Zob's Thoughts on Titans Return Apeface, Brawn, Clobber, and Skytread

[Zobovor]

Somehow I managed to totally miss wave one of this series. Maybe I just didn't try hard enough to find them or something, but I've been to Toys "R" Us and Target lots of times since they were released (plus, you know, I'm at Walmart five days a week), and I just never saw them at all. I've never managed to miss an entire wave before. Guess I'm going hunting online later.

APEFACE

Holy moly, this guy is so cute. I've gone on record as loving wrong-sized, tiny versions of things, and in a lot of ways this toy is like a World's Smallest Transformers version of G1 Apeface. No, he doesn't transform to robot mode, but that almost doesn't matter.

In gorilla mode, the accessory module is about one and a half inches in height, and is designed to lean forward while supporting himself on his knuckles. The Titan Master mini-figure is designed to ride on his back (in Soviet Russia, monkey has YOU on HIS back) with two tiny little mini-pegs to stand on. The gorilla's arms are his only articulation and are on soft ratcheting joints to help them arrive at their "proper" positions.

The jet nosecone is on his back; flip it over and you're done transforming him. Now he's a tiny semblance of G1 Apeface's aerial mode, about three inches long. He has the red nosecone tip and white fuselage, but the color mapping is a bit off since his cockpit and wings are black (they should be green and red respectively). Still, it's so cute. The instructions say to stuff the mini-figure into the open canopy area upside-down, I guess so his body can complete the fuselage of the jet, but really I think he just needs to sit inside it and pilot the dang thing.

Swinging the monkey arms forward in jet mode and popping out the little purple gun-peg turns him into a weapon, of sorts. He would fit inside the hand of the full-sized Apeface from 1987 if you're into equipping characters with little tiny versions of themselves.

The Titan Master transforms into a head that resembles the original Apeface toy, but rather than transforming into something approximating Spasma, his mini-robot mode is like a tiny Apeface. So, he transforms into himself and he also rides himself. I don't really get it. (I wish they had given the vehicles names, like the Action Master vehicles. You know, something like "Apeface with Hypersonic Jet Fighter.") Surprisingly, he's a Decepticon but he's still got metal pins in his hips, rather than having the cheap pop-off legs. I'm a little disappointed that this toy probably means we're never going to get a full-sized Apeface, but the tiny version is pretty cute.

Five dollars is an unbelievable retail price for these tiny-assed toys.

BRAWN

The mini-vehicle for Brawn comes packaged in hover-jeep mode, but the instructions start with the speeder bike mode. I have no idea what the official nomenclature is for either of these transformations. We really needed Hasbro to tell us just what these damn things are called. Anyway, the speeder bike or whatever it is, is predominantly dark green and bright yellow, which does not really evoke G1 Brawn at all (he was more of an olive green and a dark schoolbus yellow). The mini-figure's feet peg into the seat of the vehicle so he can lean forward while riding it.

The jeep mode, if you want to call it that, consists of the speeder bike with the front and back sections folded over to the sides to form the treads. There is some quasi-jeep styling for the headlights and front grill that does vaguely suggest G1 Brawn, but it's not a WSTization of the toy the way Apeface is. The mini-figure can sit in the canopy (using the same foot-pegs from the other vehicle mode) or his head can plug into it to complete the vehicle. I think this configuration makes the most sense when the jeep turns into gun mode, with the weapon grip sliding out rather than flipping around.

The mini-figure transforms into a great, cartoon-accurate rendition of Brawn's head as per his 1984 cartoon appearance. He's grimacing a little; this is the extra-grumpy, constipated Brawn from "Microbots," obviously. The fact that his rounded helmet is dark grey but his face is light grey is actually perfectly screen-accurate. Blue eyes, too! The mini-figure transforms into something approximating Brawn, using the G1 toy's mask and visor rather than the cartoon-style humanoid face. It's got a bright yellow body and lower legs, and forest green arms, head, and upper legs, which just does not read as Brawn to my eyes at all (he looks more like Sinnertwin, really). He could have used some silver paint on the forearms and the helmet, for sure. He's got pins holding his legs in place.

