Tag Archives: transformers

Apr 1 2024

Transformers: Megatron AMK Pro Series Model Kit by Yolopark

I don’t usually let social media influence what I buy, because I have more than enough lines to collect as it is, but today I’m looking at something I picked up because I simply could not escape it. Everywhere I went online Yolopark’s Megatron was getting shoved in my face and I finally broke down and bought him to see what he’s all about. It’s my first experience with anything from Yolopark, and to be honest I didn’t even know this was a licensed item when I bought it, but sure enough it’s legit. It’s branded a model kit, but that’s probably just for licensing purposes, as Megatron is really just an action figure that you have to assemble and there’s no paint, glue, or tools (well, just a screwdriver for the batteries) required. He’s also a non-transforming figure.

Megs comes in a great looking box with an outer sleeve that features really nice G1 animated art on the front. It has both the Hasbro and Transformers branding on the bottom and advertises the use of some diecast in the figure. I didn’t even notice at first, but the background is made up of very subtle comic panels. Nice touch! Lift off the sleeve and you get this gorgeous piece of foil line art on the inner box with Megatron holding the Earth in his grubby mitt. No doubt about it, they did a bang up job on the presentation here.

And here’s what you get when you open the box with a second tray underneath that houses his accessories. The pieces are all laid out to make assembly easy and putting him together just requires pegging the different parts into each other. The connections are all at articulation points, with the exception of the elbows and knees, which are already assembled. A few of these pegs took a bit of force to get in, but I wasn’t really worried about breaking anything. It’s also possible to strip him back down pretty easily if you want to store him in the box. As mentioned, there is some diecast here, and while most of the kit is plastic, it’s not the kind of flimsy plastic I usually associate with models. This is a sturdy and rugged figure and not at all fragile. There are two light up features that require two types of button batteries that are not provided. One goes in the head to light up the eyes and three go into the fusion cannon to light it up and both require a screwdriver to install.

Here he is all together, measuring roughly 8-inches tall and looking really good! The mix of G1 Sunbow design with the realistic metal finish and weathering makes for a great combination. The silver bits look like brushed steel and the darker black bits have some excellent dry brushing to make edges look worn down to the bare metal. You also get some brown spray here and there to denote rust, making Megatron look properly ancient. Despite not transforming, you still get all the key bits of gun kibble like the textured pistol grips on his outer legs and the gun barrel that rises up behind his right shoulder. There are some yellow and blue paint apps to the components in his abs and you get some bright red in the upper biceps and again in the abs. Finally, there’s a bold purple Decepticon emblem printed in the center of his chest.

There are three interchangeable face plates to choose from. The first is pretty straightforward, the second gives Megatron a manically open-mouthed smile, while the final adds some more detail, maybe going for a toy or comic look. I’m not sure about that one, but I doubt I’ll use it much. All three heads have lenses in the eyes to share the light up feature in the head. The lights are activated by a magnet switch and there’s a magnet in the bottom of the gun barrel on his back. You just touch it to the top of his head: Once for permanent eye illumination, again for flashing eyes, and one more time for a pulsing effect. Tap it again and the lights will go out.

The balance and articulation on the figure are both excellent, with most of the joints being on hinged swivel pegs, but you also get double hinges in the knees, rockers in the ankles, a wide range of movement in the hips and shoulders, and even some side to side rocking in the chest. The hands have individually articulated index fingers with hinges at the base and knuckle, the remaining three fingers articulate together, and there are single hinges in the thumbs. All the joints feel fine and he’s just a lot of fun to pose and play around with.

The fusion cannon has a simple button to light it, and while I’d rather it lit up purple instead of red, I still think it’s a cool effect like it’s powering up and about to fire. The arm cannon is part of the assembly, so it is easily removable.

In addition to the three swap out face plates, Megatron also comes with an optional damaged chest plate. The regular chest plate is diecast, while this one is plastic. It makes sense, as I can’t imagine sculpting the crumpling effect here would be possible otherwise. The damage is very well done, but the figure could have used a few more pieces like this to make it more convincing.

Megatron also comes with a number of weapons and accessories. First up you get a pistol, because when you turn into a gun and you have a cannon on your arm, you need a pistol too, right? Actually, I’m pretty sure this is supposed to be the pistol he used to deliver the killing blow to Optimus Prime in the animated film. The sculpt looks pretty close but here it’s black instead of purple. Still, a cool accessory and he can hold it really well with his articulated fingers.

Next up is an energy sword. The hilt is cast in dark translucent purple, while the blade is done in more of a pinkish purple. Again, he holds it great and I really dig how it turned out.

You want more energy weapons? How about the mace he used to fight Prime on the Dam in More Than Meets The Eye? This one simply swaps out with either one of the hands. It’s also cast in translucent purple plastic and you get multiple hinges in the chain to give it some added poseability.

The final accessory is The Key to Vector Sigma from titular episode of the cartoon. This piece is diecast and has a premium satin gold finish. I found it a bit tricky to get him to hold this, as it’s fairly heavy and it isn’t easy to find a place for him to grip it, but with a little patience I was able to make it work.

Megatron also comes with a stand, which includes a detailed base and a multi-hinged support arm with a grabbing claw. The only problem here is there’s no way to get the claw positioned to support Megatron while he’s standing on the base. The hinges in the arm just won’t allow the claw to be positioned down that low. To be fair, this is not a figure that requires any support to stand, but it does seem like a short-sighted design. It can, however, be used as a flight stand or for dynamic posing. There’s a little Decepticon emblem that plugs into the base of the support and there are clips on the outside of the hexagonal base so that it can be connected to others. I presume the other Yolopark Transformers come with the same stand.

