Transformers Titans Return (And Takara Legends) Monsterbots: A few days after Halloween is still ok, right?

On the subject of Monsterbots, following on from that G.I Joe review, we actually have a recent set of the Monsterbots thanks to Titans Return... though the release of them did not help, due to most of the team being locked behind exclusives. Because of that, the version of Twinferno (be quiet purists, like it or not, Twinferno is a cooler name then Doublecross) I will be reviewing is the Titans Return release, while the version of Repugnus and Grotusque are the Takara Legends release. Does it change much? No, mostly just more paint on the Titan Masters themselves. So let us look at some of the creepiest Transformers to exist before Beast Wars came around with attempts at realism.

Starting with the Monster modes, and one thing that I find interesting with them is that once their original Cold Spark gimmick was removed, these guys do not a very cohesive team, with the only thing connecting them together (other than shared engineering) is that they're all monsters of questionable design. You have Twinferno that turns into a two-headed dragon, Grotusque that turns into... a purple and grey naked mole rat with wings and a dragon tail... and Repugnus that turns into one of the stupidest looking bugs that I have ever seen. I honestly love Repugnus' alternate mode the most because of how undeniably stupid it is, while still being sincere about it, like the other two are trying to be scary monsters, while he's just happy to be along for the ride. Twinferno's problems can be identified here already, as I wish the dragon necks had more movement in them. While they are ok in dragon mode, robot mode becomes more of an issue. I am honestly surprised no one has made an upgrade kit to give this thing better dragon necks. As what was standard in the line, all of them come with a Titan Master to act as their robot mode heads, and the robot mode weapons can become seats for the Titan Masters. However, a problem I had with the line, something that became worse the further along the line went, was that the deluxe class guns do not have somewhere to mount onto the bases in a nice way, a central post that could plug into the bases to act as the turret. Repugnus' swords are actually the worst offender of this as there is nothing to do with them once they are in Titan Master Seat mode.

Onto the robot modes, and while they all look ok, they rather loose their appeal here, and look generic save for the odd bits of kibble. I think these three best describe my views on the G1 beastformers, because while they could have great alternate modes, a lot of them especially in the post movie characters, loose much of what made them interesting when in robot mode. I think the worst of them is probably Twinferno, mostly because of those arms. I hate Transformers that make me have to choose between holding the guns in the right way (cannot really say hands cause here the dragon heads are the hands), and having an elbow joint, and all that would have been needed is a small swivel at the dragonheads. Grotusque, though more generic, is the clear standout between the two, but not for being anything exciting, more so just not doing the basics worse. Repugnus is the worst when it comes to the generic look, because with the exception of the bug arms becoming noticeable robot pecks, he is extremely basic. If you got the Titan Master version of Repugnus, you can replace the titan master with it, giving him larger, more noticeable eyes (which I personally think looks better.

The Monsterbots are kind of like the Autobot and Decepticon clones in terms of relevance now, but they also have the added issue of no longer having the gimmick they were known for. While it is nice to have representations of them now, the modern age, is not kind to them, due to them falling into the generic category, existing for a gimmick, and nothing more? What do you do with them now? They are a good novelty piece, but until someone does something interesting with them, that is all they will be, a novelty.

Transformers Titans Return Deluxe Class Triggerhappy & War For Cybertron Battlemaster Blowpipe: When Transformers wanted to be Star Wars

Before I begin, Happy Birthday to the main reviews site, https://mediaholicreviews.blogspot.com/, which turned 5 years old two days ago!

The Decepticons have always been closely tied to air combat vehicles. From Starscream and his many, many, many, many clones, to flying guns, cassette recorders and cameras, to even the first Live Action movie where the first Transformer we see is an attack helicopter. It's always interesting to see what designs can come from a Decepticon flyer. The weird thing is though, there aren't many well known flying Decepticons that aren't some form of human vehicle. While yes you could include stylized interpretations and characters like the Triple changers as not being human vehicles, but in terms of genuine space planes and helicopters, there isn't much, and fewer still if you take away well-known characters who have had one as one of their incarnations. It's probably the reason why I have a fascination with the Decepticon Targetmaster, from those retrofitted into them like Cyclonus and Scourge, to the original characters like today's subject, Triggerhappy. I was excited to see Triggerhappy in Titans Return, and now that Blowpipe is out for international audiences, it's basically complete now, but how well does this hold up?

Transformers Titans Return Deluxe Class Hot Rod and War For Cybertron Siege Battlemaster Firedrive: Transforming guns? Well it worked for Megatron

And it's also far easier to justify making toys of because it's hard to confuse these with real guns.
 
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.

