As you may remember, we had a pictorial review of
Titans Return Windblade a few days ago. Today, we have another review, this time of her wavemate, Misfire, from yours truly.
Titans Return Misfire is the first figure of this character since the original toy in 1987 (not counting a Kreon Micro-Changer in 2014 that was an Autobot for some reason). Thus, unlike Windblade, there aren't many other things to compare him too other than his mold-mate Triggerhappy, so you'll be seeing them side-by-side quite a bit. However, in this case, using the term mold-mate is a stretch, as the two share few parts: Only the legs, elbow joints, shoulder joints, and Titan Master.
Speaking of the Titan Master, let's start by taking a look at the little guy. Other than the face on his back, Aimless is identical to Blowpipe, Triggerhappy's Titan Master. However, Aimless has a greater variety of color, and his face is painted. Like other Titan Masters, Aimless can sit in Misfire's combined guns, though there is no practical way to mount this to the vehicle mode.
Now then, on to the jet mode. I was always thought this was a neat design, so I'm glad it was given all this retooling. As great as Triggerhappy's jet mode is, it just wouldn't fit for Misfire. The cockpit for the Titan Master is one of the most secure of the entire line, and while many have whined about making non-Headmaster characters into Headmasters, I really like the gimmick in vehicle mode. Unfortunately, there is no landing gear. My only real complaint is that the tail of the jet doesn't tab in as securely as I would like. One odd thing I did notice was the lack of any obvious thrusters. Though, given how the top of the shoulders seem to be shaped like intakes, I would assume the forearms serve as the engines. Oh, and the wings have weapon storage, but I don't care for it.
Now, onto the robot mode! The transformation isn't as simple as Windblade's, but it is not as complex or inventive as Triggerhappy's either. Whether or not that's a good thing is up for debate. Personally, I will be displaying the two and Slugslinger together, with Triggerhappy as leader. Thus, having the two underlings share a simpler transformation seems fitting to me. As expected for Misfire, he is very, very pink. However, he does have an impressive amount of paint on him to break up the colors, and the nosecone, wings, shins, and shoulders have tampographs. While his headsculpt is not IDW-accurate like some would hope (especially considering the precedent of IDW-based designs in this line), it's still an okay face that's more based upon his cartoon appearance. However, some of the details are less distinct due to the paint, and once put alongside the rest of the line's heads, the design becomes a bit generic. I'm not sure why they went with lilac 'skin' and Overlordy lips. As seen earlier, he comes with two guns, and while they're pretty nice guns, I find myself setting them aside more often than not. I had the same mentality with Triggerhappy, oddly enough.
The articulation is pretty much the same as Triggerhappy's, so you can get them in all the same poses. Due to the angled nature of the feet, you may need extra support to keep him on one foot, however. Most of the leg joints are a bit looser on Misfire, but that's mostly because my copy of Triggerhappy has very tight joints all around. Misfire is also compatible with most 3mm figure stands, so you can get him in flying and aerial poses.
All in all, it's a pretty fun figure. While he was never going to top Triggerhappy, Misfire is still a good toy in his own right, and I can't wait to have Slugslinger and complete the trio.
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)
just 'cause. The red one has 
though.
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