So I was lucky enough to trip over some of the new Takara Legends releases in Nakano today, including Weirdwolf/Wolfwire, so I thought I'd upload a short review for people who might be waiting on him. I'll preface this by saying that Chromedome and Weirdwolf were the 2 headmasters I had as a kid, so I'm stoked to see this updated version of one of my much loved original TF's. Takara have got the colours spot-on, and though they don't seem to differ too much from the Hasbro version, there are a few noticeable differences: Head Sculpt: this is much closer to the comic/cartoon that the Hasbro one. The original Weirdwolf had grey unpainted eyes, so neither version is particularly accurate to the original head in that respect. I do prefer Takara's take since it looks like the character in most media, unlike Hasbro's that doesn't really look like anything. Robot Chest: Takara decided not to paint the ridges leading up to the detail that would have been the tech-spec flap on the old toy. I like this cleaner look, so nice work Takara. Claws: The Hasbro version had rough, chipped looking claws. Takara's are showroom condition, so depends on your preference, I like both to be honest. The wolf mode is great - I get a real Carnivac vibe from the stance, and so fingers crossed we'll get that repaint! The paws are a bit fiddly, but get him right and he looks terrific. I prefer to put Monzo in the gun seat rather than the cockpit. Speaking of Monzo, there are very few paint apps on the little fella, but I noticed his belt buckle has the same detail as the original toy, so that was nice. He also fits very snugly on the main bot's shoulders, so no Highbrow level hi-jinx here at least. The little Apeface fella is cute but not my cup of tea. It adds a little play factor though. All in I think he's great. Nostalgia aside, he's a well realised sculpt with a few clever transformation touches. Is he better than the Hasbro version? I think so, if only for the recognisable face sculpt. I've thrown a shot of the comic as well for those of you who can read it! Sorry for the late night phone shots, hopefully they have the detail you need!
I can't believe just a new head will make this mold looks great. They need, need to sell that head by itself!
I'm not a fan of the new robot head. It's too square compared to the body. You've got this really nice updated Weirdwolf with an outdated looking noggin.
I think the Hasbro one is more organic looking so that may be more to your taste, but this is an accurate representation of the comics/cartoon, so depends on your preferences really. It is a fun figure though.
Can someone upload a few comparison pictures with the Hasbro version please? I wanna know wether this one's yellow really is that much darker.
Here you go: (usual caveats about my photo quality apply, see link in sig) Overall "Darker" wouldn't be the word I'd use. The soft yellow plastic in the wolf neck base & body is the closest colour match between the two and that is ever so slightly darker. The rest of the plastic is then matched pretty well to that, far better than the variations on the Hasbro version. Overall he looks a little paler than the Hasbro version which is quite a bright yellow in places. Grey plastic has become yellow, except on the robot head, sword & beast head are painted. Clear red becomes clear orange and the red of the teeth and vents on the side of the the beast head is painted over silver. He's like the anti Skullcruncher who went from opaque plastic for Hasbro to translucent for Takara. The blue green is a pretty good match on both toys, way better than Hardhead, so if you want to tool one up with a second gun from the other you can. Robot Head is MUCH better on the Takara version, it's the most Headmastery looking Titanmaster head yet, very square on to the front. A WIN for Takara over Hasbro I think, but I'd consider swapping the beast heads.
Thanks a bunch Payres, so the colordifference is negligable. That leaves the head and the more finished beast deco to ponder.
The difference between the yellows, maybe, but there's a lot more of the yellow on the body of the beast mode where it was off white on the Hasbro version. Plus you get the Bananabot!
If the Yen was what it was 6 months ago, i'd consider the Legends version, but these are close enough i'm not too sussed about the differences: I'd prefer the Takara Head, but i like the extra robot mode paint and the wolf head on Hasbro's, and unlike some of the other changed heads, it doesn't look super derpy like Skullcruncher or weird and out of place aesthetically like Chromedome.
I prefer the traditional head more than Hasbro's new version. Sure its square, but its supposed to be square. That's how he should to me. I think Hasbro's head is better suited towards other characters that have a wolf mold like Carnivac and Cybertron Snarl if they ever want to do those characters.
I got lucky with mine: Grabbed from Kapow while he was up for £20.99. The net few Legends deluxe are £29.99 now
Agreed. That G1-inspired head looks fine on its own, but feels like it's mated to the wrong body. Maybe I'm a bit biased because I think Hasbro's updated Weirdwolf head is one of the snazziest noggins in the TR line.
The way the visor & face merge together because of the paint, with the odd red down the side of the forehead doesn't look great to me.
Have there been any reports on the TM canopy joint breaking like people have been reporting on the Hasbro version?
For those who want to see the heads close up here is a decent shot I took, as you can see, the Takara version has used two different shades of red for the face and visor I'm the opposite, I have both versions and honestly the Hasbro one looks too small on the body and not enough like any version of the character. The Takara one looks spot on to the Headmasters anime so I am more than happy with it. Curiously enough, the main difference between the Hasbro and Tomy version (other than the head) is that Takara only used grey/offwhite plastic on the headmaster and painted everything else whilst Hasbro used the off-white to save paint budget. Ultimately though, it is purely down to which head you prefer, wolves do hunt in packs though and with different names they could just be brothers
