Titanium Review Thread!

Ancillary, non-main-line stuff. Star Wars TF, Speed Stars, Titanium Series, Robot Heroes, that sort of thing. They're kinda neat, but we all know they're not really that important. Admit it, you know it's true.
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138 Scourge
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Titanium Review Thread!

Post by 138 Scourge »

..you guys have no idea how hard it was for me to not name this thread "How're your Tits?"

Right, well, apparently the dead Titanium line has a little life left in it, yet. Target's got a wave of exclusive repaints. To start out, I picked up repaint I thought was the most interesting, RiD Optimus Prime repainted into Hot Zone, the renamed Protectobot Leader. This is the second time a firetruck Prime's been repainted to represent Hot Spot, which may qualify as being an official thing now, and it's a welcome change from the standard Ultra Magnus or Nemesis Prime repaint jobs.

Packaging: Pretty standard Titanium package. The character's design motifs are reflected on the box. I always kinda like that, and makes Titanium boxes hard for me to throw out. They're kinda neat. The bio's nothing particularly special, a description of Hot Zone's personality, which is unchanged from when he was Hot Spot.

Robot Mode: Since that's what he's packaged in. While he's still clearly Optimus Prime (or Fire Convoy, if you prefer), the light-blue redeco and black head really do a lot to set this apart. It's not as clearly a Prime repaint as a lot of others are. Then again, I'm not as used to this version of Prime, so maybe that makes the repaint easier. Anyway, decent figure in it's own right. Good articulation, fairly solid except, maybe, the legs. The legs are a lil' hollow and flimsy, but we'll see why here in just a minute. The one thing I'm not wild about here is the shade of red used for some of the detail touches. It's a little dull, and doesn't quite go with the light blue that forms the bulk of the figure.

Transformation: Fantastic. Just fantastic. The arms become the back of the firetruck, which is fairly standard. I love the way the lower legs turn inside out and wrap around the thighs and groin to become that cab. That's an amazingly clever thing, when I first transformed him, I thought "Oh, that's so cool".

Firetruck Mode: Pretty decent firetruck. The light blue's always seemed an odd choice for a firetruck, but it does look good, and evokes the character that this toy's intended to represent. The ladder has a couple of fold-away barrels at the end of it, and looks neat, even if I don't quite get how the barrels at the end of a ladder works. Looks cool, though. The biggest flaw in this form is a gap in the middle of the truck, where the armor panels of the legs and the sides of the arms don't quite come together, but that's kind of a small issue in an otherwise good-looking toy.

Overall: Dude's a little pricey, at what amounts to twenty bucks for what's basically a deluxe. But I've found I really like the kinda streamlined aesthetic that the Titaniums have, and this figure represents it well. Neat re-imagining of a G1 character, and clever use of a pre-existing mold to make that happen. Two pretty-good modes and a fantastically fun transformation make this guy worth the money, to me. If you don't already have this mold, I'd go for it. I'd give him a low A, while not perfect, this toy is really nifty.
Dominic wrote: too many people likely would have enjoyed it as....well a house-elf gang-bang.
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Re: Titanium Review Thread!

Post by JediTricks »

138 Scourge wrote:..you guys have no idea how hard it was for me to not name this thread "How're your Tits?"
*bangs head on table* Yeesh.
Packaging: Pretty standard Titanium package. The character's design motifs are reflected on the box. I always kinda like that, and makes Titanium boxes hard for me to throw out. They're kinda neat.
Yeah, that drives me crazy as I've been on a "throwing out packaging" kick the last few years, and these are impossible to get rid of. I also have around 60 of the 3" Star Wars Titaniums packages as well.
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See, that one's a camcorder, that one's a camera, that one's a phone, and they're doing "Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil", get it?
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Re: Titanium Review Thread!

Post by 138 Scourge »

JediTricks wrote:
138 Scourge wrote:..you guys have no idea how hard it was for me to not name this thread "How're your Tits?"
*bangs head on table* Yeesh.
Packaging: Pretty standard Titanium package. The character's design motifs are reflected on the box. I always kinda like that, and makes Titanium boxes hard for me to throw out. They're kinda neat.
Yeah, that drives me crazy as I've been on a "throwing out packaging" kick the last few years, and these are impossible to get rid of. I also have around 60 of the 3" Star Wars Titaniums packages as well.
Hey, I resisted!

I've only got, hmm...three of the Titanium boxes still around here. Scourge's (ironically) was completely destroyed by my attempts to open it. The others, well, I figured out how it's done, and I can't toss 'em. Beast Wars Neo boxes are the same way.
Dominic wrote: too many people likely would have enjoyed it as....well a house-elf gang-bang.
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Re: Titanium Review Thread!

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138 Scourge wrote:I've only got, hmm...three of the Titanium boxes still around here. Scourge's (ironically) was completely destroyed by my attempts to open it. The others, well, I figured out how it's done, and I can't toss 'em. Beast Wars Neo boxes are the same way.
I ended up putting the boxes completely back together and just stacking them.
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See, that one's a camcorder, that one's a camera, that one's a phone, and they're doing "Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil", get it?
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138 Scourge
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Re: Titanium Review Thread!

Post by 138 Scourge »

So now I have thoughts on Titanium Thrust.

