I recently acquired Double Strike. This is Warbotron’s MP interpretation of Technobot Strafe. Since I did a review on Turbo Ejector (Afterburner), I’m gonna do a review on Double Strike as well.

I got Double Strike at a sale price of $51.99 (MSRP is $95.99). That’s almost half off! Since I was so impressed with Turbo Ejector, I had to get Double Strike to check it out for myself. Is he as good as Turbo Ejector? Let’s find out.

We will start with the box.

Double Strike is packed in the same kind of box as Turbo Ejector. And that’s a good thing, because these boxes are so high quality. They are composed of hard cardboard, and there’s a tab on the side for easy pull out. I didn’t include the outer box wrap in the pic above, but Double Strike has one too.

Box flap opens to reveal another good artwork.

In the packaging.

Double Strike is about the same height as Turbo Ejector. That makes sense as they both form the arms. I think Double Strike weighs a bit less than Turbo Ejector, but not my much. The figure is solid, with a nice hefty feel for a toy of this size.

Pic of lower back and legs. Notice how well the wings compact onto the back of the legs.

Ready for battle.

Another action pose.

Close up of the face. Decent sculpt with awesome light-piping.

Watch me balance on 1 leg!

Just like Turbo Ejector, Double Strike is well built. All joints are nice and tight, and some are clicky too. I detect no tolerance issues. All weapons fit where they are supposed to without it being too loose or too tight.

Transformation to jet mode is super straight forward. Just like Turbo Ejector, Double Strike follows the same overall scheme of his G1 predecessor. If you read the instructions, it will seem like the transformation is more complicated than it really is. I suggest just going straight in without looking at the instructions. Anyone familiar with Transformers in general shouldn’t have any problems.

The arms go up and over the back, and sits on top of the jet alt mode, instead of on the sides like G1. Waist rotation is required. Snap legs together and push in toward the waist. Unfold the wings. There is a back assembly with missile that stretched down and pegs in. Attach twin guns at front of the shoulder. That’s about it.

Pics of the jet mode below. It looks good and resembles G1 Strafe quite well. No TransFan will mistake this jet for anyone else.

View from the side.

View directly from the front.

View directly from the back.

Bottom view.

Rear landing gears don’t retract. The front landing gears can be rotated up, but they are still visible from the side. In the pic above, I got one front landing rotated up, and one left out.

An alternate wing configuration is in the pic below. This is actually the official Warbotron configuration. But I prefer a more G1 look, so in all other pics I had the wings configured more like G1.

The missile launcher on top of the jet deserves its 15 minutes. This thing shoots far! Be careful when firing. You’ll shoot your eye out, or worse yet, lose the missile.

Overall, I recommend Double Strike. I don’t think he’s as good as Turbo Ejector, but he’s still another solid addition to the Warbotron Technobot team.

Will I get the rest of the team? Only time will tell. Transform and Roll Out.
 

Once in a while, I dig out older figures from their hiding places (read: stored in a closet or garage). I was looking for another figure, when I found FansProject Smart Robin in the same storage box. This figure was purchased back in April of 2014. I played with Smart Robin for a bit before he got stored. He hasn’t seen light since then.

Smart Robin is a 3P homage to Brainstorm, arguably the most famous Headmaster there is. Since it’s release, Hasbro has put out two official Brainstorm figures. One of them was a Walgreens exclusive. I bought Smart Robin before either of those. And yes, I would buy Smart Robin today, even if you already have any of the official figures.

As usual I will start with the mode that it comes packaged in.

Classic A stance.

Back view with and without weapon attachment. Very little back kibble.

Side view.

Smart robin is a well built figure with nice articulation. He can hold some good poses. He comes with twin guns, like he did in G1.

Close up of the face. I like the face mold, but it appears to be modeled more after the G1 toy. There’s a bit of paint smudge near both eyes. Other than that, paint job is nice. Obviously this will detach and transform into a Headmaster figure.

There is no working tech-spec that appears on the chest like G1 Brainstorm. Oh well. That was kinda gimmicky anyway.

With some other modern Brainstorm figures: Generations 30 voyager on the left, Titans Return deluxe (Walgreens exclusive) on the left. Smart Robin is just a bit taller than deluxe size. I think this is a good size to scale with MP class figures.