The kit is readily available at a number of online toy retailers, but I got mine on Amazon for about $60 and I’m overall really happy with the purchase. Indeed, Megatron impressed me enough to make me pre-ordered their G1-style Optimus Prime to go with him. I definitely have a thing for cartoon accurate Megatron figures, which is no doubt the result of being a kid and having to play with a Megatron figure that looked nothing like the one on the cartoon. For a while Hasbro’s own RED version scratched that itch, but this one is a huge step up, granted with a significant price hike. The mix of cartoon design and realistic finish gels perfectly to me and despite him not transforming, this may be my favorite Megatron figure yet.

Feb 26 2024

Transformers: Masterpiece Trailbreaker(MP-56) by Takara

Me and Masterpiece Transformers sort of split ways some time ago. The last MP figure I bought and reviewed here was Ratchet and that was way back in 2018. And you’d have to go back two years before that for previous one, Ironhide. It’s crazy because I love each and every one of the MPs I own, but somewhere between the rising prices of the line and Hasbro getting much better at their own engineering, I just stopped buying them. I’m pretty sure it was Inferno clocking in at $150 that was the breaking point. I still love the look of that figure, but then Hasbro didn’t do too bad with their Kingdom release of Inferno and in the end I just couldn’t justify the cost. But fast forward to last week when a certain retailer was running a sale on MP Trailbreaker and I decided to get back on that cyber-horse one more time.

The packaging hasn’t changed much in the eight years since I’ve been away. Trailbreaker comes in a fully enclosed box that fits right in with all the other releases. The box is deceptively small, considering how big a figure this is, but that’s because he comes packaged in his vehicle mode and the transformation features some clever mass-shifting fakery. Like the past releases in the line, Trailbreaker’s alt mode is fully licensed, in this case from Toyota, and comes in a clear plastic tray with his accessories and a folded instruction sheet. Let’s start with the auto mode!

Trailbreaker’s auto mode is a Toyota N30 Hilux Pick-Up Truck with a camper-style cap on the bed, something that I did not know when I was a kid. I actually always thought he was a Suburban or something, but what do you want from me, I was just a dumb kid. It’s a nicely detailed little vehicle done in an all black body with a patch of colored diagonal strokes above the rear tires. You get a beautiful chromed out grill and wheels, plastic tires with sculpted treads, translucent red tail lights and translucent orange signal lights front and back. And I really dig having the Toyota brand sculpted across the tailgate. There are the unavoidable seams running through the body and I think Takara did a better job hiding these on some of the other Autobots. But, I will note that these pictures are after transforming him back into his truck mode, so some of mine may not have closed up quite as well as they did straight out of the box, as it was my first time.

You actually get two options for the front grill and bumper: The stock chromed one and the a matte gray version, which I assume is meant to look more like the cartoon. For me, it just looks out of place and it’s a shame to take off that beautiful chrome, so I won’t be getting any use out of the second grill and bumper.

The hood does open, showing off the engine compartment with some detailed components in there. It’s pretty impressive and reminds me of the Alternator toys.

And you also get an optional radar dish to clip onto the top. The dish is chrome and I could totally see myself displaying this on the vehicle most of the time. All in all, I think this is a great looking vehicle mode with some cool surprises and options. Getting the toy into this alt mode felt pretty intuitive, but it’s that very last step of getting everything packed in just right that felt a little trickier than normal for me, leaving a few gaps in the seams. I’m sure I’ll get better with practice.

And here are a few shots of the vehicle mode alongside Ironhide and Smokescreen. Overall, I think he scales pretty well and they look great parked side by side. Now, let’s move on to his robot mode…

I like to live on the edge and try to transform these guys without instructions, even on the first try. Sometimes it works and sometimes it ends in frustration. With Trailbreaker, it worked out pretty well. There was nothing here that felt all that scary or overly complicated and the resulting robot is pretty damn great, but worthy of a few nitpicks to call out as we go. Trailbreaker is a delightfully tall boy who can stand shoulder to shoulder with Ironhide and Ratchet, but most of that height comes from his long legs, as his body is more or less the truck shell folded in half. You get the windshield making up his chest and the hood pointing down to form his lower torso. Meanwhile on the back, the canopy from the truck gives him a clean, squared off backpack. Yes, you can actually trim it down a bit more than I have it in the picture, but I kind of prefer the added bulk. Trailbreaker’s lower half proportions are kind of wonky with his pelvic region and legs looking a tad under-developed for that boxy bod, but it still works for me. Meanwhile, the deco is mostly black and gray, but the addition of the red knees and Autobot insignia do help to spice things up, as does the kisses of chrome on his shoulder mounted cannon and radar scanner as well as the blaster on his left arm.

So, the biggest nitpick I have here is in his sides, which are more than a tad unfinished and allow you peek in and see how the cyber sausage is made. Plus, if you line up your peek just right, you can see through to the other side. It’s not exactly cartoon accurate and makes that part of him look a bit unpolished. You need only look at MP Ironhide and Ratchet to see how much better the sides were handled on those figures. The engineering there is quite elegant the way the plates mesh to fill up the sides, and Trailbreaker here certainly lacks that. I can see the argument that it’s unacceptable for what is called a “Masterpiece” Transformer, but I just can’t get too upset about it.

