So I got Trypticon recently (well, not that recently) and I’ve shown you his New Dinosaurer/Trypticon mode, as well as his partners Full-Tilt and Necro. They’re all really just teasers for the actual Decepticon dinosaur-city himself, Trypticon – and here he is in full glory! With stickers applied, of course (took me days to apply the stickers) (I am not a fan of stickers).
Trypticon is a Decepticon city that transforms into a gigantic dinosaur. He also has a third spaceship mode, which I’ve christened the Nemesis. In the aligned continuity of Transformers: Prime, Transformers: War for Cybertron, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (and Transformers: Robots in Disguise), the Nemesis is actually Trypticon stuck in his spaceship mode. So I’m just going to treat his spaceship mode as the Nemesis. Heh.
Trypticon is the second largest Transformer in the Transformers: Titans Return line, being a Titan Class toy. He was the winner of a November 2015 Facebook fan poll by Hasbro (which reveals that the design cycle of a new toy may be about a year). He beat out Omega Supreme and Scorponok to become a reality, which is what you’re seeing here!
Trypticon comes with a Deluxe toy, Full-Tilt, and a Titan Master, Necro. Necro can fit on Full-Tilt or Trypticon, and Full-Tilt can fit on Trypticon.
City Mode
In city mode, Trypticon is pretty wide and expansive – it’s difficult to find a backdrop large enough to photograph him against. I’ve got G1 Trypticon next to him for scale, and you can see that even an adult would have trouble playing with Trypticon and reaching from end to end with him. There’s no way you can sit with him on the floor and play with him properly, so I’d recommend putting his city mode on a large table so that your legs don’t get in the way of playing with him as a city.
He has plenty of ramps in city mode, which allow for Decepticon vehicles to move all around him and drive up and down. He also comes with two connection ramps/ports that allow him to connect with the base modes of Titans Return Leader Class figures, although I clearly do not have enough space to show you that here.
As a city, he clearly evokes that G1 feel we all had when we first saw Trypticon’s city mode as a toy – that of an alien city, with strange, unfathomable architecture. In this colour scheme, the city screams evil. Perhaps if Trypticon were in other colours, he’d give off more of a Lovecraftian vibe – do you really know what all those circular segments and random sections do? But his purple and grey colour scheme adds a sinister feel to the whole city, like he’s not of this Earth. Which he isn’t.
Generally, he’s fairly stable in city mode, although it’s difficult to pick him up since the sides will flop around. But when you lay him flat on the ground, he’s stable enough that you can rest and pose other figures on him.
I like his city mode. From the back, you can see his dinosaur kibble, and the claws are a little obvious as helicopter landing pads. Apart from that, everything else works quite well in as a Decepticon city.
Nemesis (spaceship) Mode
In the series finale of Beast Wars Transformers, Megatron succeeds in locating and raising the Nemesis in his bid to rule the universe. “The greatest warship in Decepticon history”, he claims – and that’s what Trypticon is as the Nemesis. I don’t think there’s any Decepticon vehicle or vehicle mode Transformer that can rival Trypticon as the Nemesis, which makes him pretty amazing to behold.
As the Nemesis, he’s really more of a massive flying platform, akin to an evil SHIELD Helicarrier, although he has some tiny little wings that convey the idea of a spaceship. Since he’s pretty heavy, you’re not going to be making him fly around and going “whoosh” because that’s rather tiring. Believe me, I’ve tried.
The best way you can play with the Nemesis is by using it as a set piece for Transformers battles. Remember that he’s sort of a flying platform? That means that your bots and cons can pose and fight on him. There’s also a cockpit in the front, where you can put a Deluxe figure – but it’s a little strange to do so, and it’s more fun to have them all on Trypticon himself, battling.
His sculpt shines in Nemesis mode, as the little funnels and mechanical shapes make him seem like a miraculous fusion of thousands of different moving parts. I hear Beast War’s Megatron’s voice whenever I put Trypticon in Nemesis mode (and I have, several times).
Dinosaur Mode
So here’s the main event – Trypticon as a giant walking dinosaur. Is it as amazing as you’ve imagined it?
Yes.
Firstly, there’s the sheer size of Trypticon. Other giant Transformers are humanoid in shape, but Trypticon is more bestial in appearance. Granted, he’s still a bipedal creature, but his giant tail and head make all the difference when it comes to the sense of ferocity that his dinosaur mode gives off.
Then there’s the detail. There’s just so much to look at when Trypticon is in dinosaur mode, and it’s clear that he was designed with this mode as a priority. I mean, that’s what you’re getting Trypticon for right – the dinosaur mode?
I haven’t experienced any issues with the leg joints. Generally, he’s designed so that the legs come off if pressure is applied wrongly. You have to do a little assembly of his legs when you get him, so you can clearly see where and how his legs are designed to detach to prevent breakage.
The only issue I’ve had is that the tail isn’t as tight as it could be after a few transformations, although I’m not sure if it was intentionally designed this way. I didn’t notice this until after playing with him a while, but the loose tail could be a design feature so that you can stand Trypticon up at different heights – meaning that you can angle his legs in a variety of ways and he’ll still be able to stand. If the tail were tighter or more rigid, there would probably be only one specific way that his legs could be positioned.
He has tiny forearms, but those forearms are pretty well articulated, and he can grasp objects. At the very least, his forearms are probably stronger than any Voyager Class Transformer’s. It’s cute.
It’s the details that make Trypticon so fascinating. He’s arguably more detailed than some Deluxe figures, and this detail helps to enhance the sense of scale that a city Transformer needs to have. His mouth alone is packed with features, like the gun/horn on top, where Necro (his Titan Master) slots in), and the oesophagus (so he can swallow Titan Masters).
Oesophagus is the UK spelling, and esophagus is the US spelling, by the way. I’m going with the UK spelling.
His wheels are also pretty well integrated into his dinosaur mode – small enough that it doesn’t look like kibble that can’t be hidden, large enough that you know he will transform into a vehicle of some sort.
His shoulder cannons are retractable. They’re also huge. I like using them as his artillery, but you could always position it as a jetpack. YMMV.
And of course, here’s where the Titan Masters go after he swallows them. You can use it as his gullet, or it can be the control centre where the Decepticons pilot him.
He is shorter than Metroplex though, which makes some sense – if they were the same height, he’d be a lot heavier and possibly unplayable by all but the strongest Transformers fans.
Here he is with his G1 counterpart from over 30 years ago.
Big bots.
Yes, you should get Trypticon. No matter how you cut it, he works either as a Transformer toy or a giant set piece for your other figures. There are just so many details to look at when you have him, and you keep finding out something new about him every time you pick him up. Or at least, I do.
I’m going to try to assemble a city with all the Transformers together when I have the time, but for now, Trypticon remains in dinosaur mode in my display.
This is an original article on marcusgohmarcusgoh.com
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I’m a Singapore television scriptwriter who’s written for Lion Mums, Crimewatch, Police & Thief, and Incredible Tales. I’m also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. You can find me on social media as Optimarcus and on my site.
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