Transformation to jet mode is some of the most innovative that I have seen in quite a while. Two mechanisms are noteworthy. The first is that the wings are entirely compacted into the legs, and they fold out for jet mode. The other is that the body collapses onto itself from the sides, kind of like an accordion. To go to jet mode, this part is stretched out. It sounds hokey when I describe it in words, but trust me it’s cool. The jet looks a bit different from how Brainstorm looked in G1. But I like this update. The G1 jet shape is too bulky for today’s standards and I applaud FansProject to give him a more sleek look.

Jet mode at a different angle.

Rear view of the jet.

Directly from the front.

Cockpit opens and the Headmaster can sit inside.

Bottom view.

Retractable front landing gear.

Rear landing gear, one retracted and out left out.

With other Brainstorms in jet mode.

All in all, Smart Robin is a solid tribute to Brainstorm. He’s fun to play with and transform. He’s well built. Articulation is great in robot mode, and cohesively tight in alt mode. Scale wise, I would say he’s more MP. Yeah some fans may say this is more CHUG, but I disagree. In robot mode, he’s about the same height as MP Sideswipe or MP Wheeljack, and that’s how tall I imagine Brainstorm to be. Some of the other 3P Headmasters produced (such as MakeToys Hardhead) are way too big, even for MP. Here is a pic from an old post, where I have Smart Robin next to MP Bluestreak and MP G2 Sideswipe. Determine for yourself.

You would be smart to purchase Smart Robin. Transform and Roll Out.
 

First came Combiner Wars. Then came Titans Return. Now we are at Power of the Primes, the third and final installment of this toyline. Collectively, the three arcs form Transformers: Prime Wars Trilogy.

There is a backstory to each of the toy arcs. The link above to the Wiki page explains more. Toy-wise, Combiner Wars focused on Combiners (duh) and Titans Return put an emphasis on Headmasters (called Titan Masters). Power of the Primes kind of merged both of these gimmicks. This toyline features Prime Masters that are similar to Headmasters, but at the same time many combining figures are also introduced.

The Terrorcons are one of the last Combiner Team that Hasbro would release as part of the Prime Wars Trilogy. I was kind of waiting for HasTak to release this group, since they did release their opposite number, the Technobots. And it was worth the wait! HasTak has obviously learned their lessons from doing all the previous Combiner Teams. In my opinion, the Terrorcons are the best Combiner Team that uses the standard Combiner Wars mold (Aerialbots, Combatcions, etc). I say this for many reasons. Let’s start the review.

Each Terrorcon is sold separately. They are packed in their robot modes.

Hun-Gurrr

The awesomeness starts with Hun-Gurrr. This is the leader of the Terrorcons, and he forms the body. Hun-Gurrr is famous for saying “Hun-Gurrr hungry” in the G1 episode “Money is Everything”. I never tire of hearing him say that. So dumb yet so direct.

Hun-Gurrr is a heavily modified remold of Combiner Wars Silverbolt (who was also reworked into Cyclonus and Scattershot). But seriously, so much is reworked for Hun-Gurrr that you can argue this is a unique mold of it’s own. All the jet pieces you would find in any of the previous molds are gone, and are now replaced with new monster bits. He gets a new head mold for his robot form, and also a new head for the combined mode.

Both modes look good. Transformation from robot to two-headed monster is on the simple side, but that’s always been the case with Silverbolt and any of the derivatives. The main difference here is that the feet and legs form the twin heads with long necks. So instead of tucking them under where the wings would normally go, you leave them out and about to gobble up unfortunate Autobots.

I have said before that of all the Prime Wars Trilogy combining body figs, the Silverbolt mold provides the best stability in combined form. That is still true here. But Hun-gurrr ups the game even more. Everything properly tabs into place. I’ll go into this more later in the combined form. But in its individual modes, Hun-Gurrr provides tab connectors where there should be. Not only does this provide stability, it’s a confirmation that you’re doing the transformation right. Hun-Gurrr is hands down the best Prime Wars combiner body fig produced, because all 3 modes work.

Blot

Blot is the stinky foot soldier of the group that the other Terrorcons try their best to avoid. He transforms into some kind of big purple bipedal type monster.

Of all the PotP Terrorcon limbs, Blot is my favorite. For starters, I think he has the best looking robot mode, because all the monster bits are best hidden when compared to the other limb Terrorcons. I also like his color scheme of purple and dark blue.

