Hardhead is one of the two characters that doesn't really stand out compared to Chromedome and Brainstorm. Not that I don't give a shit about him, but all I remember about him was kissing Blurr in The Rebirth and getting drunk in The Headmasters. Oh, and he had a repaint of Universe Onslaught, but he didn't have any specific retooling to make him closer to who he is. That being said, I did want to get this guy because he and the rest of the Headmaster Autobots feel complete when they're together. So with all that said, let's delve into the review!
Here is Hardhead in his tank mode, which looks like a pretty good design inspired from sci-fi lore from pretty much anything that has a vehicle like this. Tanks would usually be a been-there-done-that in Transformers, with Blitzwing, Warpath, and Brawl being examples of tanks, but Hardhead spices things up with a unique design; his design has somewhat of a crawler look, the cannon is on the left, and the cockpit is on the light, resulting in an asymmetrical yet cool vehicle mode. The deco is that of a somewhat pear green with the black on the treads, but what makes it weirdly work is the beige cannon. Normally, that screams "old" and is a way to make the toy look more nostalgic from age, but it kind of fits with the toy's color scheme. And the silver and red side panels, as well as the cockpit, complement each other. Aside from rolling so-so, the cannon can hinge up and down. While it may look like it, the hole doesn't accommodate any Siege effect pieces.
The cockpit can open up to reveal the Titan Master figure within named Duros! This figure is painted decently at the face, and while there's not much else to say, my copy has an error where the hips are reversed and it won't let the legs lay flush when folded up. I tried to fix it, but one side of the hips started to crack and I'd have to stop the operation. It isn't too noticeable, and it somehow fixed the flush issue.
The head can be pegged onto the robot mode if you want him to be seen with a unique method of heading on or have him look ridiculous...which makes me think this was meant for a Tankor repaint.
Transformation is kind of amusing for a tankformer, as the arms actually make the front of the vehicle (and are also longer than usual) while the legs are made from the treads (instead of having them slapped from the side), but the way the torso folds up makes for a more unique design choice. He results in getting a robot mode that is fairly clean; no significant kibble aside from the cannon and his back. This makes him feel a little more generic than the other characters, but the color scheme and head sculpt make him feel a little more distinct than you'd expect.
Commenting on the head sculpt, it looks pretty good (sucks that focusing on it is a little harder than I'd like), and I do appreciate that even if the rest of the head has a faceplate that contrasts the body, of Duros, the helmet does have a nice shade of gray on top of including a blue visor and a yellow face; helps break up the somewhat basic color scheme. Articulation is more-or-less consistent with what Chromedome has, as the neck moves around the same as well as the shoulders having ball-joints, but the long forearms have weird elbow hinges that try to be doubled up and even wrists with a bit of a curl that swivel. He lacks a waist swivel but the hips are on ball joints, he swivels at the thighs, and bends at the knees. Still no ankle pivots, but he can have the cannon swivel as well as hold his gun no-problem. Said gun resembles a real-life Heckler & Koch G36C subcarabine. Nice!
The Titan Master can also ride on the shoulder cannon with the gun on top to give him an obscured but kind of cool look for the play pattern. Would be weird if the Transtector was missing the head, though.
In terms of uses, the mold initially began in Titans Return with a somewhat-similar version of the figure that came with more neutral gray, a vibrant green, and a dark gray that borders to the black of the Retro Headmasters figure. He lacks the thigh details that mimic the toy on the RH version, and his cockpit is orange. His head is more toy-accurate, though, an opposite of the RH version using the Legends head sculpt.
This is Legends Hardhead, TakaraTomy's take on the guy; it's much more accurate to the Headmasters anime, and accompanying him is Tankette, a drone partner that is reused from Terri-Bull and Skytread in Titans Return. This guy's got the same beige plastic that you would think the Titans Return version would have to be toy-accurate. I like the light blue visor, though.
And for a Decepticon repaint, this is Quake! The color scheme goes from nice and vibrant to dreary and war-driven (though the head and shoulders have sharp yellow). I remember Thew mentioned that this guy looks like a default Transformer body-type, and it kind of makes sense since he looks pretty generic compared to what Hardhead has. It's the color scheme and head design of Hardhead that makes him stand out more from Quake, but he's not bad.
For a comparison with his partners, including the already-reviewed Chromedome and the soon-to-be-reviewed Brainstorm. He scales well with them as expected, but in terms of getting this guy, much like the rest of the Retro Headmasters line, Hardhead is best-recommended for those that never got this guy, are completionists, are fans of Hardhead, or want the Legends retool; those that already own prior versions never had to worry about this wave, but I never got the Titans Return guy and will happily take this figure!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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