Transformers: Titans Return Perceptor

 

Perceptor has always been a strange bird in the Transformers lineup. Introduced as a stuffy know it all with the totally useful and plausible alt mode of giant microscope, this was apparently too vague of a character, or more modern contributors to the mythology are Perceptor super fans, as in recent times, Perceptor has transformed from accidentally charismatic nerd to Wrecker, PTSD-addled sniper extraordinaire, now a hyper intelligent and logical killing machine. Because. Titans Return adds another credential to Perceptors’ CV by making him a Headmaster.

This is a real competent Perceptor figure. The last attempt, 2010’s Reveal the Shield offering, saw a bulkier robot transforming into some kind of halftrack vehicle, probably with scientific intent in mind. That toy was alright, but it suffered from some weak joints and poor design. This new Perceptor, like so many other entries in the Titans Return line, essentially presents a modern-age G1 figure, and the results are great. Robot mode looks good, albeit a bit lifeless, more in line with the more recent comic portrayals of the character. The colors are bright and vibrant, and all of the visual cues are present. The microscope lens on the shoulder, the knobs on the forearms, the clear chest plate. The arms are a little bit stumpy, but have both an elbow and a bicep swivel, so they may be short looking but the offer a typical range of motion. The legs are interesting, as the thigh contains an extra joint, a pivot that would allow the robot mode to become very knock kneed or attempt to put a leg behind its head, necessary for transformation. It also allows some added poseability in robot mode, but not anything that appears organic or normal. Basically, Perceptor can take a knee in an awkward fashion, or squat over something in a 180-degree stance.  For a change, the legs are not hollow, as they contain a part that is only needed in the unadvertised tank mode. More on that later. Perceptor is armed with a large blaster, intended to be the sniper rifle he has taken to employing in comics of the last decade. It is honestly a nice accessory, but it is too large for a Deluxe class figure to hold convincingly. Had this weapon come with someone larger, say, Sixshot, it would have been a real success. But it is a good piece, and the Titanmaster seat is well integrated. It’s kind of like the main weapon that came with Hardhead, still arguably the best weapon in the line. The Titanmaster seat is not so intrusive or blatant that it severely detracts from the overall part.

Titanmaster Convex is, again, a Titanmaster figure. The Perceptor face sculpt is nice and clean, again, a real strength of the line on the whole. For what it may matter, the Perceptor face is G1 cartoon Perceptor, not G1 toy Perceptor. The G1 toy had a visor and face plate; the G1 cartoon is a generic humanoid face.

Alt mode is perhaps the most bizarre in the franchise, as it is not only a microscope, but also a full, Cybertronian sized microscope. Unlike Soundwave or Blaster or Megatron or the Cassettes, who would mass shift to be disguised as normal, human sized objects, Perceptor never did. The microscope mode is nice, and looks like a real microscope, just as the G1 toy did. The lens part is adjustable, so it can focus in and out, and it is actually a working lens. You can sorta see through it, although it is mostly just blurry, and as my wife observed when first trying it out, not good for scienceing. So Perceptor turns into a “working” microscope. The Titanmaster can sit in the slide tray that folds out from Perceptors’ chest, or in the seat of the blaster when it is plugged into a hole on the body. It is charming, but like Soundwave and Blaster, the alt mode is a relic of technology past, as even in schools, microscopes these days are more advanced than the one Perceptor is portraying. But good on the design team for abandoning the effort to force the figure into a different, more contemporary alt mode, another phenomenon that so often accompanies Perceptors and Soundwaves and Blasters. X is not a common object any longer, so this figure should change into something that is, an APC or a halftrack or some other vehicle that kind of makes sense if you squint at it.

Also possible as an alt mode is a rough tank form, something that was an official part of the G1 toy and is attainable by the Titans Return version, although is not mentioned in the instructions or packaging. Essentially something that you can fanmode out of the figure, the tank mode is neat in that it offers more Titanmaster integration, and is a throwback yet again to the original toy. It is not that great, and is not something that gets regular attention here at the Coffin, but it is a nice option. The tank mode features rolling wheels and a few dedicated parts that flip out from the inside of the legs, so this is obviously an intended transformation. That makes it all the stranger that Hasbro decided to not feature or promote it, and given that it is a form that doesn’t appear in the fiction at any real point, knowledge of it is predicated on the knowledge of the user that the original toy could do this. A toy-based Easter Egg, if you’re feeling overly generous and Hasbro sympathetic. On some fan boards this move has been hailed as a clear sign of the intense love Hasbro feels for the fandom, the same fandom that Hasbro has publicly, at conventions and such over the last decade plus, denounced as not being the focus of the brand. One wonders how a child in the 12-15 age demographic, having probably never seen a microscope like this before, and probably totally detached from the G1 cartoon, would pick this toy up and just instinctively know that, 30 years ago, the original iteration could be manipulated into a vague tank form. That is clearly an intended option with this toy, built in to it from the ground up, not just some accidental fan-discovered mode, and not a remnant of something from the design process that was omitted in the final realization, such as was apparent in those mysterious small feet parts on the very maligned Universe Deluxe Galvatron from so many years ago. (Nearly ten years ago, as I have distinct memories of buying that figure, thanks to the person I was with when I did. –mr)

But the figure does have some weaknesses. It suffers, because it must being a post-2010 Transformer, from thin and flimsy feeling plastic, that of the Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus variety more so than the wings of a Combiner Wars Cyclones. Because of the strange outward flexing joints in the thighs, this thin plastic often feels unstable, or like it should be more prone to bending and stressing than it is. By now it’s pretty clear that Hasbro has mastered this thin yet durable plastic manufacturing technique, so there is not much to be concerned about, but if you’re still hoping for a return to the thicker days, it seems that the renaissance will not being with Perceptor. The shoulders, for lack of a more accurate body part, in robot mode are also a bit lame, and the microscope lens and robot head socket are located on a flat plank that connects to a long, vertical flat piece that slides up and down to accommodate the robot arms in transformation. This part does not lock in place particularly well, so it may sometimes be pulled upwards from the body just in the course of moving the toy around. This may be an issue only with my copy, though. The aforementioned working microscope gimmick is cool, but it does not actually work, not that someone in need of a scientifically appropriate microscope should be using a plastic robot toy to meet that need. This gimmick seems to be present for the simple reason that it was, to much the same degree of success, present on the G1 toy, and so it’s here for nostalgia purposes. But, as my wife learned to her dismay, Perceptor is not good for scienceing, and that could be a real let down for others as well. Scienceing, the action of doing science, is important, and should only be attempted with the most high-grade equipment.

The biggest issue with Titans Return Perceptor is one of line fatigue. At this point there are few releases left in this toy line, and while some of them are highly anticipated (Misfire and Slugslinger), others are on the “have to” list (Twin Twist), and Perceptor fell into the “have to” category. It is very nice to have a full set of the new 1986 hero cast available in basically the same style and line, as over the span of Combiner Wars and Titans Return we now have g1 accurate Kup, Hot Rod, Blur, Ultra Magnus, Perceptor, and, even though an exclusive, Arcee, that all look good and correct together. Appreciation for Titans Return Kup grew because of the way he looked next to Hot Rod and Blur, and Perceptor further completes that picture. Maybe if Perceptor were a Wave One or Two release, there would be more reason to get stoked about him, but at this point, an impossibly long seeming year into the line, and now knowing that Power of the Primes is not going to be anything new, but rather a continuation of both Combiner Wars and Titans Return, Perceptor is just another good figure. Kind of like Topspin. The necessity of Perceptor is largely dictated by the collection one is trying to fit him in to, but he will not be a bad addition to any collection.