Transformers Titans Return Trypticon vs. G1 Trypticon – A Classic Toy Perfectly Reimagined

Update: That Black Friday sale I mention at the end? It’s on right now! You can pick up this amazing bot for $90, that’s an uprecedented 40% retail price. Grab it before it’s gone!

Let’s get this out of the way – in my original Titans Return Trypticon/G1 Trypticon comparison, I had several side-by-side shots that I Photoshoped together, estimating what I thought would be the proper scale of the newly released toy.

I was wrong. So, so wrong.

How wrong?

This wrong.

Transformers Titans Return Trypticon is enormous. It positively dwarfs the Generation 1 Transformer toy that inspired it. Combiner Wars Devastator gets close in size, but loses out in sheer magnitude. Titans Return Fortress Maximus is taller, but in a fight between the two, my money would be on the toothy robotic T-Rex.

G1 Inspired

Putting Titans Return and G1 Trypticon side-by-side, it’s easy to see where the newer toy drew inspiration from the old. In addition to sharing the same alt-modes, the deco is almost exactly the same (a quick note that both my bots are stickered up with aftermarket upgrade sets from Toyhax.com). They’re also both triple changers and both have companion Transformers. Let’s take a closer look!

Full-Tilt

One of my favorite features of Titans Return Trypticon is one of the smallest (“Small” being a relative term here). Trypticon’s chest plate is actually a fully-independent, Deluxe-scale bot of his own called Full-Tilt. His design and function mirror the Full-Tilt toy included with the original Trypticon.

And while he’s mostly a slab of purple plastic that looks a bit like something out of Blade Runner (mine is upgraded with Toyhax.com Reprolabels), his upgraded modern incarnation is fully articulated and has his own Titan Master, Necro. Necro fits in the cockpit of Full-Tilt’s vehicle mode and can interact with Trypticon in city mode as well as activate the Dino mode’s head cannon. Take a look!

My only quibble is that Full-Tilt and Necro are just a bit too heavy. Jostling the chest plate with them attached is enough to make the chest door pop open (which is helpful for retrieving Titan Masters you’ve had Trypticon “eat”, less helpful if all you want to do is move him a bit).

A nerdy aside (in an already nerdy article), Hasbro modeled Necro after Wipe-Out, the character that appeared as a companion to Trypticon in the original G1 comic, but never got a toy. It is a deep nerd nod to fans of the original Transformers series.

Dino Mode

There are two other modes to talk about, but this one is the most important. Why? Because it’s an enormous robotic T-Rex. How big? Big enough that he can use a deluxe-sized toy as an accessory. How big? Big enough that you can toss Titan Masters into his mouth and have him “eat” scores of them (which you can then conveniently retrieve from his chest). How big? My new kitten, Loki, hid in the bedroom until I’d put Trypticon out of sight. That big.

The detailing on Trypticon is phenomenal. The design reflects some of that G1 blockiness, but every surface is covered in sculpted details. For a toy whose design necessitates that the entire central portion be a slightly curved rectangular box, you can easily forget that he’s also a city and a spaceship. He’s also surprisingly…agile?

Trypticon might not have the battery features of the original toy (sorry, no walking on his own), but he’s got something much better – articulation. The hips have enormous amounts of play, allowing you to pose Trypticon dynamically. You can even get a convincing “modern T-Rex interpretation” out of him – tail up, chest parallel to the ground. Though to do so you have to flip his head back, which eliminates his neck. It’s how Hasbro’s stock photos have him transformed, but I think it looks goofy. I much prefer the classic “tail-dragging” mode.

Spaceship Mode

In between City Mode and Dino Mode is this. In the original toy, you kept the legs folded, flipped up the tail ramp to reveal a pair of cannons, and reconfigured the extra parts to give Trypticon a cannon. That’s pretty much the same here. Except that, unlike his G1 counterpart, Titans Return Trypticon’s Spaceship mode is much more convincing. The legs peg in to the main body, there are little wings that flip out, there’s even a launch bay where you can store Full-Tilt.

What was my least favorite mode on the original is completely redeemed in the new toy. The Reprolabels upgrades label the escape pods along the back of the ship, selling the mode even more.

City Mode

City Mode is Trypticon’s bread-and-butter. After all, he’s not a “triple-changer” or “combiner” or any other Transformer sub-type. Just like Fortress Maximus before him, he’s a “city-bot.” Transformation is surprisingly similar to the G1 toy. You lay the dino down, pop open the panels on his sides and flip his hip joints to another position (a warning, that hip transition needs more force than you’d expect to lock into position; don’t be afraid to push hard until you hear the click). Then you splay open the legs, flip down the tail ramp and fiddle a few other panels and towers into place.

What Titans Return Trypticon immediately has over his G1 relative is that there are no extra parts. Not only did G1 Trypticon have an entire mobile drone composed of parts needed to complete city mode, he had ramps, satellite dishes, missile launchers, and support parts whose only purpose is to sit off to the side and get lost amongst all your other Transformers parts (case in point – I couldn’t find them until after I’d already taken these pictures, which is why they’re there in Battle Base mode but not City Mode). All of Titan Returns Trypticon’s ramps, weapons, and towers are integrated into the toy itself. The only removable accessory is Full-Tilt and Necro.

City mode is perfectly sized for Titan Master figures to wander around. There are doorways to the central portion and foot pegs all over the place for posing the teeny figures. And while there’s no launching mechanism for vehicles on the central ramp like there was in the G1 figure, you can easily let gravity do the work.

Incidentally, this mode is also where Toyhax.com’s Reprolabels for Trypticon really shine. They fill in little details, add windows to the sculpted towers, and generally just complete the already impressive sculpt created by Hasbro. Before you go through the pain and trouble of applying the flimsy and somewhat lackluster stickers that come with the toy, check Toyhax out. You’ll be much more satisfied.

More Than Meets the Eye

As much as I love the Platinum Reissue of G1 Trypticon, the new Titans Return Trypticon is its superior in every way. It’s bigger, more fun to play with, and visually much more exciting. The Titan Master integration is solid and fun in all modes. And it’s abundantly clear that the designers at Hasbro took meticulous care in translating a beloved classic toy for modern tastes. This is one of those wonderful times where the fans got exactly what they want, and in the process, a toy that was created that will capture the admiration of a new generation as well.

Titans Return Trypticon is a must buy. I’ve heard rumors of a deal coming on Black Friday, but you can pick him up today on Amazon for $139.99. Don’t miss out.

Thanks to Hasbro for providing Titans Return Trypticon for this review. Opinions are my own

Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!