Transformers: Titans Return Slugslinger

 

 

The final updated Decepticon Targetmaster, Slugslinger is a figure that released at the very end of the line, and was the singular new figure in his Wave. Strange, as there were clearly additional Titans Return figures produced, like Arcee and Grotusque, which were then released as convention exclusives. That’s too bad from the Coffin’s perspective at least, because both of those other figures would have ended up on the shopping list were they not carrying convention price tags and limited availability. Oh well. On topic, Slugslinger is another remolding of Triggerhappy, so much of the book on the figure has already been written. But let us take a gander at the things that make Slugslinger different.

The figure is apparently a remold of Misfire, as it again lacks that magical transformation step that the Triggerhappy original possesses, but as with Misfire, that is not necessarily a bad thing. The remolding is also very extensive, as can be seen in the chests of both Slugslinger and Misfire. He has the same shoulder design and joints that Misfire has as well, but they are not as loose on Slugslinger. (perhaps my Misfire just has loose shoulder joints. –mr) Slugslinger looks like his G1 original, and that is wonderful. The colors are terrific and strong. The jet wings form a cool, Seekeresque cape behind him, and the twin jet noses sticking up over his shoulders complete a really striking profile.

But, despite the conditions all being met for otherwise, there is something about Slugslinger that is a little bit boring. While the colors are strong, they aren’t very bold choices, being teal and white and a very light grey. They look good, but not exciting. The wings don’t move aside from pivoting behind the body, so there’s very little that can be done with them to change the look at all, and the cockpits simply fold down over the robot back, giving Slugslinger a real backpack. Out of the three Targetmasters who share this mold, Slugslinger is the one that feels the most simple, and the least impressive. That happens when the well of a figure is gone to too many times, and in this case, it seems that three was that magic number. The weapons are also very weak: a pair of mismatched blasters that can be combined into a single strange one. The blue twin barreled blaster has a spot to accommodate Titanmaster figures, but must be one of the worst in terms of that: a small slot with foot pegs in it, the Titanmaster would have to sit on the rear end of the blaster. The pair is apparently intended to serve as a throwback to the original G1 Targetmaster partner transformations, some of which required a separate piece in order to complete the blaster mode, while others had the blaster barrel attached via a hinge or molded into the legs of the tiny partner.

Not that this is a bad figure, and it is certainly not a bad representation of the character. Titanmaster Caliburst provides an excellent face, and the figure has a solid range of motion, despite the backwards movement of the arms being impeded by the jet wings.

The strange blaster configuration almost makes Slugslinger seem like he was intended to be an exclusive figure, like Arcee and Grotusque, simply because it deviates from the line-standard weapon pattern of either paired parts or things that can be combined to function with the Titanmasters, like with Chromedome. Also, the decision to release him in a wave that (if memory serves) was originally supposed to be JUST Slugslinger but was later revised to be a revision wave seems strange, and maybe like Hasbro wanted to squeeze one more wave of Deluxe figures out of Titans Return. That is a strange choice in itself, as so often, that final wave of figures never makes it to retail in any meaningful number, so releasing a brand new figure like this in a line ending wave is different. These waves usually contain repaints or repacks of previously shortpacked figures, or things like “stealth mode” or “powered up” versions, not entirely new figures. From the start is seemed strange that Slugslinger would be released as such a late figure, and then shortly after, Arcee surfaced and Grotusque came out of literal nowhere. Those three may have originally been intended as a wave of their own, only to be made exclusives instead. Again, no evidence for this, merely speculation.

Like his mold mates, Slugslinger’s jet mode is great, a twin cockpit, futuristic affair. Back in the late 80’s, the trio of Targetmaster jets had real sci-fi qualities that made them so appealing, and those futuristic designs still look hi-tech and spacy. Awesome. Triggerhappy was the futuristic attack jet; Misfire was the space plane; and Slugslinger always seemed like the fast one, like a racer or maybe even sports jet, like a race car but as a plane. That look is captured by the three Titans Return versions as well, down to the last detail. Slugslingers’ jet mode feels a little bit thin, not only in terms of the very thin and fragile feeling wings, but also because transformation is achieved basically through flipping the twin nosecones over the robot shoulders. Caliburst sits in a secondary (or maybe it’s the third…..) cockpit, behind the ones on the noses, reminiscent of the animals in the line, like Skullcruncher and Weirdwolf. The blaster parts attach beneath the wings but, being asymmetrical parts, they don’t look as good as the ones for the other uses of the mold do.

 

When Triggerhappy was first announced, the immediate response from the fandom was “What about the other two?” It has been said before on these pages, but one thing (among several) that Titans Return has done really well is provide closure to incomplete teams or groups from the past, such as is excellently observed with the Triple Changers. In lines past, Triggerhappy would not have signaled the coming of either or both Misfire and Slugslinger, and with Titans Return we’d come to think that that trend was reversing. It used to be the case that a Starscream in a line automatically meant Thundercracker and Skywarp wouldn’t be too far behind, and those were just repaints. Given how well the three Decepticon Targetmasters worked out in this line, it is a shame that none of their Autobot counterparts made it.

If anyone has been holding out hope of finding Slugslinger in the wild, that’s probably not going to happen. With Power of the Primes already hitting stores in this second week of December, it is probably safe to say that whatever Titans Return figures are available through retail in your area is all there’s going to be. Around here, the Misfire wave never showed up in stores, so certainly this one won’t. It would have been logical to think that Black Friday would have brought a restocking or something, but in this area at least it did not, so unless you’re willing to stake out secondary stores like T.J. Maxx, where late waves often are found for the first time, it’d be better to just find a Slugslinger online.