New Video Review of Walmart Exclusive Transformers Headmasters Mindwipe

You know... I know people are wondering why Skullcruncher's cockpit hatch and Weirdwolf's cockpit windows are that soft plastic. I have a better question: why did they choose those pieces to be gang-molded with the teeth?

So I haven't been on this thread for a few pages, because the only figure in both waves so far that maybe interests me is Mindwipe, and even then, I'm not going to go out of my way to look for him.

BUT.

This image has been floating around since sometime yesterday: And I am VERY curious to see what people here think about it. On one hand, these would be the first new figures in this line, the fact that they seem to have just grabbed an Arcee-colored Chromedome boxart off Deviantart is a bit sketch, and what mold would they even use for Armada Sideways. On the other, this feels veeery similar to the PotP leak (where they just used old images/art to display figures that weren't done yet), they've done new-mold exclusives in the past (PotP Punch/CP, SS Leadfoot, etc), and they did release two other UT references/updates semi-recently in Siege/Selects (and a third one was supposed to come with Sky Lynx before getting cut).

Thoughts? I honestly would love for this to be real just for Sideways alone.

Arcee, Fangry and Armada Sideways?

Dunno what to think, but the Blurr retool Arcee is in the cards, if true. Maybe a Monsterbot retool for Fangry (maybe Grotusque) with Squeezeplay using Repugnus in the future. Sideways... Outside of a straight reissue of the Armada figure (what a disappointment that would be) I'm blank on that one.

that was already confirmed to be fake

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:that was already confirmed to be fake

Aw man, was it? I saw people speculating it was fake, but I haven't seen any of the trustworthy sources confirm that. I was really hoping for Sideways, dang it.

Nemesis Primal wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:that was already confirmed to be fake

Aw man, was it? I saw people speculating it was fake, but I haven't seen any of the trustworthy sources confirm that. I was really hoping for Sideways, dang it.

Kinda figured in all honesty: the code on top was off, but I was hoping it wasn't a Hasbro product code. The Retro Headmaster assortment code is F0930 if you must know.

I like the look of Skullcruncher...
At least the bot made. The alt mode is fine, but isn’t anything impressive imo.
What I surprisingly like is the look of the tail attached to the forearm as a weapon.
I haven’t liked to look of the battlemaster or parts-forming shields for Siege/ER/Netflix.
But for me this really works & looks much more intentional than other similar gimmicks.
He’d probably need to be on sale for me to buy, but this guy definitely has my interest.

Sowndwave76 wrote:I like the look of Skullcruncher...
At least the bot made. The alt mode is fine, but isn’t anything impressive imo.
What I surprisingly like is the look of the tail attached to the forearm as a weapon.
I haven’t liked to look of the battlemaster or parts-forming shields for Siege/ER/Netflix.
But for me this really works & looks much more intentional than other similar gimmicks.
He’d probably need to be on sale for me to buy, but this guy definitely has my interest.

You sound like you've never seen the Titans Return toy before.



And the G1 toy could hold the tail as a weapon too.

Sabrblade wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:I like the look of Skullcruncher...
At least the bot made. The alt mode is fine, but isn’t anything impressive imo.
What I surprisingly like is the look of the tail attached to the forearm as a weapon.
I haven’t liked to look of the battlemaster or parts-forming shields for Siege/ER/Netflix.
But for me this really works & looks much more intentional than other similar gimmicks.
He’d probably need to be on sale for me to buy, but this guy definitely has my interest.

You sound like you've never seen the titans return toy

What makes him sound that way?

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:I like the look of Skullcruncher...
At least the bot made. The alt mode is fine, but isn’t anything impressive imo.
What I surprisingly like is the look of the tail attached to the forearm as a weapon.
I haven’t liked to look of the battlemaster or parts-forming shields for Siege/ER/Netflix.
But for me this really works & looks much more intentional than other similar gimmicks.
He’d probably need to be on sale for me to buy, but this guy definitely has my interest.

You sound like you've never seen the titans return toy

What makes him sound that way?

The bold parts. He's surprised by the tail's ability to be held by the toy in its robot mode and how nice it looks, as though he's never seen that before.

Nemesis Primal wrote:So I haven't been on this thread for a few pages, because the only figure in both waves so far that maybe interests me is Mindwipe, and even then, I'm not going to go out of my way to look for him.

BUT.

This image has been floating around since sometime yesterday:

And I am VERY curious to see what people here think about it.

Looks like this next slide from the same source confirms that it's bogus:

Sabrblade wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:I like the look of Skullcruncher...
At least the bot made. The alt mode is fine, but isn’t anything impressive imo.
What I surprisingly like is the look of the tail attached to the forearm as a weapon.
I haven’t liked to look of the battlemaster or parts-forming shields for Siege/ER/Netflix.
But for me this really works & looks much more intentional than other similar gimmicks.
He’d probably need to be on sale for me to buy, but this guy definitely has my interest.

You sound like you've never seen the titans return toy

What makes him sound that way?

The bold parts. He's surprised by the tail's ability to be held by the toy in its robot mode and how nice it looks, as though he's never seen that before.

It's not how I read it. It could just as easily be an observation they had on the toy and still like at the moment. Like how I speak of older toys in present tense when writing my top 5 lists. Just to say, we shouldn't be so quick to be dismissive of people's comments. Their comment added to the discussion, giving their opinion of a toy, while yours did not.

Sabrblade wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:So I haven't been on this thread for a few pages, because the only figure in both waves so far that maybe interests me is Mindwipe, and even then, I'm not going to go out of my way to look for him.

BUT.

This image has been floating around since sometime yesterday:

And I am VERY curious to see what people here think about it.

Looks like this next slide from the same source confirms that it's bogus:

As someone who'd love a titan master-compatible Animated Headmaster, I felt that "sorry" for wave 6.

I had definitely seen the TR version of Skullcruncher...
He was one of many that I passed on. In fact, I didn't buy anything from that line except the Terrorcons.
But seeing him again recently I noticed more how the tail as a weapon works well in terms of the look. Better than I remember, even though before I never looked very closely.
The G1 version looks exactly how I don't want those types of gimmicks to look.

Reminds me of how much I appreciate that the Dinobots had sword weapons rather than a gimmick where their chunky, stubby tails were removed and used as "swords".

Sowndwave76 wrote:I had definitely seen the TR version of Skullcruncher...
He was one of many that I passed on. In fact, I didn't buy anything from that line except the Terrorcons.
But seeing him again recently I noticed more how the tail as a weapon works well in terms of the look. Better than I remember, even though before I never looked very closely.
The G1 version looks exactly how I don't want those types of gimmicks to look.

Reminds me of how much I appreciate that the Dinobots had sword weapons rather than a gimmick where their chunky, stubby tails were removed and used as "swords".

I hear you on the "tails for weapons" bit. I pulled out Classics Grimlock the other day (He's keeping PCC Grimstone company) and really dislike that on him. O well.

My Walmarts are done with their resets, and one even had a Hardhead on the shelf. Later, Chromedome first. Though... dunno if I'm dodging bullets out with the Decepticon ones, or missing out.

Sowndwave76 wrote:I had definitely seen the TR version of Skullcruncher...
He was one of many that I passed on. In fact, I didn't buy anything from that line except the Terrorcons.
But seeing him again recently I noticed more how the tail as a weapon works well in terms of the look. Better than I remember, even though before I never looked very closely.
The G1 version looks exactly how I don't want those types of gimmicks to look.

Reminds me of how much I appreciate that the Dinobots had sword weapons rather than a gimmick where their chunky, stubby tails were removed and used as "swords".

I do wonder if they fixed the loose hips on this new version. I did like the look of the bot and alt mode, but the loose hips were a dealbreaker since Skullcruncher and his recolor Gatorface both couldn’t stand very well on their own.

Gatorface was the name of the redeco's head. The redeco was named Krok.
I found Krok to be at least passable on his own. Skullcruncher was loose AF and no mistake, but the old "clear polish on the ball part of the joint" trick fixed him right up.

The "tails for weapons" thing can work. Take a look at Weirdwolf and Cybertron Snarl, for example - now there's some successful use of tails as swords. And Cybertron Scourge gave us a lovely use of a tail as an axe.
Skullcruncher's tail works better if you think of it as a lance IMO. Or maybe a club. Trying to pass it as a sword... yeah no.

