Thursday, July 14, 2016

Transformers Titans Return Crashbash



Crashbash (also known as Squeezeplay) is the second of the 1988 Decepticon Headmasters to be reimagined as a Titanmaster. It's always nice to get some of the lesser known characters updated with new toys instead of just rehashing the main players over and over again. Hopefully a Fangry will be part of a later wave to complete the '88 trio.

Crashbash is a fitting name for a Decepticon who was characterized as a reckless force of destruction on the battlefield. He's no longer some sort of crab monster. Unlike Terri-Bull his companion piece has beast modes rather than vehicle modes.

Head mode:

What a head sculpt. That evil smirk is the perfect expression for a Decepticon Titanmaster. The silver painted face and red eyes stand out nicely against the pink (depending on the light it can look purple) plastic the rest of the head is cast from. Like Terri-Bull the head is very nicely detailed. No complaints here from me.

Robot mode:

Like his head mode Crashbash's robot mode is mostly pink. There is a little silver paint on his face and some grey plastic on the torso to break things up a little but that's it. I am impressed by how cleanly the robot's face has been painted given how tiny it is.


Crashbash has the same articulation as it seems all Titanmasters have. Ball neck and shoulders and hinged hips and knees. It's not much but still impressive given the size of these figures.

Beast mode 1:

Crashbash's companion is a small pink and grey dragon. Depending on your definition this may actually be a wyvern. Or maybe I'm the only person to get hung up on minor irrelevant details.

Most of the detailing in this mode is molded. There's a little paint for the eyes and the neck and that's about it. The neck is on a hinge as is the tail. The wings and legs are ball jointed. It's not super poseable but neither is it a static piece.


There are pegs on the tail that plug into the holes on a Titanmasters feet. Crashbash plugs in perfectly allowing him to ride his dragon. When I swapped in Terri-Bull I found the molding of his feet was different enough that he didn't fit as securely. So it looks like some Titanmasters will fit better than others.

Beast mode 2:

The integrated alt-mode is this adorable little dinosaur. A Titanmaster fits in upside down with their arms becoming the dinosaur arms and their legs the dinosaur's lower jaw. In this mode you get ball jointed arms and legs although both are limited. If you don't plug the Titanmasters legs in you can also get some mouth articulation.

Weapon mode:




The weapon mode fairs better than Terri-Bull's but that's not saying much. The dino/dragon legs plug into the sides and the dragon head flips into the body. This gives the blaster a triple-barreled look. It does a better job of looking like a gun from some angles but looks like a dinosaur lying on its back from others. It's there if you want it but I think there are better modes to play with.

Final Thoughts:

The dinosaur mode alone has made Crashbash my favorite of the Titanmasters I own. Like Terri-Bull I'd just as soon forget the gun mode exists. But the other modes are all solid. Crashbash is a lot of fun for such a little figure. If you see him and have a bit of money to spare I'd highly recommend you pick him up.

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