Last year, we took a look at the Titans Return as well as Age of the Primes versions of Slugslinger. The latter fit well with the Rebirth colors, and while I doubt we would get any of the other characters in 2-packs for Amazon, I have interest in revisiting the other Decepticon Targetmasters thanks to Ernie the Ol' Reliable. Buying them for retail price back in the mid-2010s? Hell yeah, and I can complete them faster than I did the Autobot Targetmasters at that! For anyone wondering about who they are, their names are pretty straightforward: Misfire sucks at aiming and tends to hurt his fellow Decepticons by accident, while Triggerhappy loves using his gun and is a bigger nut than people think Ironhide is. Anyways, let's finish the Decepticon Targetmaster trio with today's review!
Here we have Triggerhappy and Misfire in their jet modes. The former looks like something out of Star Fox (and made a few years prior to that series' debut), while Misfire looks more like a generic ship enemy from some 80s space shooter. While they have their own built in cannons, you can still put their weapons under the wings like old Seekers did. While their backs are mostly the same, the front sections are least manage to be distinct thanks to the wings and the nosecones. Even the canopies of their cockpits are different. Triggerhappy gets landing gear on the front, though the grey plastic does look a little cheap and soapy like on Siege Apeface.
Here we have them reunited with Slugslinger, this being the Age of the Primes version with a deco that better matches the Rebirth three-parter. Kind of odd that we got two blue guys on the same team, though I sometimes wonder if Sluggy is meant to be black instead of a navy blue. If you use the Titans Return version, he would be a share of blue that's brighter than the indigo used on Triggerhappy.
Transformation is the same for both in regards to the legs, but the upper bodies are where things get interesting for each figure. They both have wings on their arms, but while Misfire's hinge to fit better with the bot mode silhouette, Triggerhappy takes things further by rotating the front side of his upper body before snapping it onto the waist. His cannons fold away onto the sides of the arms, but if you want, you can always use them as his own arm cannons. Use your imagination, people! Anyways, the robot modes are mostly distinct from the waist up, though the legs remain unchanged in terms of tooling. At the very least, Misfire has some extra paint apps to make his shins more distinct from Triggerhappy. I like that the actual cockpit forms the chest on our indigo Targetmaster, especially since most Titans Return figures usually tuck the cockpits to the back. Misfire's design isn't as dynamic with those shoulder stacks, but the points from the nosecones and the wings pointing up makes for a good silhouette.
Their head sculpts, made up from Titan Master partners Blowpipe and Aimless, are also distinct from each other, with Tigger himself having a face that almost looks like Deadpool wearing a bootleg Optimus Prime helmet. Misfire is the usual visor face motif, though his is blue for some reason. My friend painted Aimless's arms so they blend in better with the black helmet. Makes me wonder why the whole Titan Master couldn't be molded solid black on Hasbro's part other than the excuse from gang molding.
Articulation is the same with both figures. Ball joints for the necks and hips, swivels for the shoulders (moving front and back), biceps, waist, and thighs, and hinges for the elbows and knees. Instead of Targetmasters that turn into guns (because their partners turn into heads this time), they use guns that are meant to combine into rideable weapons for the Targetmaster partners.
As far as reuses are concerned, Triggerhappy was slightly redecoed to match his Headmasters appearance, but his cockpit canopy is retooled for Targetmaster integration.
We also have a special version of Metalhawk, included in the Siege of Cybertron set. Long before the Legacy United version retooled from Kingdom Cyclonus but after the FunPub retool made from Generations Thunderwing, this was the second version of the character we got in Generations scale. To be honest, the dull gold kind of hurts his look, and it's ironic that his Titan Master lacks die-cast considering his old toy used some.
The Legends version of Misfire trades the deco on his shins for the midriff, and he also comes with his own Targetmaster. His visor is red this time.
Misfire was retooled even further into Sonic Bomber, who is not to be confused with an Autobot-style Sky Shadow. Not helping is the vaguely similar base mode. He turns into the front of Big Powered.
Here we have everyone together once more in their bot modes. This has been a fairly short review since review since I previously went over Slugslinger in his review last year, but I will say this about his teammates: Triggerhappy is the best one thanks to his more intricate transformation, while Misfire is fine if a bit uninteresting compared to the bots in blue. Now to fine the Siege versions of Blowpipe and Aimless to go with these two.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Triggerhappy)
⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
No comments:
Post a Comment