General Information:
Release Date: July 2017
Price Point: $149.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: General (Toys R Us, Target, Wal-Mart etc.)
Accessories: Full-Tilt, Necro Titan Master, Full-Tilt weapon
Official images and text below in italics are from Amazon.com:
This Transformers Generations Titans Return Titan Class Trypticon figure is the largest Titan Class Decepticon figure produced to date. Voted into the line by fans, the Triple Changer figure converts from T-Rex to spaceship to city. It comes with a Decepticon Full-Tilt figure that converts from robot to tank and a Titan Master Decepticon Necro figure that converts from robot to head.
This Titan Class Trypticon figure features three modes: dino, spaceship, and city. When the figure is in dino mode, it 'eats' Titan Master figures (each sold separately). Imagine Trypticon chows down to power up. Convert to City Mode and attach Titans Return Leader Class figures to form Nemesis Command, a Decepticon base that works with other Titans Return figures. Additional figures each sold separately. Subject to availability.
The towering Trypiticon[sic] figure comes with a Titan Master Decepticon Necro figure and a Deluxe Class Decepticon Full-Tilt figure. The Decepticon Necro figure becomes the head of the Decepticon Full-Tilt figure. It also works with Titans Return Deluxe, Voyager, and Leader Class figures (each sold
Trypticon is built for conquest. With a spaceship mode that allows him to travel between planets and a battle station mode that establishes a stronghold when he arrives, the Decepticon Titan is capable of single-handedly wiping out any target in any location in the galaxy. His appetite for destruction is rivaled only by his appetite for Titan Masters, which he consumes like other bots devour refined Energon cubes. His own Titan Master servant, Decepticon Necro, hungers for something far more sinister. Decepticon Necro harvests the sparks of other bots, consuming the very thing that gives them life. Wherever these Decepticons travel, they bring doom and ultimate destruction.
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. In true "Generations" fashion, Titans Return gives us characters from the Headmasters era in new forms that pay homage to the originals.
Continuing the line of "Titan Class" figures that began with Metroplex and later continued with Fortress Maximus the Decepticons finally get their turn with the release of Trypticon! Trypticon is not alone however. Returning with him is Full-Tilt, the vehicle/robot that also came with the original Trypticon. You can get a look at the original Full-Tilt in my review of Platinum Edition/Reissue Trypticon.
Packaging:
Trypticon is packaged in a large, rectangular box. The box has gorgeous artwork in the front showing Trypticon in a battle. The right side has the vertical "Transformers" logo with the "Generations" logo above it. To the left are three smaller pictures showing each of Trypticon's modes. Under that is the "Titans Return" logo along with the names of all the characters in the set. The back of the box shows all three modes along with other figures "interacting" with it (such as Sky Shadow). It also shows Necro and Full-Tilt. To the right side is the"eco-system" for the Titan Master play pattern and cosell. Under that is a description of Trypticon's ability to "eat" Titan Masters.
Necro is a fun homage and Easter Egg that calls back to the Generation One Marvel comic book. When Trypticon was introduced in issue #27 of the Marvel title, he had some help in the form of a loyal minion named Wipe-Out not Full-Tilt. The design of this character was based on the G1 Tailgate figure (who you can see in my review of "Generations" Tailgate). According to the TF Wiki, this design was chosen somewhat randomly out of a pile of toys Hasbro had sent to Marvel back in the day. To pay homage to this character, the designers used Wipe-Out as the basis for Necro's design.
Head Mode:
Necro's head mode is based on Full-Tilt's G1 head design. That design was a round helmet section with a face that had visor eyes and a mouthplate. However the designers streamlined the design for this figure. The original Full-Tilt's head was pretty wide. This design narrows the design of the head a bit so it is more proportional with the body. The design shares a lot of the design with G1 Full-Tilt's head mode including a thin crest, round helmet section, visor eyes and a mouthplate. The design looks great. I really think narrowing and tightening up the design of the head made perfect sense.
Necro's head mode is mostly purple plastic with Necro's head cast in black. The crest is painted silver and the eyes are painted red. Given that the original Full-Tilt's head was not painted at all, this is a huge improvement.
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:
Necro's robot mode is based on Wipe-Out's appearance in the G1 Marvel Comic book, which in turn was based on G1 Tailgate's action figure. That's a couple fun levels of meta referencing in one small figure and I can't help but be impressed by this. He has a lot of the key details from the G1 Tailgate figure including:
- The head design has the rectangular design of G1 Tailgate's head, including wide visor eyes and a wide mouthplate.
- The chest features vertical rectangles on either side with a "control panel" like design in between.
- The waist area has trapezoid shapes on either side.
- The thighs each have a series of horizontal lines going from the top to the middle.
- The lower legs feature several horizontal panels.
I love the rather meta design behind this figure. It is one thing to have a figure pay homage to the G1 version in design, it is totally different to have the original character design associated with an almost completely unrelated character. This odd Full-Tilt/Necro/Tailgate/Wipe-Out association is a weird quirk of Transformers history brought into toy form and I love it.
