So, we've gotten heads that plug into vehicles to become guns, little humanoid robots that lay on their stomachs to become guns, third time's the charm, and Hasbro's finally giving us actual Targetmasters, now branded as Battlemasters because, as you'll see in a few weeks, guns aren't the only weapons being released. I want to try something different this time though, as a way of covering more of these little guys when compared to the Prime Masters. Each Battlemaster will be paired with a review of a larger figure that makes some kind of sense, at least when possible. While some like Pteraxadon are going to be a stretch, the Targetmasters are pretty easy, reviewing them with the characters they originally came with back in Generation 1, and because Firedrive (originally known as Firebolt) came with a re-release of Generation 1 Hot Rod, Titans Return Hot Rod will be the bot he's paired with, mainly for two reasons.
In the Titans Return release of Hot Rod, Firedrive was the name given to Hot Rod's Titan Master, something that was shared between all of the Targetmasters turned Headmasters in the line. To quickly go over the Titan Master, he's very generic in design, with no paint on the Titan Master body at all, and the only paint being Hot Rod's face. I'm not a fan of the grey plastic used for the Titan Master either because it doesn't really work when put onto Hot Rod's body. While there is grey on the robot mode, it's not an obvious colour when looked at from most angles, making it stand out. This isn't a problem with the Takara Legends release of the figure, which has its own version of Firedrive.
This is something I find interesting about the Siege releases of the Targetmasters because while Takara has the moulds for several Targetmasters, including Firedrive, the Siege releases appear to be entirely new moulds. I'm not entirely sure why this was done, other than for the sake of cutting back on parts, as the Takara Legends release has joints such as a waist swivel (when moving gun kibble), and knees. While the articulation on the Hasbro version is very limited, being just ball joints in the shoulders and hips, though you can use a transformation joint as an ab crunch, I do like the presence this guy has thanks to the sculpting work done. While I only have one other Targetmaster, Nightstick that came with a re-release of the Transformers Universe version of Cyclonus, this is a step up in quality, though at the cost of working elbows. While Nightstick looks a lot like a gun with robot bits, Battlemaster Firedrive still looks like a proper robot, thanks in part to not only the sculpt work, but borrowing a trick from the Prime Masters of Power of the Primes, you can take the backpack and give Firedrive a very large, double barrel gun as an arm-mounted weapon. One five-second transformation later and you have a "Duo-Charge Electrostatic Photon Cannon", which has the usual Targetmaster issues, mostly in that it's barely hiding the robot parts in the gun mode. Generation 1 Megatron, Targetmasters are almost always not. As a part of the C.O.M.B.A.T System gimmick, you do get some effect parts that make it looks like the gun is actually firing, something that I do appreciate because you can easily ignore them if desired, or even mix and match them with other guns in the line, though some effects parts are better suited for the weapon they came from. The effects parts themselves are a nice translucent purple and made of soft plastic to help keep them from breaking.
Onto Titans Return Hot Rod, and to spoil a part of the review now, this figure is a lot better than the Power of the Primes release, though not perfect. I love the look of the car mode, it has more life in it and is far better proportioned to the Power of the Primes release, though for the main reason of this one not needing to also be Rodimus Prime. One part that it does fall flat on though is in regards to paint. While there is a lot of paint on it, thanks to things like the car hood and spoiler, there are noticeable gaps in paint too, such as the wheels and the exhaust pipes. While passable, the extra paint would have helped make an already great figure even better. The guns that come with the Hasbro release of the mould are a let down for me though. They suffer from the same issues that plagued almost all of the guns in Titans Return, that being a large hollow gap for the sake of Titan Master integration, but on top of that, they have a problem that seems to work against the larger play pattern that required the guns have that Titan Master integration. The intention for the guns in the line was to be able to add them to any of the Leader Class base modes, along with Fortress Maximus and Trypticon to act as a manned turret that the Titan Masters could control. The problem with that though for a lot of the Deluxe Class figures though was that the 5mm pegs weren't always in viable places to give it a convincing look. In the case of Hot Rods, you have two on the sides for the sake of the robot holding the two pieces, which is fine, but when combined together, the only connection point on the bottom is two tabs that are meant more for connecting to Hot Rod's car mode, rather than any of the bases. Why though? Why could those two tabs not just be another 5mm port? To not compromise Hot Rod? You've already got two slots in what will be the centre of his chest, and as the Takara Legends one shows, by giving one extra transformation step, you could easily have both a spot for a 5mm port and a clean robot mode. Hot Rod's not alone in this, as there are several examples of this in the Titans Return line, with the most common example being two posts close to each other for symmetrical guns, rather than a single one for the sake of a working turret.
While Power of the Primes' Hot Rod is a somewhat faithful recreation of the original toy, Titans Return Hot Rod feels more like an original take, a modern Hot Rod, rather than a modern G1 Hot Rod toy. While it's missing things like his signature black boots and the spoiler is too small for the look, there's a lot more life in this figure than the Power of the Primes one. Moving this Hot Rod is effortless, and though part of that comes from mine having some loose joints, the main reason is the implementation of the joints themselves which, with the exception of the shoulders, something that I'd have rathered have some more movement in them before needing to use the transformation hinge, are great for a figure of this size. I do like the silver engine breaking up the hood chest, though I know that's something many would disagree on, I just find the more traditional design to be very flat and basic, with only the flame decals giving it any life. One thing that is a problem though with him are the bars being used to connect the arms to the torso. While they're not frail, they're obvious weak points in a design. It would have been nice if something on the chest opened up to try and hide them. As for Firedrive? He surprisingly works well with the figure. The colours stand out when compared to Hot Rod, but that does work in its favour, giving Firedrive a sense of independence from Hot Rod, though it would have been nice if the cream white plastic was a shade of grey.
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| Better look at the robot mode. I couldn't find a good image of just the car mode |
It's going to be hard to top this Hot Rod for me, and while I'd have liked it if the Takara Legends mould was used for Firedrive, it's still a strong Targetmaster mould and a great replacement for Hot Rod's bathtub guns. While I can understand people's complaints about characters like Hot Rod being given gimmicks they didn't originally have, Firedrive the Headmaster hasn't been pushed into media (to my knowledge), and in cases like Top Spin and Twin Twist, two other figures in the Titans Return line, I'd rather they be Headmasters then glorified one step changes (and even then that's a stretch cause many one-step changers have more moving parts then they did in G1). Adding and removing gimmicks have benefitted some characters before, and in the case of the Titans Return line, did lead to many fun and interesting transformations, especially when compared to Combiner Wars and Power of the Primes. If you're willing to look past the gimmick and know how to tighten joints depending on the quality of the version you find, these two are worth picking up and even if you don't want to look for Hot Rod, Firedrive is in the current line, the first wave and will probably be on shelves for a long time.
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| And Firedrive's gun mode |
While the next review for this site is planned to be another Titans Return/ Siege double hit in the form of Triggerhappy and Blowpipe, next week is going to be a look at the news from New York Toy Fair (hopefully, depends on what time news is released). Let me know your thoughts on this format for tackling the Battle Masters though. In the meantime, I'll be looking at Young Justice over on the main site.
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