General Information:
Release Date: December 2016
Price Point: $16.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: General (Toys R Us, Target, Wal-Mart etc.)
Accessories: Autobot Throttle Titan Master figure, Blaster (small), Blaster (large)
Official images and text below in italics are from Amazon.com:
Transformers Generations Titans Return Deluxe Class figures are 5.5-inch scale figures that come with a Titan Master figure. The Titan Master figure becomes the head of the Deluxe Class figure. It also works with Deluxe Class, Voyager Class, and Leader Class Titans Return figures (each sold separately). In Titans Return, the Autobots and Decepticons unite with Titan Masters, small bots that carry a power boost. Titan Masters are key to controlling an ancient race of warriors the size of cities: the Titans. Character Specs: Autobot Breakaway: escape artist Autobot Throttle: speed boost Unite and power up for battle. Figure Specs: Deluxe Class Autobot Breakaway Modes: robot, sports car Converts in 12 Steps Works with other Titan Master figures (each sold separately) 2 accessories Comes with a collector card with tech specs Titan Master Autobot Throttle Modes: robot, head Converts in 1 step Transformers and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro.
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 twenty 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.
Some of the characters being brought into "Titans Return" were not Headmasters in previous lines. One such character is Breakaway (aka Getaway). In recent time this character has had a significant role in the IDW Publishing comic books, but for the most part he was ignored by Transformers fiction for many years. Breakaway is a retool/redeco of Chromedome so check out that review for my first impressions of this sculpt.
Packaging:
The Titans Return packaging uses the design of the last few years and updates it. The figure is packaged in robot mode with its weapons to the side. An insert shows you the alt mode along with the names of the Titan Master and character along with the "Titans Return" logo. The side of the insert gives you a look at the character's artwork. Most of the backing card is plastered with a close up of the character's package art. While entire bodies were drawn for this line, the packaging zooms in to the chest and head to focus on the Titan Master gimmick, wth the head hovering a bit over the body as if it is about to connect. The side has the now familiar "Generations" logo with an Autobot symbol on it and the vertical "Transformers" logo under it.
The back of the packaging shows off the stock photography for the photo but more importantly, it shows off a diagram explaining the way the Titan Master play system works. The heads of the Titan Masters can be swapped from figure to figure, and the diagram helps illustrate this across size classes. These also act as cosells. In the case of Breakaway his cosells are Autobot Ptero, Autobot Hot Rod, Voyager Class Optimus Prime and Leader Class Six Shot.
Titans Return figures come with a collector card, similar to last year's "Combiner Wars" series. However these cards are shaped differently, with corners cut out on two sides. The front features the character's artwork, giving you a better look at the full body. The back features something fans have wanted since last year: tech specs! These are not traditional specs with a full motto and so on, but instead there are four qualities reflected here (via icons). The four icons are: A robot flexing arms (strength), a character running (speed), a brain (intelligence) and a missile (firepower). These are laid out on the X axis of a bar chart with lines going across from a scale of one through twenty. Traditional tech specs only go from one to ten, but these tech specs take into account the Titan Master being combined with the Transformer. This extends the line into the zone past the number ten. I'm really glad these were added in as I think it was a missed opportunity not to do so last year. I also appreciate the bright and colorful icons and lines used on the back of the cards.
Accessories:
Breakaway comes with two weapons. One is the the same sculpt as the weapon included with Blurr and Brainstorm featuring a pointed front end. The other weapon is a new piece that is roughly T shaped with a long barrel at the end that narrows towards the front. The top of the weapon features a seat for a Titan Master. Behind the seat is a 5mm peg and in front of it is a 5mm port. The sides each feature a 5mm peg as well. This allows Breakaway to hold the weapon in various ways and use it in vehicle mode. You can attach the smaller weapon to the port in front of the seat and it looks like the Titan Master is operating the weapon. The larger weapon is a tad cumbersome looking in my book, but at the same time it offers up some fun play value. Both weapons are cast in dark blue plastic.
In a bit of trademark switcharoo, the name of Breakaway's partner is Autobot Throttle. In G1, Getaway's partner was Rev and Throttle was actually the name of the Decepticon Darkwing's partner! The way I figure it is that the designers just took a Nebulan partner name from that era that could still be trademarked and used it figuring it was "close enough". Personally I am fine with it.
Head Mode:
Breakaway's head is based on both his Generation One and current IDW Publishing comic book design. The G1 elements are mostly focused around the "helmet" section which has a large crest with mechanical details inside of it instead of the usual vent lines or open splace. His thin eyes and mouthplate are very similar to the way artists are currently drawing the character in the IDW Publishing comic books. I appreciate this blend of old and new in the design.
The helmet section of the face is painted light grey while the eyes and mouthplate are painted yellow. These colors match up with the G1 toy and some of his comic book appearances. The back of the head is mostly dark blue plastic with a bit of white peeking out at the bottom.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
Swing the back of the head down and straighten it out to form the legs. The arms can swing up.