Robot!: He looks great. I like the complexity of this design, there's a fair amount going on in the arms and on the chest, but since he's a Titanium, it's still a streamlined overall design. Thrust missed the memo about being a conehead, but the pointy nosecone behind his head kinda echoes the cone, so...sorta. Also, I like that the head's painted the same reddish-brown of the main body, it's kinda amazing how that makes him looks less like a Starscream. I like the colors a lot, too. It's a lil' subdued for my tastes, but the reddish brown, black, gold and silver all work well together. The rubbery fists are hilarious thanks to me permenantly associating 'em with anderson's comic about 'em. Only flaw in mine, the left shoulder doesn't want to click into place, and drags itself outta place often.

Change!: The fact that this mold's another version of the Cybertron Seeker design, which I love and have three versions of already, I figured that this'd be nothing I hadn't seen before, just more metal. Well, my mistake, this thing's got a nearly entirely different transformation. The shoulders fold up over the head, and the tailfins combine outta some arm-kibble. The nosecone, instead of being made up entirely of the legs, folds behind Thrust's body, and locks up by the back. It's kinda cool how you can get the same kinda designs in both modes two different ways.

Jet!:So, here again is the "Tetrajet" mode. Even though it's a Cybertronian space-jet, this thing actually looks more like a vehicle than a lot of Cybertron modes (Hi, movie toys!). Like with the robot mode, this thing breaks some new ground, in fact the shape of the vehicle is actually considerably different than the Cybertron variety. It's flatter than the more triangle-shaped "Cybertron" style, for one, and it's design kinda echoes Scourge's space hovercraft mode. Only flaw in mine is that the left leg doesn't quite wanna lock into place, other than that everything joins right up and holds together.

So!: This toy's still a streamlined version of a previous thing, like a lot of Titaniums, but it's also an interesting alternate take on a previous thing. It works, I'd say, and is one of the best of the Titanium molds. This particular version has some flaws, but they're minor, and don't prevent this from being a good toy. Grade: A-, just for the locking issues.
Dominic wrote: too many people likely would have enjoyed it as....well a house-elf gang-bang.
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Re: Titanium Review Thread!

Post by BWprowl »

Hey, for what it's worth, my Target has put these things on clearance for $15. So...they're the price Titaniums *used* to be...
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Re: Titanium Review Thread!

Post by 138 Scourge »

Like I'd said in another thread somewhere, the Tits all disappeared from my Targets without going on clearance. The only one I've seen still around and on clearance was Hot Spot (the best one, so go figure that).

I would almost go for an Optimus for 15 dolla, I dunno.
Dominic wrote: too many people likely would have enjoyed it as....well a house-elf gang-bang.
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Re: Titanium Review Thread!

Post by Mirage »

I'd keep checking, Scourge. They disappeared from all the Targets around here too for a couple of weeks, only to re-emerge on clearance. They do that sometimes, tricksy bastards.
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Re: Titanium Review Thread!

Post by andersonh1 »

Titanium Rodimus Prime!

- Vehicle mode: I have the original, and this guy is tiny compared to it. But it's not a bad cut down version, and the loss of the detachable trailer isn't much of a loss. I can't help but wonder how long this thing will hold together, since the tabs on the knee area are the only thing keeping the front and back of the "flaming winnebago" together. Still, it looks good, and is nice and hefty.

- Transformation is not bad, and it's impressive that it works as well as it does. The waist is the weak point though. It popped apart the first time I rotated it to get him to vehicle mode. I hate these pop-apart safety joints!

- Robot mode is pretty nice, at least from the front. The weight in the legs and feet keeps him standing nicely, and he has a good range of motion. The angle on the back of his head makes it look like he's always looking down, and if you look at him from the side, the chest and head are out in front of his waist, which just looks odd. Don't look at him from the side.

- The waist doesn't peg together as tightly as I like. trying to turn the arms is likely to make it pop apart.

- The gun is a nice version of Rodimus' original, but it's that goofy soft plastic which tends to warp.

- Nice face sculpt, though once again, what's up with those yellow marks on his head? They added them for Energon Rodimus, but they were never present on G1 Hot Rod or Rodimus Prime, but both Classics Rodimus and Titanium Rodimus Prime have them. Don't like 'em, no sir.

Overall: good concept, iffy engineering. Par for the course with Titaniums. Rodimus is generally better than the others, but the same flaws are present: there are always parts that just don't hold together as well as they need to. WW Optimus has this problem with his legs, WW Jetfire with the jet mode, and now Rodimus with the robot waist and camper midsection. So far, only Thundercracker is just about perfect, apart from the gap in the back of the jet, and that's not really bad.

Rodimus is worth having as only the second toy to represent the original G1 character. I really appreciate the character since he comes from one of the few times in the toyline's history that the good side wasn't led by Optimus Prime. He improves on the original with better articulation and compact transformation, but loses out with the flaws mentioned above. Still worth having though.

Oh, and a superb bio. Those really have been strong throughout the Titanium line.
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Re: Titanium Review Thread!

Post by Shockwave »

Thundercracker is perfect? Mine was far from it, the pin holding the nose broke altogether and I have yet to get a version of the mold that locks together properly.
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