Seriously, I can't believe I'm spending five dollars apiece on these.

CLOBBER

My understanding is that this is a straight redeco of Crashbash, except for the different head sculpt meant to represent Grimlock instead of Squeezeplay. I can kind of see why they went with a new name, though, since the color mapping doesn't really match Grimlock at all, and the mini-figure wasn't remolded so it doesn't look like Grimlock, either. (Honestly, though, this is kind of like getting an Action Master that's designed to look like Bruticus but inexplicably named Turbo Master. We all know who he REALLY is!)

Where Crashbash was grey and purple, Clobber's dinosaur mode is dark gunmetal with a light gold-yellow. It's vaguely Grimlockish in the same way that the Crashbash accessory module is kinda-sorta Snapdragonish. His tail is painted silver, but it's pretty obviously the head for the dragon mode. I realize this is not a new toy, but it's new to me, so I'm tickled at the way the mini-figure's arms form the arms for the dinosaur mode, and how the mini-figure's legs form the lower jaw (now THAT actually IS very Snapdragonish).

The dragon mode is just the dinosaur mode flipped over, with the dino tail forming the dragon's head and vice versa. The mini-figure can ride the dragon, attaching his feet to a couple of mini-pegs. (I have dubbed the accessory module Ruthless, a play on the name Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon.)

Gun mode is the dragon mode with the talons facing forward to serve as cannons and the dragon head tucked underneath. It's roughly as convincing as, say, any of the Targetmaster weapon modes for the G1 Seacons.

The mini-figure transforms into a good semblance of G1 Grimlock's head (and the arms of the mini-figure actually form part of the helmet, rather than being a piece that you try really hard to ignore, like on Scourge) but the mini-figure's styling in robot mode retains all the sculpted elements that makes him look like Lokos, the Nebulan partner for Squeezeplay. He's got the cheap pop-off legs.

This does not feel like a five-dollar toy to me.

SKYTREAD

The trademark Flywheels was gobbled up by another company, so Hasbro had to come up with a substitute name for the character. Skytread arguably makes sense for the Duocon character, given that he used to turn into a tank with treads, not a car with wheels. Like Clobber, he's a redeco of a previous toy, using Terri-Bull's vehicle and mini-figure design only with a new Titan Masters head design.

The tank mode is adorable, like a little tiny Micromaster, and the mini-figure can sit with his legs partially wedged into the back of the turret. The two individually-positionable dual cannons remind me a little bit of Demolishor from the Armada days, and can each swivel up and down independently. Colors do evoke G1 Flywheels, even if the style of tank is very different.

Jet mode involves flipping the tank upside-down, swinging the nosecone out from underneath the tank undercarriage, and opening up the treads to form the jet wings. The gap left by the nosecone serves as the seat for the mini-figure. You can also wedge him in there head-first, with his legs dangling out, to complete the vehicle shell. It's about as Flywheels as you can get, given that it's a brown tank that's changing into a red jet.

Gun mode is basically the jet mode with the wings flipped up. It would have been a bit more successful if it had been the tank mode, since the jet nose is still dominant in this configuration, but this is just where the peg for the weapon mode is positioned.

The mini-figure transforms into a head that really strongly resembles G1 Flywheels in both color scheme and sculpt. His humanoid mode is the same sculpt as Terri-Bull, but the toy doesn't actually look like Kreb at all, which is the Nebulan component for G1 Horri-Bull. The other mini-figures have all been pretty accurate to their G1 counterparts, so I don't know why this one diverges so dramatically. He's got the cheap pop-off legs.

I have no idea why I spent five dollars on this thing.


Zob (loves tiny toys, is why)

[MWG]

Distribution on the first wave of this size was really wonky. They hit online stores, but were behind almost everything else in TR hitting brick & mortar. I got lucky and found them at a local Walmart but a lot of stores don't even have price tags for them.