You get three face plates to choose from, each of which is basically just the front half of the head that detaches. The faces include a neutral expression, a happy expression, and a shouty face. I find the sculpt around the mouth to be a bit soft on all three, but compensation comes in the visor, which has a gorgeous reflective blue paint that emulates light piping when under the right lights. Both the shoulder cannon and radar scanner are part of the transformation, rather than separate add-on pieces. Both look good, but I would have liked the scanner to be bigger, even if it meant adding it on after the fact. I will note here that I like the light frosted finish on the windshield that obscures the junk behind it.

The articulation here is right in line with what we saw on Ironhide and Ratchet. The joints are smooth and strong and the legs have no problems supporting his weight, even in wide stances. I love the range of motion you get in the lateral ankle rockers, which give him a stable platform, and his overall balance is excellent. On the downside, I would have liked it if the head could look up a bit more.

You get three options for his right arm attachments. You can go with the standard blaster, a fist, or a forcefield generator as seen in the original More Than Meets The Eye miniseries. The standard blaster has a gray plastic midsection which allows the barrel to compact itself for transformation. Getting it to lock into the extended mode can be a bit tricky and if it’s not locked in it can flop a bit. The hands are articulated at the base of the thumbs and index fingers, with the final three fingers hinged as one piece. I love having these options, but I will likely use the regular blaster as my default display.

And finally, you get a blast effect that works with either of the left arm attachments, as well as the shoulder cannon. Heck, you can even plug it into the radar scanner if you want to turn that into a weapon. This piece if cast in translucent yellow plastic and pegs into the hole on the attachments. I think it looks best on the regular blaster attachment, as the forcefield projector should really have three beams coming out of it.

It was a real treat coming back to a Masterpiece figure after all this time and with Trailbreaker on sale for $100 down from $150, it seemed like a great opportunity to pull that trigger. There are definitely some areas of improvement to be had here, and I won’t deny he feels like a step down from the Autobot Vans, especially considering how much more expensive he is, but I can still find plenty to love here and I’m happy to have him in my MP Autobot lineup. He definitely made me want to start collecting this line again, but with the prices still being what they are, I will likely wait for another sale before adding any more. Both Grapple and Inferno never sold out at any of the regular places I shop online, and they’ve been around for a long time, so maybe I’ll get lucky in that respect. To be honest, the only figure that I wish I had picked up when he was available was Hound, but I got scared away from him with many of the QC issues that were being reported.

Feb 21 2024

Super Cyborg (Transformers) Good Bye Megatron by Super7

By now we all know that Super7 has struck deals with Hasbro to make toys from their original properties. We’ve seen both Transformers and GI JOE released as Ultimates and ReAction figures. But Super7 has also crossed these franchises over to their rather unique, and kind of bizarre, Super Cyborg Series. According to Super7’s own write up, these “highly articulated” 12-inch figures are inspired by Takara’s Henshin Cyborg figures, which had transparent bodies to show off their inner workings. For the Transformers we got Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, as well as the Megatron I’m checking out today. Megsy here is supposed to be inspired by Takara’s re-release of the original toy as Good Bye Megatron, commemorating his death (and rebirth) in the movie. It all sounds pretty cool on paper, but a lot of these claims don’t really hold up in execution, and at least one is an outright fib, so let’s dig in and see what Super Cyborg Megatron is all about!

I do really love this packaging! Megatron comes in a beautiful window box. You get a G1-inspired grid pattern with the classic Decepticon purple and black deco. There’s a nice piece of art of the original toy on the bottom right, alongside the Super Cyborg logo and The X-Ray Action Figure! exclamation. The window has Good Bye Megatron printed across it and displays the figure really well. The box is sort of collector friendly, in that you can open it and remove the toy without damaging anything, but once you cut the ties, there’s no real easy way to display the chest panel the way it is before it’s taken out. I’m OK, with that, as the figure displays in the box really nicely with the panel on, but it’s something to consider before opening it. Oh, and what’s that up in the top? “7 Points of Articulation!” Really, Super7? Is that what you would call “Highly Articulated?” Because that’s what you call it on your website. Yeah, that’s the blatant fib I was talking about, and I really don’t know why they would put that in the product listing when it simply isn’t true. At least they are honest about it on the box. Anyway, Megatron comes out of his package nearly ready for display, you just have to attach his fusion cannon to his arm, and we’ll slap on that chest plate to start out with.

The figure presents a really crisp and clean animated looking Megatron and I dig that a lot. There’s definitely a bit of stylized design going on here, as the head seems like it’s intentionally oversized. The painted finish on this figure is extremely nicely done with satin silver sheen mated with some matte blue for the insides of the legs and arms, and some red, yellow, and blue on his ab panel. The fusion cannon is left as bare plastic and has a glossy sheen to it, while the bare plastic fists are matte finished. The sculpted detail is confined to some panel lines and vents in keeping with the simple animated look, but there’s lots of cool stuff going on in the back. I don’t really get much of a Henshin Cyborg feel off this toy, if anything it gives me more of an understated Shogun Warriors vibe. But hey, either way this is a beautiful looking figure!

The head looks good, but again is a bit too big, which I’m pretty sure was an intentional style choice. The face is a tad soft in the sculpt, but I still think works well for the figure. You get a pair of bright red eyes and the “helmet” is bang-on for the animated look. The Decepticon logo on the chest is a perfect print.

