Toy Review - Titans Return Twinferno

TWINFERNO
Series – Titans Return
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 3
Released here – November 2016
Approximate Retail Price - $29.99
Approximate Size - 13.5cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode – Two-headed dragon (dicephalic parapagus draco basiliscus)
Main Features/Gimmicks – Headmaster
Main Colours – grey, black, red, white
Main Accessories – small gun, large gun, "Daburu" Titan Master

What's in a name?

Evidently Hasbro has lost the trademark for "Doublecross" so they've gone with combining the English word "twin" with the Latin word "inferno" <insert.rant>. However Hasbro have at least managed to keep the "Double" part of the name alive in the Titan Master's name "Daburu," which is an Anglocisation of the Japanese word 'daburu' (ダブル), which comes from the English (actually Latin via French) word "double." So yeah, 'Daburu' is the word "Double." I suppose by Japanising the spelling they've managed to circumvent trademark.

BEAST MODE

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psdydl8hjh.jpg

Twinferno transforms into a daburu-headed dragon. There's a decent amount of articulation in the necks/heads, and the rest of the body is fairly basic. Clipping the robot legs together to form the hind section and tail was tricky, especially attaching the grey leg parts onto the torso. Also clipping the red shoulder parts in place was also a bit fiddly - the trick is the move the shoulders forwards or backwards until the tabs are aligned precisely and snap into position. The guns combine and attach onto the back, and Daburu (or any other Titan Master) is able to sit there. Now the weird thing is that Daburu must either be positioned to look upwards (like he's staring into the sun), or Twinferno can be placed laying down as if he's flying and thus Daburu is facing forwards. Unfortunately the weight distribution of the toy doesn't allow for it to have a horizontal body while standing up, so it's either with Daburu facing up while Twinferno stands upright, or Daburu facing forwards while Twinferno is lying on his front.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psfobh6mgi.jpg
"Falkor, it's wonderful!"

ROBOT MODE

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...pshp6ucfqq.jpg

The sculpting on this mould is pretty much perfect. It's everything you could ask for for a Classicsverse take on Doublecross. The colours are also well done, there's just no real complaints about this mould visually. I wish that the hands were able to rotate at the wrist side to side, but considering that this toy already boasts a whopping 23 points of articulation, I'm probably just being greedy. :p The guns are meant to be able to be mounted on the shoulders, but mine has tabs that are either two small or the holes are too big, either way it won't lock in. I don't know if other Twinfernos have this problem, but this feature is pretty much useless on mine. Having said that, the guns can be held by both hands and they can be mounted on the wings (and swung forward over the shoulders anyway).

DABURU

What is with the monocled dog-face?! :eek: Was he dropped at birth?
"You are one ugly smother-trucker." #gettodachoppa
Apparently it's a homage to White Leo. Part of me thinks that it'd be cool to imagine that Daburu isn't a human or Nebulan under that armour, but a Beastformer. The Headmaster gimmick does nothing for me on this toy. I don't love or hate it, it's just... meh. Although in the G1 comics, the Monsterbots did accompany Fortress Maximus and his Autobots aboard the Steelhaven, so it's possible that they might've returned and ... whatever, a wizard did it. :p

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psrqwisjnd.jpg

OVERALL

Superfluous Headmaster gimmick aside, this is a pretty darn good toy and excellent modern update of Doublecross. :) Highly recommended if you're a fan of the character and the Headmaster gimmick doesn't bother you that much.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22.../jaam_jaam.gif

P.S.: Obviously one gimmick on the G1 toy that Hasbro can no longer replicate on a contemporary figure is the sparking gimmick, which toy companies don't use anymore since this kind of gimmick can set children's clothes on fire!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ps5wfofefi.jpg

What's the trick with the grey pieces on his legs when clipping them in for alt mode?

The sculpts in both modes are really strong, especially the robot mode, and the color scheme is quite nice too.

I never had the G1 figure back in the day, but from comparison pics I could see a lot of the details match the original figure very well, down to the gear thing where spark would come out on the dragon chest. As well as the organic-looking lower legs and arms in dragon mode. The dragon is a lot of fun with the two heads and you can have an extra TM dude ride on the back.

The guns are really impressive on combined and make for a great base mode weapon. The only negative for me is his dumbbell curling arm which I always hated on Transformers. Really wish there's a wrist swivel.

Picked him up for $20 at Kmart and at this price he's worth it. But personally due to the lack of wrist swivel I wouldn't want to pay full retail.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by davieanix

What's the trick with the grey pieces on his legs when clipping them in for alt mode?

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You need to bend the robot legs at an angle to the upper body, so the middle slots on the grey pieces fit on the angled tabs on the back.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by doublespy

I never had the G1 figure back in the day, but from comparison pics I could see a lot of the details match the original figure very well, down to the gear thing where spark would come out on the dragon chest.

