Name: Triggerhappy
Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Gunner
Alternate Mode: Futuristic Jet
JET MODE
Height: 5cm (8cm with Blowpipe attached) Length: 17cm Width: 14cm
Primarily blue with grey on his wings, Triggerhappy's jet mode is nice. The colours work, but the design is also creative and looks good. The wings are quite small, and are swept forward. They attach to grey twin cannons, mounted on the sides of the fuselage. These cannons are huge, and look both imposing and powerful. Mounted on the rear of these cannons are twin gold jets. Like the cannons, they are mounted one on top of the other.
There's Decepticon symbols on stickers on the wings, the cockpit is transparent blue, and is level with the fuselage (the nose tapers downwards as a result). To the sides of the cockpit are air intakes. If you attach Blowpipe, he has a third gun mounted on top, although to be honest he doesn't look like he needs any more firepower. With rapid fire guns on either side, the compressed air cannon on top almost seems superficial. But hey, he's a Targetmaster, so might as well add the gun, I say!
Under the cockpit is a retractable front wheel. Having said that, you really need to leave it out in plane mode or he lurches forward, you'd only really retract it for robot mode. The rear wheels are mounted on what becomes the robot shins, and don't retract. All the wheels roll. There's very little kibble in this mode. In fact, aside from the robot head being visible (although pushed in) at the back, there's none. A good plane mode.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Remove Blowpipe, if attached. Fold down the wings. Fold the barrels of the twin cannons out to the sides and around 180°. Fold in the front wheel, lift up the cockpit and swivel it up on top of the fuselage. Swing down the legs, straighten the knees, fold down the feet and heel spurs. Press on the head and push it forward a little, it should pop up. Lastly, swing out the forearms and then the hands, give him his gun.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 18cm Width: 11.5cm
The blue which was predominant in the plane mode carries over here, although he has grey thighs, feet, upper arms, fists and the twin cannons on the sides of his arms. The gold jets are now on the tops of his shoulders, and look pretty good as features. His face is a burgundy colour, his eyes orange. The cockpit is on his chest, reminiscent of the Seekers of 1984/1985.
Aside from the cannons on the sides of his arms, there's no kibble. And those cannons look pretty good there. They do have a tendency to flop down, however, since the swivels they're mounted on aren't really strong enough for the weight they're being asked to hold. Clips to attach the ends to the wings would have been really useful.
Poseability is pretty standard for 1987 - he's got swivel shoulders and elbows that can swing up. He has hips and knees, both of which ratchet back, for the transform. The hips can swivel forward a bit, so leg posing is a possibility here. In fact, the heel spurs help make running poses and the like possible.
It's a good robot mode. What little kibble we have looks good, the colours work and thought has gone into poseability. The only real drawback is the floppy cannons on his arms. I stick blu-tacŪ on the barrels to keep them stuck onto the wings, since it's the same colour.
BLOWPIPE
Like Triggerhappy, Blowpipe is blue & grey. Having said that, it's a much lighter blue, and the silver is more metallic. His colours are the same as Caliburst's (partner for Slugslinger) and Aimless' (partner for Misfire), so there is a logic to this mismatch. Like Caliburst, he transforms simply by folding up, with the barrel piece being attached. So not only do you have to worry about losing the Nebulon, but losing the barrel attachment also. Also, like both Caliburst and Aimless, his hip joints are very weak, and will break over time if you're not careful.
Whilst Triggerhappy is a good toy, his gun isn't the best designed accessory. Yes, it's his major gimmick, but luckily he looks like a flying arsenal in plane mode anyway. So it fails to really bring Triggerhappy down much.
VARIATIONS
None that I'm aware of.
OVERALL
A good toy, nice colour scheme and both mode are strong. Aesthetically strong in both modes and poseable in robot mode. His Targetmaster has some problems, but Triggerhappy's worth getting anyway. His only flaws (Blowpipe aside) are the floppy cannons and a tendency to yellow over time. Basically the grey plastic used (which he shares with a lot of 1986-1987 Decepticons, such as Hun-Grrr, Snapdragon, Slugslinger, Trypticon) is more susceptible to UV damage than normal for G1 plastics. So keep him out of the sun. I'd give him 8, but the fact that a lot of the Triggerhappy toys out there will be yellowed loses a point - 7/10
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