First Look at Headmasters Reissues Wierdwolf, Skullcruncher and Highbrow

Does Scullcruncher have a clear pilot cockpit door?

-Kanrabat- wrote:Does Scullcruncher have a clear pilot cockpit door?

It definitely looks translucent. I wonder what material it is since TR Skullcruncher and Krok has a rubber door with Skullcruncher's being solid green and Krok's is translucent yellow.

As a kid I had many TF toys including Headmaster Highbrow. I was going to try to find the TITANS RETURN release of Highbrow but missed out and by the time I was looking for it the price at most sites had listed it at almost $40 so I passed on it. I hope I can find this new reissue of TITANS RETURN version of him. At least I am looking each day for when it is scheduled to be released. I don't want to miss him again, especially if its in the classic-G1-style-boxes and hopefully a little bit less expensive this time around. I am also looking for Chromedome and his "kissing Cousin", Getaway. I had the G1 Getaway figure although he was NOT a Headmaster then. Getaway was originally one of the G1 deluxe POWERMASTERS. I had a few TARGETMASTERS too but the Headmasters were my favorite gimmick as seeing the "transtectors" with no head was just awesome to me. The Powermasters were like my second favorite gimmick. I stopped collecting G1 back then as they came out with the Micromasters which I really did like, but the PRETENDERS line and the ACTIONMASTERS' line were just uninteresting to me.

Happy hunting and let's hope this line is not really an exclusive. Meaning being available from other online retailers at the normal retail price.

aronjlove wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:Does Scullcruncher have a clear pilot cockpit door?

It definitely looks translucent. I wonder what material it is since TR Skullcruncher and Krok has a rubber door with Skullcruncher's being solid green and Krok's is translucent yellow.

The Takara Legends version had the same rubbery plastic material used for its door as the Hasbro version, and was translucent too.

Logical. I didn't think of that but she's right.

Changes in material between redecos (like ABS to PVC or vinyl) has rarely happened, if ever. If anything, the rubbery parts are made even softer, BUT that may be a good thing for Weirdwolf as the cockpit window is that rubbery plastic that doesn't move well along joints. That forces the solid cockpit frame outward when it's full closed, causing many if not all to snap off.

The saving grace is that the soft plastic itself doesn't break so easily, so it holds things together.

I wonder if that plastic could have been avoided by having blunter tooth tips. That's the whole reason the Weirdwolf and Skullcruncher molds use soft plastic in the first place, is the teeth.

Of all the headmasters, I think Highbrow might be the one I get here. He looks really nice to me. I already have all 7 in TR form, but Highbrow is nice enough I want him again if I see him

I also have all 7 from TR. The only ones that are maybe for me are Highbrow, Skullcrusher and WeirdWolf. But my interest in all 3 are dependent on QC issues from TR being fixed. For Weirdwolf the canopy and Skullcrusher the hips. For Highbrow, mine has a bobble head and extremely loose wrists.

I had all from Titans Return but I sold off the TR versions as I replaced them with the Legends versions except the beasts. I might go for these now if they're cheap and easy to find.

I know I want Highbrow, Chromedome and the beasts, but don't know if I should double-dip on Brainstorm and Hardhead. I have the mouthplated TR ones (with Furos' head slightly chipped, a common fault), I guess it depends on finances.

Hoping for a Jumpstarter 2-pack!

Greetings Seibertronians! For all those looking forward to the Walmart Exclusive Transformers Headmasters, we've got great news as thanks to twitter user, @RoboMonsterNerd, we've now had a sighting that these toys are at retail!



These toys were spotted at a Walmart in Michigan.

Thats not all folks, thanks to fellow Seibertron users, and toy reviewers, Lore Keeper and Soundwave8084, we have reviews for most of the wave!

We've embedded the reviews for your convenience:

Chromedome





Brainwave

[

Hardhead





One thing to remember about these figures is that although they come in G1 style boxes, these are not reissues, but instead Titans Returns Deluxe figures with new decos.

What do you think of these figures, have you bought any already? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!

I own Mindwipe since he was the only one that was available on the site. I know the original TR Mindwipe had PVC wing problems, but does the same apply for the Legends version and Convobat?

Quantum Surge wrote:I own Mindwipe since he was the only one that was available on the site. I know the original TR Mindwipe had PVC wing problems, but does the same apply for the Legends version and Convobat?