Nightbeat is OK, but the vehicle/accessory thing just doesn't fit him at all. Siren/Loudmouth has a cool vehicle that I'd love to see done in blue. I think these two were done to preview the "complete" versions of Nightbeat & Siren that will come later, and will have swapped head designs like they did in the Marvel comics. This way we will have the option to be comic accurate or toy accurate with the heads. Terri-Bull is OK, the tank reminds me of the G.I. Joe Armadillo tanks which is a plus. Crashbash's dinosaur mode is pretty cool. The main reason to get these (for me) is that they are genuine Headmaster characters from the second year (1988) of the gimmick, but it would be nice to see them all get full bodies. The price is good also.

I did find the second wave today, only picked up Apeface so far. At least they made a good effort on him, since the accessory does homage his alt modes. But like I said above, he does deserve a proper voyager sized figure. For Brawn, I am kind of conflicted. The head mode does look nice, but damn it, most fans wanted a proper legends-size figure to go with the other minibot updates we've seen in the last few years, and THIS is what we got instead? This just felt like a middle-finger to the fans, kinda like CW Huffer & Pipes. I don't want to hear Hasbro say these are "good enough", because they aren't. I might grab Skytread at some point, but will probably skip "Clobber" since the dinosaur accessory looks to be a better fit for the upcoming Overkill homage. It would be nice if the Titanmaster had Soundwave's face with a red visor, since the leader SW will have the yellow visor, but whatever.

[Zobovor]

On Wednesday, September 14, 2016 at 6:15:00 PM UTC-6, MWG wrote:

> Distribution on the first wave of this size was really wonky. They hit
> online stores, but were behind almost everything else in TR hitting brick &
> mortar. I got lucky and found them at a local Walmart but a lot of stores
> don't even have price tags for them.

People reselling them online must know this, because most people are asking $40-50 shipped for $20 worth of toys. Sigh.

> Nightbeat is OK, but the vehicle/accessory thing just doesn't fit him at
> all. Siren/Loudmouth has a cool vehicle that I'd love to see done in blue.
> I think these two were done to preview the "complete" versions of Nightbeat &
> Siren that will come later, and will have swapped head designs like they did
> in the Marvel comics.

If what you say is true, then this is amazingly cool news. Nightbeat was one of the characters the fandom was clamoring for some years ago, and then when we got the Generations edition (the Bumblebee/Goldfire retool) it wasn't even a functional Headmaster, so it was in some ways disappointing. I'd say that Nightbeat is probably the most popular Headmaster character, so this would be a huge win for Hasbro if they follow through.

> The main reason to get these (for me) is that they are genuine Headmaster
> characters from the second year (1988) of the gimmick, but it would be nice
> to see them all get full bodies.

Agreed. I wouldn't be buying them if they were all-new characters. The fact that they're 1988 tributes is a huge draw for me.

> For Brawn, I am kind of conflicted. The head mode does look nice, but damn
> it, most fans wanted a proper legends-size figure to go with the other
> minibot updates we've seen in the last few years, and THIS is what we got
> instead? This just felt like a middle-finger to the fans, kinda like CW
> Huffer & Pipes. I don't want to hear Hasbro say these are "good enough",
> because they aren't.

Huffer and Pipes were pretty disappointing compared to other G1 tributes. Poor Pipes didn't even get a head remold, so he was just an Optimus Prime toy with a Huffer head.

As for Brawn, I suspect this isn't meant as Hasbro's way of saying "good enough," but rather, perhaps, "in the meanwhile." I'm sure we'll get a proper Legends-sized Brawn/Outback at some point. It took them a while to get to all three Insecticons, so I figured it might take them a while to cover all the Mini Autobots, too. (You've got to figure that once they've done modern updates for ever G1 character from 1984-86, there just won't be that much more to do. I'm really surprised they've been branching into 1987-88 characters with Titans Return, because they just don't have the same kind of name recognition. I would be delighted to be proved wrong and see Hasbro start churning out faithful and loving updates to all the Pretenders, Powermasters, double Targetmasters, Triggerbots, etc. but somehow I just don't see it realistically happening.)