The seven points of articulation include a turning head, arms that rotate at the shoulders, fists that swivel at the wrists, and the legs swivel at the knees. The swivels in the fists are really only useful to turn the right hand sideways when he raises his fusion cannon to fire. And yeah, it’s not quite correct, because Megatron usually swivels his arm so that the cannon is on top rather than on the side. It would have been cool to sculpt that arm straight and give it a bicep rotation. The knee rotation is nice to angle the legs away from each other a bit so that he doesn’t look quite as rigid in his stance. But yeah, Highly Articulated this figure is not, and that goes a long way to undermine the Takara Henshin Cyborg inspiration, because those figures actually were highly articulated.

The gimmick here is the removable chest, which reveals the gorgeous sculpted interior of Megatron’s inner workings. I love how they executed the look of this with the clearly defined gears that would move his arms and legs and all sorts of other bits and bobs that make Megatron function. There’s a lot of purple and blue here, along with more of that sumptuous satin silver and some red and black paint hits thrown in for good measure. The whole thing is a cool balance between high detail and stylized animation. But again, does this really invoke the Cyborg Henshin line for me? Nah. Apart from letting you see inside the figure, it’s a tenuous connection at best.

For me, Super Cyborg Megatron doesn’t really live up to what its designers intended, but that’s not to say I don’t like the figure. I actually do! It’s a really unique display piece, and I’m always down for adding an animated style G1 Megatron to my collection. But I don’t think the Cyborg Henshin homage works and I don’t appreciate them calling this highly articulated on their website. Another sticking point for me is the retail price of $85, which is kind of steep. Thankfully, I picked up mine during the holidays off of Amazon when it was already discounted, had an additional $20 off coupon, and I had some points to throw at it. In the end, I brought him home at about $40 and I’m glad I did. Since then I’ve also been able to get Bumblebee for the same price, so I’ll have a look at him here at some point in the near future.

Jan 24 2024

Transformers Legacy: Pointblank and Needlenose by Hasbro

I’ve made a commitment to myself to go back and take a look at some of the Transformers I missed spotlighting here last year, and there are quite a few of them! It’s also the only way I’m going to get much Transformers content, because I’m really not interested in too much Hasbro is doing with the brand right now. Anyway, I picked up Pointblank and Needlenose when they were first released and while I remember opening them, I guess I had something else going on because they wound up bagged and toted before I even spent any serious time with them. So let’s get these two Targetmasters out have a look!

The Legacy package design sure was something! I often gripe about how bland the package design got after the live action films, but I think this was a case of overcompensation. The colors are obnoxious and nothing about this look really screams Transformers to me. Also, these are the windowless boxes that expose the toys to the elements, meaning sticky kid fingers and boogers, so it’s safe to say I’m not a fan. And I still don’t know what the added Evolution moniker was all about. Anyway, both of these guys were G1 Targetmasters with Pointblank releasing in 1987 and Needlenose was out the following year. I would have been 16 and out of the Transformers game, but I did later own an original G1 Pointblank when I got into collecting Transformers in my 30’s. I never did own an original Needlenose, so let’s start with him!

Needlenose’s alt mode is a super sleek fighter jet with a fair amount of robot bits packed into his undercarriage. And that’s not a complaint, I always like to imagine these undercarriage constructs as just meant to be cargo pods or something. The dorsal section of the aircraft has some lovely sculpted panel lines and a pale gray and dark blue deco with some teal stripes and a Decepticon insignia printed on one of his stubby wings. The design sticks pretty close to the original toy with a horizontal stabilizer added to the tail fin and some short angled wings protruding from just in front of the cockpit. Also, the cockpit is painted orange, while I think the original’s was translucent orange plastic.

Not only is Needlenose a Targetmaster, but he comes with TWO little Nebulan buddies, Sunbeam and Zigzag. These are pretty standard stuff when it comes to these little fellas. There’s no articulation in the robot modes but these are impressive sculpts for such tiny figures and the paint is pretty damn good as well. The designs don’t stray too far from the original G1 Nebulans, and Sunbeam even has a gun sculpted in his hand, just like the vintage toy.

When transformed into their weapon modes, the Nebulans can be pegged in under Needlenose’s wings to give him some serious firepower. Sunbeam turns into a stocky purple cannon, while Zigzag becomes a black double-barreled gun. I’m not a huge fan of the asymmetry here, but it’s still plenty cool.

Needlenose’s transformation is a lot more clever than I was expecting. As always, I like to do these without the instructions and it was a tad confusing at first, but once I figured it out I think it’s pretty fun. The robot mode here is a fantastic update to the vintage release, recreating the general design of the chest plate, paying homage to the stickers down in the legs, and adding some great detail to the arms. Most of the deco translates from the jet mode but with some more purple added to the mix. The proportions are also perfect, and he has all the articulation I expect from a modern Transformers figure. Yes, he is basically wearing a jet on his back, but that’s been a favorite design trope of mine ever since the Aerialbots, and I love it here just as much. The jet does truncate a bit and I dig the way the wings angle back behind the shoulders in true Seeker fashion. The large phallic nosecone hanging down between his legs is maybe a bit unfortunate, though! Or maybe it makes him extra popular with the femmebots.

The head sculpt takes the likeness from the original toy and just polishes the heck out of it. I’m a big fan of the knight’s visor motif above his eyes. The yellow face is punctuated with red eyes and most of his face is dominated by a mouth plate. Hasbro did a great job on this one!

And of course, Needlenose can wield his Nebulan guns in his robot mode as well as his jet mode and he looks all sorts of bad ass while doing it. As far as I’m concerned, Legacy Needlenose is pretty much Deluxe Class perfection. He looks fantastic in robot mode, very good in jet mode, and he’s fun to transform and play around with. This figure represents the Hasbro design team firing on all cylinders! Now, let’s move on to Pointblank!

