Tarn

Oh, you know it's bad when even Hasbro doesn't pretend they didn't mess things up! Tarn is fiercely loyal to the Decepticon cause, taking his allegiance so far as to affix the Decepticon insignia to his own face. That's the bio from the standard figure, which this decidedly isn't. Tarn was originally released in the first series of Legacy Evolution figures in 2023, alongside Leo Prime. Allegedly. I certainly never saw one, and believe me, I was looking. Hard. Haven't stopped looking. Series 2 was when the Voyagers started to be plentiful, and Series 1 never saw any kind of restocks. But a popular new character from the popular comics getting their first-ever toy is a recipe for high demand that far outstripped the meager supply. The smart thing to do would be just to ship some more of it, but no, we had to wait an entire year for him to be put in a store-exclusive four-pack. This is ostensibly a "Cyberverse Universe" Tarn, not the real one. The original Tarn was part of the Decepticon Justice Division, basically Megatron's secret police. Like the rest of the DJD, he took his codename from one of the first cities conquered by the Decepticons. Tarn wears a faceplate shaped like the Decepticon logo, a fact slightly underminded on this repaint by the fact it's been painted with what looks like a big red smile running right through the middle of it in an effort to better match the Cyberverse cartoon. If you want to get super technical, Cyberverse had a whole army of 'cons that looked like Tarn: the Decepticon Supersoldiers were mass-produced and identical (so like Prime's Vehicons), but one of them managed to rise above the rest and named himself "Tarn." He was heavily scarred and missing an arm, so this ain't him. (We're just going to keep reviewing this as if it were the G1 version, because that's the only reason I bought him.) Tarn is a tall, thin robot, but still manages to look powerful due to the bulk around his shoulders and on his limbs. The chest is broad and flat, with angled armor covering it, and there are two batons sticking up over his shoulders. Similar to Megatron, he carries a cannon on his right arm, but his has two barrels, not just one. Scary! The barrels can be removed from their turret and combined into a single, long, handheld fusion cannon. Because the 2023 Tarn was redecoed into a new version of Bludgeon, this 2024 Tarn also includes a long purple sword that can be plugged into his back when he's not holding it in either of his articulated hands. It's not great, but it's not awful, either. Other than the fingers, Tarn moves at the wrists, elbows, biceps, shoulders, head, waist, hips, thighs, knees, and ankles. His feet have large, flat bases, providing stability even if you get a little nuts with the pose. Converting Tarn is decently fun. Remove the gun turret, turn his head to face backwards (this isn't mentioned in the instructions, but things won't fit together at the end if you don't), pull the backpack out, turn it around and swing the small guns up, lift the chestplate slightly, pull the arms out to the sides and tip them back, fold the head away, raise the chestplate the rest of the way up, turn the hands to the outside and the forearms to the inside, move the forearm armor around to the other side, finish raising the arms above his head, put the legs together, point the feet down and bend the knees back to plug them into the back, open the side panels on the tank tread, swing the arms around and fold them into the sides, straighten the treads, and put the gun turret on top. Tarn turns into a Cybertronian tank. For once, it's not a weird H-shaped thing; instead, it has scooped armor on the front, narrow treads right behind that, and a wider set of trades outside and behind those. There are two small guns in the front and two larger guns up top, on a turret that can actually swivel. Those two are molded in translucent magenta, then given black and silver apps to just leave a few spots clear. Cyberverse Tarn still has the same cool color palette as Real Tarn, but darker - rather than purple and grey, he's indigo and black. Beats Bludgeon's green and orange, that's for sure! I haven't read IDW's Transformers comics yet, but I know a cool-looking Decepticon when I see one. That's why I've been diligently looking for Tarn for more than a year, checking every shelf at every store in hopes of finding him. I was glad he was finally getting a re-release, but annoyed that it was only available in a four-pack. Love having to buy three filler figures to get something that should have been available at retail in the first place. Hell, you can buy a third-party "Not Tarn" for less than the real thing sells for now! So I finally broke down and got the box set when Target had a sale... and it turns out the toy is only so-so. The plates on the forearms, the small guns om his back, and the chest armor all tend to fall off when you move them, the caps on the pin joints are obtrusive in vehicle mode, the swivel in the gun turret is lose, and sometimes getting all the pieces into the right position to fit into place is frustrating. I spent all this time seeking Tarn, and now that I see how the toy actually is... well, I'm glad I never decided to pay a scalper for one, that's for sure. -- 10/29/24 Light purple or dark purple? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.

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