I also have both and can confirm Krok wasn't nearly as bad as Skullcruncher. Floor polish did the trick just fine for me too.

I'm curious to see if they did anything about the hinge on Wolfwire myself. I have all 7 from TR already, so he is the only one I might be interested if they fixed things.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Gatorface was the name of the redeco's head. The redeco was named Krok.
I found Krok to be at least passable on his own. Skullcruncher was loose AF and no mistake, but the old "clear polish on the ball part of the joint" trick fixed him right up.

The "tails for weapons" thing can work. Take a look at Weirdwolf and Cybertron Snarl, for example - now there's some successful use of tails as swords. And Cybertron Scourge gave us a lovely use of a tail as an axe.
Skullcruncher's tail works better if you think of it as a lance IMO. Or maybe a club. Trying to pass it as a sword... yeah no.

Best tail sword ever though goes to the Tigerzord from MMPR.
Cybertron Scourge is pretty awesome too though.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Gatorface was the name of the redeco's head. The redeco was named Krok.
I found Krok to be at least passable on his own. Skullcruncher was loose AF and no mistake, but the old "clear polish on the ball part of the joint" trick fixed him right up.

The "tails for weapons" thing can work. Take a look at Weirdwolf and Cybertron Snarl, for example - now there's some successful use of tails as swords. And Cybertron Scourge gave us a lovely use of a tail as an axe.
Skullcruncher's tail works better if you think of it as a lance IMO. Or maybe a club. Trying to pass it as a sword... yeah no.

Cybertron Snarl, that was some tail.

william-james88 wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Gatorface was the name of the redeco's head. The redeco was named Krok.
I found Krok to be at least passable on his own. Skullcruncher was loose AF and no mistake, but the old "clear polish on the ball part of the joint" trick fixed him right up.

The "tails for weapons" thing can work. Take a look at Weirdwolf and Cybertron Snarl, for example - now there's some successful use of tails as swords. And Cybertron Scourge gave us a lovely use of a tail as an axe.
Skullcruncher's tail works better if you think of it as a lance IMO. Or maybe a club. Trying to pass it as a sword... yeah no.

Best tail sword ever though goes to the Tigerzord from MMPR.
Cybertron Scourge is pretty awesome too though.

Energon Cruellock. Nuff’ said.


Transformers Energon Cruellock (Dinobot) Gallery


Transformers Energon Cruellock (Dinobot) Gallery+

I still haven't seen these figures in store, but I noticed one of my Walmarts has a shelf tag for them.

aronjlove wrote:I still haven't seen these figures in store, but I noticed one of my Walmarts has a shelf tag for them.

PHOTO_20210131_092859.jpg

They should be due any day then. I don't know how far along anyone else's is, but my two local Walmarts have finished the reset of the toy aisles, that is when they should show up.

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

aronjlove wrote:I still haven't seen these figures in store, but I noticed one of my Walmarts has a shelf tag for them.

PHOTO_20210131_092859.jpg

They should be due any day then. I don't know how far along anyone else's is, but my two local Walmarts have finished the reset of the toy aisles, that is when they should show up.

Good to know because the Walmart I found this tag at had practically a ghost town for the toy section outside of Halo and Bakugan for some reason.

aronjlove wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

aronjlove wrote:I still haven't seen these figures in store, but I noticed one of my Walmarts has a shelf tag for them.

PHOTO_20210131_092859.jpg

They should be due any day then. I don't know how far along anyone else's is, but my two local Walmarts have finished the reset of the toy aisles, that is when they should show up.

Good to know because the Walmart I found this tag at had practically a ghost town for the toy section outside of Halo and Bakugan for some reason.

Mine was too, all part of the procedure: empty shelves and relocate stock, rearrange according to the plans posted, then restock. Don't expect everything at once though.

Yeah, I mean it's obviously based on opinion... I don't think any of those examples that were shared are bad... Those may be some of the best uses of tails for weapons. I'm just not a huge fan of the concept in general.
And I never said the newer Skullcruncher's tail was meant to be a sword... Agreed, that's not what was intended.
Again, I just think it visually works. I think mainly because it's proportioned well with his arm and the overall size of the figure itself.
Being that I don't have a single Headmaster figure, I will be very tempted to get him if I ever see him.

