Transformers: Generations: Titans Return Siege on Cybertron Box Set (Thunderwing, Metalhawk, Magnus Prime, Pounce, Tidal Wave)
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.
Thunderwing
When Hasbro said that the “fifth figure” was a Titan Master, I assumed that Titan Master would include a vehicle. Of course, it doesn’t. So, we have a random Thunderwing head with no body and no vehicle. But wait, there’s more! His face is die cast metal! Who gives a shit. If they had put die cast metal parts onto one of the toys in the set, even if it was Pounce, that would have been a nice touch. But making the face of the head that has no body or vehicle die cast is a little stupid.
Metalhawk & Nameless Titan Master
Previous Mold Use: Generations Misfire, Generations Triggerhappy
Metalhawk looks really great. The color scheme is pretty much perfect, though he should have had a gold chest rather than the brown. Still looks great though. I really like his new head sculpt. Unfortunately, as is typical of Hasbro, they screwed up the details. They didn’t give his Titan Master a name. How stupid is Hasbro to release toys with no name? If they didn’t want to give their Titan Masters names, then don’t make them Titan Masters (which they should not have done to begin with).
Magnus Prime & Nameless Titan Master
Previous Mold Use: Legends Ginrai, Generations Optimus Prime
Magnus Prime has just a few paint differences from Legends Ginrai. His crotch is blue (so many jokes) as are his windows, and there is a red paint app on the rear sides of his trailer. The Autobot logo on his trailer is larger and positioned differently. His guns are more simply painted. There are probably a few more, but he isn’t all that different. Again, Hasbro failed to give his Titan Master a name.
Pounce
Pounce looks great in robot mode, a very faithful homage to the G1. His beast mode is okay, though not really anything special. Very nice overall.
Tidal Wave & Nameless Titan Master
Previous Mold Use: Generations Broadside
I guess Tidal Wave was the obvious repaint for Broadside. He looks fine, but still retains all of Broadside’s design problems, and of course has a nameless Titan Master.
Overall: It’s not a bad set, but isn’t that exciting either. If you need the Ginrai mold, then it’s definitely worth it.
Thanks for reading!
lmb3.net 
Wowww is there a lot of whinging in this post. Let me first address your general whinges about Titans Return:
1. Yes, there’s only 4 ratings on the card. Given that they’re lengthwise and the back also includes names, having any more would be less legible. So they went with the three stats displayed on the chests of G1 Headmasters, plus firepower. And honestly, those 4 are the most important Tech Specs of the lot. The REAL half-assing is failure to widely publish Tech Specs for the separate-sale Titan Masters so that you readily know what stat boosts they give.
2a, A universal gimmick is considered more appealing for play, and if the neo-G1 lines weren’t also getting interest from children then they would have died off a long time ago.
2b. It makes perfect sense: They all had little partner characters, and perhaps more importantly they were in the fiction concurrently. From a toy standpoint, mold recycling plays a role. And some of the converts (Blurr, Hot Rod, Scourge, Kup, Galvatron) are because Titans Return pulled double-duty as a TFTM 30th Anniversary line. Also, Powermaster Optimus Prime fulfilled Warden’s “must has Big Optimus” fixation.
2c. “The two Targetmaster converts, Blurr and Scourge”. Wow, congratulations on making yourself look like a complete and total moron who doesn’t even know how to count. There’s actually a total of seven (those two, plus Hot Rod, Kup, Triggerhappy, Misfire, and Slugslinger). It looks extra-stupid considering you show both Misfire and Triggerhappy in this post.
2d. The only thing terrible about Scourge’s paintjob is that they wasted paint on replicating the G1 toy’s hideous greebling stickers. As for Blurr, it’s less “terrible paintjob” and more “terrible plastic color choices”. Also, they’re only 2 of the converts; the others all have better deco. Well, okay, Kup has the stupid toy/Marvel coloration. But other than that.
2e. Not saying that Combiner Wars wasn’t halfassed (bloody Hasbro Technobots, and Liokaiser is a joke) but at the same time…. The Terrorcons, Seacons, Pretender Monsters, and Predacons could hardly be made using the same handful of vehicle-based molds that the rest of the Combiner Wars main line was based around. As for not giving us the G2 Protectobots and Constructicons…. The Protectobots got the shaft because the other G2 sets didn’t sell as well as Hasbro hoped, and the Constructicons didn’t have much of a chance of getting a G2-colors release in the first place because they were a freaking Titan-class set. Titans are expensive enough that a redeco becomes financially risky rather than a way to milk the mold. Takara had to run a preorder campaign before they were willing to produce LGEX Grand Maximus.
3a. “Apeface, Brawn, Nightbeat, and Terri-Bull are named for the actual characters they are the heads for instead of the actual heads they represent”. Hey buddy, wanna try taking a proper look at those? Of the four you just named, Terri-Bull is the only one to have a body based on the Headmaster Partner. Apeface is based on Apeface’s robot mode rather than on Spasma, Brawn is based on Brawn’s robot mode, and Nightbeat is an original design with Nightbeat’s robot face (fused with the helmet) slapped on the back.
3b. Skytread is called Skytread because Hasbro has finally reacted after 28 years of fans pointing out that Flywheels doesn’t have wheels, and changed his name. As for Clobber, Idk.on that one. Might be because like Crashbash (the original figure of the mold), the only thing about it that resembles an existing TF or Headmaster partner is the faceplate.
3c. The Horrorcons didn’t play nice with the “one size fits all” stipulation imposed on Titan Masters (because of the legs), and the Juniors were considered less important. We got Apeface and Snapdragon later on, though, and there’s still hope for the Juniors.
4a. “Finally, the Headmasters are freaking tiny.” No they’re not, they’re normal Transformer size instead of being inflicted with gigantism because Hasbro of the ’80s couldn’t make the head figures smaller.
4b. “G1 Headmasters were way better than these, and had the ratings meter on the chest gimmick that they didn’t even try to reproduce.” Excuse me while I laugh. G1 Headmasters were not only oversize, they were fucking bricks with articulation so limited the average Armada figure points and laughs. Also, that chest meter gimmick (which only showed three stats, so isn’t it worthlessly halfassed by your standards anyway?) came at the cost of head articulation and in these days it would be a waste of valuable transformation space, not to mention plastic.
4c. “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.” Buddy, if you find that hard then maybe you should stick to 1-step Changers.
4d. “G1 Headmasters were so much better, but that’s true of most G1 toys.” Yeah right, give me a break. If you were complaining about, say, Fort Max’s reduced feature count compared to his G1 toy then you’d have a leg to stand on. But here, it just exposes you as wearing a particularly myopic set of nostalgia goggles.
Thunderwing:
Given that the line treats the separate Titan Masters the way Armada treated Mini-Cons, the actual head figure was considered the most important part. And hey, at least with him the world’s most overrated toy material isn’t doing any harm (as opposed to, say, its use in the Titanium Series, G1 Shockwave, and G1 Megatron).
Metalhawk:
First, that IS gold plastic for his chest. It’s just dark rather than fully shiny and sparkly because Hasbro doesn’t want him to crumble like a cookie. Second, the Titan Master is named by supplemental material such as product listings and the Trypticon’s Titan Master (it’s Professor Go, fittingly enough).
Magnus Prime and Tidal Wave:
Their Titan Masters are named by the same materials. “Ginrai” and “Fathom”, respectively.