I have yet to see reports on his redecos/Japanese release breaking, but I'm chalking that up to people being more careful with those. Weirdwolf has the same type of issue with his cockpit window with both the TR and Legends release.

For the uninitiated: the cockpit window piece on TR Wolfwire/Weirdwolf, and the wingtips, head and back wings on TR Mindwipe are made of a soft rubbery plastic. The problem here is that soft plastic has a hard time moving around joints, putting a rough grip on where it attaches on the pins. Over time, the joints get so stiff it's easy to break the (weakened) hard plastic housing of those pins from the forces exerted in all directions.

The Weirdwolf one was known early om, but Mindwipe's stems FROM LAST YEAR.

So I guess I can do this under the correct forum. Apparently I got severely confused but nevertheless I saw Hardhead and Brainstorm at a local Walmart in Mo.
I do love the G1 package look.

Greetings Seibertronians! Following on from yesterday's sightings and video reviews, fellow Seibertron user, Lore Keeper, has sent over a link to the last toy in Wave 1, Mindwipe!

As before, this is not a reissue of the original Mindwipe Headmaster from the 1987 Generation 1 toyline. Instead this is a redeco'ed Titan's Returns version of the character. Featuring a deco different from the previous versions of the two past releases of this toy. Mindwipes Decepticon Headmaster allies will be released along with the Autobot Headmaster Highbrow.

We have embedded the review below for your convenience:



Will you be picking up this Decepticon? Or are you happy enough with one of this molds past releases? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!

You know... I know people are wondering why Skullcruncher's cockpit hatch and Weirdwolf's cockpit windows are that soft plastic. I have a better question: why did they choose those pieces to be gang-molded with the teeth?

So I haven't been on this thread for a few pages, because the only figure in both waves so far that maybe interests me is Mindwipe, and even then, I'm not going to go out of my way to look for him.

BUT.

This image has been floating around since sometime yesterday: And I am VERY curious to see what people here think about it. On one hand, these would be the first new figures in this line, the fact that they seem to have just grabbed an Arcee-colored Chromedome boxart off Deviantart is a bit sketch, and what mold would they even use for Armada Sideways. On the other, this feels veeery similar to the PotP leak (where they just used old images/art to display figures that weren't done yet), they've done new-mold exclusives in the past (PotP Punch/CP, SS Leadfoot, etc), and they did release two other UT references/updates semi-recently in Siege/Selects (and a third one was supposed to come with Sky Lynx before getting cut).

Thoughts? I honestly would love for this to be real just for Sideways alone.

Arcee, Fangry and Armada Sideways?

Dunno what to think, but the Blurr retool Arcee is in the cards, if true. Maybe a Monsterbot retool for Fangry (maybe Grotusque) with Squeezeplay using Repugnus in the future. Sideways... Outside of a straight reissue of the Armada figure (what a disappointment that would be) I'm blank on that one.

that was already confirmed to be fake

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:that was already confirmed to be fake

Aw man, was it? I saw people speculating it was fake, but I haven't seen any of the trustworthy sources confirm that. I was really hoping for Sideways, dang it.

Nemesis Primal wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:that was already confirmed to be fake

Aw man, was it? I saw people speculating it was fake, but I haven't seen any of the trustworthy sources confirm that. I was really hoping for Sideways, dang it.

Kinda figured in all honesty: the code on top was off, but I was hoping it wasn't a Hasbro product code. The Retro Headmaster assortment code is F0930 if you must know.

I like the look of Skullcruncher...
At least the bot made. The alt mode is fine, but isn’t anything impressive imo.
What I surprisingly like is the look of the tail attached to the forearm as a weapon.
I haven’t liked to look of the battlemaster or parts-forming shields for Siege/ER/Netflix.
But for me this really works & looks much more intentional than other similar gimmicks.
He’d probably need to be on sale for me to buy, but this guy definitely has my interest.

Sowndwave76 wrote:I like the look of Skullcruncher...
At least the bot made. The alt mode is fine, but isn’t anything impressive imo.
What I surprisingly like is the look of the tail attached to the forearm as a weapon.
I haven’t liked to look of the battlemaster or parts-forming shields for Siege/ER/Netflix.
But for me this really works & looks much more intentional than other similar gimmicks.
He’d probably need to be on sale for me to buy, but this guy definitely has my interest.