At first glance Necro looks like he is cast in two colors, but there are actually three. There are two shades of purple. The lighter shade is used for the torso while the arms and legs are a darker purple. The head is cast in black plastic. As you would expect, there are no paint applications on the robot mode parts.
All the joints on my copy of Necro are nice and tight and his transformation works without any problems.
Robot Mode:
Necro is not the only 'bot in this set that pays homage to a G1 source. Full-Tilt is a totally new figure based on an retro design, namely G1 Full-Tilt. While G1 Full-Tilt was technically an accessory in the Trypticon set, he did have a full transformation and scaled pretty well with a lot of other Transformers figures of the time. The modern day version of Full-Tilt is a fully functioning Titan Master. Not only does he have a full transformation and the Titan Master gimmick, but he is a true Deluxe Class figure standing at about the same height as other figures such as Slugslinger. Clearly he is not as complex and he does not have a gimmick-y weapon that lets a Titan Master sit inside of it, but he still looks great alongside other Titan Masters and Trypticon himself.
Full-Tilt's sculpt has a lot of design elements carried over from the G1 design. Aside from Necro's head mode (addressed above) these elements include:
- The weapon included with Full-Tilt has the same design as the G1 version including two thin barrels in the front and flat, horizontal fins in the back.
- The shoulders each have a wheel with ridges on them attached.
- The chest features horizontal vent panels set inside a vertical shape on either side.
- The middle of the chest has a circle design. This is a reference to the circular port on G1 Full-Tilt's chest that allowed him to attach to Trypticon.
- The sides of the waist/hip area have two rectangular notches on either side just like G1 Full-Tilt.
- The lower legs each have a curved shape with to them similar to those on G1 Full-Tilt.
Of course, being a modern figure this new Full-Tilt has a lot of other details the G1 version did not. The forearms have some nice, sculpted details on them. The middle of the body has a six sided raised shape not found on G1 Full-Tilt. Also the legs have more details, including raised sections in the middle of the thighs and a few circular details on the lower legs. Overall the sculpt looks fantastic for a figure that is essentially an "add on" to a larger one.
Like his G1 counterpart, Full-Tilt is cast in purple and black plastic. The shade of purple is very different however. It is darker, metallic and bold looking. Silver paint is used on the head and chest. A bit of dark grey is found in the middle of the torso. His eyes are red. The weapon is black. That's it for the paint in this mode, but frankly that is about right. The only thing I would have liked to see added on would have been a Decepticon symbol on the chest or something, but other than that Full-Tilt is looks great.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Detach Necro and convert him into robot mode.
- Detach the weapon and set it aside for now.
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Swing the fists into the forearms.
- Swing the panels on the back of the lower legs out.
- Swing the back pack up over the section where Necro was attached.
- Swing the arms up, forming the rear of the vehicle.
- Swing the lower legs up, then swing the lower leg panels in.
- Swing up the "L" shaped panels on the lower legs to finish the front of the car.
- Swing the panel in the middle of the waist area up.
- Attach the weapon to the top of the vehicle.
Vehicle Mode:
In G1, Full-Tilt transformed into a vehicle that looked almost like a futuristic off-road vehicle. This modern version retails a lot of the same design elements including:
- The general shape has two sections in front with a gap in the middle.
- Each of the front sections has a raised headlight on it.
- The middle section is curved with no windows.
- The sides have two vertical, rectangular indentations in the middle.
- The rear section has an engine sculpted into it including two rectangular sections with two small circles inside.
- There is a window in the back, but it is covered in armor.
- On top of the vehicle there are two designs that look like the outline of a bottle with a neck at the top.
- The sides have sculpted details that look like circles and wires. This is a reference to stickers on G1 Full-Tilt.
- The weapon attaches to the top just like the G1 figure.
Of course, like the robot mode paying homage to the original is not all this figure does. There are plenty of additional details including two tubes on either side of the engine, small circles representing bolts and additional greebles on the sides.
There is only a small bit of deco in this mode: some gunmetal grey on the back. However, there are stickers in the "bottle" shaped sections. They are silver foil with cross hatch, circle and line designs inside.
Aside from attaching the weapon on top, you can flip open the panel that the weapon attaches to revealing a cockpit for Necro! Inside this section are a ton of details including control panels and computer screens. It looks great and adds play value to the figure. Want to give a couple Titan Master buddies a ride? No problem! There are Titan Master pegs on either side of the vehicle so two extra Titan Masters can ride along. I love these additional touches that add some fun play value to the figure.
Final Thoughts:
Full-Tilt probably would not be the best deal if sold individually. However as an "extra" included with Trypticon he is fantastic. I love how much this design pays homage to the original and he is a fun figure in his own right. Necro's design is a wonderfully meta one and I love how the two figures can interact.