All the limb components share similar transformation motifs. But within that same framework, Blot is the most unique. His legs fold backwards to form the monster back, instead of simply collapsing into the body. I love his fist-to-claw transformation. You flip the fist backwards, and that would rotate out the middle claw. Very very cool. In robot form, the monster head is neatly hidden on the robot back. For transformation to alt mode, the monster head comes up and out, while the robot head goes underneath.

I think this is the most unique looking monster in the group, so I like him. The placement of the over-the-shoulder weapon in monster form is also G1 accurate.

Cutthroat

Cutthroat is the bloodthirsty one of group, with a crazy and barbaric fighting style that even other Decepticons find disturbing. As a sidebar, why is it that every beast subgroup has to have a flyer? Dinobots have Swoop. Predacons have Divebomb. Pretender Monsters have Wildfly. And Terrorcons have Cutthroat. In sitcoms and dramedies of eras gone by, there is often a token black guy. Cutthroat is the token flyer.

PotP Cutthroat is an ok fig. I say that because he could have been great, if not for one flaw. And it’s that the bird head piece (and sometimes also the bird mouth piece) will unavoidably come off during transformation. I have transformed this guy back and forth 5 or 6 times now, and that head will come off each time. This is because the side pegs that hold in the bird head is super loose, while the assembly that the head sits on is super tight to rotate up or down during transformation. I have come to just take the bird head off during transformation, then re-attach.

Other than this flaw, the fig is not too shabby. The face sculpt is amazing. I think this is pretty accurate to either the G1 animation model or the G1 toy box art. I also think this face sculpt would work great for Thunderwing, if they wanted to make a figure of him in PotP. The rest of the fig in robot form is well-proportioned.

Transformation to bird beast is fairly obvious, so I won’t describe it. Again, the bird head coming off is an issue. Other than that the fig is solid. The wings transform well and has no tolerance issues.

There’s nothing too surprising about the alt mode. It’s pretty much the kind of bird monster alt mode you would expect from a $15 toy. It’s functional and it works.

Rippersnapper

Rippersnapper is some kind of amphibious mechanical fish monster with arms and legs. His Tech Spec Bio mentions a massive inferiority complex, but I’m quite sure neither the cartoon nor the comics went into that.

I like PotP Rippersnapper. Overall he reminds me of Blot, but he’s different enough to not feel like buying a repeat figure just to complete the group. Both his modes seem very G1 accurate, and I like his overall color scheme. In robot mode, I like how he still has the monster claws on the back of his hands. Very Wolverine like.

There are no surprises to the transformation. If you look at both modes and mentally imagine how the transformation would be, that’s how it is. The only unexpected piece is the monster’s tail that hides into the legs, which needs to be flipped out for alt mode. An obvious transformation does not mean that it’s not fun or it’s poorly done. Rippersnapper is a well constructed figure. Both modes look good.

I really like the design of Rippersnapper’s alt mode. I think out of all the limb components, this is my favorite monster in terms of appearance. The twin guns on the monster shoulders is very G1 accurate. The mouthpiece can be opened, and unlike Cutthroat, it does not constantly fall off. The monster mode is surprisingly articulate. Balancing the monster on two legs is not hard at all.

Overall, Rippersnapper is another fine addition to the Terrorcon group.

Sinnertwin

Sinnertwin is the second two-headed monster of the group. His Tech Spec bio mentions he likes to patrol the Terrorcons’ lair in the hopes of finding something unwelcome then killing them. Feels like another garden variety Decepticon. Strangely, nothing is mentioned in the Tech Spec Bio about the twin heads. I guess after Hun-Gurrr and Twinferno, another two-headed monster is not such a big deal.

PotP Sinnertwin is okay all around. He’s not bad, but not great either. This wacky green and yellow color combo warrants a visit by the Cybertron fashion police. In robot mode, there’s not much that stands out for Sinnertwin, other than the colors.