The Autobot Enforcer’s vehicle mode got a pretty big overhaul for this modern release, while still hitting most of the design beats from the original futuristic sportscar. I think the only things I kind of miss here are the spoiler/shield piece that filled in the gap in the back (more on that in a bit) and the flame deco on the sides, but otherwise I think this is a great update, that is more elongated and sleeker than his G1 version. The red plastic looks very sharp and the teal bits are a lot more vibrant than what I remember being on my original toy. There’s a good amount of sculpted detail in the body and the addition of the translucent blue canopy over the painted one on the vintage release is a huge improvement. Most of all, I just really dig how great this car looks parked along side some of the other recent Autobot cars updates like Kup and Blur.

Pointblank comes with the Nebulan Peacemaker who is the spitting image of his G1 counterpart only with a lot better sculpted detail and a few more paint applications. The black and red plastic looks great together and I’m really impressed at the paint on his tiny face and visor, as well as the panels on his shoulders and chest.

Pointblank can equip Peacemaker in his auto mode and this does help fill out the gap left behind by the absent shield piece. It looks very good and even allows for Peacemaker’s gun barrel to angle up so he can try to take out Needlenose or any other Decepticon fliers. But, it does make for an aesthetic departure from the look of the original toy, which may irk some people. In the end, I’m fine with it.

I did not find Pointblank’s transformation to be nearly as fun as Needlenose’s. There are some fiddly things to the engineering here, not to mention the pair of ball jointed door panels that seem to pop off so often, that I resort to just popping them off on purpose to get them out of the way until I’m ready for them. Still, when all is said and done, the final robot looks fantastic… at least from the front. The translucent blue cockpit cockpit looks great on his chest, the bold shoulders with forward facing wheels is a great design, and you even get the blue kneepads present on the original toy. But, he’s kind of flat when viewed from the side and he’s quite the eyesore from the back. You get hollow leg syndrome, unfinished panels with screws in the shoulders, and just a lot of rough stuff back here. It kind of reminds me of those old Hollywood studio sets where the buildings are only finished on the side facing the camera.

The portrait is fantastic, giving the Autobot Enforcer a stoic expression. The visor is a very pale blue, which was a good choice as the coloring on the original toy often struck me as not having a visor at all. The silver face paint pops nicely and he’s got a single fin cresting from the top of his “helmet.”

Naturally, Peacemaker becomes Pointblank’s weapon in robot mode as well as car mode, and while he is a tad chunky, he gets the job done. Even with all that nasty business in the back, Pointblank is still a very cool figure and a superb update to the G1 toy. He does suffer from a fiddly transformation, and those door panels popping off gets really annoying, but his two very solid modes help smooth things out with me.

Wow, I’m glad I dug these guys out and finally gave them their due, because these are both really great figures and just lovely updates. But, if you want me to pick favorites, I’m going to give Needlenose the nod as the better of these two figures. Overall, he seems a bit more polished and comes with two Nebulans instead of just one. I also like transforming him a lot more than I do Pointblank. But I’d still recommend Pointblank as a pick up, and these two have been chasing each other around my desk for the better part of a week now.

Dec 27 2023

Transformers (Studio Series 86) Dinobot Snarl by Hasbro

I had a few Transformers reviews I was hoping to sneak in before the end of the year, but looks like I’ll only have time for one. The current stuff Hasbro has been doing with the franchise doesn’t interest me much, but I have so many of these convertorobots that I have yet to spotlight here, so I can keep this love train rolling. Today’s changerbot brings us one step closer to finally completing the mighty Dinobots, with the release of Snarl! And if you need to get caught up, I’ve already checked out the Studio Series versions of Grimlock, Slag (YES, SLAG, I SAYS!), and Sludge.

Snarl comes in the same style of fully enclosed boxes as the last release, while the first two came in window boxes. There’s some great character art on the front, but the rest of the box deco is pretty bland. You do get an illustrated cardboard backdrop inside, but I pitched it all a while back as they don’t do a lot for me. Yes, Snarl has been on my shelf for a while now. But even still, it’s crazy to think that it’s been over two years since Hasbro started us on this journey with the release of Grimlock. Launching an apology tour to make up for those tiny Dinobots from Power of the Primes. Of course, Snarl was one of the two additional Dinobots added to the team by Wheeljack because the first ones worked out so incredibly well, and by that I mean not at all. Project Dinobot was such a clusterf’ck the Autobots had to deactivate them and seal them up in a cave, and I’m pretty sure Wheeljack had to wash Prime’s trailer for a whole year to show how sorry he was. I never owned Snarl as a kid, so this I was pretty excited to check out this one. Let’s start with the Dino mode!

Snarl is what we used to call a Stegosaurus, but since the scientists have been retconning all the dinosaurs I learned about as a kid, I don’t know what the damned dinosaurologists call him these days. Everything from my childhood has been a lie. Anyway, this is a pretty nice update to the original vintage toy with the same running stylistic changes we’ve seen in the past Studio Series Dinos. The orignal toy’s transparent head is now a sort of yellow gold, as is the front legs and lower back legs, which were a combination of clear plastic and vac-metal gold on the original figure. The rest of the original vac-metal parts, namely the back spikes and tail, have been recreated here with a really nice satin-finish gold. I do wish this gold was used for the head and legs too, but I still dig what we got well enough. The rest of the body is split between gray and red plastic, with some black and blue bits showing through. There are some panel lines and other details on Snarl’s skin, which again recreates the detailing on the original toy quite nicely.

