Transformers: Generations: Titans Return Titan Masters Wave 4 (Repugnus, Shuffler)

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 second wave of Headmasters 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 reviews.

Repugnus

The Repugnus face sculpt is great.  Unfortunately the Repugnus robot is terribly flawed.  It looks awesome in insect mode, but he can’t stand up without being leaned against something.  His legs are on either end of an axel in a groove at his crotch, but there is no tension to it.  He flops forward and back.  You can get him balanced if you really try, but he will fall over if you look at him funny.  I don’t know how they could allow this toy to be released with such a fundamental flaw.  His gun and vehicle modes are okay, but the flaw in his legs make this toy a complete failure.

Shuffler

Shuffler is an amazing homage to the original Japanese Headmaster head, which is crazy rare.  It’s one of the few unique Japanese toys I don’t have.  I do have a knockoff version.  His face sculpt is base on the original, and looks excellent.  He looks awesome in elephant mode.  I love the guns above his shoulders.  His gun mode isn’t great, but isn’t terrible either.  It might have been better if his front legs had guns that telescoped out of the bottom, so they could face forward.  The gun barrels are just really small for the size of the gun.  I love the tank mode.  Shuffler is one of the better designed Titan Masters vehicles.

Overall: Shuffler is awesome, but I am so disappointed in the design flaw of Repugnus.  Someone really dropped the ball.

Thanks for reading!