Set Price: $18 (U.S.)
Overall Rating: 7.1

(NOTE: Because this set is composed of repaints, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the individual toys and their color schemes, and merely compares them to the original releases of these molds. For a review on Titans Return Fastclash-- the mold used for Cloudraker-- go here. For a review on Titans Return Pounce-- the mold used for Wingspan-- go here. )
 

Cloudraker

Allegiance: Autobot
Size: Legend
Difficulty of Transformation: Easy
Color Scheme: Moderately dark milky red, brownish off-white, and some black, light metallic silvery blue, light orange, and silver
Individual Rating: 6.2

    Since Fastclash and Cloudraker are clones, the whole idea is to make their robot modes as identical as possible-- thus, I'm not going to have much to say about Cloudraker's robot mode. Most of the same parts are used, as well as the same general color breakup, for the "core" robot parts-- including the head. The only difference has to do with how the extras are "stored" in this mode. The only real obvious extra here is that Cloudraker has a little tailfin sticking out of the back of his head. The cockpit fits firmly against his back and mostly out-of-sight in this mode, and his wings are folded around the bottom area of his lower legs. Given that Fastclash has considerably more obvious kibble-- wheels on the lower legs, wheels and the whole spoiler on the upper back-- Cloudraker definitely wins in this area. Because of the lack of wheels, the black visible in this mode is definitely less than on Fastclash, and is mostly just visible on the wing pieces on the back of his lower legs and then on his chest, where his logo is a simplified image of his futuristic jet mode, giving you another clue as to what this Clone's alt mode is. Beyond what I've already mentioned, the red/brownish off-white color scheme is the same here as on Fastclash, as are the paint apps. The articulation is the same as on Fastclash, as well.
    Cloudraker's transformation is a bit more complicated than Fastclash's-- the legs split apart at the waist entirely and angle up to the sides of the upper back, folding out the wings and the feet. The arms fold up to the front like Fastclash's, while the robot head turns around to make the tailfin more apparent. The cockpit on the back folds down and threads through the now-open waist to peg into the front. This is certainly a better alt mode than Fastclash's incredibly weak "race car" mode, but it still definitely has some issues, and it's a bit too obvious most of this is a "robot mode in yoga position" transformation. The wings on the sides are way too small proportionally, and although the feet are small, they just kinda stick there out the back end without looking like thrusters or anything. The arms are both obvious extras, even with the fists folded in-- not much more to say there. The legs help add some bulk to the sides of the body, but it's a bit TOO wide-- it's really weird-looking to have this sleek-looking, triangular cockpit, then all of a sudden, BAM, the toy becomes more than twice as wide. The hip balljoints are also exposed on the front of the sides, as well. The tailfin on the back end is a nice minor touch, but doesn't help much. There's also a fold-out landing gear piece underneath the cockpit, but there's nothing else to keep the rest of the toy level with the extended landing gear, so it doesn't really do its job. The mold detailing on the new parts is pretty decent, with little vents and a cockpit molded into the front nosecone, while there's some basic lines on the wings. The paint detailing really shines on the nosecone, with white along the sides and top of the cockpit, with a small metallic silvery blue window, an Autobot symbol near the front, and a small orange triangle even nearer to the front. The small cockpit halves on the back ends are definitely meant for Fastclash, as their positioning in halves back there doesn't really make sense in this mode-- I'm surprised they were painted, honestly. The colors are broken up pretty well in this mode overall, with the red and brownish-white spread fairly nicely throughout the toy-- with the black wings excepted, of course. As with Fastclash, you can flip up the middle flap on Cloudraker's body to give a Titan/Prime Master figure a seat in this mode.

*This toy was also released as a 2-pack with Fastclash as part of the Amazon-exclusive Earthrise "Biosfera Galactic Odyssey" set, but it's basically identical to this release except for a silver cockpit window. Fastclash himself looks absolutely identical to his original release, at least as far as I can see.

Wingspan

Allegiance: Autobot
Size: Legend
Difficulty of Transformation: Easy
Color Scheme: White, very dark purplish blue, moderately light teal, and some fuchsia, yellow, and orange
Individual Rating: 8.0 (original); 8.1 (Earthrise version)*

    Again, as with Cloudraker, Wingspan's robot mode is meant to be as close to his clone Pounce's as possible. The only difference is a couple of beast mode extras you can see in this mode. The most obvious are the talons below the lower arms. The fuchsia on the wings also stucks out a bit as they're folded against the lower legs. On the backside, you can see the tailfins lifted up behind the waist, and the bird neck & head behind the back. Paint-wise, the color layout is pretty much the same as on Pounce, with white arms and upper legs, a teal main body, and some dark purplish blue on the lower legs, hands, and back. The sigil on the center of the chest is of a bird to help differentate him more from Pounce. So overall, in this mode Wingspan has some more obvious kibble on the lower arms, whereas Pounce has more obvious stuff coming out of the back. Wingspan has the same articulation in this mode that Pounce has.
    To transform Wingspan, split the waist out and flip down the wing panels while folding the arms forward and down to form the legs. Then flip down the tailfeather piece, flip up the bird head over the robot head, and fold out some parts of the side of the robot body to form some connector pieces to connect the lower legs up near the shoulders to complete the wings. The end result is pretty darned good-- especially when the robot mode is given priority-- and overall, Wingspan definitely has the best alt mode out of any of the clones. The main body is pretty nice and proportional, with angular robotic tailfin details on the back and long wings-- they're a bit small proportionally, and flat, but considering the circumstances they still look pretty good. They do have some nice "metal shard"-like detailing, though the lower legs are pretty obvious below the inner half or so of each wing, and the upper leg and waist bit are pretty obvious behind each wing. These legs are definitely the most obvious extras and the worst part of this mode. The robot arms form pretty good bird legs, even if they protrude a bit too far up on the bottom of the main body, with the ball joints exposed. The robot hands are definitely there on the back end of the feet, but they're pretty minor extras, overall. The bird head is pretty solid, with some relatively basic robotic bird details like the beak and general head shape with orange eyes. Unfortunately, the mouth can't move. Because so much of the chest is hidden in this mode, Wingspan's overall color scheme becomes a bit darker in this mode, with the dark blue much more apparent in this mode, though the fuchsia on the wings and the white helps to counterbalance it all; overall, it's still a pretty good color scheme, here. For articulation in this mode, Wingspan can move at the hips, knees, VERY slightly at the ankles, at the tailfeathers, and at the mid-point up-and-down on each wing. (Unfortunately, due to the transformation, he can't flap his wings normally-- his legs are connected to his main body there without any room for movement.) There is a seat for a Titan/Prime Master on Wingspan's back.

*Wingspan was also released in a 2-pack with Pounce as a Target Exclusive Earthrise release for $25 U.S. The two toys are mostly the same, with some minor color differences. The most obvious changes for the Earthrise version are the purple wings in beast mode, as opposed to fuchsia. There's also red eyes in both modes; a silver-painted face in robot mode; and a bit more visible teal. Overall I think the Target Exclusive release is SLIGHTLY better in terms of the color scheme, but they're both so similar I can't really recommend one substantially over the other.

    This set of clones may not satisfy those who want both of both molds, but in terms of the set itself, this has the better of each of the clone molds. Wingspan is a bit better than Pounce, and Cloudraker is definitely better than Fastclash (though the Autobot clone mold is still definitely inferior to the Decepticon clone mold). Whether you just want these two or want to hunt down the others, I'd give this set a mild recommendation, keeping in mind the alt modes are definitely compromised in favor of the robot modes for both of them.
 

Reviews by Beastbot

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