They showed up in my store today.

I've seen one Chromedome at one single store, and that's it. Also, for what it's worth, as much as I've been "clowning" on some casual fans who might mistake these for original re-releases (since they had been in Walmart as recently as with Blaster just a couple weeks ago), it actually happened with my son.

Although he has no personal attachment to the original toys, he was instantly excited when he saw the packaging, I apparently forgot to tell him these were coming out . Should have seen his look when I told them they were just TR/Legends repackaged.

I mean it is nice if you missed out back in 2016, or are big fans of the Headmasters enough to get the slightly different decos. While the retro packaging is cool, it's just a wee bit disingenuous IMHO.

At minimum it needed new art that actually matches the toys.

o.supreme wrote:While the retro packaging is cool, it's just a wee bit disingenuous IMHO.

No more so than the Masters of the Universe Retro line, or the G.I.Joe stuff, or Mattel making retro WWE figures based on Hasbro's WWF line. Vintage packing on modern figures is a trend right now.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:At minimum it needed new art that actually matches the toys.

They certainly went minimum by changing the heads on all the vintage art.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:No more so than the Masters of the Universe Retro line, or the G.I.Joe stuff, or Mattel making retro WWE figures based on Hasbro's WWF line. Vintage packing on modern figures is a trend right now.

There's no doubt it's trendy right now, but unlike the Retro style Headmaster Packaging, the new MOTU stuff goes out of the way to tell you it's "New for 20", and that it is based on the original with modern engineering. The TFs don't indicate any of that.

Besides, the MOTU are basically exactly that, the ARE the original toys, but with modern articulation. I don't even think Hasbro could pull it off, but if they did take the original 1987 headmaster molds, and "update them" with modern engineering, I'd be more inclined to agree, as opposed to just being the TR/Legends toys packaged in retro packaging.

What Hasbro is doing is more akin to if Mattel put the 2002 MOTU line in retro packaging, which they are obviously not.

o.supreme wrote:

Emerje wrote:No more so than the Masters of the Universe Retro line, or the G.I.Joe stuff, or Mattel making retro WWE figures based on Hasbro's WWF line. Vintage packing on modern figures is a trend right now.

There's no doubt it's trendy right now, but unlike the Retro style Headmaster Packaging, the new MOTU stuff goes out of the way to tell you it's "New for 20", and that it is based on the original with modern engineering. The TFs don't indicate any of that.

Besides, the MOTU are basically exactly that, the ARE the original toys, but with modern articulation. I don't even think Hasbro could pull it off, but if they did take the original 1987 headmaster molds, and "update them" with modern engineering, I'd be more inclined to agree, as opposed to just being the TR/Legends toys packaged in retro packaging.

What Hasbro is doing is more akin to if Mattel put the 2002 MOTU line in retro packaging, which they are obviously not.

I think if Hasbro was able to pull off adding knees, elbows, and hips to the original G1 figures that need it; they'd probably sell for $100 a pop.

I took the plunge and got myself Chromedome. Gonna play with him tomorrow and share some thoughts, but I took a look at the instructions because, well, if the box is G1-style, are the instructions? Without spoiling it, I can tell you someone had fun with the design with the pose on the cover page

Ok, played with him a little bit, my thoughts:

Paperwork
- As mentioned before, the designer had fun with the Instructions. Not G1-accurate, but more inspired by G1 with a hint of RiD 2001. The cover has Chromedome in the same pose as in the G1 Instructions, nice touch. The RiD-inspired part comes with the layout, with the twist that it points in both directions: from vehicle to robot, and back.
- The box is what you'd expect, with the 1987 mural... edited to replace the (more obvious) G1 heads with the Legends one.

Figure
- Joints are more than tight enough, no worries about him being a floppy mess... The rivets in the elbows however are more loose than I'd like. Rivets seem to be a hit-and-miss with TR molds, but on Retro Chromedome they're tight enough to hold his weapons up. Nothing heavier.
- Colors are decent, there is a bit of a discrepancy between the clear black of the windshield, and the obviously lighter paint in the back. Seen it before though.
- What I do have a hard time getting used to is Chromedome's stark white painted head. True, he had a white head with other figures, but in certain lights it stands out without other bright spots to offset it. At the very least the silver isn't bright or reflective enough for the white to blend in with.

