Canadian Transformers News and Discussion Forum

[The Nemesis]

Got a big haul this afternoon. Was expecting just Kingdom Inferno, ended up having my Retro Headmaster trio delivered like 10 minutes before it.


Inferno: Enjoyable like Grapple was, but with less fuss and stress on those pegs from the ladder base vs Grapple's crane base. I don't like the detachable/reattachable hose nozzle arm that attaches up near the head, but otherwise a solid figure that's nice incremental improvements on Grapple. Only shame is that he would've been nicer with a glossy paint finish.


Highbrow: Simple transformation overall, like the other Retro Headmasters have mostly been. Enjoyable though. I like the way the long beam to give his helicopter mode added length recedes into the robot torso to set his hips at the correct height. I'm not a big fan of the hands not locking or blocking into place as they're a little floppy, but he cuts an imposing figure as a robot and things look different enough from one mode to the next .


Skullcruncher: Pretty simple transformation, but it has some flaws. Getting the bot arms/gator forelegs aligned in either mode is kinda finicky. The gator head also doesn't seem to hinge all the way back to sit even with/below his shoulders. And without flip-out heel extenders like some of the other Headmasters, he ends up feeling a little unbalanced and top-heady and is prone to teetering over.


Weirdwolf: I was absolutely terrified about that hinge breaking like everyone says is a foregone conclusion, but in the first (and so far only) transformation I've put him through I got through with no issues and no point where I felt like I was going to damage anything as long as I was careful with how much pressure I put on that hinge.


The way the beast hips disengage and fold up into the robot torso to make the bot mode waist was unique and interesting, though a bit unclear at first when I tried it.


I love the way Weirdwolf looks as a bot though. He seems very much like a warrior/predator with his unique leg setup, big chunky arms, and gun/sword combo. Only thing I really don't like is that I wish his face/visor were colored differently. Because the rich red on both kind of turns his whole face into a muddy, indistinct mess.