Toy Review - Titans Return Kickback

KICKBACK
Series – Titans Return
Size/class - Legends
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 3
Released here – December 2016
Approximate Retail Price - $20
Approximate Size - 10.5cm w/ wings down (13.3cm w/ wings up)
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode – Robotic grasshopper
Main Features/Gimmicks – Pilot compartment for Titan Master figure
Main Colours – black, yellow, purple
Main Accessories – None :(

Thoughts: For a Legends Class figure, the robot mode is pretty accurate to G1 Kickback - I'd say it's the most G1 accurate of the CHUGUR Insecticons. And beautifully toy accurate too! TakaraTOMY may give this figure a cartoon-like red visor, but I'm chuffed with the toy-accurate black visor. :D The Insecticon mode is more entomologically accurate than G1 Kickback in two main ways. Firstly, the insect head is large. Secondly, and this is a big difference - Titans Return Kickback has an abdomen. :eek: G1 Kickback only has a head and thorax in insect mode, no abdomen (although G1 Ransack did, but it made his robot mode look weird). TR Kickback manages to pull off having a humanoid looking body in robot mode yet more grasshopper-looking body in Insecticon mode! This comes as a complete surprise to me... I wasn't expecting this at all!

And to top things off, the chest window opens up and there are two pegs which you can clip a Titan Master's feet onto so that it can sit in there when Kickback's in Insecticon mode. This is of course a really neat tribute to G1 Kickback's Diaclone origin, but also gives this toy additional play value by making it interactive with Titan Master figures. My only gripe is that Kickback doesn't come with a weapon (at least CW Bombshell has gun muzzles on his hands), although his hands are compatible with 5mm port weapons, so it's easy enough to donate a weapon to him from another toy.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...s/jaam_yum.gif

Photos!

Robot mode
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psbhzyueaa.jpg

Insecticon mode
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ps2r5c2cpm.jpg

Piloted Insecticon mode
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psnlkj4gti.jpg

Comparison with G1
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psypmrdm5c.jpg

How does it match with bombshell and shrapnel?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by philby

How does it match with bombshell and shrapnel?

---

Terribly! :p We can only hope that they release a 3-pack of these guys with the colours better aligned.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/attach...-jpg.27636979/

When did they release the G1 coloured Scrapnel. I have seen Chop Shop and assumed that was the third but badly coloured.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Thurmus

When did they release the G1 coloured Scrapnel. I have seen Chop Shop and assumed that was the third but badly coloured.

---

He was released in 2014 but was never available in Australia.

^Can confirm. Australia missed out on all those Legends Class Generations figures with Mini-Con Targetmaster partners (e.g. Swerve, Gears, Cosmos etc.). :(

PS: Coincidentally Australia got G1 Shrapnel in 1985 but we missed out on all the Deluxe Insections, yet in Generations we got Chop Shop but missed out on Skrapnel! :rolleyes:

Can't quite figure out how to fold the robot arms for insect mode.

Otherwise I like him and don't mind the colour differences; more consistency would have been great but better than nothing.

http://i.imgur.com/k2x0GjTl.jpg

Wowser. That's fifty shades of grey & purple & yellow & black. Tad disappointing.

Couple more G1 comparison shots:

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...pssndnte6c.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...psvt2djwym.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...ps6ujjxt1c.jpg

A bit of a struggle putting his abdomen together but otherwise a good toy. I do wish there was a weapon (preferably based on the G1 weapon).

P.S. If you have the Apeface headmaster, his colors match perfectly with Kickback.

My thoughts about this guy when fiddling with him tonight; SCARY!

When playing with a Transformer for the first time, I'm usually pretty ginger with it, because there's nothing worse than breaking a figure within 2 minutes of opening it. Unfortunately my copy of kickback had VERY tight joints and I had to use an uncomfortable amount of force, especially when rotating the head 180. This usually isn't so bad, but Kickback has some fragile parts, namely the clear plastic wings and antennae. When transforming him, I was thinking to myself "this is a accident waiting to happen". Luckily I haven't broken him.. yet!

Transformation was a little tricky. It took me the longest time to figure out how to turn the robot arms to create the insect abdomen. I think once you figure it out, the arm transformation isn't much different from that of CW Bombshell's. The trick is to move the insect front legs/wing parts in a position that would give you enough clearance, to do what you need with the robot arms to create the abdomen.

The grasshopper mode is surprisingly cute. Which is kinda fitting given that Kickback is generally portrayed as a charming creature in most fiction. I would even display him in beast mode. Robot mode is also pretty cool-looking, though I think the wings look better when pointed downwards to look like a cape - but that's just my personal preference.

I think the low points of the figure are the fragile parts and tricky Transformation. But once you manage to figure him out without breaking him, he's great. He's a lot of fun and he looks good in both modes (though I think I like the grasshopper mode better).

I think if I were to give Kickback to someone (especially a child) as a gift, I'd probably give that person CW Bombshell first - not as fragile and the transformation is somewhat easier.

EDIT: One thing that cracks me up - mistransforming the head (by leaving the bug head down) to create a grasshopper with a human face. Looks hilarious :D