Toy Review - Siege Battlemasters

[KELPIE]

I feel the same about Blowpipe and how he enhances Triggerhappy but... really... Triggerhappy should've been a Targetmaster in the first place. Screw the Headmaster gimmick. IMO the Decepticon CHUG Targetmasters should've all been done in the same vein as CHUG Cyclonus.
#cryingoverspiltmilk #firstworldproblems

How should they have done the Autobot Targetmasters?

#floggingdeadhorse #keepdreaming

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

About the only downside is the fact I can't plug him into Triggerhappy in alt mode easily

I have given his original TR 'pistols' over to BattleTrap and they suit remarkably well!

If it's not too much trouble, would you mind posting some pics of Battletrap with the guns up somewhere? I'm tempted to grab a Blowpipe and do the same thing.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I bought a second Blowpipe for the effect part and one of them doesn't break up the same way.

The frts one I got, it proke down into 3 pieces

• Circular muzzle flash thing
• Fat jet boost thing
• thin jet boost thing

The second one only breaks up the muzzle flash and the other two are stuck together. Does anyone else's break up into 3?

I'm curious to know which one is the "busted" one...

[Lint]

Does anyone else's break up into 3?

Mine only breaks into 2. Though now that I inspect it the long piece is indeed comprised of 2 pieces, I previously assumed it was a single moulded item.

On the topic of Blowpipe I'm finding he's the best of the Battlemasters released so far purely because he has the best effect piece of the lot. I like wearing it on his back like a booster jet.

[Dimi194]

I bought a second Blowpipe for the effect part and one of them doesn't break up the same way.

The frts one I got, it proke down into 3 pieces

• Circular muzzle flash thing
• Fat jet boost thing
• thin jet boost thing

The second one only breaks up the muzzle flash and the other two are stuck together. Does anyone else's break up into 3?

I'm curious to know which one is the "busted" one...

I think mine was stuck together and then I broke the glue to pull them apart

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Mine only breaks into 2. Though now that I inspect it the long piece is indeed comprised of 2 pieces, I previously assumed it was a single moulded item.

On the topic of Blowpipe I'm finding he's the best of the Battlemasters released so far purely because he has the best effect piece of the lot. I like wearing it on his back like a booster jet.

I think mine was stuck together and then I broke the glue to pull them apart

Yes, I had a look at my second one and it seems they are meant to be stuck together, so I got lucky on the first one. I ended up soaking it in some warm water and pulling it apart so now I have what I want. I recommend doing this as it makes the effect part even better! Have a look at what you end up with.


Two for the price of one! (Or in my case four for the price of two!)

[DELTAprime]

I got Smashdown today. The robot mode is pretty blocky thanks to the requirements of the alt mode and isn't very posable. The alt mode though is a rather cool though. What Transformer wouldn't look better with a giant red hammer?

[GoktimusPrime]

SINGE



Singe, of course, was one of Spinister's Nebulan Targetmaster partners in G1. As Siege Spinister comes with no Targetmasters of his own, Singe has been released separately. He's basically a repaint of Firedrive, and a rather mundane one at that, being predominantly black and gunmetal grey with a metallic blue face. It also means that he lacks the more distinctive features of G1 Singe, like the War Machine style shoulder cannons. The overall palette is too monotonous and I think that it would've helped to have some grey or silver and more metallic blue to break up the black. The dark gunmetal grey, while quite nice, is too close to black to give a good contrast.



I personally would've preferred if Hasbro just did what they did with Generations Scoop and just included two simple 1988 style Targetmasters. Being much simpler Targetmasters they would be much cheaper to make and wouldn't need to be sold separately - they're basically just solid mould guns with flip out barrels and handles. Scoop showed us that this is cheap enough to do at a Deluxe Class price point. Just repainting Scoop's Targetmasters (as they did for Combiner Wars Spinister) to save more money would be preferrable IMO. The thing with repainting existing Siege Battlemasters is that they're styled like the 1987 Targetmasters, not 1988. They're also more expensive and likely not feasible to include a pair of them as bonus accessories. As a 1988 Targetmaster character, Spinister doesn't need fancier 1987-style Targetmasters. And if you include two of them that can combine, then I think collectors will easily forgive the simpler designs.

Overall: Not really worth it unless you want to give Spinister his Targetmaster weapon and you're willing to shell out extra bucks for the purchase of an additional Battle Master on top of the Deluxe that you've already bought. :/ IMO toys like Generations Scoop was much better value for money -- one single Deluxe Class purchase gave you a Deluxe figure with two Targetmasters.

[GoktimusPrime]

RUNG



I'm really happy with this toy! This is a toy that I've been wanting for a jolly long time and it's awesome that Hasbro has finally given us a Rung toy. And the fact that its alt-mode is hilariously so much like his original comic mode is also quite bold, and I think only possible at this small/cheap price point. I know that a lot of fans would want a larger (e.g. Deluxe) Rung toy, and I do too - but I don't know if it'd be possible to do a larger Rung toy with that alt mode. How many kids and even adults who don't read the comics would want a toy that transforms into a Matrix Forge? I do think a larger Rung toy is doable, but I reckon the alt mode would have to be something more marketable, like a motorcycle or spaceship or something. They could do a "marketable" alt mode and have the Matrix Forge as an undocumented tertiary mode (akin to Siege Shockwave's Not-A-Gun mode ). But I digress...



Admittedly this toy has a very niche appeal. If you're a fan of the comics then I highly recommend this toy, but I understand that for people who don't read the comics (especially kids, cos let's face it, the IDW comics are unapologetically written for adults) I get that this won't mean much if anything to them. And the toy itself doesn't hold a whole lot of appeal (unlike say, Spinister or Impactor, who are great toys even for people who didn't grow up with G1).



They even sculpted in Rung's trademark John Howard-esque caterpillar-like eyebrows! Although they are unpainted, should be easy enough to paint or even colour them in with a Sharpie.

[Paulbot]

I reckon more kids will think this is a new version of RID Fixit than know anything about the comic character.