General Information
Release Date: Febuary 2023
Price Point: $34.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: General Release (Amazon, BigBadToyStore, Entertainment Earth, Target, Walmart etc.)
Accessories: Rewind mini-figure; Blaster
Official images and text in italics are from Amazon
- CELEBRATE THE LEGACY: Transformers Legacy Evolution celebrates the last 40 years of Transformers history. The Twincast and Autobot Rewind action figures are inspired by The Transformers
- 2 EPIC MODES: Twincast Transformers action figure toy for 8 year old boys and girls converts from robot to radio mode in 20 steps. Comes with a scoped blaster accessory
- INCLUDES AUTOBOT REWIND FIGURE: Comes with an Autobot Rewind figure that converts from robot to cassette mode in 8 steps. Figure in cassette mode can fit inside the Twincast figure in radio mode
- EVOLVE THE BATTLE: Transformers toy robots are upgraded with Evo-Fusion battle features! Evolve the battle by attaching the blaster accessory to the back of the figure in radio mode as an antenna
- REVEAL TECH SPECS: Scan the code on each package to reveal character tech specs! Collect other Transformers figures to discover facts and abilities (each sold separately, subject to availability)
The battle is evolving with the Transformers Legacy Evolution Twincast and Autobot Rewind action figures! Twincast has the ability to detect any radio signal, no matter the strength or frequency. Rewind can store any amount of data in his high-capacity memory banks. Transformers toys are upgraded with Evo-Fusion technology! Experience the evolution and attach the blaster accessory to the figure in radio mode to prepare for battle! Celebrate the last 40 years of Transformers history with Transformers Legacy action figures for boys and girls. Transformers Legacy opens the portal to a whole new universe of -- More Than Meets the Eye, bringing together every generation of Transformers like you’ve never seen before. Collect and combine different characters to create your ideal Legacy lineup.
Background:
In 1987 the Transformers cartoon in Japan took a different path than in other countries such as the United States. While the G1 cartoon ended with the three part "The Rebirth" mini-series in the United States, Japan continued the Transformers cartoon with a full series called Headmaster. Made up of 35 episodes, this series represented strong support for the toy line and featured stories and characters that never appeared in "The Rebirth". Among them was Twincast. In the Headmasters episode "The Mystery of Planet Master" Blaster and Soundwave duke it out for the last time, each warrior falling in combat. However, two episodes later in "The Great Cassette Operation" both characters were revived with new colors and identities. In Blaster's case he returned as "Twincast". For many years, getting a Twincast toy meant paying a fairly high cost on the secondary market, but now thanks to this Legacy Evolution release, fans have a chance to add Twincast to their Generations shelf at retail price!
Packaging:
Twincast is part of the second phase of the Legacy line: Legacy Evolution so the packaging has been refreshed. The shape of the box is still the same, and for the most part the logos and other parts are in the same place. Sticking to the principle of plastic-free packaging, the window on the box is open and the figure is tied to the cardboard tray inside. The front of the box has an illustration of Twincast in his radio mode. To the side is a close up of him in robot mode. The QR Code to scan for the tech specs has been moved to the top of the box instead of being on the back.
The back of the box shows Twincast in both forms calling out a 20 step transformation. It also has a huge logo for the "Evo Fusion" gimmick which appears to be a new term to describe the gimmick that began with Siege where toys across multiple classes can be combined to form different types of weapons.
Accessory:
Twincast includes a rifle based on the design of his G1 weapon. It is a very distinct design, featuring a large circular opening at its base with a long barrel that has a suppressor like piece at the end. The top has a targeting scope and the back has a stock extension. I really love the way the designers updated the weapon but kept man of its core details. This weapon is black plastic with no deco. I would have preferred the blaster be red like the cartoon, but I'm guessing this piece was gang molded with his black parts. The circular opening is 5mm, allowing you to attach weapons from other figures to the rifle. It has a 5mm peg at the bottom allowing Twincast (and other Generations figures) to hold it.
Twincast includes one of his "cassette force": Rewind. Introduced in G1, Rewind is a rarity: an Autobot historian. I love when G1 would bring in functions other than say, "Warrior" or "Gunner" and this was a great example. Rewind is a straight up redeco of Eject (who came with Blaster).
Cassette Mode:
While it may be an outdated form by today's standards, Hasbro and Takara Tomy decided to keep Rewind's original alt-mode: a cassette tape! It is rectangular in shape with openings for the tape reel sections. The rest of the details largely carry over from the robot mode so I will focus on those below.
It has been rumored that one of the gimmicks for the upcoming Legacy toy line is the ability for accessories to combine (and this has been supported by a lot of photos of upcoming products). Some are also supposed to be clear plastic, a callback to the combining weapons of the Energon series. To that end, Rewind has been cast mostly in translucent grey plastic with some solid light grey plastic on the back. Gold paint is used for detailing from the robot mode (more on that in a bit). This looks fantastic. It looks like Rewind has some type of energy coursing through his body and if you hold it up to the light it looks very cool. The concern I (and many fans) have with this use of translucent plastic is that in time the plastic will become brittle and break, especially during transformation. Now, I don't have a time machine so I can't jump into the future five to ten years from now to see if Rewind figures are breaking all over the place. I have Energon weapons from 2004 (made of translucent plastic) that are still fine to this day. However, I will say that it is a valid concern and I hope down the road there will be a version of Rewind released that uses an opaque and stable kind of plastic.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
- Swing the robot head up and rotate it around.
