Transformers: Titans Return Broadside

 

Usually, there is some kind of lag in toy distribution that affords me a bit of a cushion in terms of trying to get articles out for toys that are already widely available. Titans Return Broadside by now has been showing up everywhere.

Broadside is the forgotten Autobot triple changer, the guy always standing in the background of the photo that focuses on Springer while politely including Sandstorm. Those other two got figures –pretty good ones too – in the last iteration of the Generations line, and Broadside finally got the upgrade treatment in the current Titans Return line. His designation on the G1 Autobot roster was that of air and sea assault, as his alt modes are a jet and an aircraft carrier. His vehicle modes were problematic because of the pillar of G1 logic, mass shifting, which allowed Cybertronians to shrink or grow depending on the needs of the situation. Thus, Soundwave was a giant robot who could turn into a tape player that would not only fool humans but also be picked up and carried by them, and Megatron was the same except could turn into a handgun wielded by Cybertronian and human with the same degree of ease. Broadside shifting large as an aircraft carrier, and less so as a jet, but for the sake of realism, I seem to recall that in his few (singular?) cartoon appearance(s), he was a larger than standard robot. Even the writers of the G1 Transformers mythos seemed to grasp the pure absurdity of Broadside, and gave him a character that was both afraid of heights and motion sick, making his alt modes a Kafkaesque mash up of discomforts.

Like Astrotrain, Broadside’s OG status as a triple changer means that his three modes in Titans Return incarnation make sense, unlike the third mode for Galvatron. The robot mode is very cool, and just screams large, powerful guy. Big boxy shoulder, thick arms and legs, nicely realized fake cockpit chest: everything about the robot mode says “pretty big guy”. Fins on the legs and wings hanging off the shoulders telegraph the jet mode, but looking straight on there are few give aways for the aircraft carrier mode, save the antenna array that folds down in front of the left shoulder. I think this is an accomplishment, as much of the transformation for both alt modes relies on a large solid part that flips up over the robot head: the jet nose and the rear of the aircraft carrier, literally a large panel. The wings behind the shoulders provide probably the coolest part of the Broadside silhouette, that of a cape or cloak, reminding me of something from Escaflowne. There’s not much that can be done to exploit this look, as Broadside is tragically lacking in poseability, but nonetheless it makes for a cool profile. But there is no poseability on this toy, at all. Shoulders and elbows, hips and knees. That Titans Return neck plate that allows the attached head and earmuff parts to turn ever so slightly left and right, because the earmuffs make turning the actual head mostly impossible. Oh, and bicep swivel. That’s all. No waist joint, and technically an ankle, because of a transformation joint. But it’s not a swivel or rocker: Broadside can point his foot, or operate the pedals in a car, for whatever posing options that opens up.

Sort of an aside, but I think Broadside is the toy where I figured out the purpose of those earmuff things that Voyager class figures like he and Astrotrain are really supposed to do. They make the heads seem larger via framing them, thus really allowing the Titanmaster figures to all be the same size yet work on figures of various sizes. If you push those earmuffs down, the Titanmasters look too small, and the larger figure takes on a pinhead appearance that is fairly comical. I’m sure everyone else has figured this out by now, but it did just click for me.

 

One thing that I don’t like about Broadside’s robot mode is the translucent plastic. It is a nice light blue, and is limited to the wings and the blaster. It adds another color to the otherwise two and a half tone (red and two different greys) of the robot mode, but I could have done without it. Because it is used so sparingly, it doesn’t add much to the overall look, and honestly seems out of place and distracting to my eye. The blaster is another one that is better than those of the early figures in the line, but is still hampered by need to incorporate playability for the Titanmaster figure. If you accept the fantasy that Broadside is supposed to be a huge robot, the blaster is of a decent and imposing size to compliment that. At any rate, I could have done without the translucent plastic, if for nothing more than I don’t like how it plays in to the overall look of the robot, and it doesn’t add or subtract anything from either alt mode, so it’s pretty superfluous.

Blunderbuss is the Titanmaster and he looks pretty good as a face for Broadside. As we’ll see, he gets totally shafted in aircraft carrier mode, in terms of seating. The large robot face sculpt is nice and distinct, considering I don’t really know what G1 Broadside’s face even looked like.

Aircraft carrier mode is by far the more successful of the two alt modes, so let’s go there next. All Broadside really does is flip out panels and poof! aircraft carrier. The transformation is incredibly simple, yet the result is effective. Broadside comes with a set of five tiny airplanes that are modeled after the Combiner Wars Aerialbots, which can be stuck on to tiny pegs across the deck. I’ve yet to take them off the sprue mainly because I’ve seen pictures online of people who have painted the solid white planes into the Aerialbot colors, and I have delusions that I will be able to duplicate that in the future. Regardless, the tiny planes give a nice sense of scale, indicating that Broadside is supposed to be much, much larger than he appears, at least in this mode. The front end of the carrier sports stabilizer fins, which make the vehicle appear more like a S.H.I.E.L.D Hovercarrier or the SDF-1 or something, either futuristic or spacefaring, rather than just a naval vessel, and that is awesome. I’m all for different or ‘non-traditional’ alt modes, but honestly, an aircraft carrier seems a bit dull, especially since there’s not anything that you can do with it play-wise. Perhaps a larger figure, like of a Leader or Titan class size, could offer some interactivity with Legends or Deluxe sized jets, of which there are plenty. But a Voyager sized toy can’t offer this, and so an aircraft carrier frankly is just a rectangle. At least going this space carrier route makes the vehicle more imaginative and cooler looking. Titanmaster Blunderbuss can be seated either in the blaster which pegs into the side or the vehicle or, in what has to be the worst Titanmaster seat in the entire line: the antenna array folds down and reveals a seat, putting the Titanmaster right there essentially on the deck of the carrier. My brain does not comprehend what this does to the alt mode: does it become some sort of skiff, like, I keep thinking of the smaller skiffs that accompany Jabba’s barge in Return of the Jedi. Who knows? Fortunately, none of this is actually necessary, as Blunderbuss can just be stored in the jet mode cockpit and the blaster plugged into the side, which on its own does make some sense.

