Toy Review - Titans Return Highbrow
HIGHBROW
Series – Titans Return
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 2
Released here – October 2016
Approximate Retail Price - $25
Approximate Size - one quarter portion.
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode – Twin prop helicopter
Main Features/Gimmicks – Headmaster
Main Colours – Grey, blue
Main Accessories – 2x machine guns, "Xort" Titan Master
So I've got four of the deluxes from this line now. Unfortunately Highbrow is the most disappointing.
PROS (scraping the barrel)
- Robot mode looks nice from the front. It's well proportioned and the headsculpt is full of character.
- There's a lot of paint on this figure. Seriously, I can't think of the last Hasbro mainline deluxe with this level and variety of paint application.
- The twin machine gun weapon is very cool.
CONS (where to start?)
- Engineering on this figure is Scout class level at best. The limbs are hollow, the hands fold out with no corresponding trap door or proper stopping point to prevent them from going to broken wrist levels of extension. The rotors can't be simultaneous spun or they'll crash into eachother.
- The transformation is essentially four steps and produces a vehicle mode that can only be described as below par. It looks like the robot mode but lying down. The transformation sequence almost entirely fails to do anything with the arms, so essentially you've got a helicopter shaped thing with arms hanging off the side. Genuinely more is involved in transforming the Energon/ROTF Combaticon Scout Class chopper limb than this, and it shows.
- The headmaster port on mine is exceedingly loose, and as I understand it this is an issue on most samples of the figure.
Comparing this to Blurr is an interesting study in how one extra step can make or break a transformation sequence. Blurr has a simple but highly effective transformation sequence that produces a streamlined looking vehicle mode. Like Highbrow, Blurr's transformation is essentially:
a) like the figure down
b) fold backpack over head for front of vehicle
c) collapse legs
d) arms fold into the side of the body.
The difference between this and Blurr is that Blurr's arms are designed in a way so that they integrate into the lines of the alt mode. Here the arms tuck closer to the side of the body a few millimeters, just enough to peg into a locking point. The end result is a vehicle mode that literally looks like the robot lying down.
I can't really recommend this. That it looks nice in robot mode is the high point. It's all downhill from there.
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Originally Posted by Deonasis