You sound like you've never seen the Titans Return toy before.



And the G1 toy could hold the tail as a weapon too.

Sabrblade wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:I like the look of Skullcruncher...
At least the bot made. The alt mode is fine, but isn’t anything impressive imo.
What I surprisingly like is the look of the tail attached to the forearm as a weapon.
I haven’t liked to look of the battlemaster or parts-forming shields for Siege/ER/Netflix.
But for me this really works & looks much more intentional than other similar gimmicks.
He’d probably need to be on sale for me to buy, but this guy definitely has my interest.

You sound like you've never seen the titans return toy

What makes him sound that way?

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:I like the look of Skullcruncher...
At least the bot made. The alt mode is fine, but isn’t anything impressive imo.
What I surprisingly like is the look of the tail attached to the forearm as a weapon.
I haven’t liked to look of the battlemaster or parts-forming shields for Siege/ER/Netflix.
But for me this really works & looks much more intentional than other similar gimmicks.
He’d probably need to be on sale for me to buy, but this guy definitely has my interest.

You sound like you've never seen the titans return toy

What makes him sound that way?

The bold parts. He's surprised by the tail's ability to be held by the toy in its robot mode and how nice it looks, as though he's never seen that before.

Nemesis Primal wrote:So I haven't been on this thread for a few pages, because the only figure in both waves so far that maybe interests me is Mindwipe, and even then, I'm not going to go out of my way to look for him.

BUT.

This image has been floating around since sometime yesterday:

And I am VERY curious to see what people here think about it.

Looks like this next slide from the same source confirms that it's bogus:

Sabrblade wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:I like the look of Skullcruncher...
At least the bot made. The alt mode is fine, but isn’t anything impressive imo.
What I surprisingly like is the look of the tail attached to the forearm as a weapon.
I haven’t liked to look of the battlemaster or parts-forming shields for Siege/ER/Netflix.
But for me this really works & looks much more intentional than other similar gimmicks.
He’d probably need to be on sale for me to buy, but this guy definitely has my interest.

You sound like you've never seen the titans return toy

What makes him sound that way?

The bold parts. He's surprised by the tail's ability to be held by the toy in its robot mode and how nice it looks, as though he's never seen that before.

It's not how I read it. It could just as easily be an observation they had on the toy and still like at the moment. Like how I speak of older toys in present tense when writing my top 5 lists. Just to say, we shouldn't be so quick to be dismissive of people's comments. Their comment added to the discussion, giving their opinion of a toy, while yours did not.

Sabrblade wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:So I haven't been on this thread for a few pages, because the only figure in both waves so far that maybe interests me is Mindwipe, and even then, I'm not going to go out of my way to look for him.

BUT.

This image has been floating around since sometime yesterday:

And I am VERY curious to see what people here think about it.

Looks like this next slide from the same source confirms that it's bogus:

As someone who'd love a titan master-compatible Animated Headmaster, I felt that "sorry" for wave 6.

I had definitely seen the TR version of Skullcruncher...
He was one of many that I passed on. In fact, I didn't buy anything from that line except the Terrorcons.
But seeing him again recently I noticed more how the tail as a weapon works well in terms of the look. Better than I remember, even though before I never looked very closely.
The G1 version looks exactly how I don't want those types of gimmicks to look.

Reminds me of how much I appreciate that the Dinobots had sword weapons rather than a gimmick where their chunky, stubby tails were removed and used as "swords".

Sowndwave76 wrote:I had definitely seen the TR version of Skullcruncher...
He was one of many that I passed on. In fact, I didn't buy anything from that line except the Terrorcons.
But seeing him again recently I noticed more how the tail as a weapon works well in terms of the look. Better than I remember, even though before I never looked very closely.
The G1 version looks exactly how I don't want those types of gimmicks to look.

Reminds me of how much I appreciate that the Dinobots had sword weapons rather than a gimmick where their chunky, stubby tails were removed and used as "swords".

I hear you on the "tails for weapons" bit. I pulled out Classics Grimlock the other day (He's keeping PCC Grimstone company) and really dislike that on him. O well.

My Walmarts are done with their resets, and one even had a Hardhead on the shelf. Later, Chromedome first. Though... dunno if I'm dodging bullets out with the Decepticon ones, or missing out.

