This isn’t a Gundam.

Although Brainstorm is wacky enough that you’d think he’s some Japanese anime character.

Wait, you know what? He was in Masterforce so he technically is…

Setting that aside, let’s take a look at the Voyager sized update of the G1 Headmaster! Shall we?

Vehicle mode

Spaceship, spaceship, spaceship! Yes, Brainstorm has his flaws in spaceship mode but it’s definitely not the worst or weirdest we’ve seen. I think Brainstorm has a vehicle mode about as good as Generations Whirl.

In terms of functionality, no rolling wheels here. But he does have static landing gear and you can plug the guns on the front of the… fuselage I guess? Also, the cockpit is functional and seats the Headmaster.

Transformation

Brainstorm has a super simple transformation compared to most Voyagers. Having to not hide a robot head is another reason you feel like something is missing from the transformation.

Robot mode

Brainstorm does not look like a nerdy scientist. He looks like some space martial arts master. His proportions make him look really athletic. Like an MMA fighter or something. Brainstorm has a lot of paint and it picks out his details nicely. Even though I said he looks like he’s a hand to hand fighter, he comes with two decently sized handguns that he looks great wielding.

Brainstorm has great posability. His head is ball-jointed and unrestricted. His shoulders go in and out as well as rotate. He has bicep swivels and double jointed elbows. His legs go forward and back. They also go in and out. He has thigh swivels and knee bends. His feet move forward and back. And he has ankle tilts. If he had a waist swivel and wrist swivels he’d be perfect. But as he is, he’s really close.

The Headmaster is also painted nicely. He has ball jointed shoulders and his legs are fused and jointed at the hips as well as knees.

Gimmicks

The main gimmick for Brainstorm is that he is a Headmaster and comes with all of the associated wackiness of the G1 Headmasters. The main part of that wackiness is that his head turns into a tiny robot. Then plugging in the Headmaster shows his Tech Specs and how strong he is.

And the tiny robot can ride in the spaceships opening cockpit. Seriously, these are some far out there gimmicks.

Toy or collectible?

Brainstorm is both. He’s got an okay spaceship mode, an easy transformation and a great robot mode. He’d make a exceptional first “big kid” Transformer for a child.

As an adult collectible, Brainstorm is necessary if you collect IDW style Transformers. On the other hand, he’s out of scale with the other Titans Return Titanmasters. So if that’s important to you, you’re better off with the Titans Return Brainstorm.

Closing

I’ve played with both the Titans Return Brainstorm and Thrilling 30 Brainstorm. While Titans Return Brainstorm does have the better jet mode, I think Thrilling 30 Voyager Brainstorm does literally everything else better.

Look out for this guy and get him if you haven’t yet. He’s getting harder to find and more expensive every day but for now he’s still a great Transformer with a great price.