Transformers: Generations: Titans Return Legends Wave 3 (Bumblebee, Gnaw, Kickback)

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.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee is pretty awesome.  He looks great in both modes.  I love the head sculpt.  The only minor issue is the way his rear windows stick out from his upper arms.  That could have been fixed by having them fold inside his arms.  It’s not a major issue, but it is a little annoying that they didn’t take the one extra step to make him great.  I hate that they don’t include weapons with the Legends toys anymore.  It’s the height of cheapness to not include a simple molded plastic gun without any moving parts, and would add so much to many Legends toys.

Gnaw

It’s been a long time coming, but we finally have an update to G1 Gnaw!  Gnaw is pretty much perfect.  He gets a weapon only because it forms his tail.  They got his shark face perfectly right.  Everything about him is perfect, except that I wish he was bigger.  I would love a Voyager or Leader class version of Gnaw upsized from this mold.

Kickback

I like Kickback.  He’s a pretty great looking toy.  He fits in nicely beside Shrapnel.  Unfortunately, like Shrapnel, he is woefully inadequate when compared to Bombshell.  It feels like whoever designed Bombshell must have had a great attachment to the character and put a lot of extra into his design and coloring.  So, by comparison, like Shrapnel, Kickback feels like less than he probably is.  One thing is very clear.  There was no thought put into these as a set.  Shrapnel came with a weapon, the others did not.  Kickback has the compartment in his chest like the G1, the others do not.  Bombshell look way better than the other two.  It’s like there was no continuity between the creation of these toys.  That’s probably because there wasn’t.  Instead of getting them to look like they belonged together, they were done independently without any thought to that.

Overall: This is the best wave of Legends in The Titans Return line.  A big part of that is that there is no terrible cassette turned cell phone toy in this wave, but they are also three great toys.

Thanks for reading!