Transformers: Generations: Titans Return Legends Wave 1 (Rewind, Stripes, Wheelie)
There are a few things I need to say about the Titans Return line.
First off, the trading cards. Hasbro made a big deal that they were doing real trading cards and not just a picture with no meaningful back. I guess they tried, but in the then end, they failed miserably. The cards suck. There are only four ratings instead of the eight that nearly all other tech specs have had for 30 years (when we’ve actually had tech specs). There is no quote or function, and the only bio is a couple lines on the back of the package, they didn’t even bother to put it on the card. Hasbro fails again. What else is new?
Secondly, what the fuck is it with Hasbro that they need to focus on only one theme at a time? Why are we getting Targetmasters and Powermasters as Headmasters? It makes no sense. Worse yet, the two Targetmaster converts, Blurr and Scourge, both have awful paint jobs (or I should say, barely any paint jobs at all). They put all the work into the real Headmasters and just mailed it in on the Targetmasters that they shouldn’t have been doing in the first place. As usual, they half ass everything, just like with Combiner Wars, where they ended the line without doing Terrorcons, Predacons, Seacons, Monster Pretenders, G2 Protectobots, and G2 Constructicons (in both colors). I mean, they still could do those as box sets next year, but I’m not going to hold my breath.
Thirdly, the Titan Masters. Why can’t they be consistent? Apeface, Brawn, Nightbeat, and Terri-Bull are named for the actual characters they are the heads for instead of the actual heads they represent. Clobber and Skytread could theoretically be the Headmasters for Grimlock and Flywheels. This makes no sense. Pick one way of doing it. It would make far more sense to name them for the Headmaster and not the character they partner with, as we are only getting the Headmaster. Related to that, it really sucks that we aren’t going to get any real versions of the Headmaster Juniors or Headmaster Horrorcons.
Finally, the Headmasters are freaking tiny. G1 Headmasters were way better than these, and had the ratings meter on the chest gimmick that they didn’t even try to reproduce. Another thing that sucks is that the heads of the Headmasters are articulated. This makes it so that the larger robot heads are articulated, but also makes it hard when plugging them in to Titan Masters vehicles. G1 Headmasters were so much better, but that’s true of most G1 toys.
Anyway, on to the review.
Rewind
As with all the cassettes, Rewind’s cell phone/tablet hybrid mode sucks. It’s just crap. His tank mode isn’t terrible. It’s not great either, but it’s passable. In robot mode he looks amazing. I can’t complain about that at all, except that I would have liked him to have G1 style weapons. Bets of the cassettes so far, but that really isn’t saying much.
Stripes
See my comments about Rewind’s cell phone/tablet hybrid mode above. His jet mode isn’t bad. It’s not great, but passable. I’m kind of torn on his tiger mode. It’s not awful, but it just isn’t working for me. Kind of makes me sad that we’re going to get Ravage in the next wave from this mold.
Wheelie
I was really looking forward to Wheelie. His robot mode is awesome. He’s absolutely the best Wheelie ever, and that include the G1 which is a god awful piece of crap. This is one of the very few occasions where a new toy exceeds the original (though there wasn’t much to exceed). Unfortunately, I’m not at all happy with his vehicle mode. It looks great, but it’s damn near impossible to get into vehicle mode. The sides of the car attach using rectangular pegs and slots that just don’t stay together. Not sure if it’s design or bad molding, but it could be both. Most car transformers, when you squeeze the sides together, there is something sold that the sides are connecting into. Wheelie’s vehicle mode is mostly hollow, so the sides are attached to the top of the car in the center, and it’s very hard to get him into car mode. When you try to push parts in place he just tends to slide all apart everywhere else. It’s a real shame as he looks so nice. As you can see in the vehicle mode picture, the left side of mine doesn’t close completely. The right is perfect, but every time I try to fix the left, the right comes apart.
Overall: It’s hard not to recommend Wheelie, his design issues aside. Rewind is worth it. Stripes is lousy. Unless you’re a completists, if you need one version of the mold, wait for Ravage.
Thanks for reading!
Tagged: Generations, Legion, Rewind, Stripes, Titan Masters, Titans Return, Toys, Transformers, Transformers Generations, Transformers Titans Return, Transformers: Generations: Titans Return, Wheelie