- Swing the bottom sections of the cassette down.
- Rotate the legs so the feet point forward.
- Swing the sections with the cassette reel openings down, then rotate them around.
Robot Mode:
Rewind's robot mode has a fantastic sculpt. The head sculpt has the "helmet" section with three sections extending upward and a mouthplate. The chest has distinctive designs on them that look amost like stylized wings. While a bit hard to see because of the uniform translucent blue, he has distinct feet and fists sculpted in as well. I really like this sculpt and would not mind some solid plastic redecos down the line as other characters like Rosanna.
There are thirteen points of articulation on this figure including three in each arm and leg. The tape reel openings on his arms have 5mm ports, which is cool and likely intended to have him combine with other weapons to be released in the future. However, no weapons were included for him in this set so the feature is a bit wasted in this set. That said, if you have extra weapons lying around from other figures you can absolutely use them with this figure.
Final Thoughts on Eject:
Rewind has a fantastic sculpt and a good design. While he looks great, the use of translucent plastic is of concern for the future.
Robot Mode:
Twincast is a redeco and retool of Kingdom Blaster which is appropriate given that is what happend in G1. Back in the 80's, the Blaster sculpt was altered, allowing him to hold two cassettes in his chest instead of just one. This time however Blaster's chest has been left alone. Instead, his face is different, featuring a slight smile instead of the more neutral expression on Kingdom Blaster. Interestingly, some samples of Kingdom Blaster appeared online over the years showing him with the "smiling face" so it looks like the parts were mixed up in production on some copies of Blaster.
Twincast uses the Headmasters cartoon as reference for his color scheme. He is mostly made up of blue, red, black and light grey plastic. His chest compartment cover is translucent dark grey (the same as Rewind). Paint colors include silver, yellow and red. I really love how these colors contrast against one another. All the colors really pop beautifully and they look great.
There are twenty four points of articulation on this figure. That includes five in each arm and six in each leg. The legs still include ankle tilts, which have become a standard part of Transformers design the past few years and I love it. In a fun design choice, his right fist is designed with the pointer finger extended. This allows you to pose him to look like he is pushing the buttons on his torso to open his chest compartment! Push the buttons and the chest compartment will open up, allowing you to fit Rewind inside.
Twincast has a lot of 5mm ports to attach accessories. Each arm has two on the sides, one in the back of the shoulder and one in the fist. Each leg has one 5mm port on the sides and the back has three. On top of all that the bottom of the feet have 5mm ports in them. While the Weaponizer/Fossilizer era of figures has closed, Legacy gave us Junkions who could easily serve as armor and weapons for Twincast.
Transformation to Boom Box Mode:
- Detach the accessories and set them aside for now.
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Rotate the head around.
- Open up the middle compartment on the back, swing the head in, then close the compartment.
- Swing the fists out to the sides of the forearms.
- Push the robot feet up.
- Swing the robot arms up at the shoulders.
- Rotate the elbows/forearms around, then swing the forearms over the elbow sections.
- On the back raise the flap that covers the area between the legs.
- Rotate the lower body around.
- On the back of each lower leg, swing the red panel out, then swing up the smaller red panel inside.
- On each lower leg, rotate the speakers around.
- Swing the robot arms down.
- Rotate the lower legs so the speakers with the two bars in front of them are facing the same direction as the cassette compartment cover/robot chest.
- Swing the legs up. The tab on the sides of the knee area slot into the openings on the forearms. The fists slide into the opening on the inside of the lower legs.
- Push the flap under the buttons down.
- On each of the lower leg sections, swing the handle halves up, then connect them together.
Boom Box Mode:
From a tooling perspective there are no changes in this mode. It is just a straight up redeco compressing the colors of the robot mode with most of the blue in the middle and the light grey parts on the sides. Red peeks through a lot on the legs. Red and black paint fill in most of the details including speakers and knobs. This mode looks bright and eye catching.
While he may be a Boom Box, you can attach accessories to Twincast in this mode thanks to the five 5mm ports on his back and even a couple on the handle on top! The cassette door feature works in this mode.
Final Thoughts:
If you told me twenty years ago there would one day be a domestic release of a new Twincast figure I might not have believed you yet here we are. The figure looks fantastic and it represents a fairly obscure bit of Transformers history outside of Japan. I'm also glad they included Rewind. Highly recommended!
Pros:
- I appreciate the inclusion of a new head sculpt to differentiate the figure from the previous release.
- Excellent sculpt that pays homage to both the G1 animation model and toy.
- Nice deco.
- The "updated" design elements such as the dials in Boom Box mode are fantastic ideas that add a lot to the visuals of the figure.
- Great articulation.
- Lots of play value thanks in part to all the 5mm attachment points.
- Including Rewind is a huge plus.
Cons:
- Rewind's translucent plastic has (and will continue to) worry fans for a while.
- I do wish the shoulders were a bit larger to "bulk" the character up.