Transformers Titans Return Brawn and Power of the Primes Outback: Political views of the day not included

It's rare that I can write these to coincide with something, either due to distribution, or the rapid turnover I'd have to do in order for it to work. It's the reason why the two sites adopt a "When we get to it" policy. But every now and then, the stars align to allow Hailee's Commit to reveal the winning lottery numbers, allowing for good Australian internet, and I can do a perfectly timed review in some form. In this case, Australia Day, a public holiday here that I will gently side skirt the political is it's gotten for the sake of reviewing an Australian G1 Transformer, and the original release of the mold. Brawn and Outback... just be glad I'm not doing what I did for Talk Like a Pirate Day and that Lego Dimensions review...

Takara Legends Clonebot Set and Clonecon Set: Ahh, gotta love localized names

Allow me to take you to a place that some would describe as magical, for better or for worse. Where, in the case of Transformers, general retail gets extra paint applications, references are everywhere, and pack in Manga strips can sometimes step a little too close into the realm of Hentai... Welcome, to Japan, and the Takara Legends toy line. Takara Legends is the mainline release from Transformers R&D Partner, and original designers behind a good chunk of the G1 toys, TakaraTomy, their stand-in for the Generations line Hasbro uses as the blanket name for several sublines for around 4 years. Why do we go here instead of the usual Hasbro releases? Allow me to explain why with a brief history of today's review, the Autobot Clones, Fastlane and Cloudraker, and the Decepticon Clones, Pounce and Wingspan.

Transformers Titans Return Leader Class Powermaster Optimus Prime: When the white one gets to be the original

Oh Titans Return, a line of strong potential, great figures with few duds, but alas, unable to capitalize on its full potential, with many believed shoe in faces never to get the light of day. Apeface and Snapdragon, a pair of triple changer headmasters in a line of triple changing headmasters? Nope. Star Saber and the other Brainmasters? Nope. Well known and well-loved headmasters in the community? Maybe as standalone Titan Masters. The first two waves even had teases of returning cassette bots and cons in the Legends class to connect to Leader class Blaster and Soundwave (yes I know the irony of not reviewing that figure still, even though I go by Blaster, in some form, online), yet neither Blaster or Soundwave got their full set of iconic cassettes. The line as a whole really felt like, at least to me, it had some more room to grow, especially in Japan where the figures eventually started getting Targetmaster companions to go alongside the figures that were originally Targetmasters in the Generation 1 toyline. What was also very annoying was the distribution from wave 3 onwards here, let alone the exclusives. "No Hasbro, absolutely no one here in Australia wanted those exclusives. No one wanted Nautica, or Tidal Wave, or Magnus Prime, or Brainstorm, or Quickswitch, or Arcee, or a full set of Monsterbots". (I'd love to give a review of those three, but the only one I have is Twinferno). Apparently they also really didn't want to make a Godbomber and left Takara to do him and a Powermaster Prime that can connect to it. What did we get at general retail? A repaint of Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus. Well seeing as Magnus isn't here to defend himself, let's see what this Prime's made of as we delve into a somewhat mini-marathon of Combining Primes, starting with the one who can't combine unless you get him from Japan!

Sixshot Showdown: Hasbro's Titans Return Leader Class Sixshot vs Iron Factory Legends Scaled Shadow Tengu

Yes, I know, this should be a review of a Tamagotchi, but I got one of the Iron Factory one in recently, and wanted an excuse to review it and the official one from last year. Two bots, six modes each, I'm sure it'll be fun, right? Want to see who the better Phase Sixer is?

I'll start off with one flaw they share. They share it with each other, they share it with the G1 toy, it will be a problem Sixshots will have so long as they look anything like this and do the six-changer gimmick (the one exception I can think of was that one time in Energon he was a Shockblast repaint, "Who in itself was totally not meant to be Shockwave, totally different character, ignore the similarities!"... it was something Hasbro did back then if they couldn't get the name rights again. At least it's better than Shockwaveblast). The problem is a problem the gimmick has built into it. See, Sixshot's whole gimmick is that he is a Six changer, a toy that officially has six modes. In the case of Sixshot, we have a robot, a car, a tank, a gun, a jet, and a wolf mode. The problem is that with any Transformer, the more modes you have in a toy, the worse each mode gets. Generally, a Sixshot's best mode is his robot mode, with any others being hit or miss at best. On the plus side, this means that this character is far more playable than any other Transformer toy, and the multiple modes encourage fan mode finding like the now infamous flying wolf mode, but if you're looking for a feasible looking car, or tank, or jet, or gun, or wolf, you might want to go get a Transformer that only turns into one of them.

Who here better lives up to the legacy of this guy?