The Titanium Series is a Hasbro toyline of partially die-cast toys produced by their Galoob branch. Originally consisting entirely of Star Wars vehicles of various sizes, it has since expanded into Battlestar Galactica vehicles, Marvel Comics characters and Transformers.
Transformers Titanium Series figures are produced in two size classes:
- Robot Masters are 3-inch (7.6cm), non-transformable, die-cast figurines of Transformers characters from various past and present toy lines.
- Cybertron Heroes are 6-inch (15cm), transformable, partially die-cast toys, representing both pre-existing toy designs as well as all-new models by Don Figueroa.
It is worth noting that since the Titaniums are developed by a separate branch of Hasbro from the normal Transformers team (who only has some input into character choices and looks), they do not take away "slots" from other Transformers lines. They are also not engineered or "mech-designed" by Takara.
They are also not actually made of titanium.
Cancellation and loose ends[]
After the last three mass retail waves of the 6 inch figures had already seen poor distribution (they were only available at general retail in small numbers, and then only months after they had already been available from online retailers and specialty stores), Hasbro announced at BotCon in July of 2007 that no new Titanium figures would be produced, and that the line would end after the upcoming release of figures already completed: Primal Prime, Soundblaster, Skywarp, War Within Grimlock, and War Within Prowl. But shortly thereafter, Hasbro said they no longer had plans to mass-produce or release any of those figures, and there was no further news for one year.
At BotCon 2008, Hasbro eventually revealed they had successfully "found homes" for several of those toys, all of them as exclusives: Skywarp was eventually released as a Hasbro Toy Shop exclusive in the summer of 2008 (also offered at San Diego Comic-Con at the same time), whereas War Within Grimlock and Prowl were made available as Toys"R"Us exclusives a month later. Primal Prime and Soundblaster currently still remain in limbo.
Several other 6 inch figures were cancelled at much earlier stages in development: During the Hasbro Tour at the aforementioned BotCon 2007, Hasbro displayed resin prototypes of Arcee, Cosmos, Shockwave and War Within Bumblebee (with an additional Cliffjumper head for an intended redeco). This was purely for informational purposes, as they were very clear that the creation of metal tooling — the most expensive part of Transformer toy manufacture and thus the "threshold" step required for market release — had not been and would not be completed. The Transformers Collectors Club roundtable has suggested there "may still be hope" for these figures to be produced in some form as part of other toylines, and Hasbro has said they would particularly like to use something akin to their Cosmos design in an upcoming line.
In addition, Hasbro displayed four more non-transforming 3 inch figures — redecos of Side Swipe, Bumblebee and War Within Optimus Prime as Sunstreaker, Cliffjumper and Nemesis Prime, respectively, plus Soundwave as a new mold — at San Diego Comic-Con and BotCon 2006. With the exception of Nemesis Prime, they were even put up as product listings at Hasbro's official Transformers website (and might actually still be as you're reading this), whereas Soundwave and Nemesis Prime were solicited to Australian online retailer Case Fresh. However, none of these toys ever appear to have made it to the mass production stage. Instead, Hasbro released three waves of 2007 Movie characters in the 3 inch assortment before cancelling it altogether. Furthermore, numerous other 3 inch figures were also listed in an official catalog included with one of the last waves of the 6 inch toys, but no photos have ever surfaced, so it's possible they never made it past the planning stage.