Robot Mode:
Throttle's robot mode is the same sculpt as Stylor, which is a missed opportunity. It would have been very cool if Throttle was a homage to G1 Throttle, but given that this is basically the 'cost saving figure' of the wave (which has three new sculpts in it) I can understand why this was not done. Throttle is cast mostly in dark blue with a white torso and pelic area. You can see the new "face plate" for Breakaway on his back. Like Stylor he has no paint details in this mode.
All the joints on my copy of this figure are nice and tight.
Autobot Breakaway
Robot Mode:
Breakaway's robot mode uses Chromedome's body with the new "face plate" design on the head. Part of the issue with this is that G1 Getaway had a very distinct profile, with two large pieces of shoulder armor sticking out the sides (formed from the sides of the vehicle mode) and a windshield on his torso with the vehicle's rear windows on his legs. However Chromedome's body is very different from this, so the designers tried to use deco to make the design (somewhat) resemble G1 Getaway.
First off, Breakaway's primary plastic colors are white, dark blue and light grey. Each of these colors appeared in some form on G1 Getaway, though G1 Getaway had a darker shde of grey on him than this figure. The color distribution is different however. White is the dominant color here, with dark blue making up his pelvic area while the dark blue was used for parts of the legs and the arms on G1 Getaway. Truth be told, this works out since it would look odd for big, blue parts on the arms (which would cause the side of the vehicle mode to stick out like a sore thumb).
Offering some additional detail are the paint details. The biggest splash of color are red and yellow lines on the chest. These are meant to emulate the windshield and a sticker from G1 Getaway. It is a bit abstract, but I appreciate the attempt. There is also some dark blue paint on the knees, which is meant to emulate the spoiler from G1 Getaway's vehicle mode, which would wind up on his knees in robot form. I do appreciate the attempts at trying to mimick G1 Getaway's colors but I can see how some might find the figure looking a bit plain because of all the white plastic. For me personally I think it looks fine. It doesn't blow me away, but nor does it look "unfinished".
I was surprised to find that all the joints on my copy of this figure are actually tighter than those on my copy of Chromedome. At least with respect to this figure the quality control people seemed to have done a great job. He can also hold his weapons nice and tight and Throttle stays on as his head without a problem.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Detach Throttle and convert him into robot mode.
- Detach the blasters and set them aside for now.
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Swing the fists into the forearms.
- Swing the back piece (the front of the car) back.
- Rotate the upper body around at the waist.
- Swing the front panels of the lower legs out to the sides.
- Push the robot feet down.
- Swing each lower leg section up over the thighs.
- Push the two lower leg sections together.
- Swing the front panels from the lower legs in.
- Push each of the robot arms down to form the sides of the vehicle.
- Swing the front of the car forward and snap it into place.
- Pull the halves that form the top of the cabin section forward and push them into place.
- Swing the robot mode chest panel up on the bottom of the car.
- Attach the weapons to the top or sides.
- Throttle can ride inside the cabin section.
Vehicle Mode:
Just as the robot mode is a bit of a stretch in being Getaway, so is the robot mode. Sure G1 Chromedome and Getaway were both cars, but Chromedome was a more stylish, futuristic (perhaps Cybertronian) car while Getaway was a more Earth-based race car. Nothing about this vehicle mode really says "race car" but the roughly rectangular shape does allow for a deco that pays homage to many aspects of the original Getaway.
The white plastic makes up most of this mode, which makes it a nice canvas for other colors. The wheels are smokey, translucent grey plastic which looks very against the white. The windshield and side windows are dark, translucent red plastic. These are nice base colors for the various paint applications and tampographs in this mode. Among the most distinctive tampographs are blue and red stripes on the sides of the hood and blue, silver and red tampographs on the sides near the rear wheel wells. These tampographs specifically call back to stickers on G1 Getaway, though they do streamline the designs a bit.
Grey paint (matching his robot mode grey plastic) is used on the front end of the vehicle and the raised section in the middle of the hood (approximating the look of G1 Throttle connected to Getaway in engine mode). Some blue is found on the back of the vehicle, paying homage to the blue spoiler on G1 Getaway. Finally there is a yellow line at the top of the windshield that calls back to a yellow "Racing" sticker on G1 Getaway's windshield.
I had no issues connecting weapons to this mode or having Throttle sit in the driver's seat.
Final Thoughts:
Breakaway is not a bad redeco, but in many respects he is not as strong of a G1 homage as his wavemates (including Twinferno). This figure is largely for folks who are completists or really love the character.
Pros:
- Deco has some nice touches that call back to G1 Getaway, especially in vehicle mode.
- Nice G1/IDW Publishing "face plate" on head.
- Fun figure with an intuitive multi-step transformation.
- Q/C was very strong on this figure (nice and tight joints).
Cons:
- Sculpt does not really suit the character. Some more modification was in order.
- Needs more deco in robot mode.