Transformation to monster mode is also pretty straightforward. However, he doesn’t seem to be constructed as well as the other Terrorcons. Blot and Rippersnapper are constructed well. Cutthroat has the one construction flaw of the bird head, but other than that, the rest of the fig is solid. Sinnertwin feels slightly off, for the entire fig. What I mean is that there are parts that should snap together or tab into place, but the pieces fall just short of coming in sync with each other. On my copy, the monster head won’t completely rotate and snap into place on the body, the legs don’t completely snap together, the tail has the same problem, and I can’t seem to fully rotate the robot legs to align completely with the body. There are tabs and grooves to help you locate where the pieces should go, but I can’t seem to fully get them there. Overall it doesn’t impair the functionality of the figure, but it does present itself as a minor distraction.

In alt mode, Sinnertwin is another monster with a cool design. I like the twin heads. They each have a working jaw, though getting them open takes some prying. The color scheme in monster mode works better than it does in robot mode.

Most buyers of PotP Terrorcons are looking to buy the whole set. But if for some reason you’re not, and is making purchase decisions on the individual merit of each figure, then I would recommend Sinnertwin as the last one to buy. The minor build issues irk me, and that color scheme is not doing it for me.

Below I present all the Terrorcons in their hideous monster forms.

Terrorcons, transform and merge into… Abominus!

Abominus

This is one awesome looking Combiner. Check it out!

It all starts with Hun-Gurrr. He is based off of the best Prime Wars Trilogy combiner body, so the combined form has the best stability. Not only that, HasTak improved on it by providing proper tabbing for all pieces of the body transformation. This gives the combined body extra support. The result is a stable Abominus that stands up well in the classic A-stance. Not only that, he is actually somewhat posebale in action stances.

Transformation to Abominus requires no extra pieces, other than the hands and feet. Hun-Gurrr comes with the two feet pieces, or you can elect to use the individual combiner pieces that comes with the limb Terrorcons. For the hands you must use the individual combiner pieces. The Abominus chest shield is built into the Hun-Gurrr figure, and will be wholly formed through the transformation to body mode. I cannot commend HasTak enough for the engineering designs on Hun-Gurrr.

The limb components are on par with other Prime Wars Combiners that have come before it, but the superior body figure means they can be better connected in the combined form. Also, there are no tolerance issues for attaching the hands or feet to the limb Terrorcons, as there were for some of the previous Combiners.

Abominus has got a great new head mold that pays homage to the G1 figure.

If you can only get one Combiner Team in the Prime Wars Trilogy, the Terrorcons are the team to get! This is the final evolution of the Prime Wars Combiners, and HasTak has corrected many of the flaws that plagued the previous Combiner teams. The Terrorcons may not be the most recognizable of the G1 Combiners, but if you’re reading this blog, the Terrorcons must mean something to you.

Terrorcons… Transform and Roll Out!
 

Welcome to my first review of a Movie Studio Series figure. And what better figure to do than Jazz, my favorite TF of all time! OK, maybe he’s not my favorite in the Moive-verse since he dies on the first outing. But he’s my favorite from G1, so there.

As always let’s first take a look at the mode he comes packaged in.

Jazz looks pretty good in robot form. Love the silver paint.

Articulation is not the greatest. Shoulder movement is quite limited, and there is no waist swivel whatsoever. Leg articulation is decent.

He comes with one radar looking gun type accessory. We have seen this before on other movie Jazz figures. The Human Alliance Jazz figure comes to mind.

Back view of Jazz. That’s a bit too much kibble for my liking.

Up close and personal. The head sculpt is ok.

There’s no sugar coating this: Jazz is a small figure. Yes I know they did this for scale reasons, but I’m not sure he’s supposed to be this small. And considering Jazz is priced the same as other deluxe figures, this kinda feels like a rip-off. SS Jazz is with PotP Outback in the pic below. Jazz is just a tad bigger than legend size.

I enjoyed Jazz’s transformation to the Pontiac Solstice. This figure is well built, and the transformation implements satisfying folds and clicks throughout the process. He’s not terribly difficult to do, which makes the figure a good piece to just pick up and play.

Jazz looks amazing in alt mode. The silver paint really comes through in this mode.

One complaint I have about the alt mode is that it’s hard to get everything flush. In these pics, you can still see lots of gaps between the panels. I fiddled with this for a long time and this is the best I can get it. It’s not MP Rodimus Prime bad, but I feel like it could have been better.

Underside of the vehicle (yes I said underside).

SS Jazz with HA Jazz. Again, notice how small he is.

There is room for the weapon in alt mode, but it just looks plain silly.