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Yeah... where the sparks would fly out in theory. The sparking gimmick on Doublecross is pretty rubbish (and always has been). The sparks tend to fly out more easily from the hole on the back than the one on the front where it's meant to come out from. The photos I took (which were a pain in the butt) were taken from behind because you can see the sparks much more clearly there.

The G1 Monsterbots had some really nice sculpting, but otherwise aren't great toys, even by the standards of the day. I personally didn't buy any of them at the time. I got Grotusque as a freebie from a friend who'd "grown out" of Transformers and gave it to me. I got Doublecross off the secondary market at a reasonably cheap price many years ago, and Repugnus I got through a trade (for a spare G1 toy that I'd gotten the same way as Grotusque). So Grotusque and Repugnus were figures that I'd basically gotten for free and Doublecross was a figure that I paid some money for to complete the set. But you're honestly not missing out on much. :o

I Like what I've seen from pictures. Tiggerhappy and Twinferno are definitely the standouts for me from this wave, while I'd like Getaway and Hot Rod for different reasons.
I can also see this being remolded into a certain Terrorcon or two.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sinnertwin

Tiggerhappy

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http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ps23n2zso6.jpg #bothersaidpooh :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

DABURU

What is with the monocled dog-face?! :eek: Was he dropped at birth?
"You are one ugly smother-trucker." #gettodachoppa
Apparently it's a homage to White Leo. Part of me thinks that it'd be cool to imagine that Daburu isn't a human or Nebulan under that armour, but a Beastformer. The Headmaster gimmick does nothing for me on this toy. I don't love or hate it, it's just... meh. Although in the G1 comics, the Monsterbots did accompany Fortress Maximus and his Autobots aboard the Steelhaven, so it's possible that they might've returned and ... whatever, a wizard did it. :p

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The homage to White Leo was one of my motivations for buying this toy. In the Headmasters anime, the Monsterbots (Doublecross, Grotusque and Repugnus) first appeared in the episode "Revolt on Planet Pisto" (or something like that), which also featured White Leo and the other Beastformers.

Makes me wonder if the upcoming Repugnus Titan Master will also have an animal-head.

Robot mode is fine, but I'm not a fan of dragon mode. Maybe it's just poor QC on mine only but the grey pieces on the lower legs of bot mode/connector pieces bettween the dragon legs and body are poorly manufactured, with ragged pieces of mould flashing, as well as not fitting the tabs in securely when in dragon mode. Also, the tail pieces in dragon mode just WILL NOT stay together. Dragon mode is just a bit too blocky for my liking. Buy if cheap (which I did:)) .

I managed to get the tail halves to clip together, although admittedly it was a massive pain in the arsenal. Definitely one of the weaker points of the toy.

Having never really seen this character before I thought it was a good chance to swap heads and found that grimlocks titan master head looks pretty good on it. Only real problem with the figure is the legs on mine are fairly loose which makes standing a problem.

This dude looks okay in robot mode, but I think his alt mode is really disappointing. The tail end holds together so badly it makes TR Wheelie look good.

I honestly don't have this issue w/ my TR Wheelie, but having said that you're not the only one I've seen report on this issue. :o Although the difference w/ Wheelie is that it's a smaller & cheaper Legends Class figure that's also trying to accommodate having a pilot's compartment which compacts in robot mode. That's pretty darn impressive. Twinferno's tail on the other hand just has to transform from being the feet in robot mode to the tail in beast mode. The thing that makes Twinferno's case more disappointing is that it's more of a "You had one job" things, whereas Wheelie's multitasking. ;)

My Twinferno's tail does clip together, but it's a hassle. The beast mode would always look daft even if the tail worked perfectly because it's based on the G1 toy which is already a really daft looking figure in the first place. But kudos to Hasbro for giving it a go. Not too long ago characters like Doublecross would be figures that we'd only expect third party companies to do as they'd be considered too unpopular for the mainstream line. I hope that this means that Hasbro will venture into covering more less popular G1 characters - my dream is to have as much of G1 as possible redone as modern toys. :D Hopefully they'll improve when it comes to doing Repugnus and Grotusque.

I don't have any problem clipping the legs/tails together on my copy. The legs need to be snapped together as well or the tail will pop open, and to do that you need to apply force on the inner panels where the tabs are.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by M-bot

Robot mode is fine, but I'm not a fan of dragon mode. Maybe it's just poor QC on mine only but the grey pieces on the lower legs of bot mode/connector pieces bettween the dragon legs and body are poorly manufactured, with ragged pieces of mould flashing, as well as not fitting the tabs in securely when in dragon mode. Also, the tail pieces in dragon mode just WILL NOT stay together. Dragon mode is just a bit too blocky for my liking. Buy if cheap (which I did:)) .

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I have to agree with you. The factor of being too blocky is why I like the dragon mode better when posed horizontal instead of vertical.

I've got this figure on order with BBTS.

I'll be interested to see the TLK version