Tarn is one of the best things that IDW added to the Transformers lore. His fanaticism towards the cause was much larger than even other faction loyalists like Soundwave. And speaking of, you know how the communications officer's head inspired the Decepticon insignia? Tarn takes it a step further by actually wearing it as a mask! Surpassing either moment of a transformer's head being shaped into the iconic logos of the brand. It took Hasbro long enough to give fans a mainline version of the character, with his jump to Cyberverse happening even before this figure's announcement! I'd honestly rather this guy pop up first rather than Rung, hot take. With all that said, let us review the first-official toy of Tarn made for the Generations line!
Here is Tarn in his vehicle mode, which is a Cybertronic tank with alien elements that make it reminiscent of DOTM Shockwave. Four cannons with the larger two on the top being on a somewhat-rotatable turret. While we have seen other tankformers, like the aforementioned Shockwave as well as Megatron, Bludgeon, Brawl, etc, what makes things interesting for a non-Earth tank is how they have a unique design from the norm, and it's further from the truth with this guy. His tank treads are not parallel, he has a front section that sloped downward and is pretty sleek, though those are fitting for the character. What is inaccurate is that the back treads are sticking out a little more from the back rather than parallel as was mentioned earlier.
The side of the tank does have another minor issue that isn't related to the inaccuracy, but you instead had the hands of the robot mode hanging out from the back, which
For a tank mode comparison, here he is with the Decepticon he loves the most among all others: Megatron. While Megatron is a normal-sized Voyager, Tarn would have probably meant to be a larger scale than he currently is, though it'll turn out that Tarn's size will make sense in robot mode.
Transformation is pretty good when it comes to making a robot that was likely designed first before the vehicle mode was conceived. I kind of like that approach given how Cybertronian and original the design of Tarn is compared to someone like Megatron. The turret base becomes the legs, the treads become the arms, and the front of the vehicle becomes the robot chest. And this mode he possesses looks impressively accurate to the character design in the comics. While his thighs are a pretool indicator for what we'll expect from a future Bludgeon retool, this figure nails the appearance of the character from the wide yet imposing upper body to the color scheme having various shades of purple that don't come off as clashing with each other while the subtle addition of gold paint apps around the legs and even the Decepticon insignia compliment the brooding color scheme. And that double-barreled fusion cannon as wel as the twin barrels on the back give him the identity that he deserved.
Head sculpt is positively that of the Decepticon insignia working as a mask that covers his true face when he was Damus (even though it can't actually be removed). There might be lightpiping but it doesn't come through on the figure. As for the articulation, the head is on a ball joint, the shoulders move front and back as well as in and out, the biceps swivel, elbows bend, wrists swivel, fingers articulate (not shown in this photo), waist swivels, hips move front and back, in and out, thighs swivel, knees bend, and the feet can hinge back as well as pivot at the ankles.
Two forms of his Evo-Fusion gimmick include the barrels of the twin fusion cannon either becoming shoulder cannons that replace the smaller barrels on the back OR combine into a long cannon that he can hold with his hands. And yes, the first image has him with his fingers articulated.
Now all this love towards Tarn heavily contrasts my disappointment towards the reuse for Bludgeon. Yeah, he comes with a sword and a new head, but while this figure is great, I do feel Bludgeon has his own identity from Tarn's. Granted, the thighs hinted at this guy being a reuse, and the design is from the 2021 IDW Annual, but it still sucks that G1 Bludgeon doesn't have a proper new mold for himself so he doesn't have to borrow the ROTF toy.
For a robot mode size comparison, here he is with Megatron in robot mode, and for those wondering, the image here kind of hides the discolored thighs of Earthrise Megatron. And while one would expect Tarn to be a taller, bulkier figure than Megatron, it is said that Tarn was somewhat shorter than Megatron in the IDW stories. And for those wondering, Megs will remain a Decepticon in my house, which would keep Tarn happy as much as the fact that this figure is one that I would highly recommend fans check out. I'd say he's the best first-wave figure for Evolution. Hot Shot was good but felt cheap, same for Scraphook, Leo Prime was a mixed bag, Needlenose was plain, and Breakdown was Breakdown. So all in all, this is not a figure you should skip, especially if you always wanted an official version of the character in the mainline long after the 2005 IDW version of G1 came to an end.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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