Overall, I give movie Studio Series Jazz a weak recommendation. There are a lot of positives here: the nice silver paint, awesome looking alt mode, fun and satisfying transformation, and solid construction. But that’s countered by some negatives too: the back kibble, the limited articulation, panels in alt mode that are hard to align, and most importantly, the small size. Still, I think the good here outweighs the bad, and so the scales tip in Jazz’s favor. And this figure does score high on originality points. There are not many other toys in the entire Transformers line that remind me of this figure.

Jazz is here to remind you to “do it with style or don’t bother doing it.” I’m here to remind you to “Transform and Roll Out.”

 

All G1 TransFans need no introduction to Seaspray. He is perhaps the only Transformer ever to have a hovercraft alt mode (not counting characters that are repaints of Seaspray in any one of his toy molds). G1-ers also immediately recognize his unique gurgle speech.

Titans Return finally gave us a modern update of this famous Minibot.

Seaspray in modern form and holding true to his G1 aesthetics.

Back of Seaspray is pretty clean. No nasty kibble here.

Helmet is modeled after the G1 animation model, while the eyes are more G1 toy accurate. Probably a good thing, the Seaspray cartoon eyes on a toy might bug me.

Articulation is limited, but decent for a $10 figure.

Holding a random weapon that belongs to another Transformer. Big prizes to anyone out there hardcore enough to identify the weapon.

With G1 Seaspray.

Notice in the above 3 shots, Seaspray has a module attached to his chest. The module can be seen packaged in the upper right corner (first pic). I guess you can detach this for a more accurate animation look, or attach it to look more like the G1 toy. I’m not sure if there exist other reasons for this extra attachment.

Transformation from robot to hovercraft follows almost the exact same scheme as G1, so I won’t describe it too much. The only real difference is that, for the alt mode, the arms point backwards in TR, as opposed to forwards like in G1.

Rear view of the hovercraft. Those are working spinning propellers.

A Titan Master can ride inside in alt mode.

With G1 Seaspray.

Seaspray with his Season 2 Minibot cohorts in modern form.

Go Seaspray! Transform and Roll Out.
 

Figures from The Last Knight are fairly unremarkable as a whole. But some stars stand out among all this mediocrity. Voyager class Nitro is one of them.

In the movie, his name is Nitro Zeus. For the toy, he’s just Nitro. I don’t know why the name is shortened. But he is one of the few figures you should have for your TLK collection.

Let’s take a look. I’m starting in robot mode because that’s how he’s packaged.

Nitro in your standard A stance.

He’s capable of some dynamic action poses.

Striking another pose.

Up close face shot.

A little known feature is that Nitro’s head can be removed, and any standard Titan Master can be inserted and used as the head. Here I have the head of Twin Twist on Nitro’s body. Why Hasbro saw fit to give us this feature in this TLK figure is a mystery, but I suppose it’s kind of a cool gimmick.

Rear view. He’s got some junk on him. I wish the rear tail fin hanging off his ass can be folded upwards towards his back.

Missiles on the top of the backpack can be removed.

Transformation to jet mode can be challenging for the casual TF fans out there. I have transformed Nitro to jet mode twice. On my first attempt, I needed the instructions. But even with that, the conversion process proved demanding. I remember having a hard time aligning the legs. On my 2nd attempt, it felt just as difficult, but in a different area. I had to resort to watching YouTube vids of other fans explaining the process. Turn out I had the shoulder of the jet nosecone arm configured directly reversed from how it should be. On yeah, Nitro is a non-symmetrical Transformer (like many of the motorcycle figures). I have always felt that non-symmetrical TFs are in general more difficult than symmetrical ones. If I was compiling a top 10 most difficult list today, I am really tempted to put Nitro on there.

When done right, Nitro is a fantastic looking jet. Look at the first pic below. Yes the transformation is hard, but the end result is so worth it. Everything comes together nicely. In fact, if something doesn’t come together nicely, you know you have done something wrong.

Jet looks beautiful from the rear.

A Titan Master can sit in the cockpit. Very cool. We already saw that Titan Masters can be used as heads in robot mode. Nitro can be a full fledged Titans Return figure if Hasbro chose to repaint the mold and include a repainted Titan Master.

Underneath the Jet. Nitro packs in rather well. Overall shape is clean without too much bulk.