I’m not crazy about Snarl’s butt. It looks like it ends too abruptly and the tail should stick out more rather than just hang down. But, to be fair, it’s more or less what we got on the vintage toy as well, so I will begrudgingly accept it. Snarl holds together pretty well for a robotic dino-potato, and he has two joints in each leg and his little trap door of a mouth can hinge down to show his displeasure with the world. I love him!

Even without the satin gold paint on Snarl’s head, I think Hasbro has done a pretty nice job keeping this looking like a cohesive team in their dino modes, especially considering the amount of time between each of these releases. Part of me was worried that we’d get a repeat of the Legends Class Insecticons. There was so much time between those releases, they barely matched by the time they were all released. But, Snarl fits right in and these guys all display great together. So, how about the robot mode?

Well, I feel as if Hasbro has been focusing on the robot modes for this run of Dinobots and Snarl certainly keeps that trend rolling along, because his robot mode is absolutely gorgeous! Like his brothers, Snarl is a big hulking beast of a bot, having a powerful looking upper body, but still maintaining some overall excellent proportions. And interestingly enough, while vintage Snarl had my least favorite bot mode among the original Dinobots, this one may very well be my favorite of the Studio Series Dinos, thanks to the beautiful way they streamlined the way his tail splits behind his shoulders. Between that and the way his spikes land on his back and the fronts of his legs, he just looks amazing!

The head sculpt is also pretty fabulous. Snarl’s portrait shares the most in common with his brother Sludge, as they both have silver painted faces with black “helmets.” Snarl’s angled horns give his head’s silhouette a bit more of an aggressive look to it. I also dig his pouty lip, which really plays to his grumpy demeanor. The silver face paint is gorgeous, as is the blue they used for his eyes. I also got to say, I’ve always been weirdly fascinated with the crosshairs he has on his lower chest. That was a sticker on the original toy, but here it is prominently sculpted in. It always felt to me like it was supposed to serve some kind of intended function.

The articulation here is right in line with the previous releases, making Snarl a big boy that’s also loads of fun to play with, unless we’re talking about the actual transformation, which can be a bit of a chore. I’ve said in the previous Dinobot reviews, that I felt as if Hasbro overcomplicated the engineering on these toys a bit. Considering that the original toys looked pretty good in both alt and robot modes, I’m not sure that much re-engineering was necessary. In Snarl’s case, however, I’ll allow it, because they really did some wonderful tweaks to make the bot mode look so much better than the original toy. I had to transform all four back and forth for this review so I was able to really compare the process for each and, oddly enough, I feel like Snarl here is still one of the easiest of the four to transform.

One of the running gripes with the Studio Series Dinobots has been Hasbro’s stinginess in handing out swords. All three of the previous releases came with guns but no swords. Well, with Snarl we finally get a sword… and no gun. Goddammit, Hasbro! Well, at least it’s a really nice sword! The design is pretty sexy and it has a lovely painted silver satin finish.

And there’s also a peg on the side of the sword, so Snarl can store it on his back. It’s nice that he can hide it back there so as not to make the other Dinobots jealous that he got one and they didn’t, otherwise they might shoot him with their guns. And while we’re back here can we just take a moment to marvel at how cool the sculpting on the backs of Snarl’s split tail looks. Usually robot backs are just get hollow sadness and exposed screws, but the intricate patterns here are just gorgeous!

I absolutely love this figure, and he may actually be my favorite of the Studio Series Dinobots. Considering how amazed I still am that we didn’t get a full set of Masterpiece Dinobots, these Studio Series releases have been carrying that weight and doing a pretty decent job of it, especially considering they are regular retail releases. They all look great together in either modes, and now we just have to wait and see if we’re going to get Swoop to round out the team. It seems like maybe we should have seen something teased by now, but I’d like to think that even with all of Hasbro’s current woes, they will be able to deliver him eventually.

Nov 17 2023

Transformers (Studio Series 86): Brawn by Hasbro

Looking back, I’ve only showcased a handful of Transformers here on FFZ this year, which is pretty indicative of how little attention I’ve been paying the line these days. There are still one or two figures that I’d like to review before the end of the year, but for the most part Hasbro and I have parted ways on their magnificent line of convertorobots. Even the reveals of their new line this past week has left me cold. And that’s fine. It’s an amicable breakup and I’ve got a ton of great figures on my shelf. But I would be remiss if I let the year expire without giving Studio Series Brawn his due!

Brawn has got to be one of the standout OG Autobots that has gotten the least amount of love from Hasbro over the years. We got a live action movie version of him based on his cameo in the Bumblebee flick, but the closest thing to a mainstream release was the Legends Class figure from Titans Return. I liked that figure well enough, but even back then I was still jonesing for a proper Deluxe Class update, and here we go. It’s kind of ironic that when we finally do get this figure, it’s based on his appearance in the 1986 movie that he is only in long enough to get unceremoniously murdered by Starscream using Megatron as a gun. Eh, I’m OK with that. The cartoon version of Brawn always struck me as a bully and a jerk, so I didn’t shed any tears when he got sent to The Great Scrapheap in the Sky. Let’s start with his vehicle mode…

Brawn’s auto mode is a 4×4 off-road jeepy kind of thing. It’s kind of ugly, but that sort of lends itself well to the rugged and utilitarian design. It’s definitely a decent looking update for the original toy and cartoon versions. The bulk of the vehicle is cast in olive green plastic with painted aqua blue windows, which give it a bit of an animated vibe. I like the satin silver finish on the grill, headlamps, and the bit of orange down near the bumper. There’s an Autobot insignia on the hood, a spare tire up on the roof and lots and lots of exposed seams and hinges all over the place. I’ll confess I had a bit of trouble getting everything to close up in this mode and found that whenever I got everything packed up on one side, something would pop out on the other. Still, all in all, this alt mode works for me.