This is where the captain sits on a boat.

Despite it not doing much of anything, I really like the carrier mode. It looks pretty cool even though it is super simple. One thing that kind of stinks, and I’m going to use Broadside here as a platform to introduce this issue for Voyager- and up figures for the duration of the line here, is the use of stickers. Broadside sports a couple of silver foil stickers in place of paint apps, seemingly a throwback to the G1 toys which, if for some reason you don’t know, all came with stickers for the realization of smaller details, such as faction symbols or stripes and detailing. The paint on G1 toys, especially the later ones, was fairly Spartan, in that it provided major details only. Broadside has these stickers on his wings, and most of the carrier deck is realized via stickers. They are generally fragile, and curl up at the ends of parts that move for transformation, and bunch up in spots like they weren’t applied well. I appreciate what Hasbro is going for here, but it just isn’t working well. I don’t know why they went this route instead of paint, but it just doesn’t work; and the stickers on my Broadside aren’t even that bad. Over time and repeated transformations, the stickers are only going to further degrade, just like on the G1 originals.

Jet mode is . . . something. It’s half pretty good for the third mode of a triple changer, but the other half is totally unfinished, requiring a whole lot of disbelief to make it even slightly work. The transformation happens mainly because a large solid nosecone piece flips up over the robot shoulders, signaling that this additional transformation is a plane. The shoulders then flip downwards, giving the illusion of a longer jet fuselage, and that half of the alt mode is actually pretty alright. The problem is that the robot legs simply, and this is an unbelievably simple step, one not even worth the mention in the instructions, bend at the knees and swing up slightly at the hips to “form” the rear of a fighter jet. It is half of a jet with a pair of legs hanging off the back. To make matters so much laughably worse, the robot feet which are not even remotely hidden don’t touch the ground behind the jet, so the jet is slightly unbalanced and tilts toward the back. Also, the legs don’t connect to each other, nor is there anything that takes up the empty space between them, so if viewed from the top down or the underside up, there’s a lovely gap. In the photos here, the arms are tucked under the bent legs as best as they can be, and I feel I should point out that this is not actually an official transformation step, but rather something that I did because I thought it improved the overall look; the instructions indicate that the arms should rest straight out at the sides of the body.

 

The jet mode works if – and this is a fairly big if – one indulges their imagination. Carrier mode is kind of a spacey-futurey vehicle, so why not the jet as well? Perhaps the jet mode is a Cybertronian bomber, a heavy aircraft as opposed to a fast strike affair; more a bomber than say, what the Seekers transform into. I suppose then it’s not that terrible, because as is always the case with Cybertronian or futuristic alt modes, close enough is more than good enough. Broadside is clearly a jet: this isn’t some tragically ambiguous mode like the Cybertronain live action movie toys have. Jet mode looks good paint wise, doing a much better job of looking good and colorful and interesting than the carrier mode does. Blunderbuss sits inside a large cockpit. But, even this is a conciliatory reach, and man is it a reach, to find something, anything good to say about the jet mode, which, as I've said like twice already, seems unfinished and just generally bad.

Desperately seeking a good viewing angle. There just isn't one.

Perhaps most importantly, Titans Return Broadside looks good alongside Generations Springer and Sandstorm, giving us a complete set of Autobot triple changers that look and function well together. The most noticeable visual difference is that Broadside is wider and chunkier than the other two who share the same mold, but if we take Broadside’s modes into consideration that makes much more sense than having a slender, wry robot that turns into an aircraft carrier. The distance between toy lines and years among the trio is fairly easy to overlook, and they do make for a good looking group. Makes me excited for the imminent Blitzwing and Octane, both of which I’ve already found, but I know they are still just gradually showing up in most areas. The ones I bought were the first and only time I’ve seen them in store, and that was almost a month ago already. Maybe distribution is better by now.

Overall, Broadside is a figure that does a lot wrong. One alt mode is unfinished and the other is as boring looking as the day is long. Robot mode is good, and is the highlight of the toy. I like him, but I find a certain sadness in the fact that arguably the worst mold from G1 got a 2017 upgrade and while decent, really struggles to find its strong points. He never was much of a character in the olden days, but got some page time in comics over the last decade, and is hardly an essential add to most collections. But, he is pretty fun to play with, and that can’t be denied because of bad alt modes. Broadside is a figure that you buy knowing that he has some severe limitations, and you’re generally ok with that, because the robot mode is so strong and the carrier mode lends to the imagination pretty well. The Titans Return line has been pretty quality stuff overall, so this guy isn’t a total dud; but I do think that the hype for this figure was far more than the actual toy could deliver.