Transformers: Titans Return – Highbrow

Company: Hasbro

Year: 2016

 So I know I don’t normally have a lot to do with the Autobots, but every now and then one will slip through the net. But this week, Target stuffed up the pricing in their weekly catalogue, and the Deluxe Titans Return figures were reduced to only $15AUD a pop, which is an absolute steal!

At that price, I decided I should pick up Highbrow. I’ll take Decepticons in virtually any alt-mode, but for the Autobots they tend to have to be airborne vehicles. Plus, somewhere in my cupboard I have the Kre-O version of this guy, and since I was particularly fond of that Kre-O I thought it was time to get the “real” version of him.

Highbrow’s bot mode is awesome – the sunglasses-style design for faces is my second favourite after faceplates, and he stands very well. Colour scheme pops nicely on the shelf, and he manoeuvres easily into cool poses.  The lack of waist articulation is a slight downer, but a necessary element due to his transformation style. Xort, his Titan Master companion, is similarly cool in design. Rocking a semi-inverted Highbrow colour scheme, he’s very fun to look at. But on the downside, his joints are a little floppy – when removing the head, don’t be surprised if his legs and arms swing around a little. 

The vehicle mode isn’t quite as strong; it’s tandem rotor helicopter that wouldn’t look out of place in some mid-90s anime. While not a bad design in and of itself, the colours come across as very toy-ish (curiously, much more than they do in bot mode) and that is a little distracting. Still, it’s nice sculpting and the transformation doesn’t feel too forced or awkward, unlike some recent figures I’ve looked at.   

Now, TFWiki notes that there’s two known issues with this toy – the plug for the head doesn’t click in properly on some, and the legs are loose on others. The example I own is one of the former, but the good news is that you can kind of see it in the package. If he looks like his head isn’t clicked in properly, then you’re likely looking at one of them. The head is a little loose on mine, but nothing too severe. He just looks like he has an unusually long neck from certain angles.  

  

Overall? The vehicle mode isn’t as strong as bot mode, but it’s still a very fun toy. And considering the fairly nominal amount I paid for it, I’m extremely satisfied.