In retrospect, I wonder if Voyager Brainstorm was meant to test the waters to see what kind of interest there was in modern-era Headmasters. I know there was some online scrambling to find the toy because he was a tail-ender; could Hasbro have interpreted that as the go-ahead for Titans Return? If so, that's kind of hilarious.


Zob (quick, everybody, start talking about the new edition of Targetmaster Scoop and how much you loved it!)

[David Connell]

On Wednesday, September 14, 2016 at 11:19:14 PM UTC-4, Zobovor wrote:

>
> As for Brawn, I suspect this isn't meant as Hasbro's way of saying "good enough," but rather, perhaps, "in the meanwhile." I'm sure we'll get a proper Legends-sized Brawn/Outback at some point.

We already got a proper Legends-sized Brawn several years back. This guy, if I find him, might make a interesting novelty. Maybe I'll try to mod BH Bulkhead into a body for him ...

I'm adamantly against the current trend of making all the Legends figures the same size - Bumblebee should NOT be the same size as Prime and Megatron! I'd much prefer Hasbro bring back the Cyberverse distinctions of Legion and Commander class, at least once TR is done. I loved it when Legends/Cyberverse was its own independent line, rather than "the little guys" for the regular line. It was awesome having the characters better scaled for bases, and in a loose sense at least scaled to each other. (Though abberations like TFP Cyberverse Breakdown did happen, of course.)

Legion can take over the $5 price point the TR heads currently occupy, and Commander the current Generations Legend pricepoint.

[Zobovor]

On Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 8:06:04 AM UTC-6, David Connell wrote:

> We already got a proper Legends-sized Brawn several years back.

The toy assortment called "Legends" from 2008 isn't really the same thing as the current Legends assortment. The old Legends were tiny toys that sold for around $5; the modern-era Legends are bigger and sell for closer to $10. It's not as diverse as comparing apples to oranges... maybe navel oranges to tangerines.

My point is that these days, the Mini Autobots tend to be represented in the larger ten-dollar Legends toys (Gears/Swerve, Tailgate/Windcharger, Huffer/Pipes) so we need a Brawn that fits in that assortment. Preferably one that they can retool as Outback, who we never got in the older, tiny Legends assortment.


Zob (technically, we already got a Legends version of Grimlock, too, but it was from 1989 and was a K-Mart exclusive)

[David Connell]

What's currently called "Legends", at least for the Generations line, is more akin to the old Scout class. I prefer Generations Legends class to be what it was and continues to be for RiD - its own line providing smaller scale incarnations of the characters.

With bases so prevalent in Titans Return, a Cyberverse-style variety of sizes would make perfect sense. Not that the spare heads with accessories in the $5 price point aren't also cool, but I just miss the complete toyline in miniature that Cyberverse represented.

[MWG]

On Wednesday, September 14, 2016 at 10:19:14 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> On Wednesday, September 14, 2016 at 6:15:00 PM UTC-6, MWG wrote:
>
> > Distribution on the first wave of this size was really wonky. They hit
> > online stores, but were behind almost everything else in TR hitting brick &
> > mortar. I got lucky and found them at a local Walmart but a lot of stores
> > don't even have price tags for them.
>
> People reselling them online must know this, because most people are asking $40-50 shipped for $20 worth of toys. Sigh.
>

I found one seller on Amazon offering the set for $25 shipped in August and almost bit but got lucky. Usually if I order something online, I see it in local stores within a few days of it being delivered to my home. Of course, I can be a cheap bastard who prefers to wait for someplace online to offer stuff at retail prices (translation: I wait for Hasbrotoyshop to have it with free shipping, or Amazon to have it from themselves, since I have Prime). This can be frustrating though, since Titans Return leaders seem to only be at Toys R Us stores and online, while Walmart & Target are clogged with Skywarp (most stores around here jumped from LC Thundercracker directly to LC Skywarp, ignoring Ultra Magnus) and now some LC Starscreams that should've hit last fall but I guess he was re-released along with later Skywarps. These need to be sent to Ross already, or let Amazon clear them out at $22 like they did for Thundercracker last year (gonna quit ranting about that for now).

