Transformers Titans Return: Ramhorn

One of the things I have liked about the current Transformers Prime Wars trilogy is that we've been given new versions of older Generation One characters, such as the Autobot Ramhorn. When the Titans Return line was still in it's infancy, we got a new Blaster with transforming "cassettes". I'm sure there were many that were hoping Ramhorn would get a new toy, but I don't think many of us envisioned him returning as Headmaster, er I mean Titanmaster.

Ramhorn proved to be very hard to find for many fans and collectors at local retail for quite a while. I found mine at an Aldi's grocery store of all places. Later on I did see him pop up at local Target and Walmart stores.

Like most Titan Masters, the small figure comes packaged with another smaller Transformer. In this case the "other" toy is a pretty faithful reproduction of the classic G1 character. The sculpt is fantastic and I love how the missile pods have been incorporated into the mold. The horn is large and vicious looking and his maroon color is spot on.

The Titan Master figure itself is pretty standard fare for the line. The paint apps for the most part are reserved for the "Headmaster" mode, though there is a touch of silver on the small Titanmaster head with metallic turquoise used for the eyes. It is rather interesting that the Titanmaster has a rhinoceros head. The larger head mode has a great look, however I'm guessing it's an original design as it doesn't look like any Transformer that I'm familiar with.

I should mention that the Titanmaster does fold up and fit in a compartment underneath Ramhorn.

Ramhorn can also transform in an armored tank mode. I really like this and find that it does add some play value to an already cool Transformer. If you look carefully at Ramhorn's legs you'll see that he has tank treads molded into the back of the legs. The Titanmaster firmly attaches to the top and is ready to blast and roll over some Decepticons.

If Ramhorn's tank mode wasn't enough for you, he's also a Targetmaster! Molded into the figure are small rocket pods. To me this mode looks more like a defensive weapon (a shield) than an offensive weapon, but hey, it's your imagination at work here.

Ramhorn is actually a retool of Shuffler, a Japanese only G1 Headmaster figure. Hasbro did a great job pulling off Ramhorn from this mold and while he may not be a pseudo-cassette like his Autobot brothers Eject and Rewind, he makes a great addition to your modern Transformers collection.

Transformers Titans Return: Roadburn

Hasbro's Titans Return series has been a lot of fun thus far. We have been given new modern updates to many classic Generation 1 characters that fans have been waiting for. Roadburn however just seemed to come out of left field.

Better known as the Throttlebot Chase, Roadburn makes use of the Bumblebee mold that released first. Hasbro has been making it a normal business practice to get multiple uses out of their new molds. Sometimes this means we get a figure with a new deco and a new head sculpt, while other times we get some slight changes to the mold to create a new character. Roadburn belongs to the latter category.

Roadburn is a Legends scale figure, or what used to be called Basic scale. While the figure is small, it's a great figure in my opinion. The new headsculpt is what sold the figure for me. The blue helmet with the gold face screams Throttlebot to me. It's not a perfect reproduction of the Generation One characters head, but it's close enough for me.

Chase was always one of my favorite Throttlebots. Blame it on his red Ferrari alt mode. As you can see the shade of red on Roadburn is a darker red than that of Chase. While it's not bad, I would have preferred a more vibrant shade of red. Perhaps Hasbro was worried that if they used a brighter red people would have mistaken him for Cliffjumper. Afterall, Bumblebee has been painted red and passed off as Cliffjumper multiple times in previous Transformers series. The Throttlebots didn't have the best defined robot modes so it was fairly easy to give them an upgrade. I wonder if you could recreate the "hood" of the back car piece with Roadburn?

At the time I found Roadburn at my local retail, I had not opened the Bumblebee figure I had previously found. My first exposure to this mold in hand was with Roadburn. Doesn't really matter since it's the same toy, sans the color and new head sculpt. The figure has a good bit of poseability for a Legends scale figure. It features a easy, yet fun transformation. I did notice that both figures had problems with some of the panels lining up and staying in place.

Over all I found this toy/mold to be a lot of fun. I don't always buy the simple color swaps anymore, but I knew I had to have Roadburn when I first saw images appear online. It's sad to think that we probably won't get any other upgraded Throttlebots in the Titans Return series (although Goldbug seems like an obvious choice), but I'll guess I'll take what I can get at this point.