General Information:
Release Date: July 2016
Price Point: $4.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: General (Toys R Us, Target, Wal-Mart etc.)
Accessories: Loudmouth Titan Master, Vehicle
Very early on in the life of the Transformers line the toy line began to move away from the sole gimmick of transformation. Once figures like Combiners were introduced it became clear Transformers could be more than just a robot that changed from one form to another. In 1987 Hasbro and Takara took a bold step into a new play pattern by introducing Headmasters. Headmasters were Transformers whose heads detached and became smaller figures that could then pilot or ride the Transformers in beast and vehicle forms (or in a couple cases, their battle station or city forms!). Now almost thirty years after they were originally introduced the Headmaster gimmick has returned in a new form: Titan Masters!
Titan Masters focuses on the return of small robots to Cybertron that can unlock incredible power, and it is up to the Transformers to merge with them and harness those abilities and strengths. In some ways the story resembles "Armada" which had a similar conceit for the Mini-Cons. In true "Generations" fashion, Titans Return gives us characters from the Headmasters era in new forms that pay homage to the originals.
Packaging:
The Titan Master figures are packaged on a bubble card. The front of the card is universal across the assortment. It features Fortress Maximus' head floating above his body. To the side is a black bar with the "Generations" logo above the vertical "Transformers" logo. The insert in the bubble has a render of the figure in head mode. The head and vehicle are in the area under Fortress Maximus' head. The back is almost universal in that it features a diagram of the Titan Master "eco system" showing that the heads can attach to Deluxe, Voyager and Leader Classes. The difference however is in the bar code, which is specific to each character.
After their introduction in 1987 a second wave of Headmasters was released featuring smaller figures with simpler designs. Among these was an Autobot named Siren whose Headmaster partner was named Quig. For the most part this character has faded away into relative obscurity over the years. However with "Titans Return" the character has been semi-resurrected via Loudmouth. So named due to possible trademark reasons, this figure is loosely based on Siren and Quig. However the figure is not the only item in this package, it also comes with a vehicle that can transform from a car to a tank and a hand-held weapon for larger figures.
Robot Mode:
Since he has a new name, it's somewhat vague as to just who this figure represents. Is it Siren? Is it Quig? Is it both mushed up into one meta ball? That's hard to say, and the design does not exactly broadcast the answer. The design of this figure is interesting as it takes a lot of common Headmaster/Titan Master design elements but does not seem to call back to any one specific figure. The head has interesting backswept panels on the sides with visor eyes. The body has a section in the center that sticks out with the other parts set behind them. The arms and legs have plenty of raised details that give the figure a nice, mechanical look. Keep in mind, the Titan Masters are Cybertronians of some kind and not organic creatures in techno-organic suits so this works well for this iteration of the character.
Loudmouth is cast in metallic red and silver plastic. The torso, waist and lower legs are red. The rest is silver. These colors are inspired by the two main colors on the Siren figure from G1, namely grey and red. A bit of red paint is used on the eyes and that's it for deco. I wish there was some silver on the body or something, but this is pretty much standard for the "Titans Return" line so far.
Functionally I was disappointed to see that the knee joints are a bit loose. He can stand fine, but it takes a bit of straightening out first. The arms and hips however are just fine.
Transformation to Head Mode:
Push the arms down. Swing the legs up at the hips, then the knees. When attaching the head to a larger figure, I recommend having Loudmouth's face pointing in the same direction than the larger robot face.
Head Mode:
While the robot mode has fairly generic design elements the head mode is clearly based on Siren's head design from Generation One. The figure has several design elements fro Siren including visor eyes, a raised section in the enter of the head, horizontal lines on the sides of the head and small blasters sculpted into the sides of the head. In many ways the details of the original head were basically "compacted" down into this head sculpt and it looks great.
The head is mostly silver with red plastic in the back. The eyes are painted red and the panels on the sides of the face are metallic blue. These colors are callbacks to G1 Siren, whose eyes were red and face was mostly blue. I like the choice of the metallic blue and it looks great.
Car Mode:
Loudmouth's vehicle is packaged in its car mode. This is no Earth car however (or at least, not one from our current era). This vehicle looks like a scifi hover car from the future. The front is angled with a small windshield in the front. The side panels are thin and lead to the back where there is a spoiler set at a high angle. Inside the seating section are the details of a chair sculpted into the back. The front end of the vehicle has large vents sculpted into it. Overall it's a neat looking vehicle that looks like it could have featured in some of the third season episodes of the G1 cartoon series.
Most of the vehicle is silver, with red panels on the sides and some in the front. The only deco is an Autobot symbol on the hood. Interestingly the section the symbol is on is actually sculpted to accomodate a symbol which is a really nice touch.
Loudmouth can sit inside the vehicle. The bottom is hollow, but there are pegs inside that his feet can attach to.
Transformation to Tank Mode:
- Make sure Loudmouth is separated from the vehicle. Convert him to head mode.
- Swing the side panels out and up against the sides of the vehicle.
- Flip the vehicle over.
- Swing the blasters on the back of the car mode up.
- Connect Loudmouth's head to the slot on the back of the dual barreled weapon.
Tank Mode:
The Tank Mode on this vehicle is interesting. It is a tank in the sense that there is weaponry in the front on what appears to be a turret. There are even sections on the sides that resemble treads. However, instead of traditional treads with ridged lines on the top and bottom these panels have tubes and details that look like they help the vehicle fly making this a hovertank! The sides also have missiles sculpted into them as well. I really like the detailing along the sides.The vehicle also has an interesting front end, with what appears to be a giant scoop in front and inside there is a sculpted winch line. This is a really interesting vehicle and I like it a lot.
This mode has all the same colors as the other mode, but you get to see more red thanks to the cannon. Other than that there are no additional paint applications. I wish there were more on the sides to bring out the details like the tubes and missiles.
On the back of the tank is a 5mm peg. Flip it out and a larger figure can hold it as a weapon.
Final Thoughts:
Aside from the need for more deco I really like everything about this set. The figure looks great and the vehicle is fun. I also really like the head sculpt for the head mode. If you're into these little sets at all I'd snap this one up for sure.
