Blog #1268: Toy Review: Transformers: Generations: Titans Return Deluxe Kup & Flintlock

Transformers: Generations: Titans Return Deluxe Kup & Flintlock

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.

Flintlock

Titan Master: Flintlock is not a bad name, but Recoil was better.  Either way, it makes no sense since he isn’t a Targetmaster.  I hate the gray head for Kup.  I can only assume this is more IDW garbage.  The face sculpt doesn’t look much like Kup either.

Kup

Vehicle Mode: I like Kup’s vehicle mode a lot more than I thought I would.  It’s a little short, but it’s a decent homage to the G1 toy.  One of my big complaints about the Combiner Wars line was the terrible instructions.  Rarely did they show where weapons were supposed to be stored/placed on the vehicle mode.  I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this before, but this has not been an issue in Titans Return.  All of the above ways of putting Kup’s weapons on his vehicle mode are in the instructions.  I would like to believe Hasbro realized they had screwed up by not doing this with CW, but more likely they needed to fill space on the TR instructions.  Combiner Wars had lots to fit in with the combing instructions, so I think they cut out the weapon placement for space, a really bad decision.

Robot Mode: Other than the awful head, Kup looks great in robot mode.  I like the twin guns.  I just wish his lower legs weren’t so wide.  He can’t stand with his legs straight.

Overall: Kup is not perfect, but I like him much better than the previous Generations Kup which just wasn’t a good toy.

Thanks for reading!