You do get the option to weaponize Brawn’s jeep mode by plugging his hand gun into the spare tire. Plugging weapons into the car modes doesn’t always work so well, but here’s a case where I think it looks pretty good. I could even imagine the gun popping out of the top like this in the cartoon, although I don’t think it ever actually did.

Transforming Brawn into robot mode is fairly easy and there are some cool things going on with the engineering. And it’s hard to argue with the resulting robot mode, because it looks really good and pretty damn faithful to the cartoon look. Just like his G1 design, the figure wears the bulk of the jeep on his back, with a wall extending up past the back of his head. He’s got an appropriately bold and boxy chest and an overall pretty clean look. The way the sides of the jeep fold into his lower legs is pretty neat, and I dig the way the two sets of wheels wind up together on each of the backs of his legs. You also get some really nice coloring on this figure with the olive green of the jeep landing mostly on his limbs and back and the bright orange on his chest, pelvis and behind the head. The silver paint on the arms looks sharp, and you get a bold Autobot insignia on his chest.

The head sculpt is a direct hit and a dead ringer for the Sunbow animated portrait, which gave him a lot more personality than the generic robotic face on the original toy. The dome-shaped helmet is painted in gray and the face is painted in a metallic silver with the eyes in blue. Very nice!

Brawn comes with a black handgun, which we already saw stuck into his auto mode. The figure can hold it in either hand… yes HANDS! Another gift Sunbow gave poor G1 Brawn was actual hands and not just robotic hooks like the toy had. The gun looks great and Brawn sports some excellent articulation making him just a joy to pose and play around with.

Brawn was one of the last G1 updates on my want list, so I’m especially glad to get him now that Hasbro seems to be turning its attention away from Generation One and onto other things. I wouldn’t say no to an Outback repaint, but I’m not really hoping for it either. Indeed, the only one of the Class of 84 Autobots I’d still like to see updated is Hound. We got a decent version of him about six years back in Siege but I’d still like a Studio Series style version of him with his Earth alt mode, because he remains one of my all-time favorite Autobots. In the meantime, I still have Dinobot Snarl to look at and a smattering of other change-o-bots that I picked up a while back and never featured here, like Sky Lynx and Skyfire, so even if I drift away from collecting these wonderful toys, the Spark shall live on with more future reviews on the way!

Oct 20 2023

Transformers X G. I. JOE: Megatron HISS Tank by Hasbro

I’ve been taking stock of some of the toys that have been sitting around for a while and waiting their turn in the spotlight here, so you may see some older stuff turning up now and then. One of those woefully delayed reviews is this crossover between Transformers and G. I. JOE that I picked up almost exactly a year ago. I must have had a lot going on because I shelved it and kind of forgot about it. So, let’s take a look at one of those 80’s kids fantasies where Transformers and G. I. JOE meet! Where knowing is more than meets the eye but only half the battle!

The box is interesting as it’s basically a two-part slipcase that slides off each side to reveal a plain brown box with the Hasbro logo on it. The slipcase is gorgeous with the vintage style package design from each franchise represented and some amazing artwork for the vehicle and characters. The Megatron robot mode really downplays the HISS kibble we’re going to see on the actual toy, but even in that regard it’s still very much in the spirit of the vintage TF package art. There’s a fake window showing that the figure includes a vintage-style 3 3/4-inch Baroness, who actually comes carded inside the box. I’ll be honest, as a kid I was never really jonesing for this kind of mash-up. The Cobra Commander cameo in the the Transformers episode Only Human was a cool enough tease for me. Nonetheless, how could I resist something like this?

Here’s Baroness. Yes, she’s still carded and I’m going to keep her that way. All of my 3 3/4-inch JOEs are from the 25th Anniversary line or later, so she really wouldn’t fit in anywhere. I love the card art on this, but the card itself is pretty flimsy and prone to warping. The figure overall looks good, except for where they painted the skin around here eyes inside the glasses so it doesn’t match the rest of her skin color. It may not be all that noticeable in the picture, but it’s really obvious with the figure in hand. She comes with a backpack and rifle. It would have been really cool to give her a scaled down Megatron gun to make her really special to this set, but at least the back of the card has some art specific to this crossover.

And here’s Megatron in his HISS mode, and he looks fantastic. There are some telltale signs that this tank is More Than Meets The Eye if you know where to look, but for a casual observer, this really does look like a regular 3 3/4-inch scale HISS tank and that’s awesome. There’s a seam running down the center of the nose that doesn’t close up all the way, you can see the off-white panels under the cockpit, which are Megatron’s arms, and the most obvious is Megatron’s chest piece fully exposed under the rear platform. None of these really bother me at all, in fact I think they all add to the charm of the toy.

The bulk of the toy is cast in matte black plastic and there are printed red Cobra emblems, as well as some identification numbers. The treads are sculpted just like the regular HISS toys, but there are wheels under it to roll it into battle. Most of the sculpted detail goes into the tread system, but there are still some bolt holes and panel lines, which help draw the eye from the actual transformation seams. The turret rotates as it should and the cannon barrels can be raised and lowered, and they actually move independently from one another.