Nitro with Studio Series Starscream. They are both Voyager class. Notice SS figs got much smaller, but that’s a topic for another day.

Hasbro saw fit to repaint this mold as Studio Series Thundercracker, SS-08. That was my final purchase from Toys R Us before it went belly up.

Go Nitro! Transform and Roll Out.
 

Brawn is one of the more recognizable characters out of G1. He can make a case as the most famous Mini-bot after Bumblebee and Cliffjumper. He is known for his toughness despite his small size, and G1 fans love to point out that he was the first character to die in the G1 Movie.

I don’t have that many Brawn figures. One is DOTM Brawn, which I reviewed. I have a legend sized Brawn that came out a few years ago, included in a group shot in this post. I have a G1 Brawn made into a keychain. And finally I have a small Titan Master Brawn that I never even opened.

Now we are finally getting a G1 update of Brawn in the right size, later in the Titan Returns line. This post is a quick review of the figure.

In the package.

In alt mode.

G1 accurate and rolls well. Even has the iconic tire on top of the vehicle.

Rear view of alt mode.

A Titan Master can sit inside.

With some of his Autobot brothers.

Transformation is painfully simple. Detach the tire piece on top of the vehicle and rotate out the legs. Pull out arms at the sides. Rotate at elbows so the fists face forward. That’s pretty much it. It’s a very basic transformation that we have seen hundreds of times. But it works for this figure. TR Brawn is catered for TransFans that appreciate this character, and in that regard no originality in the transformation is necessary.

In robot mode.

Up close and personal. Great face sculpt that does justice to the G1 animation model.

Rear view. Notice the top tire piece that was detached stays on the back in this configuration.

That tire piece can be used as a shield, seen below.

With other Autobots in robot mode. Scales really well.

If you’re reading this review, you’ve probably already decided you want TR Brawn. At about $10, he’s a great addition to your updated G1 collection.

Go Brawn! Transform and Roll out.

 

Gemini and I have said for a long time that some 3P should make some Energon Cubes, in either CHUG or MP scale. I don’t know anything about manufacturing, but some clear plastic cubes in either pink or purple doesn’t sound hard to do. And it finally happened. Actually, it’s been done for some time as of this writing. I just finally got some in April of 2017. And that was over a year ago. I got them because I needed something cheap to push a order over $150 to get free shipping, but that doesn’t mean they are not worth getting.

I decided to go with E-Nergeon Cubes by Keiths Fantasy Club, often abbreviated KFC (no relation to the famous fried chicken chain). This set is a good deal. 9 MP scale Energon Cubes for only $9.99. All other cubes I have seen cost more. The colors of this set is somewhere between pink and purple. There are 3 different types of cubes in the set, 3 cubes for each type, for a total of 9 cubes.

As you can see, there are 3 kinds of cubes here. The first kind on the left is your standard Energon cube in it’s normal appearance. The 2nd kind (pictured in the middle) is seen sometimes in the cartoon when a Decepticon would push down a bunch of cubes stacked together and they get flattened into one cube. The last kind (seen on the right) takes some explaining. It’s hollow at the top, and you see Energon molded in liquid form flowing inside. This is so you can take a MP scale Decepticon and have him pose with this cube like he’s drinking it. See my interpretation below with FP Grenader, as best as I can get it.

All in all, I really like these set of cubes. If you are looking for some MP scaled Energon Cubes, you will not be disappointed with this set.

Transform and Roll Out.
 

We have to talk about Turbo Ejector. This figure is Warbotron’s interpretation of Technobot Afterburner in MP scale. And I’ll get straight to it: I really like this figure. I have heard of high praises for Turbo Ejector for some time before this purchase. In fact, I tried to buy it in 2016. Saw a eBay listing at a good price, but too many eBay scammers in recent years made me hesitant. So when I saw him on sale at $79.99, I quickly got one (MSRP is $95.99). And that was a smart decision.

Before we look at the figure, let’s take a peek at the box. Even the box is high quality. Construction of the box is one of the sturdiest I have seen, made of high quality cardboard all around.

Box open flap. Nice artwork on the inside flap.

Tab on the side of the box for easy pull out.

In the packaging.

Turbo Ejector is about the same size as the other Warbotron Combaticon limb figures. He actually weighs quite a bit for a figure of this size. I don’t detect any diecast. For him to weigh this much, the fig has got to be made with some high quality plastic.

