Okay….
Couple of things you need to know here: 1.) The Monsterbots represent what I loved about the era-end G1 toys. They were unique, strange, gimmicky but tons of fun. I loved them, or at least Double Cross who’s the only one I ever got my hands on. 2.) There’s a reason I get all bent out of shape when “leaks” hit the net. They ruin what would otherwise be incredible surprises announced at ‘cons’…such as Grotusque (w/ Scorponok!!)!
Yes, following on the heels of Hascon’s Arcee w/ Ultra Magnus, we get what I’m assuming is the fourth and final box set from Titans Return, featuring our missing Monsterbot in all his flashy pink glory, Grotusque and the fourth “Super” Titan Master, Scorponok!
It came as a shock and genuine surprise to everyone, and while the sales quickly skyrocketed to the point of him being sold out after 3 hours, Hasbro head designer John Warden states that he will also be made available (next month potentially) through Toys R US online. So if you missed out, which in all likely hood, many people did, fret not, he’ll be available again.
What’s also surprising, and admittedly incredible customer service, Hasbro Toy Shop shipped THE DAY he was announced, which meant mine came in by Saturday. It was a fun weekend.
Grotusque is a heavy retool of the already awesome Doublecross. The majority of the work is in the chest and arms, as well as the Monster head sculpt.
I like to think of him as a Jabberwocky. Grotusque represents the current standard by Hasbro, willing to do what they can to make sure we get complete sets of guys. (I’m ignoring the fact that we never got a Frenzy from Titans Return…) and now the Monsterbots are complete, having Repugnus as an individual Titan Master.
I get the complaint that Repugnus should have been a deluxe, but for me, this works better, seems it promotes the concept to the Titans Return line!
Grotusque adheres very closely to his G1 toy. The colors are matched very well. His monster alt-mode is significantly improved though, seems the G1 toy had more of a hamster look to it.
And while the G1 toy’s gimmick was the cold spark shooter in his mouth, I have plenty of “fire effects” accessories to really give the new version a real kick in his fire breath attack.
Grotusque’s Titan Master is Fengul. Fengul is an anogram for Engulf, which is pretty dang clever. He gives Grotusque the power of “eye scorch” which is somewhat unclear as to who’s eyes are getting scorched, but sounds pretty cool!
Fengul can ride inside Grotusque’s chest, or on top in the weapon seat.
He’s incredibly well painted for such a tiny little dude.
Oh and did I mention he’s a Battle Beast? Yeah, he’s totally Sabersword Tiger. Like Double Cross’s Titan Master before him, his tiny little head sculpt and over all body design is based on the Battle Beast toy.
Why? Well because in the Japanese cannon, the Battle Beasts were actually in the same universe as the Transformers, and there’s an entire episode where the Autobot, specifically the Monsterbots, show up on Planet Beast to defend them against the Decepticons. I love this kind of connection!
Grotusque, also comes packaged with the fourth Super Titan Master – Scorponok!
Okay, settle down. Yes, we would all love a new Titan Class Scorponok, but here’s why this works so well. Both the Monsterbots and Scorponok have far more screen time in the Japanese version of Headmasters than the rushed G1 three episode Rebirth. If you’re not familiar, Scorponok spends a good HALF of the series in his smaller robot form, and doesn’t enter “Big Mode” for quite some time. While I’m 100% confident we’ll get a new Titan class Scorponok toy down the line, I love that we got a special edition Titan Master version of him.
The four Super Titan Masters all feature die-cast head sculpts. While I wish we would have gotten some more..obscure Autobots, Thunderwing and Scorponok were awesome choices for the Decepticons! (Side note: I know I still have to review the Siege on Cybertron set, I’m getting to it.)
His face sculpt looks awesome, and works well with a voyager class.
So naturally, I can’t recommend this set enough. Again, he sold out on HTS pretty fast, but Hasbro states that he’ll be available through Toys R Us online soon. Otherwise, Takara is releasing Double Cross under their legends line (with a Target Master!) and it’s entirely possible they’ll release a Grotesque down the line too!
Pax Cybertron 