Dave's Transformers Titans Return Rant: Leader Wave 3 Six Shot with Decepticon Revolver (six-changer) Permalink: https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/LSixshot Probably ships with Soundwave, I got mine on HasbroToyShop.com rather than seeing it in the wild. Note, Sixshot was apparently taken, this is Six Shot. CAPSULE $45-50 price point. Six Shot: Good update of the original. Some sloppy paint and sticker application, but not too bad by Generations standards. My main problem with the toy is that several of the pinned joints are too loose, resulting in a robot that tends to slouch or slump. That sort of thing may be QC roulette, however, and it's probably fixable. Recommended. RANT Packaging: Like other Year 2 Titans Return stuff, the box's trade dress uses Decepticon logos and purple trim. The instructions are, as one might expect, pretty big and unfortunately no easier to read than any other Titans Returns instruction sheets. They also include a picture of Fortress Maximus hooked to Soundwave and Blaster as Cybertron City, with Sixshot's tank mode attached to Soundwave via a ramp. The number of steps mentioned on the box back refers only to the robot-to-tank transformation, each of the other transformations in the instructions take 12-24 steps. The altmodes are not named anywhere on the box or in the packaging. However, the G1 gun mode has been replaced with a "submarine" mode that is basically the gun upside-down. Mode names taken from the HTS entry. The back of the box shows the modes cycled through in a particular order, the order not quite being matched in the instructions (submarine is moved from fourth to last). I'll review in the instructions order, although probably the easiest transformation is between jet and "submarine". DECEPTICON: SIX SHOT Assortment: C0286 Titan Master: Decepticon Revolver Altmodes: Truck, Sub, Space Jet, Beast, Tank Transformation Difficulty: Yes Previous Name Use: Energon (Sixshot in G1) Previous Mold Use: None Titan Master Ability: None? Weapon: Twin Rifles Function: Ultimate Weapon Motto: "No matter your weakness, I can exploit it." SIX SHOT is the perfect weapon. He's ruthless, relentless, and built to eliminate anything that stands in his way. His power is matched only by his thirst for destruction. DECEPTICON REVOLVER is one of the only bots who can keep up with him. A master of all combat types, he's trained to take down targets in any scenario. B: STR 10 SPD 4 INT 10 FRB 10 T: STR +4 SPD +4 INT +5 FRB +5 While Revolver is a master of all combat types, he doesn't have any particular power that he grants to his bulk partner. Also, it's odd that Six Shot is so slow, given that one of his modes is a spaceship. Packaging: 7 ties on the robot, two each on the two rifle halves. The wings are folded flat against the back rather than sticking back like samurai banners, so that the robot will fit. Similarly, the toes were folded up. Comparison to G1: As I type this review, I have G1 Sixshot standing next to the new toy. A lot of similarities, but also noticeable differences, not all of which are engineering-based. Obviously, the articulation is far better now, and it's a Headmaster. The legs transform differently for vehicle mode, so there's no need to have nose-halves stuck to the sides of the boots, and the fists fold away rather than being covered by a sliding forearm. Instead of a separate vent/trigger piece for the truck mode, the lower jaw of the wolfhead becomes that vent and there's no trigger for not-a-gun mode. The wings are shorter and as a result look less like samurai armor banners in robot mode. The guns are very similar, except for the changes made to let them combine into a seat-gun. I'd say that overall the colors are equivalent...there's fewer stickers but a little more paint. Most of the plastics are the same colors, with a notable exception of the thighs. One weird change is that the stickers on the chest-flanking fins have been shrunken down and placed on the chest, leaving the fins with the pattern but no color. Rather than a rubsign on the pelvis, the Decepticon symbol is part of one of the chest stickers. (There's still a cockpit on the pelvis, for rude joke potential.) Robot Mode: This is your basic block-G1 aesthetic for robots, most of the body made up of rectangular blocks with a few triangles and trapezoids. As one might expect from a six-changer, there's a LOT of altmode greebles, but not enough of any one mode to really dominate the aesthetic. So there's wheels, treads, claws, wings, and so forth. In fact, the only altmode not apparent from the robot mode is the submarine/gun...and even in G1, the gun was iffy. While not apparent with the helmet closed, the faceplate includes a molded headband with a stylized kanji for "six". The more curvy shape of the faceplate suggests cloth over a regular robotic face. 9" (23cm) tall at the head, a little taller at the