Triggerhappy

Decepticon Targetmasters have had a mystical aura for me over the last few years.  As a kid, they were always on the top of my list to get, but I never managed to snag any.  Once adult fueled nostalgia kicked in, Decepticon Targetmasters became expensive totems to me.  Yes, I wanted them, but I didn't want to really pay that much for them.  Finding one in great condition, sans yellowing or broken parts with an intact Nebulon is difficult enough.  Getting one without mortgaging the future is nigh impossible.  Then I had the heart attack and I started getting a different outlook on life.  The first purchase I made when I got home was Triggerhappy. 

As a kid, Triggerhappy always appealed to me in the catalog that came with every figure from that era.  Something about that space ship mode just stuck in my head.  I've read where others believe that he shares some aspects with an X-Wing fighter, but I don't really see it.  I really wish that Triggerhappy had been used as a Headmaster just so we could have the canopy open.  That is one sleek spaceship.
 

I want everyone to take a good look at Blowpipe when he's not in gun mode.  This will most likely be the last time he's in this mode.  While mine isn't cracked or showing super serious signs of stress, I want to make sure that he doesn't break.  For the life of me, I don't know why Hasbro decided on clips for the legs on the Decepticon weapons but went with pins for the Autobots.  Mr. Brr-Icy pointed out a mod that I can do to Blowpipe that will take the stress off the clips, and I may try that.  If I try it and it works, I'll spread the word, but I have no reason to not trust what I've been told.

This is how Blowpipe will remain until I try the mod.  Triggerhappy, well, he'll be swapping modes a lot.  Lighting proved to be problematic during this shoot.  My Triggerhappy is not nearly this color of cream.  I'm not sure what happened, but the whites look yellow here.  Perhaps I should switch back to white backgrounds.  Whatever the case, I did come out with a very nice Triggerhappy.

 Here's a closer shot of Blowpipe.  While I only have the one large Decepticon Targetmaster, I think I made a great decision in making him my first.  In my opinion, Blowpipe looks better than any of the Autobot Targetmaster Nebulons.  Blue and grey work well together in this instance.  I'm extremely happy with Blowpipe.

As lovely as Triggerhappy is in vehicle mode, I find his robot mode much more desirable.  Still, something seemed off when I transformed him into robot mode.  It took me awhile, but I was finally able to out my finger on it - Triggerhappy's head seemed...off.  I went to TFWiki.net and figured out why my memories of this guy were incongruous with what I was holding in my hands.

Image from TFWiki.net

 I should have known that the figures in the catalog rarely, if ever, completely resembled what we actually got.  Especially when the prototype is using a painted Blaster head.  Duh.

Triggerhappy seems to be full of surprises.  Not only did he feature some nice leg articulation, thanks to the transformation scheme, but Triggerhappy also has some nifty arm articualtion!  His arms move at the shoulder, plus at the elbow.  This is something that I'm not exactly familiar with in figures of this era.  If there was some head and waist articulation, I'd say he has ready for some dynamic posing!  Alas, that isn't to be, but that doesn't mean that Triggerhappy isn't a phenomenal figure.  That price, however, leaves so much to be desired.  Collectors that only get MISB must be forking out a small fortune for him.  That's one Decepticon Targetmaster down, and the rest to go!