Is it worth getting? Yeah, can't beat the price if you originally missed him.

I might have to get him the next time I have cash to drop. I am loath to spend money at that store, but the eBay prices on the TR version are being obnoxious right now.

A photo of a nicely stocked Walmart made the rounds on Facebook. While the shelves weren't overflowing, there was lots of new stock like the latest Cyberverse deluxe toys, the Netflix figures, SS86 Grimlock and the second wave of Headmasters. These are redecos of headmasters we got in Titans Return using the Japan exclusive heads the Takara versions had. And they come in G1 packaging. Wave 2 consists of Weirdwolf, Highbrow and Skullcruncher. There is no word yet if Weirdwolf has been fixed or not (both the Hasbro and Takara version had major breakage issues).

This sighting comes from California but these are apparently making their way across the US.

Well, if he hasn't... shaving off the outermost millimeter or so on either side of the hinge portion of the glazing should do the trick.

Hoping to find the two Decepticon Headmasters. Highbrow I can take or leave, the American headsculpt isn’t too different from the Japanese one.

Wave 2!? Wave one hasn't even hit my area. The distribution of these figures are a cruel joke.

"a nicely stocked Walmart"

Only in Atlantis and El Dorado

soundwave765 wrote:Wave 2!? Wave one hasn't even hit my area. The distribution of these figures are a cruel joke.

Agreed. I live in the same state as this sighting (although Northern CA and Southern CA might as well be different countries) .

I saw a single Chromedome ONCE, and that's it.

I just need Mindwipe from Wave 1... hoping they fixed the tolerances on his rubbery bits. All 3 of Wave 2 are on my list, Highbrow top priority (just to finish the Autobot lineup).

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:I just need Mindwipe from Wave 1... hoping they fixed the tolerances on his rubbery bits. All 3 of Wave 2 are on my list, Highbrow top priority (just to finish the Autobot lineup).

Highbrow and Hardhead for me to finish the Autobots, outside of Fort Max who I ain't buying at eBay prices. I have the TR Mindwipe but one of the batwing tips broke off.

My Walmart had one each, Chromedome, Hardhead, Mindwipe, Brainstorm, and Weirdwolf. I got my Hardhead.

aronjlove wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:I just need Mindwipe from Wave 1... hoping they fixed the tolerances on his rubbery bits. All 3 of Wave 2 are on my list, Highbrow top priority (just to finish the Autobot lineup).

Highbrow and Hardhead for me to finish the Autobots, outside of Fort Max who I ain't buying at eBay prices. I have the TR Mindwipe but one of the batwing tips broke off.

Wait, Fort Max is actually expensive now? I remember him being worth less than retail once.

william-james88 wrote:

aronjlove wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:I just need Mindwipe from Wave 1... hoping they fixed the tolerances on his rubbery bits. All 3 of Wave 2 are on my list, Highbrow top priority (just to finish the Autobot lineup).

Highbrow and Hardhead for me to finish the Autobots, outside of Fort Max who I ain't buying at eBay prices. I have the TR Mindwipe but one of the batwing tips broke off.

Wait, Fort Max is actually expensive now? I remember him being worth less than retail once.

Yeah, he is in the $300 range from what I have seen.

I already had Skullcruncher, but I needed all the others. Just waiting for Weirdwolf and Highbrow.

Maybe they'll do a re-issue of Fortress Maximus. Maybe I'll buy it if they do.

Holy crap, it's my lucky weekend. I've now seen all of wave 1 and 2, and I got my Hardhead and Highbrow


This Walmart was stocked today, rather surprised.

hausjam wrote:"a nicely stocked Walmart"

Only in Atlantis and El Dorado

There's one pictured right above this comment

Well, these two Autobot Headmasters keep the skies and ground clear of Decepticons.


I own TR Quake so I knew what to expect with Hardhead and my only complaint is the mount for the tank cannon is pretty loose compared to Quake. And Highbrow still has the neck issue, the mount for the Headmaster/Titanmaster sits high and is a little loose so the head is a little floppy.


Even with these two complaints, I am very happy with my purchase and I now have all four warriors from the sky.