shoulders, and the wings in pseudo-banner configuration raise the total height to about 10.5cm (27cm). The toy is a mix of black, very light gray, bright teal, Decepticon Purple, and silver, with a few bits of other colors. Bright teal plastic is used on the majority of the torso, plus the tops of the shoulders. The wheels, chest-side fins, collar area, fists, claws-on-forearms, toes, thighs, insides of the boots, and jet mode landing gear are black plastic. The boot cores are purple. Smoky clear plastic is used for the backpack cockpit, the pelvis cockpit, and the clear window in the chest (the bolt-like details on the lower chest are also clear, but black paint on the panels behind them makes this less obvious). Very light gray plastic is used for the helmet, the not-yet-mentioned parts of the arms, the beast head/neck, and the guns. The wings are coated in silver paint, but as near as I can tell from careful fiddling about and scraping in hidden locations, the roots are teal and the wing surfaces themselves are light gray plastic. The faceplate is dipped in white paint, but unscrewing it reveals it to be made of black plastic. Light gray paint with a very good match to the plastic is used on both the backpack and groin cockpits to cover all but the window parts, which means that the pure white of the faceplate is intentional rather than a case of wanting to match the light gray and failing. Gloss black is used on the tank treads (a nice departure from their unpainted look in G1), the abdomen front (but not sides, sadly), some bits inside the openable chest, and some bolt/warhead details flanking the head. Lots of silver paint, mostly on the wings, but also on the kneecaps, shins, and some windshield details used in truck mode. There's red details painted on the insides of the forearms to match the stickers on the G1 toy's forearms, and the eyes are painted red (if a bit sloppily). There's some bits of bright teal paint on the wings, nicely breaking up the silver. Arguably the biggest lack, color-wise, is that the hubcaps aren't painted silver. Not just for adherence to G1, but also because blank wheels always look cheaper. I'll probably paint 'em myself. There's a few stickers, of the same really low quality as seen on Optimus Prime (Diac version). I already mentioned the ones on the chest, which are silver and purple. There's also gold slivers on the sides of the boots (another G1 echo) with small Decepticon rondels. Purple on silver stripe stickers run along the length of the wings, adding more Decepticon symbols. The entire helmet turns all the way around, and the transformation hinge on the collar lets it nod up and down a bit. The shoulders are universal joints, but lifting the arms forward requires folding the chest fins forward, which doesn't look great. Swivels just above the hinge elbows, the wrists are hinged for transformation...not too useful unless you want to stow the hand and stick a melee weapon in as if it's emerging from the forearm a la Megatron and Optimus's G1 energy weapons. No waist articulation, but the armor skirt is hinged in front. Universal hips that are ratcheting forward and backwards but smooth out to the sides, swivels just below the hips, hinge knees. The ankles can bend sideways, but on soft ratchets with stability only at 0, 45, and 90 degrees...not useful for posing, and these joints don't seem to be used in any other mode. Maybe planning ahead for making Quickswitch's modes slightly different? Several of the joints on mine, particularly the pinned smooth hinges on the hips and knees, are loose. And since they're pinned, I can't really tighten them. Also, the knees bend backwards for some altmodes, which makes looseness in the knees likely to lead to Six Shot taking a dive off the shelf when he sags forwards. The hands can hold 5mm pegs. There's some 5mm peg holes on the wings that can be used to store the rifles, and the wings have ramp connectors that are pretty pointless in this mode. There's a 5mm hexagonal peg hole on the outer side of each upper arm, which is covered up by tank treads in this mode but you can easily move the treads out of the way if you want the shoulder peg holes. There's a 3mm peg hole in the small of the back in case you think a Tamashii-stage style base can actually handle the weight. Lots of 2mm pegs, but none of them look good for use in robot mode, nor do the Titan Master seats on the sides of the boots. A Titan Master can ride inside the cockpit on the backpack, and one or more can be stored inside the chest if you want. It's also possible to fold the tail pieces inside the chest, which is needed for some altmodes and can be used to further differentiate the robot modes if you also get Quickswitch. The guns are 3.75" (9.5cm) long and made of a semi-flexible light gray plastic. The back end has a regular 5mm peg, a smaller 5mm peg jutting out to one side above the main