Sowndwave76 wrote:I had definitely seen the TR version of Skullcruncher...
He was one of many that I passed on. In fact, I didn't buy anything from that line except the Terrorcons.
But seeing him again recently I noticed more how the tail as a weapon works well in terms of the look. Better than I remember, even though before I never looked very closely.
The G1 version looks exactly how I don't want those types of gimmicks to look.

Reminds me of how much I appreciate that the Dinobots had sword weapons rather than a gimmick where their chunky, stubby tails were removed and used as "swords".

I do wonder if they fixed the loose hips on this new version. I did like the look of the bot and alt mode, but the loose hips were a dealbreaker since Skullcruncher and his recolor Gatorface both couldn’t stand very well on their own.

Gatorface was the name of the redeco's head. The redeco was named Krok.
I found Krok to be at least passable on his own. Skullcruncher was loose AF and no mistake, but the old "clear polish on the ball part of the joint" trick fixed him right up.

The "tails for weapons" thing can work. Take a look at Weirdwolf and Cybertron Snarl, for example - now there's some successful use of tails as swords. And Cybertron Scourge gave us a lovely use of a tail as an axe.
Skullcruncher's tail works better if you think of it as a lance IMO. Or maybe a club. Trying to pass it as a sword... yeah no.

I also have both and can confirm Krok wasn't nearly as bad as Skullcruncher. Floor polish did the trick just fine for me too.

I'm curious to see if they did anything about the hinge on Wolfwire myself. I have all 7 from TR already, so he is the only one I might be interested if they fixed things.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Gatorface was the name of the redeco's head. The redeco was named Krok.
I found Krok to be at least passable on his own. Skullcruncher was loose AF and no mistake, but the old "clear polish on the ball part of the joint" trick fixed him right up.

The "tails for weapons" thing can work. Take a look at Weirdwolf and Cybertron Snarl, for example - now there's some successful use of tails as swords. And Cybertron Scourge gave us a lovely use of a tail as an axe.
Skullcruncher's tail works better if you think of it as a lance IMO. Or maybe a club. Trying to pass it as a sword... yeah no.

Best tail sword ever though goes to the Tigerzord from MMPR.
Cybertron Scourge is pretty awesome too though.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Gatorface was the name of the redeco's head. The redeco was named Krok.
I found Krok to be at least passable on his own. Skullcruncher was loose AF and no mistake, but the old "clear polish on the ball part of the joint" trick fixed him right up.

The "tails for weapons" thing can work. Take a look at Weirdwolf and Cybertron Snarl, for example - now there's some successful use of tails as swords. And Cybertron Scourge gave us a lovely use of a tail as an axe.
Skullcruncher's tail works better if you think of it as a lance IMO. Or maybe a club. Trying to pass it as a sword... yeah no.

Cybertron Snarl, that was some tail.

william-james88 wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Gatorface was the name of the redeco's head. The redeco was named Krok.
I found Krok to be at least passable on his own. Skullcruncher was loose AF and no mistake, but the old "clear polish on the ball part of the joint" trick fixed him right up.

The "tails for weapons" thing can work. Take a look at Weirdwolf and Cybertron Snarl, for example - now there's some successful use of tails as swords. And Cybertron Scourge gave us a lovely use of a tail as an axe.
Skullcruncher's tail works better if you think of it as a lance IMO. Or maybe a club. Trying to pass it as a sword... yeah no.

Best tail sword ever though goes to the Tigerzord from MMPR.
Cybertron Scourge is pretty awesome too though.

Energon Cruellock. Nuff’ said.


Transformers Energon Cruellock (Dinobot) Gallery


Transformers Energon Cruellock (Dinobot) Gallery+

I still haven't seen these figures in store, but I noticed one of my Walmarts has a shelf tag for them.

aronjlove wrote:I still haven't seen these figures in store, but I noticed one of my Walmarts has a shelf tag for them.

PHOTO_20210131_092859.jpg

They should be due any day then. I don't know how far along anyone else's is, but my two local Walmarts have finished the reset of the toy aisles, that is when they should show up.

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

aronjlove wrote:I still haven't seen these figures in store, but I noticed one of my Walmarts has a shelf tag for them.

PHOTO_20210131_092859.jpg

They should be due any day then. I don't know how far along anyone else's is, but my two local Walmarts have finished the reset of the toy aisles, that is when they should show up.

