Toybox REVIEW: Transformers Legends LG-46 Targetmaster Kup

Release Date: September 2017

RRP: 4320 yen

As TakaraTomy work through the remaining Titans Return offerings before Hasbro shifts over to the Power of the Primes line, they’re going to extra mile to make the Transformers Legends line really special with many figures receiving an upgrade in the form of an additional Targetmaster. One such figure is the Autobot Kup, a core character for the post-movie years of the Generation One cartoon after making his debut in Transformers: The Movie. Interestingly when Takara originally unveiled this figure it sported a desaturated grey colourscheme similar to his appearance in The Rebirth. However in later pics and for the release itself this colourscheme was changed to one based on his more familiar look from the movie and season three episodes.

Toybox REVIEW: Transformers Legends LG-45 Targetmaster Hot Rod

Release Date: September 2017

RRP: 4320 yen

Though the Titans Return line is slowly coming to an end to make way for Power of the Primes, TakaraTomy still have a fair few of the moulds to make use of as part of their Transformers Legends line. The 21st wave of the all-encompassing line celebrates all things Transformers: The Movie, with the release of Autobots Kup and Hot Rod alongside a Sharkticon complete with an alternate Sweeps head for the previously released Scourge figure. Hot Rod and Kup are particularly special releases however, with the two now packed with Targetmaster partners alongside the usual Headmaster gimmick brought over from the Titans Return line.

Toybox REVIEW: Transformers Masterpiece MP-36 Megatron

Release Date: March 2017

RRP: 24,840 yen

It’s been a long time since TakaraTomy released the original Transformers Masterpiece MP-05 Megatron way back in 2007. In that time the line has gone through quite a few changes – a new scale, a closer adherence to cartoon accuracy and a dive into the worlds of Beast Wars and Japanese-exclusive G1 characters. With Optimus Prime having been redone in this new scale way back as MP-10 in 2011, it was high time that the leader of the Decepticons had the same treatment. There may have been a number of third-party “Masterpiece” style figures over the past few years – Xtransbots’ Apollyon, DX-9’s Mightron, Maketoys’ Despotron (all of which I won’t pretend to know anything about because I’m not a third-party person), but the MP-36 Megatron is the real deal. An official, cartoon-accurate, transforming G1 Megatron. That’s the stuff that dreams are made out of.

Toybox REVIEW: Transformers Legends LG-26 Scourge

The Combiner Wars have come to an end, and now it’s time for the titans ro return! After successfully relaunching combiners as a main range, the Transformers franchise has now turned its attention toward doing the same for Headmasters – creating an all new line featuring both classic Headmaster characters as well as incorporating the gimmick into other existing characters. Among these included Transformers: The Movie/G1 season 3 leader Galvatron, and together with the previously released Combiner Wars Cyclonus Unicron’s trifecta of heralds is complete with the release of Scourge. While the American Titans Return figure sports a deco similar to that of the original G1 toy, TakaraTomy’s Transformers Legends version instead draws its inspiration from the cartoon – offering fans two different interpretations depending on where their nostalgia may lie.

Toybox REVIEW: Transformers Legends LG-23 Galvatron

Transformers toys are currently in a pretty good place. The success of the Combiner Wars line has been followed by the revival of another classic Generation One gimmick - the Headmaster. Here, each robots head is in fact itself a smaller robot (or Nebulon partner, depending on your choice of fiction) - acting as a pilot or gunner when the larger body is in its alt mode. Over in the West this line is known as Titan Return, with Hasbro reviving several classic Headmaster characters while reimagining others using the gimmick. Meanwhile in Japan new figures continue to be implemented into their Transformers Legends line, which also encompasses various figures from Hasbro's Generations line. The 23rd release in this line is the new Titan Master version of Galvatron, the reformatted version of Megatron who acted as Unicron's herald in Transformers: The Movie and the new Decepticon leader for the rest of the G1 cartoon. With the last G1 Galvatron figure being a poorly received deluxe in 2008, not only is a new figure long overdue but with 2016 marking the 30th anniversary of Transformers: The Movie it couldn't have come at a better time.

Toybox REVIEW: Transformers Masterpiece MP-24 Star Saber

Six years ago I started this blog with the aim of reviewing my then-ever growing Transformers collection. However thanks to a variety of circumstances (raised prices, difficulty finding the figures I wanted in the UK, Hasbro’s increasing focus on the movie franchise) my collection diverted away from transforming robots and into the world of mecha and tokusatsu heroes. My love for the Transformers franchise never went away though, and I continued the then-airing Transformers Prime along with catching Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction in cinemas (both of which I thought were awful, but that’s another topic altogether). I keep an eye on what’s going on with the toy line though, and right now it seems to be in a pretty great state. Almost makes me want to return to what was once one of my biggest fandoms, but I guess you can’t collect everything.

Masterpiece Star Saber however was a figure I could not pass up. The Autobot (or Cybertron in Japan) Supreme Commander from the 1989 series Transformers Victory, Star Saber managed to receive the prestigious Masterpiece line treatment from TakaraTomy after winning the “Fan’s Choice” poll in 2013. The 24th figure in the line, he is the first in that does not hail from the main Generation One cast (although Victory is technically part of G1, it just never aired in the West) – a fact that has proven quite divisive among Transformers fans. As one of my favourite characters, all I have to say is “Good job Japan!”