one (mostly for vehicle modes, use these pegs for storing the guns between the wings in robot mode), and a 5mm hole opposite the small 5mm peg. Additionally they have 9mm long slots for attaching to the wingtips and the "turret" sides, plus reciprocal tabs and slots for connecting them together into a seat-gun. The combined gun doesn't really look good held in the robot's hand, and it forms the tail of beast mode. It has twin 2mm pegs in a small depression, Titan Masters sit more "on" than "in" this gun. Transformations: Maybe it was memories of the G1 toy, but I barely needed to look at the instructions for any of the modes, the pictures were sufficient. I did check the instructions for wolf mode, but mostly because it's pretty ad hoc in a lot of places and even the official configuration of the rear legs was unsatisfying. Some modes hold together better than others, but make sure you pull the forearms out for truck mode. This isn't how the fists are hidden anymore (like it was on the G1 toy), but it's required to get some tabs and slots to line up. Tank Mode: Well, it has treads and a weapon on top. As in G1, there's no main gun, it's more of an anti-aircraft tank, with the rifles joined by some smaller barrels formed by the heel spurs. The backpack cockpit is on top, and most Titan Masters can ride inside it, although you have to lift the guns (well, boots) up to open it. There's some tiny gun details on the wing roots that point forwards in this mode and are painted teal. The most compact of the modes: 6" (15.5cm) long, 4.75" (12cm) wide, and 4.5" (11cm) tall. The purple and black mostly end up in the turret part, while the main body is teal with light gray fenders. Stability is iffy, since the arms don't really lock to the sides and the boots don't peg together. It rolls on three tiny wheels: one each on the undersides of the front treads, and one on the robot groin. The weapon chunk can elevate, but not turn. The wing and shoulder 5mm peg holes are accessible in this mode, and the rifles attached to the top provide some 5mm pegs. There's screw holes on the sides of the turret that can also mount weapons, but only some weapons will fit. Four 2mm pegs are pointed up, but the two on the wings have insufficient clearance for a figure to stand on them. However, the ramp connectors are at a reasonable height to make them a sort of docking link to Soundwave's base mode. Jet Mode: A clever bit of this transformation has the arm treads folded down in tank configuration, because this helps the wings keep the arms from moving around as much. The arms just sort of stick out the back, but they're not as wobbly as in submarine mode. It still has that sort of X-Wing nose look to it as in G1, but they achieved it in a different way. In addition to the rifles being attached to the wingtips for maximum X-Wingness, there's tiny molded guns on the nose. The cockpit for this mode is purely decorative, the Titan Master has to stay in the helmet or ride in the underside cockpit. 11" (28cm) long and with a 10.25" (26cm) wingspan when you have the guns tabbed onto the wingtips. It has several painted areas not visible in robot mode, including gloss black along the top of the "deck" created by the purple boot parts (this paint is visible in robot mode, of course, but it's on the interior sides and is not prominent). There's several silver details along top as well, including two little blisters that look like point defense guns. There's yellow trapezoids painted on either side of the nose end, parts covered up by the toes in robot mode. No articulation, and it's best to fold down the landing skid before snapping the legs together, as it's hard to get out once the toy is fully transformed. The rear landing skid is just the tank cockpit, so it's very unstable. The arms can be rotated and folded down to improve stability. The 5mm peg holes on the wing roots are now on the underside, but can carry thin enough weapons. Because the tank treads are deployed, the upper arm holes are also accessible. The 3mm peg hole on the beast jaw is a little behind the center of mass, but should work well for flight bases. Truck Mode: I always thought of this as a "combat car" myself. Quite stable once you extend the arms and peg them onto the boot sides, unlike the tank. It reminds me of most of the Construct-Bots truck modes, with an awkward squared off front end that looks meant for ramming, and wheels a bit too far back. In fact, even with the stickers providing hood stripes, it looks more credible facing the other direction, using the tank cockpit as a cab. 7" (18cm) long, with the wings forming a deck and making the top side more silvery, otherwise same color balance as robot mode. Officially, you put the rifles on the wing peg holes, but that blocks some of the 2mm pegs. However, the combined "seat gun" weapon can go onto the tank connector tabs and not only free up those