> > Nightbeat is OK, but the vehicle/accessory thing just doesn't fit him at
> > all. Siren/Loudmouth has a cool vehicle that I'd love to see done in blue.
> > I think these two were done to preview the "complete" versions of Nightbeat &
> > Siren that will come later, and will have swapped head designs like they did
> > in the Marvel comics.
>
> If what you say is true, then this is amazingly cool news. Nightbeat was one of the characters the fandom was clamoring for some years ago, and then when we got the Generations edition (the Bumblebee/Goldfire retool) it wasn't even a functional Headmaster, so it was in some ways disappointing. I'd say that Nightbeat is probably the most popular Headmaster character, so this would be a huge win for Hasbro if they follow through.
>

Nightbeat & Siren could share a base mold, and with the wonders of modern heavy remolding it could work for both characters even if they aren't 100% G1 perfectly accurate. Then those two could be repainted into Minerva and Go Shooter, which both Takara and Hasbro could possibly offer (and Hasbro was willing to do freakin Black Shadow and the silver Skids repaint, both were once Japan exclusive characters, so these two could be seen as easy money for them). A deluxe Nightbeat is on the rumored list on a post on TFW2005's news/rumors forum (along with a whole stack of other characters), but many of those rumors have come true in the past.

> > The main reason to get these (for me) is that they are genuine Headmaster
> > characters from the second year (1988) of the gimmick, but it would be nice
> > to see them all get full bodies.
>
> Agreed. I wouldn't be buying them if they were all-new characters. The fact that they're 1988 tributes is a huge draw for me.
>
> > For Brawn, I am kind of conflicted. The head mode does look nice, but damn
> > it, most fans wanted a proper legends-size figure to go with the other
> > minibot updates we've seen in the last few years, and THIS is what we got
> > instead? This just felt like a middle-finger to the fans, kinda like CW
> > Huffer & Pipes. I don't want to hear Hasbro say these are "good enough",
> > because they aren't.
>
> Huffer and Pipes were pretty disappointing compared to other G1 tributes. Poor Pipes didn't even get a head remold, so he was just an Optimus Prime toy with a Huffer head.
>
> As for Brawn, I suspect this isn't meant as Hasbro's way of saying "good enough," but rather, perhaps, "in the meanwhile." I'm sure we'll get a proper Legends-sized Brawn/Outback at some point. It took them a while to get to all three Insecticons, so I figured it might take them a while to cover all the Mini Autobots, too. (You've got to figure that once they've done modern updates for ever G1 character from 1984-86, there just won't be that much more to do. I'm really surprised they've been branching into 1987-88 characters with Titans Return, because they just don't have the same kind of name recognition. I would be delighted to be proved wrong and see Hasbro start churning out faithful and loving updates to all the Pretenders, Powermasters, double Targetmasters, Triggerbots, etc. but somehow I just don't see it realistically happening.)
>

Brawn is a symptom of my bigger problem with this line having one all-encompassing gimmick. It feels like he was a sacrifice to this gimmick, and one that came rather late in development. They obviously had the name, and managed to make the toys in the package look somewhat appropriate for him. But instead of following the ongoing pattern of making minibots in Legends-scale, they did a hard formula shift here (while managing to give Wheelie an appropriate update in the first wave of the size in this line that still works with the gimmick, and the upcoming Bumblebee also appears to) and it is really irritating. Ironically, the legends size seems to be the one least damaged by this omni-gimmick, they can apparently all accommodate the headmaster partner figures, but the gimmick can also be ignored on them. For most of the other figures in the line it is impossible to ignore, which is sad for a figure like Galvatron, who we waited so long for a proper update of only to be given a decent one with this "extra condition". I can see a place for these Titanmaster figures, and can see non-headmaster characters being able to accommodate them (like Energon figures having ports for Armada minicons or some characters having those 3mm bars despite not having the clip on weapons themselves) but FORCING the gimmick on almost everything released in the line for a year or so is bad IMO.

