Nightbeat Nightbeat was unveiled at NYCC 2015 and of all the Titanmasters he probably caused the most fuss. Unlike Squeezeplay/Crashbash, Horri-bull/Terri-bull and Siren/Loudmouth-44302, who have been all but ignored since their initial appearance, Nightbeat is a popular character who has appeared regularly in the comics and had several versions, the most recent of which was only 2 years ago. So having Nightbeat released as just a head caused some ruckus. To be honest I'd be surprised if we don't see Nightbeat and his fellow Wave 1 Titanmaster and Siren returning as Chromedome repaints down the line. Then there's the matter of which Nightbeat face he has. Over the years some confusion has arisen between Nightbeat and Siren over who has which face! Generally most depictions of Nightbeat include a visor over the eyes following it's use in the original comic including IDW's More Than Meets The Eye and the most recent toys. This toy however has gone the opposite route and used the same design as the original toy showing Nightbeat as having full yellow face with no visor. However while the original Nightbeat Headmaster figure, Muzzle, was yellow with black legs the Titanmaster follows the colour pattern of the original toy by being all pale blue with a yellow body and upper legs. The official images, released after NYCC 2015, show this wasn't always the plan as the render there has all yellow legs! Nightbeat's accessory is a little light blue and yellow jet plane. Nightbeat lies on top of the plane, face down, to pilot it with his feet being pegged into the rear of the jet. There's no slot for his heel spur/foot tab so he can't be turned the other way up. To transform Nightbeat's accessory turn it the other way up, fold the wings in, fold the jet nose down and into the body revealing the drill nose and fold forward the yellow piece resting behind the jet nose. The drill mode is a little bit of a let down. For a start the jet nose is clearly visible in the body of the drill tank. The drill itself doesn't turn. There's nowhere really for Nightbeat to sit but you can just about perch him on the back with his feet tucked under the yellow piece halfway down the tank. The intention here is that you put the head mode into the rear of the vehicle, face down with the legs on top and the peg holes pointing forward as gun barrels. Unfortunately his Titanmaster head, and any Titanmaster head, seem very unwilling to slot into the yellow piece of plastic where it's meant to. Those that have had success getting the head in have later reported problems getting the head back out again to the point the head stays put and the rest of the Titanmaster comes away! This drill tank mode forms the basis of the handweapon mode, simply fold down the handle from the back of the toy. Yeah. Easily the worst of the Wave 1 Titanmasters but he'll sell cos it's Nightbeat. In Japan the Nightbeat Titanmaster is mildly repainted and packaged with LG-28 Rewind. I'll imagine we'll see it again repainted as Minerva. Meanwhile the jet/drill accessory will be packaged with LG-32 Chromedome later on in 2016.
No deal. I'll be buying Takara's version. And I'll also be getting Takara's Chromedome and likely Skytread as well for the mini-vehicle. There is nothing appealing that I can see of Hasbro's Nightbeat.
I like him, but who is his Titanmaster supposed to be? He has neat visual details on the Titanmaster body, but they don't match Nightbeat or his Nebulon. http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...mething-about-titan-masters.html#post13760827
I just don't like the face. Nightbeat or not. The eyes are too small and the expression is... odd. So this one is a pass for me.
I think it's supposed to be Siren. My theory is that we'll get Deluxe versions of Siren and Nightbeat in Wave 4, and they'll use these same headmolds, but switched. That way you can have the option of using this version of Nightbeat's head if you want it to be toy-accurate, or the repainted Siren one if you want it to be comic-accurate.
I have to wonder why he didn't just end up becoming Minerva in Japan. I mean, the future might not be certain yet and we might see her getting a new figure, but doesn't it seem a little out of place, considering the other Takara Titan Master releases so far? And didn't Nightbeat in his original colors also get released by Takara under the name Minerva? Oh yea, I also think the actual head looks weird. Moving away from the traditional Nightbeat design does not do him any favors after all these years, and what the heck is wrong with his face? He looks like he's having struggles in the bathroom!
I am bummed he doesn't come with his own body. Night beat was always my favorite autobot headmaster thanks to Matrix Quest.
Well the little circular thingy on the chest looks similar, but the facemask on the Titanmaster and the other markings don't seem to match.
Nothing to do with the robot mode, but the actual face sculpt with a yelling expression. That suggests to me that it was designed with being Siren in mind and that perhaps the choice to make them toy accurate was a later decision.
I just made a part and uploaded it to Shapeways. It's designed to fit in the neck hole of Generations Nightbeat ( as well as Go-Shooter and the two versions of Bumblebee ) which will allow the Titan Masters to work. https://www.shapeways.com/product/ANSDLZ9L2/detective-adapter?optionId=60423329 Here's the kicker. The slot is only 5mm wide, but the head is 4.5mm wide. So the walls of this thing are only 1/4 of a mm wide. Shapeways gave me thin wall warnings, but allows it to be sold anyway. I'm ordering one, and will update with pics IF it works. If not, I'll have to redo the design.
Nightbeat was one that I swore I would not buy however I did end up winning one at work during 80s day. I feel that I have greatly misjudged this release. As Nightbeat, I still prefer the previous Generations Nightbeat, but the main face sculpt is pretty nice and I can see it being repainted into different characters. But what I love the most is his little vehicle. Both modes look great and it makes a fantastic little drill weapon.
I find that to get Nightbeat in there in drill tank mode, you have to turn his head around so both heads are facing the same way.
On a related note: Legends Nightbeat In Japan the Nightbeat Titanmaster was repainted and packaged with LG-28 Rewind. On the face of it the Legends Titanmaster is quite similar to the Titans Return one moulded with blue & yellow on the same places. The outside of the arms and all the lower legs are painted a metallic grey which gives the bulk of the toy's head mode a solid grey look. The Titanmaster robot's face has yellow paint on it's forehead and orange on it's face. The same colours are used on the head mode with the orange replacing yellow on the face while there's an extra paint application aropund the face in yellow. Given a straight choice between the two I think the Japanese Titanmaster looks better in head mode but I'd be tempted to loose the grey silver paint over most of the blue: the blue was blue on his Headmaster on blue on the Headmaster's helmet. More importantly the blue used here is an exact match for the Generations T30 Nightbeat sold in 2014. If you're considering modding that toy using a third party adaptor then this is the head you want.