pegs, but also provide an additional seat for Titan Masters (this is, in fact, how they're supposed to connect in submarine mode). Another tweak for flexibility is to leave the movable treads in tank configuration so that the upper arm 5mm peg holes are open. There's two open compartments for Titan Masters in the cab area, plus the tank cockpit now faces backwards and provides a tailgunner position (the tiny wing-molded guns also point backwards). The number of connectors that can be used is variable, but in official configuration there's only the three seats for Titan Masters, the rifle peg holes on top of the wing peg holes, and two 2mm pegs flanking the rear cockpit. The arm-based 2mm pegs are mostly blocked no matter what, but the ones on the wings are freed up if you move the guns forward. The screw holes now on the hood are also usable for some weapons. Beast Mode: A winged wolf. Modern articulation really works against this mode...at least in G1 it was a passable brick and stable in its brickitude. Here it is wobbly and offers a bunch of options that don't look good. After some fiddling I found one pose that's reasonably stable and doesn't look horrible, but it's essentially a statue. The back of the head is hollow, and a Titan Master can stand or sit inside it. There's also a 2mm peg at the base of the neck so a Titan Master can do more of a "Power Ranger riding on top of their Zord" deal. Another 2mm peg is revealed where the head was, for standing in the middle of the back, and the tail is the seat gun with its regular functionality. The robot head is visible through the exposed spine area, turning the head around before stowing it helps a little. While it has a few features not available in other modes, it's easily the weakest of the six. Submarine Mode: Yeah, it's the old pistol mode turned upside down, pretty much. The G1 toy's pistol mode was...unimpressive, so no big loss to retask it as an unimpressive submarine. But it's REALLY OBVIOUS that other than the lack of a trigger, this was designed first to be a gun. Heck, you an even fold up the robot chest to become an electronic sight similar to the sight on Combiner Wars Shockwave. If you leave the legs collapsed as they are for truck or jet mode, rather than extending them as in the instructions, the landing gear of the jet is usable as a trigger, at least for adult-sized hands. Okay, as a submarine, the wings fold together around the beast head to form a really tall conning tower. The truck cab is used for piloting, since the tank cockpit is now the backside of the conning tower. The arms just sort of hang out the back, but putting them in truck position isn't any more convincing. The rifle goes on the truck hood and the heel spurs fold out for extra gun barrels. Stability at full length is iffy, since the hips aren't locked in place. Even shortened it's still a bit wobbly, since the boots need the arms locked onto them to really stabilize them. I prefer the shortened mode whether I'm using it as a space gun or a submarine, and that's 11.25" (28.5cm) long. In addition to the truck cab seats, there's a single 2mm peg in a depression behind the cab, revealed when the beast head is folded up. The 5mm screw holes are usable, but the rest of the 5mm connections are covered up one way or another. The seat gun can be ridden on as well. In space gun format (upside down), the 2mm pegs on the jet deck and the ones on the arms can be used. Titan Master: According to TFWiki, Revolver's robot mode is based on the Headmasters character Jack, although in looking at Jack's entry I see they did change the colors. (Yeah, Jack, the alien from Planet Master. Japan. Go figure.) Given that Sixshot planted a bomb in Jack's chest and forced him to go on a suicide mission, relations between Revolver and Six Shot may be a touch strained. Since only the faceplate is visible when Revolver is in the helmet, though, a dye or paint job to make him look like Jack would work fine without messing with robot mode. Getting him out of the helmet is difficult, since only the top flips up and there's no way to grab the Titan Master firmly. I ended up using a knife to lever it out. His head, torso, and arms are bright teal plastic, the legs are very light gray. No paint on the Titan Master part, just on the faceplate. Overall: Even with a few clunker modes, it's a very good update of one of the more ambitious designs of G1. I have the MADLAW 3P mold, which tries to do much the same thing, and ended up being more complex without necessarily being better. And if I can get those pinned hinges tightened up and paint one or two bits, that'll cover my main problems. Worth picking up, either in this version or as part of the Chaos on Velocitron set (which is already showing up in some places, TRU exclusive). Dave Van Domelen, leaning towards getting the Velocitron set despite owning the two big molds from it already.