Good to know because the Walmart I found this tag at had practically a ghost town for the toy section outside of Halo and Bakugan for some reason.

aronjlove wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

aronjlove wrote:I still haven't seen these figures in store, but I noticed one of my Walmarts has a shelf tag for them.

PHOTO_20210131_092859.jpg

They should be due any day then. I don't know how far along anyone else's is, but my two local Walmarts have finished the reset of the toy aisles, that is when they should show up.

Good to know because the Walmart I found this tag at had practically a ghost town for the toy section outside of Halo and Bakugan for some reason.

Mine was too, all part of the procedure: empty shelves and relocate stock, rearrange according to the plans posted, then restock. Don't expect everything at once though.

Yeah, I mean it's obviously based on opinion... I don't think any of those examples that were shared are bad... Those may be some of the best uses of tails for weapons. I'm just not a huge fan of the concept in general.
And I never said the newer Skullcruncher's tail was meant to be a sword... Agreed, that's not what was intended.
Again, I just think it visually works. I think mainly because it's proportioned well with his arm and the overall size of the figure itself.
Being that I don't have a single Headmaster figure, I will be very tempted to get him if I ever see him.

They showed up in my store today.

I've seen one Chromedome at one single store, and that's it. Also, for what it's worth, as much as I've been "clowning" on some casual fans who might mistake these for original re-releases (since they had been in Walmart as recently as with Blaster just a couple weeks ago), it actually happened with my son.

Although he has no personal attachment to the original toys, he was instantly excited when he saw the packaging, I apparently forgot to tell him these were coming out . Should have seen his look when I told them they were just TR/Legends repackaged.

I mean it is nice if you missed out back in 2016, or are big fans of the Headmasters enough to get the slightly different decos. While the retro packaging is cool, it's just a wee bit disingenuous IMHO.

At minimum it needed new art that actually matches the toys.

o.supreme wrote:While the retro packaging is cool, it's just a wee bit disingenuous IMHO.

No more so than the Masters of the Universe Retro line, or the G.I.Joe stuff, or Mattel making retro WWE figures based on Hasbro's WWF line. Vintage packing on modern figures is a trend right now.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:At minimum it needed new art that actually matches the toys.

They certainly went minimum by changing the heads on all the vintage art.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:No more so than the Masters of the Universe Retro line, or the G.I.Joe stuff, or Mattel making retro WWE figures based on Hasbro's WWF line. Vintage packing on modern figures is a trend right now.

There's no doubt it's trendy right now, but unlike the Retro style Headmaster Packaging, the new MOTU stuff goes out of the way to tell you it's "New for 20", and that it is based on the original with modern engineering. The TFs don't indicate any of that.

Besides, the MOTU are basically exactly that, the ARE the original toys, but with modern articulation. I don't even think Hasbro could pull it off, but if they did take the original 1987 headmaster molds, and "update them" with modern engineering, I'd be more inclined to agree, as opposed to just being the TR/Legends toys packaged in retro packaging.

What Hasbro is doing is more akin to if Mattel put the 2002 MOTU line in retro packaging, which they are obviously not.

o.supreme wrote:

Emerje wrote:No more so than the Masters of the Universe Retro line, or the G.I.Joe stuff, or Mattel making retro WWE figures based on Hasbro's WWF line. Vintage packing on modern figures is a trend right now.

There's no doubt it's trendy right now, but unlike the Retro style Headmaster Packaging, the new MOTU stuff goes out of the way to tell you it's "New for 20", and that it is based on the original with modern engineering. The TFs don't indicate any of that.

Besides, the MOTU are basically exactly that, the ARE the original toys, but with modern articulation. I don't even think Hasbro could pull it off, but if they did take the original 1987 headmaster molds, and "update them" with modern engineering, I'd be more inclined to agree, as opposed to just being the TR/Legends toys packaged in retro packaging.

What Hasbro is doing is more akin to if Mattel put the 2002 MOTU line in retro packaging, which they are obviously not.

I think if Hasbro was able to pull off adding knees, elbows, and hips to the original G1 figures that need it; they'd probably sell for $100 a pop.

I took the plunge and got myself Chromedome. Gonna play with him tomorrow and share some thoughts, but I took a look at the instructions because, well, if the box is G1-style, are the instructions? Without spoiling it, I can tell you someone had fun with the design with the pose on the cover page