Titans Return Gnaw

Prelude: Who’s the cutest little Sharkticon ever? Who’s got the cutest little teeth and the prettiest big bug eyes? It’s Gnaw, of course, the cutest little killing machine ever to be deployed in endless hordes by five-faced alien beings intent on conquering the universe. He is Gnaw from Titans Return. And seeing as new Gnaw figures have been teased for War for Cybertron: Siege and Cyberverse, let’s see what the Prime Wars version of the cutest little alien robot monster ever has to offer.

Beast Mode: Let’s start with what is really Gnaw’s primary mode, a robotic beast that actually looks very little like a shark. Sure, it has a big mouth with rows and rows of teeth and that cute little fin on top, but that’s pretty much it. The beast has arms and legs (something a shark definitely does not have) and its torso is basically all mouth. The big mouth can open and close, the tiny little arms can move at the shoulders, and the legs (actually the robot mode arms) have knee joints. The tail detaches to form Gnaw’s mace in robot mode.

Like all Titans Return Legends-class figures Gnaw, too, has a cockpit for a Titan Master figure... well, sort of. Actually a Titan Master can stand inside his mouth. If he wants, I mean. If he’s stupid enough to step into the mouth of a Sharkticon. He fits, though, so that’s something. I guess.

Anyway, in direct comparison to his G1 predecessor, TR Gnaw is basically identical, just smaller. So bottom line: a very cute Sharkticon beast mode. No complaints.

Robot Mode: While Gnaw does manage to be somewhat scary (though in a cute way) in beast mode, his robot mode abandons all pretense of scariness and is just adorable. Maybe not quite as much as G1 Gnaw with his chubby head, but still. Gnaw is just a tubby little thing in robot mode that really makes one want to go “awwww!” all the time. He is nicely articulated, though, quite unlike his G1 predecessor, and can pose with the best of them. He lacks the rifle from his G1 days, but that isn’t a big thing. He still has his mace.

So bottom line for the robot mode: adorable.

Remarks: By the time the third season of the original G1 cartoon rolled around, the Decepticons were basically relegated to second-class bad guys, while the true antagonists were the Quintessons, the creators of all Transformers. The Quintessons deployed endless hordes of Sharkticon drones as their henchmen and loved to drop people into Sharkticon pits after holding show trials for them. Only one Sharkticon ever made it into the G1 toy line, Gnaw, and 30 years later he returned alongside the Titans.

While the Quintessons and their respective drones and troops are still criminally underrepresented in the Transformers toy lines, it’s really nice to see Gnaw again. He’s scary in an 80s kids cartoon way and sold at a price point where you can easily army build him, if you wish. He’s also a pretty nice stand-alone figure, too. So unless you really don’t like the futuristic styling of the season 3 figures, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Gnaw. Recommended!

Rating: A-