Releases[]
3" Robot Masters[]
Mass retail releases[]
Wave 1
- Beast Wars Megatron (Ultra body)
- War Within Optimus Prime
- Unicron (holding a moon of Cybertron)
Wave 2
- Autobot Jazz (Alternators "Meister" body)
- Side Swipe (Alternators body)
- Starscream (Generation One body)
Wave 3
- Optimus Primal (Beast Wars Ultra body)
- Autobot Starship Ark
- Megatron (Cybertron body)
Wave 4
- Optimus Prime (Generation One body)
- Bumblebee (Generation One body)
- Smokescreen (Alternators body)
Wave 5
Wave 6
- Rodimus (Generation One "Hot Rod" body)
- Thundercracker (Generation One body, redeco of Starscream)
Wave 7
- Galvatron (Generation One body)
- Optimus Prime (battle-damaged redeco of Generation One body)
Wave 8 (Movie wave 1)
- Optimus Prime (2007 Movie body)
- Movie Bumblebee (2007 Movie '74 Camaro body)
- Blackout (2007 Movie body)
Wave 9 (Movie wave 2)
- Megatron (2007 Movie body)
- Ironhide (2007 Movie body)
- Autobot Jazz (2007 Movie body)
Wave 10 (Movie wave 3)
- Decepticon Brawl (2007 Movie body)
- Autobot Ratchet (2007 Movie body)
Exclusives[]
Costco exclusives
- 2007 Movie Ultimate Bumblebee (not a Titanium figure) with "Special Value" bonus Titanium Series Bumblebee (unchanged Movie body from the wave 8 single pack)
Target exclusives
- "Ultimate Optimus Prime 3-Pack" (contains unchanged 2007 Movie "Robot Mode" Optimus Prime figure from the wave 8 single pack, plus Protoform Optimus Prime and "Vehicle Mode" Optimus Prime figures as new molds exclusive to this pack)
Toys"R"Us exclusives
- Optimus Prime & Bumblebee two-pack (metallic redecos of the single-packed G1 bodies)
6" Cybertron Heroes[]
Mass retail releases[]
Wave 1
- Megatron (re-imagined design based on Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover)
- Optimus Prime (War Within body)
Wave 2
- Jetfire (War Within body)
- Thundercracker (War Within body)
Wave 3
- Optimal Optimus
- Scourge (Generation One version)
Wave 4
- Rodimus Prime (Generation One version)
- Soundwave with Laserbeak (Generation One version)
Wave 5
- Optimus Prime (Robots in Disguise body)
- Starscream (redeco of War Within Thundercracker)
Wave 6
- Cheetor (Beast Machines body)
- "War Within" Fallen
Wave 7
- Megatron (War Within body)
- Ultra Magnus (Generation One body)
Wave 8
- Sunstorm (redeco of War Within Thundercracker)
- Ultra Magnus (redeco of War Within Optimus Prime)
Exclusives[]
Hasbro Toy Shop exclusives
- Menasor (redeco of Generation One Rodimus Prime)
- Skywarp (redeco of War Within Thundercracker)
Toys"R"Us exclusives
- Megatron & Optimus Prime two-pack (War Within bodies, unchanged from the single released, including exclusive The War Within #1 variant-cover comic)
- Grimlock (War Within body)
- Prowl (War Within body)
Target exclusives
- Thrust (War Within body)
- Optimus Prime (A more G1-inspired redeco of the War Within body)
- Hot Zone (Redeco of |RID Optimus Prime|. Hot Spot was renamed Hot Zone due to trademark issues)
Unreleased[]
Robot Masters[]
Solicited/pictured[]
- Cliffjumper (redeco of Generation One Bumblebee)
- Sunstreaker (redeco of Alternators Side Swipe)
- Soundwave (Generation One body; new mold)
- Nemesis Prime (redeco of War Within Optimus Prime)
Solicited only[]
- War Within Megatron (probably a new mold)
- Jetfire (probably a new mold, version unknown)
- Soundblaster (probably a redeco of Soundwave)
- Silverstreak (probably a redeco of Alternators Smokescreen)
- Black RODIMUS (probably a redeco of Rodimus; this might have been renamed Menasor — see above.)
- Shockwave (probably a new mold)
- Ultra Magnus (unknown — could have been an Optimus Prime redeco OR a new mold)
- Grimlock (unknown — could have been a G2-themed repaint of the original mold, or a new mold entirely)
Cybertron Heroes[]
Solicited/pictured[]
- Primal Prime (redeco of Optimal Optimus)
- Soundblaster with Ravage (redeco of Generation One Soundwave with new-mold Ravage replacing Laserbeak)
Resin hardcopies only[]
- Arcee
- The War Within Bumblebee (with an additional Cliffjumper head, perhaps a planned retool?)
- Cosmos
- Shockwave