapes this is a really cool way to package the figure and nod to its theatrical past.
Accessories:
Draculus includes the same accessories as Mindwipe plus an unusual addition:
- Blaster: This is the same blaster included with Mindwipe. This time out the blaster is made of black plastic with the barrel painted with a beautiful metallic red color with a faded pattern towards the middle of the weapon. The red is appropriate given the role that blood often plays in Dracula stories.
- Impaler claw: The "Impaler claw" is the same claw weapon included with Mindwipe. However, the name is a callback to Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for the story of Dracula! This is a fun nod to the history of the character. This weapon is made of black plastic with metallic red paint on top. The weapon barrels are painted gunmetal grey. Like the previous version the claws can swing up and down and there is a swing out 5mm peg in the back.
- Cape: Watch the video above and you'll see Dracula's outfit included a dramatically large cape. To emulate this, the designers included a cloth cape with Draculus. This is very unusual for Transformers toys and makes this figure very unique among the Collaborative figures. This cape has a hole in the center which attaches to a piece sticking out on the back of the figure behind the head. There are also slits in it that allow you to slide the wings on Draculus' back into them, essentially allowing the cape to "hang" off of Draculus' back attachment point and wings. Additional slits towards the end allow you to have him hold the cape's ends as he did in the film. In bat mode, this also allows the cape to spread across his wings (more on that below).
Robot Mode:
To create Draculus, the designers heavily reworked the Mindwipe sculpt. Here's a rundown of what's changed:
- Head: This figure removes the Titan Master/Headmaster feature and gives the robot a regular robot head. The head features a "helmet" section that resembles the haircut worn by Bela Lugosi in the Dracula film. His ears are pointed, a callback to his alt-mode of a bat. His mouth features fangs, another distinctive feature of Dracula.
- Torso: In the Dracula film, the titular character wears a tuxedo. His new torso panel is designed to look like the tuxedo jacket and vest worn by the character in the film. The piece that the head sits on has a collar around it now. This is meant to call back to the collar seen on Dracula's cape. The back of the collar piece has a small knob that sticks out which you use to attach the cape.
- Forearms: The forearms are new pieces that are similar in shape to the originals featuring 5mm ports on the sides and a rectangular shape. This time out however they have a ridged wrist area that resembles the cuffs on a tuxedo. This is a direct ballback to Dracula's tuxedo.
- Hands: The hands are new pieces, set in a position where the hand is slightly open with the fingers all set in slightly different positions, creating a curved effect. You can actually see Dracula's hand adopt a similar posture at around 2:25 in the video above.
Draculus is made up of black plastic (both regular and soft). Paint applications include white, silver, black, gunmetal grey and red colors. The white is used for parts of the torso and the wrists, representing parts of the "tuxedo". Silver is used on his hands, torso and face. The eyes are painted red. A bit of black paint is used on the head as well. The knee armor and the "lapels" on his torso are painted gunmetal grey. I appreciate the liberal use of the gunmetal grey and silver. It really helps drive home that this is a Transformer and not a supernatural humanoid. I also like the way the silver and white pop against the black plastic.
There are twenty two points of articulation on this figure. If you want to be generous and add the wings on his back that brings it up to twenty four. Unfortunately his feet are a bit more loose than the ones on my copy of Mindwipe. He can still stand just fine, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Draculus features a 5mm port on the side of each forearm and his hands have 5mm ports in them.
Transformation to Beast Mode:
- Detach the accessories and set them aside for now.
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Swing the fists into the forearms.
- Swivel the arms around.
- Swing the forearms up against the upper arms.
- Rotate the arms up, forming the beast mode legs.
- Rotate the small bat wings up.
- Unfold the panels that form each lower leg to reveal the bat wings.
- Swing the robot feet up.
- Each wing has a tab at the base. This slides into a slot on each beast mode leg.
- Swing the beast mode head up.
- Swing the robot mode head back.
- Attach the larger claw weapon to the 5mm port on the bottom of the panel with the head on it to form the tail/boosters.
- The blaster can be attached to the 5mm port on the tail or the 5mm ports on the wing. You can also store the blaster on the back using the exposed hands from the robot mode.
Beast Mode:
In the original Dracula book, Dracula had the ability to transform into animals including a wolf and a bat. This ability was alluded to in the 1931 film and would later become a staple feature of the character in fiction (be it cartoons or live action movies). That makes this beast mode perfect for a robotic version of the monster.
In this mode, there is no obvious retooling but there is one specific place that was retooled for no apparent reason. When this figure was originally released, the Titan/Headmaster figure Vorath could sit inside a compartment inside the torso of the beast mode. Interestingly, you can still swing open the panel on the torso that covers this compartment, but plastic cross hatched sections have been added into the compartment so you cannot put a Titan Master inside. I'm not 100% clear on the purpose of this particular retooling and to me it is one of the few strikes against this figure. I think they should have left it alone.
Like the robot mode, most of the plastic (be it regular or softer) is black in this mode. The panel on his torso is still translucent plastic. This time out it is a nice, deep red. This mode shows off a ton of paint detail on his wings and ears, using the same metallic red color seen on his accessories. The wings look amazing and I'm glad they used it on his ears as well. Red pant is used on the eyes and his teeth are painted silver. A glossy black paint is used on the torso panel, leaving only the middle section unpainted.
Draculus has ten points of articulation in this form, six of which are found in the wings. You can attach a 5mm peg weapon to either wing or the top of the claw weapon/tail section. You can also use his hands which are exposed on the back of the figure.
A note: the The TFWiki notes that the Mindwipe sculpt has a flaw where the hinged wing pieces can crack. Now, I have two versions of Mindwipe (the original and Retro versions) and neither has had this issue yet, but I grant that I have only transformed my Mindwipe figures maybe a total of ten times since I got them. It is possible repeated movement of the joints can cause the issues. The Wiki seems to indicate this problem may be present in this figure, but so far so good. It is important to note I have only transformed Draculus a few times so perhaps I have not yet hit the threshold where the issue presents itself.
Final Thoughts:
I really love how extensive the retooling was on this figure. The designers easily could have just slapped a new head on it and called it a day, but giving him new parts that call back to aspects of the character from the 1931 film was definitely the way to go. It's not great that the feet are a bit more floppy than Mindwipe's, and the wing thing mentioned above is a bit scary, but aside from those issues I think this figure is great. Recommended!
Pros:
- Excellent packaging that lovingly calls back to the past.
- Excellent retooling.
- Beautiful deco.
- I appreciate the ways which this figure (and the new parts) nod to the 1931 Dracula film.
- The cape is a particularly unique and fun accessory.
Cons:
- The loose feet are not great but he can stand without a problem.
- The wing "cracking" issue mentioned by the Wiki is a concern, but I have yet to experience it myself.
