TFC Hypnos

Prelude: Legal stuff first as usual. Hypnos is not a figure released by Hasbro or Takara-Tomy and thus not officially a Transformer. He hails from third party company TFC and is of course meant to be Drillhorn from the Breastforce, but for legal reasons he can’t be called by that name. TFC instead took a name from Greek myth again, naming him after the Greek god of sleep. Hypnos is also, unsurprisingly, the origin of the word hypnosis. Given their respective abilities in the cartoon, of course, It would have made more sense to give the Hypnos name to Minos / Hellbat.

Robot Mode: Hypnos is an extensive retool of Thanatos, so we shall focus mostly on the differences between the two figures. In robot mode the two are roughly 80 percent identical, I’d say. Hypnos gets a new head, a new paintjob, and instead of the tank turret on his back he carries the drill from his drill tank mode there. Sadly that means he lacks the cool shoulder guns of Thanatos, but in all other ways he’s the same awesome figure.

No complaints in terms of articulation or detailing, Hypnos does quite well in both areas. His sole weapon is, of course, his detachable chest plate / gun / beast partner. Well, he also comes with the absurdly large three-piece spear for the Hades combiner, but he can’t really use that by himself. So bottom line: Hypnos is not quite as awesome as Thanatos due to the lack of shoulder guns, but he comes very close. A very nice robot mode.

Alternate Mode: Hypnos transforms into a purple drill tank, which immediately reminded me of the Magma Mole from the M.A.S.K. episode of the same name. It’s basically the same tank Thanatos transforms into, but with the turret replaced by a cockpit, the drill mounted up front, and some details changed here and there. The resulting vehicle looks very sleek, everything fits together nicely, and there are no visible robot bits. Not a whole lot you can do here, of course. The tip of the drill twists, but that’s about it. Well, you can mount his chestplate-gun on top, too. Overall a nice vehicle mode, no complaints.

Partner / Add-On: Like all members of the Breastforce, Hypnos comes with a detachable chest plate that becomes a gun for use in robot and vehicle mode, as well as a beast companion, a rhino in his case. The robotic beast looks good and about as detailed as you can expect at this size. Still kind of ambivalent about this gimmick in general, but nicely executed. No complaints here, either.

Combiner Mode: Hypnos forms a leg (left or right) of the Hades combiner. I’ll do a separate review of Hades once I’ve got the entire team together. Hypnos also provides Hades with his big spear weapon, more on that in combiner review as well.

Remarks: There are certain staples you expect to see in a Japanese Transformers series. A super-heroic ultra-powerful good guy leader, of course. Lots and lots of combiners, certainly. Long, drawn-out sequences of transformations, combinations, and super-attacks, naturally. And drills. At least one guy will have a big, phallic drill. Be it Beast Wars II Galvatron, Zone Dai Atlas, Masterforce Sixknight or, in the Victory cartoon, Drillhorn. The Japanese love their drills, make of that what you will. Drillhorn didn’t really do much in Victory expect be a part of the Breastforce and Liokaizer. And he drilled, of course.

As for Hypnos, the main reason for getting him is, of course, for Hades to actually have a second leg. That said, he’s a good stand-alone figure as well. Maybe not quite as good as Thanatos, but that might just be my penchant for shoulder guns talking. So bottom line: you’re going to get him to complete Hades, yes, but he works on his own, too.

Rating: B+