Back view.

Alternate back configuration for the G1 purists.

All armored up.

I’m ready for my closeup. Great face sculpt.

Ready for some serious action. Check out the awesome light-piping.

Construction of the figure is super solid. Warbotron figure are usually plagued with tolerance issues, but I detect no such problems on my Turbo Ejector. Everything fits snugly where they need to be. Joints are just tight enough to hold some good poses, but not so tight that transformation becomes frustrating.

Speaking of transformation, Turbo Ejector follows the same overall motif as G1 Afterburner. It’s good to see that Warbotron did not stray very far from the character’s G1 roots and implemented a modern transformation that is true to the original toy. Turbo Ejector’s transformation difficulty is somewhere between easy and average. I like that, actually. This is a figure you can just pick up and play.

I love this alt mode. Afterburner is my favorite Technobot, and part of that is because of his awesome motorcycle alt mode. It looks like a futuristic bike, like those Tron bikes.

Alt mode with weapons attached.

Alt mode with weapons attached more G1 style.

Back view of the bike.

Turbo Ejector forms the right arm of Computicon (Computron). I didn’t try this, since I don’t have the rest of the guys. And on that point, I did hear that Turbo Ejector is the best fig in the group. That makes me hesitant to get the rest. But who knows… if I’m lucky enough to find his cohorts for cheap, I will.

I cannot recommend Turbo Ejector enough. He is far superior to Quantron’s Overheat. Again, Afterburner is my favorite Technobot. I’m happy there is a high quality MP scale figure made of him. Transform and Roll Out!

 

Titans Return Sky Shadow was acquired about a year ago. I only have one other Sky Shadow, which is a repaint of Generations Thunderwing. TR Sky Shadow is also a repaint. Actually, he’s what I call a “prepaint”. I should officially coin this term before someone else does. What this means is that the mold used is meant for a more famous character, but HasTak is releasing a different character first using this new mold. This way, hardcore buyers would first get this character because the mold is new, and then buy it again when the more famous character is released later. I ranted about this so many times now I’m repeating myself, so I’ll stop. I hate the practice of prepainting, but I fall for it every time.

Sky Shadow is a prepaint of Overlord, who would be released towards the end of 2017. It’s super obvious once you see the alt mode. To be fair, Sky Shadow is not a bad figure. I have Overlord too, so I know they made enough mold differences between the two figures that buying Sky Shadow is a bit more justified. Sky Shadow reminds me of G1 figures from Season 4: he’s big and blocky, easy to transform, and full of gimmicks. Sky Shadow is a Headmaster, Triple-Changer, and Duocon, all rolled into one.

The figure is packed in bot mode. I like his overall colors of black and red, and the paint job is nice for a mass retail store proudct. As a leader class fig, his size is impressive. For such a blocky figure, his articulation is actually not half bad. He is a Headmaster, and Ominus (the Titan Master) is attached has the head in all the bot mode pics below. Other than the Titan Master, he comes with 2 accessories, a gun and a jet nosecone piece. In bot mode, the jet nosecone can function as a shield.

Sky Shadow has a base mode. In this mode, he can supposedly connect with other base figures in the Titans Return line, such as Fortress Maximus. I didn’t try this. Before doing this transformation, I thought this mode would be a half-assed fan mode. But then I tried it and it’s actually quite nice. The Titan Master is featured in the pic below. There are plenty of Titan Master ports on the surface of the base mode for other Titan Masters to stand on.

As a Triple-Changer, Sky Shadow has one more mode. Or maybe I should say modes, because he splits into a jet and a tank. That’s right, Sky Shadow is also a Duocon! Well, maybe he was never officially classified as such, but that’s essentially what was a Duocon is in G1 (a robot that splits into 2 alternate modes). Check the pics below. The Titan Master can fit inside either the tank or the jet.

And like I said already, he’s quite easy to transform. Very easy to just pick up and play. Easy to handle too, since he’s so large. At first he seemed a bit too gimmicky, but the way in which all these gimmicks are implemented is well done. I highly recommend this figure based on the fun factor alone.

And now I just realized that both of my Sky Shadow figures got quick reviews. What are the chances of that? This was not deliberate… another weird trend fated by the TF powers that be.

Transform and Roll Out.