Titans Return Quake w/ Chasm *Proofed, Ganon, 1/17/18*

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Skyquake87
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Titans Return Quake w/ Chasm *Proofed, Ganon, 1/17/18*

Post by Skyquake87 »

Name: Quake
Allegiance: Decepticon


Bio: Quake is a berserker. When he enters a battlefield, he will not rest until anything and everything within sight is in smoldering ruins, including his own comrades. It will often take cries of protest from fellow Decepticons to "point the *other* way, you idiot!" to remind him to pick his targets more selectively. This, he claims, is just part of one of his unconventional "battle techniques". Quake can become so caught up in the battle frenzy that his systems can overheat and shut him down. His endurance is second-to-none, however, and he has pulled through even the most seemingly final of defeats.


I threw away the box, so the original bio from 1988 will have to do. I'm sure you're all devastated by not hearing about how Chasm gives Quake all the powers of the universe or some-such. Quake was one of those late '80s Transformers I remember as being pretty good. Certainly next to the other Decepticon Double Targetmasters and a lot of the other smaller Transformers that came out at the time He was a tall and gangly looking fellow and oddly flat looking... and one of those characters who when he did turn up in the comics, I never recognized him unless someone said his name. He looked good, had great colours, but was somehow very generic looking. Which is a funny way of saying I like him when I can remember who he is. So I was very excited when I saw he was getting a spiffy new Titans Return figure. And then I forgot about him until TFNation this year.


Robot Mode: Quake looks bloody gorgeous in robot mode. He's a nice mix of dark grey, burgundy, a deep navy blue and black. He's accented by a big yellow sad face and angry red eyes, plus some nice printed decals and dawbs of silver. He maintains the silhouette of his 1980s counterpart – which is impressive, given that he's just a repaint of Titans Return Hardhead with a new head. Just goes to show, repaints aren't bad when they're done right. He carries a rifle and can also wield the tank barrel as a big gun or shoulder mounted rocket launcher, which a Titan Master can set in. It's one of the better Titans Return chair guns and Quake having a separate gun that doesn't look like some half of a piece of nonsense is a big help. The detail drizzle stays the right side of adding texture without looking overly busy. As an added bonus, you can plug his '80s Targetmaster partners into his hex-shaped holes. Just don't try plugging them into his hands - you'll risk cracking them like the post hole on the tank turret of the original.

Robot Mode: Chasm is decent enough. He's got absolutely no paint, so all the effort of making him look decent is wasted without anything to pick out the detail, but the block of blue plastic used for his torso helps.

Alternate Mode: He's a fancy looking space-tank! It really is a great alt-mode, though. It takes Hardhead's pretty boss design and streamlines it, sitting it a lot lower to the ground. This thing looks like it could be fast and mean. The predominant shade of burgundy on show makes this look a lot more eye-catching and deadly. I especially like the brighter shade of blue used for the cockpit. Sitting a Titan Master in the seat that fold out of the cannon also looks good and makes sense, like this thing was built to have a gunner as well as a driver.


Marks Out Of Ten For The Following:

Transformation Design: Transforming Quake is good fun. It folds and twizels about in a sleek and well laid out set of moves. Its not too fussy and gets the job done. I do like that Hasbro have, with this line in particular, struck a good balance with the transformation designs for Titans Return. They're smart and intuitive and fun! 9/10

Durability: Other than losing the Titan Master, there's nothing particularly weak about Quake. I have had the blue roller under the front pop out of its housings a couple of times, but I suspect that's just my rough handling. 9/10

Fun: Quake is great fun. He's a fantastic looking robot with a great alt-mode and lots of sensible interactive play features. He's become a fast favourite of mine, even over mould-mate Hardhead. But that's probably because bad guys are more fun! 9/10

Aesthetics: Surprisingly for a straight up repaint of a mould that bears little, if any resemblance to the original 1980s toy, this makes for a fantastic update to Quake. The blocky body and colour placement is spot on and makes this feel an excellent fit for Quake. He's largely kibble free in robot mode (just the cockpit hump on his back, which is fine) with just the bulky forearms spoiling the proportions a little. 9/10

Articulation: Whilst not top tier, there's enough to strike some decent poses. He lacks a waist swivel and ankle tilts, which mean expression comes from dynamic posing of the limbs, which have bags of unimpeded movement. As with all Titan Masters, the head is slightly limited and can't look up or down overmuch. 8/10

Price/Value: Both Quake and wave-mate Krok have been fairly hard to come by, due to the vagaries of the demented 'Waves' system, which toy manufacturers doggedly insist on maintaining (a slightly foolhardy notion in this era of declining toy sales and retailers going bankrupt), and have ended up short-packed so you're stuck paying around £20 or more. 7/10

Overall: Quake is brilliant and you should get one. 8/10
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

Pictures!
Attachments
Quake 007 (800x600).jpg
Quake 006 (600x800).jpg
Quake 005 (600x800).jpg
Quake 003 (600x800).jpg
Quake 001 (600x800).jpg
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Tantrum
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Post by Tantrum »

From the box:
"The DECEPTICONS unite with TITAN MASTER partners to power up for battle! CHASM opens portals that displace enemies and objects. DECEPTICON QUAKE can unleash his seismic attacks and use the power of CHASM to swallow AUTOBOTS into a teleportation abyss."
Stick with the '88 version.

Nice review; I like the line about liking Quake when you can remember him. One thing that might be worth adding: The fist holes on TR Quake are just barely too small to hold the G1 targetmaster partners properly. It seems like you could force them in, but risk damaging Quake's hands in the process. The hex shaped holes on the cannon and body work just fine, though.
Attachments
quakeTank2.JPG
quakeTank1.JPG
quakeBot2.JPG
quakeBot1.JPG
Alleged "poems"
that don't follow a rhyme scheme
are not poetry
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

Cool! Added.
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ganon578
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Post by ganon578 »

Proofed.

Great review. This is another figure I've passed on, but thought heavily about in many cases. Being a great repaint of an already great figure doesn't hurt either.
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