Here are some comparisons of Megatron HISS with the 25th Anniversary release, and damn they look pretty close. When viewed from the side, and ignoring the color/style changes to the markings, it’s virtually impossible to tell which is the transforming toy.

If you don’t like having extra pieces, you can plug Megatron’s fusion cannon into the turret to give it some extra firepower. On the one hand it kind of looks silly, but then again I kind of like the personalized Megatron touch it gives to the toy.

And here’s the tank with some of Super7’s ReAction figures manning it. These make for a good fit, although this vehicle is really designed for the vintage-style O-Ring figures and the foot pegs on the tailgate are not compatible with the Super7 peg holes. Despite splitting apart down the middle for transformation, the interior of the cockpit is still fully realized with a ton of sculpted detail. The ReAction figures fit fine, but the O-Ring figures would fit even better. Let’s get Megatron transformed and check him out.

Transforming the toy into robot mode is pretty easy, but I found that getting it locked back down into HISS mode can be a pain, even when I know what I’m supposed to be doing. In robot mode, it’s clear that Hasbro’s focus here was the HISS mode, because the robot mode has a lot of kibble. It’s like Megatron is cosplaying as a HISS tank. I think the toy manages the HISS parts pretty well when viewed from the front, but there’s a lot of stuff going on the back… like, oh I don’t know… the fact that he’s basically wearing half a HISS tank as a backpack. I was not fond of this at all when I first saw the toy, but it’s grown on me a little bit. It’s kind of got a powerful battlemech vibe going on, and I’m not hating it. Either way, there’s enough G1 Megatron beats to the robot mode to make it work.

I really dig how the design added the rocket packs to the tread pieces that land on his hips. Being able to launch off six rockets from your hips ain’t a bad thing. The fusion cannon pegs in on the back of the hand, but at least he’s not actually holding it. He can definitely get into a good firing pose with it.

During transformation the back plate of the HISS is removed. You can incorporate this as a shield, but it looks like exactly what it is… Megatron holding the backplate of the HISS. I wish they had just designed this piece to peg into the back somewhere. Then again, maybe he’s already got enough going on back there. As it is, I’ll just set this piece aside when displaying him in robot mode.

The head sculpt is pure money. I’d say this is one of the best G1 Sunbow inspired Megatron heads Hasbro has ever given us. The HISS turret lands directly behind the head and this serves as a firing position for a figure while Megsy is in robot mode. It kind of justifies the extra bulk on his back, or at least gives it a purpose. It also gives the included Baroness figure something to do when Megatron is in robot mode. On the other hand, it’s hard for me to believe Megatron would be fine with human vermin riding on his back.

If you’re looking for an Optimus Prime to square up against this figure, the Power of the Primes Powermaster Prime isn’t too bad. He comes up a little short, but I think they look good facing off against each other.

Overall, I like this toy a lot, but I fall just short of really loving it. As a kid, it was kind of a dream of mine to have a Transformers figure that could hold action figures in its alt mode, and this definitely scratches that itch. The HISS mode is so incredibly well done and it’s fun to load it up with figures and display it alongside regular HISS tanks. The robot mode isn’t all that bad, but the HISS kibble is definitely rather excessive. At least Hasbro leaned into it by giving him the turret on back so he can interact with figures even in robot mode. This thing was released at $90, which I still think is pretty damn excessive, but I got it on sale for around $60 and it can be had these days for even less than that price. Hasbro followed this up with a Bumblebee AWE Striker, which was a pass for me, because it should have been Hound. A third release has been up for pre-order, mashing Soundwave and the Dreadnoks Thunder Machine, and I couldn’t resist that one.

May 24 2023

Transformers Legacy Evolution: Scraphook by Hasbro

I have pulled waaay back on collecting Transformers, mainly because Hasbro has been drifting away from the G1 stuff in favor of other eras. And that’s fine! They’ve given me most of what I’ve wanted in terms of G1 remakes, and it’s time to spread some of that love to the collectors who are nostalgic for the Unicron Trilogy stuff. Plus, it saves me money so it’s a Win-Win. But, I do have a backlog of convertorobots that I have not checked out on FFZ, and I’m going to try to give them the spotlight here and there, even if some of them are pretty dated by now. I especially want to get to those Legacy Stunticons! But today I’m keeping it small and simple with a new Deluxe Class Junkion!

The Legacy packaging is kind of a mixed bag to me. It’s a lot more eye catching than some of the previous lines’ packaging, but it starts to melt my retinas if I look at it too long. I also have no idea what this Evolution stuff is all about. We’re still on the windowless packaging, and instead of a fully enclosed box part of the toy is open to the air so kids can put their sticky, disgusting fingers all over the toy before you buy it. I should note that Scraphook is an unusual figure in that he’s somewhat similar to the Weaponizers that we got during the Siege line. He does transform, but he’s also meant to be taken apart and mixed and matched with other toys. That’s probably fun for the kids, but it’s really not my bag. Anyway, let’s start with the alt mode.

Scraphook’s vehicle mode looks like a tow truck from a Mad Max film, and I am totally down with that! He’s got a delightfully drab deco of rust brown and dark gray, with a little orange to spice things up. The windows are all reinforced with armored vents, the front has some vicious looking ramming blades, the engine is exposed through the hood, there are some bitchin exhaust pipes on the back, and he’s got a spiked tire on the back, along with his big tow hook. