General Information:
Release Date: July 2013
Price Point: $12.99
Retailer: General release (Toys R Us, Target, Wal-Mart etc.)
Accessories: Rifle, Drill weapon
*Images with asterisks above are from Amazon.com
No one's really sure why Twintwist joined up with the Autobots instead of the Decepticons. He's a barely contained ball of rage that lives for chaos and destruction. In battle, he engages the enemy without mercy. Back at base, he sulks, argues, and occasionally goes on a rampage and destroys things for no reason. The battle between Autobot and Decepticon is never over, and this Twintwist figure is the next generation of awesome Transformers action! Your Twintwist figure is a fierce Autobot who can convert to Cybertronian tank mode when the battle gets intense. But when he wants to really bring the hammer down on his Decepticon enemies, he and his allies can combine into a giant robot! Collect all 5 Wreckers (other figures sold separately) so you can build a complete Ruination robot. Keep converting your Twintwist figure back and forth so he can handle whatever his Autobot enemies dish out, or make him an arm or a leg for your giant Ruination figure! Transformers and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro.
One of the surprise releases in the "Generations" sub-line was a set of five Combaticons who combined into the powerful Bruticus. Combiners as a whole have been relative rarities in recent years and to have one at this scale was virtually unheard of. Such an investment is not to be taken lightly, and as part of the process of making sure the sculpts pay for themselves and then some, a redeco/retool was inevitable. Instead of another team of Decepticons, the Combaticons were given new decos, identities, head sculpts and weaponry. Representing the Autobot team known as "The Wreckers", the designers decided to get a little meta.
Back in 2000, Japan released a series of Transformers in a series dubbed "Car Robots". This would later be imported into other countries as "Robots in Disguise". This line was made up of a combination of new molds and redecos of older ones. One of these redecos used the original Bruticus figure from Generation One, giving the group a whole new identity. One of these was "Dengar", part of the Valdigus team and a redeco of Generation One Brawl. Later, Dengar would be released outside Japan as "Armorhide" in the "Robots in Disguise" toy line. In a rather slick and cheeky move, the designers decided to use Armorhide as the basis for Twintwist, who himself is a redeco of Generations Brawl who in turn was a redeco of San Diego Comic-Con Brawl. This circular reference is amusing from a long time collector's standpoint and even before diving into this review I'll say I appreciate the forethought that went into this figure. Keep in mind however that this isn't much of a homage to G1 Twin Twist even though they are meant to represent a version of the G1 character. I do recommend checking out my reviews of the previous releases of this sculpt. This review will focus on the changes made for this release.
Due to trademark issues, the name "Twin Twist" was not used for this figure (as it was in Generation One). Instead his name is just one word: Twintwist.
Weaponry:
In addition a small blaster (a redeco of the same weapon that came with Brawl), Twintwist comes with an extra weapon. In "Generation One", Twin Twist had two drills in vehicle mode. Since this figure wasn't heavily retooled, the drills wound up on being on his weapon instead. This large weapon has a wide base leading to two tubes with drills on the ends. The top has a smaller blaster on top. Pressing the blaster causes both drills to spin at the same time. It's a really cool looking weapon and I like the action feature. On the left side of the weapon there is a 5mm port on top allowing you to attach the smaller weapon. It's kind of a narrow fit with the blaster/trigger on the other side.
The weapon is cast in silver and gunmetal grey plastic. The silver is used for the small blaster on top and the drill bits. It has a great industrial look to it befitting the brutal nature of Twintwist's work.
Robot Mode:
Like all the Wreckers released for this set of "Generations" figures, Twintwist has a new head, replacing the one used for Brawl. The head design is based on "Generation One" Twin Twist's head sculpt. This includes a helmet section that comes to a point in the center, small designs that stick out on the sides of the "helmet" section and a pronounced chin piece. I will say that in the pantheon of "Transformers" head sculpts it's not a particularly distinct or remarkable one. However, it does match up well with "Generation One" Twin Twist's head design.
The rest of the figure remains the same so the big changes are in color. His main plastic colors are blue grey and gunmetal grey. The main color is the blue. The blue is a nice callback to the blue color on Armorhide (though his blue is much brighter). The gunmetal makes up smaller pieces like his fists, feet and thighs. His paint colors include light blue, silver and orange. The orange stands out the most, contrasting heavily against the dark blue grey. You'll find that on his shoulders, lower legs and in the middle of his chest which is painted in such a way that gaps in the blue grey plastic are left visible to form a large Autobot symbol. The light blue is used on many parts with cross hatch patterns, giving the appearance of glowing lights. Silver is used on smaller secitons of the figure including the "brow" at the edge of the helmet, the face, chest and lower legs.
All the joints on the figure are nice and tight. The arm joints are strong enough that he can actually hold the weapons up without a problem (even combined). His feet could do with being a bit tighter, but the same could be said for all the other iterations of this figure so that's not a huge surprise.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Detach the weapon if attached.
- Swing up the robot feet.
- Swing the robot hands back.
- Push the robot head down.
- Rotate the forearms around.
- Swing each forearm up and attach it to the sides of the main body using the tabs on the forearms and the corresponding slots.
- Rotate the lower legs so the hollow parts face outward.
- Swing the lower legs forward and tuck them against the thighs.
- Swing the panel in the back with the thrusters down.
- If it is facing back, swing down the Ruination connection joint.
- The weapon attaches to the hole in between the two cannon barrels.
Vehicle Mode:
Without the weapon attached, Twintwist's vehicle form is a hovertank with only the twin cannons on top. This makes him look more like an updated Armorhide than Twintwist. However, once you attach his drill weapon suddenly he takes on a whole new appearance since the cannons are mostly obscured. It also adds a fun dimension to the figure since he doesn't just have to blast his way through targets, he can use his drills as well!
The main colors from the robot mode carry over here. The "treads" on the sides are painted gunmetal grey while a new patch of orange appears in the front under the cannon barrels. The panels have light blue triangles on them and an orange Autobot symbol is painted onto the left side. It's a good deco and serves as a cool callback to Armorhide (though it's a bit less direct than say, Topspin's.
Leg Mode:
Start with the vehicle mode and rotate the cannon turret around and swing it up. Swing the cover at the cannon base out. Swing the thruster section at the rear of the vehicle down. Connect the tabs underneath the ends of the cannon barrels to the corresponding slots on the thruster panel. The connection point is revealed when you swing the thruster panel up and you connect that to the corresponding connection point on Impactor's leg section.
Arm Mode:
Swing the thruster piece up and then swing the robot legs out and back. Swing the legs down and then rotate each lower leg piece around. Swing the Ruination hand pieces down and then along with the robot feet/thumbs (depending on the side you are choosing). Connect the lower leg sections together to form Ruination's forearm. Rotate the double barreled cannon around to point forward. Move the connection piece and attach it to Impactor's shoulder connection point.
Twintwist is one of those cool figures in this set that works as both an arm and a leg equally well. As a leg he's got stability and looks proportional to the rest of Ruination. As an arm he looks a tiny bit odd because the arm sticks out a bit, but that's not really a huge deal in my book. What more than makes up for that is Ruination having large cannons on one shoulder! Personally I prefer the arm mode.
Final Thoughts:
Twintwist is a nicely done redeco and retool. The new head sculpt is great and I love his drill weapon. Another strength is that the figure works well on its own even without the gimmick of being a limb of Ruination. Highly recommended!