> In retrospect, I wonder if Voyager Brainstorm was meant to test the waters to see what kind of interest there was in modern-era Headmasters. I know there was some online scrambling to find the toy because he was a tail-ender; could Hasbro have interpreted that as the go-ahead for Titans Return? If so, that's kind of hilarious.
>
>
> Zob (quick, everybody, start talking about the new edition of Targetmaster Scoop and how much you loved it!)

Scoop actually was pretty good, and I would love to see the other dual Targetmasters get proper updates (as Targetmasters, NOT headmasters), especially Spinister since apache-style copters are awesome.

[Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats]

On Sunday, September 11, 2016 at 5:47:58 PM UTC-7, Zobovor wrote:
>
> APEFACE
>
> Holy moly, this guy is so cute.

He is pretty adorable.

> BRAWN
>
> The mini-vehicle for Brawn comes packaged in hover-jeep mode, but the instructions start with the speeder bike mode. I have no idea what the official nomenclature is for either of these transformations. We really needed Hasbro to tell us just what these damn things are called. Anyway, the speeder bike or whatever it is, is predominantly dark green and bright yellow, which does not really evoke G1 Brawn at all (he was more of an olive green and a dark schoolbus yellow). The mini-figure's feet peg into the seat of the vehicle so he can lean forward while riding it.

Huh, I had it backwards. I had him sitting in the cockpit, with the solid yellow windshield as the back of a seat, and the Autobot logo behind the driver.

These little vehicles are way too abstract.

> The jeep mode, if you want to call it that, consists of the speeder bike with the front and back sections folded over to the sides to form the treads. There is some quasi-jeep styling for the headlights and front grill that does vaguely suggest G1 Brawn, but it's not a WSTization of the toy the way Apeface is. The mini-figure can sit in the canopy (using the same foot-pegs from the other vehicle mode) or his head can plug into it to complete the vehicle. I think this configuration makes the most sense when the jeep turns into gun mode, with the weapon grip sliding out rather than flipping around.

He might be the only one who transforms into a plausible gun.

> The mini-figure transforms into a great, cartoon-accurate rendition of Brawn's head as per his 1984 cartoon appearance. He's grimacing a little; this is the extra-grumpy, constipated Brawn from "Microbots," obviously. The fact that his rounded helmet is dark grey but his face is light grey is actually perfectly screen-accurate.

This might be my favorite head of all the Titan Masters -- it's a really nice face sculpt.

> CLOBBER
>
> My understanding is that this is a straight redeco of Crashbash, except for the different head sculpt meant to represent Grimlock instead of Squeezeplay. I can kind of see why they went with a new name, though, since the color mapping doesn't really match Grimlock at all, and the mini-figure wasn't remolded so it doesn't look like Grimlock, either. (Honestly, though, this is kind of like getting an Action Master that's designed to look like Bruticus but inexplicably named Turbo Master. We all know who he REALLY is!)

I don't want to think about how Grimlock became a Titan Master... Doesn't bother me about Brawn, somehow.

> SKYTREAD
>
> The trademark Flywheels was gobbled up by another company, so Hasbro had to come up with a substitute name for the character. Skytread arguably makes sense for the Duocon character, given that he used to turn into a tank with treads, not a car with wheels. Like Clobber, he's a redeco of a previous toy, using Terri-Bull's vehicle and mini-figure design only with a new Titan Masters head design.

I really like Skytread a lot more than Terri-Bull. I don't really understand why since I have no great attachment to either character.