G1 Trypticon

with Full-Tilt & Brunt

Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Decepticon
Categories: City
Year: 1986

Total victory requires total destruction.
Doesn't stop blasting until he's hip-deep in smoking rubble. Completely without mercy. The most lethal fighting machine devised by the Decepticons. In dinosaur Mode, jumps 20 miles with rocket backpack. Shoots heat-seeking plasma bombs from mouth and mind-controlling hypno-beam from optical sensor. As city, has landing and repair bays, communications center and rotating scanners. In mobile station Mode, has laser cannon, rotating blasters, destructo-beams and dual photon launchers.

Robot Mode: Trypticon does not have a robot mode as such, the closest he comes to humanoid form is his dinosaur mode. In this mode he looks pretty much like what he's supposed to, a Tyrannosaurus Rex. He is pretty heavily armed, the cannons on his shoulders, inside his mouth, and the 'horn' giving him an abundance of firepower. He can also walk by himself, provided one inserts the correct batteries. Trypticon is the third-tallest Transformer of the G1 line, only Fortress Maximus and Scorponok tower over him. All in all I like his dinosaur mode very much and it's pretty much identical to the cartoon character, so lots of play value here.

Alternate Mode: Trypticon is a triple changer. His first alternate mode is Decepticon City, not so much a city as a spread-out futuristic base. It looks pretty cool, though, the extended modules on each side giving him a lunar-base-like feel. A kick-ass base, much better than the base modes of Scorponok or Metroplex, almost as good as Fortress Maximus. As an added feature you can attach both Motormaster and Onslaught (or his RID incarnation Mega Octane) in their base modes to create Super Decepticon City.

Trypticon's second alternate mode is probably his worst, though I find myself liking it more and more the more often I look at it. It's supposed to be a battle plattform (as seen in the G1 cartoon episode "Five Faces of Darkness, p5"), but to me it looks more like some kind of giant crawling beast with guns attached to its back. Which isn't a bad thing, mind you. The eye-like slits on each side of the front ramp give it a sinister air and with lots of firepower added you know this mode is kicking Autobot ass all over the place. So bottom line, this is the worst of the three modes, but still a whole lot better than, for example, Metroplex' battle platform mode.

Add-Ons / Partners: Trypticon comes with two support vehicles. One is Brunt, a huge tank that splits into various components used in Trypticon's alternate modes, chief among them the central laser barrel (which lights up). Full-Tilt is a purple buggy-like vehicle that transforms into a not-very-posable robot or attaches to Trypticon's chestplate when he's in dino-mode.

Remarks: In my not as humble as it should be opinion Trypticon is the better of the two Decepticon Cities (Scorponok being the other), simply by virtue of having three good modes while Scorponok only has two and, more importantly, he is of the correct size to go one on one with his Autobot counterpart Metroplex. The two had some memoriable battles in the third season of the G1 cartoon and with this toy you can restage them (if you have Metroplex, that is).

Even without his counterpart, Trypticon offers a lot of play value, both in his dinosaur mode and as a stage for some of the smaller Decepticons in city mode. He was well worth the hefty price I paid for him. The box he comes in has seen better days, but the toy is in near mint condition. All in all, a great Transformer. Now if only he wasn't so difficult to put into my display case because of that long tail.

Rating: A-

Update 2013-09-09: See a video featuring Trypticon's electronic features: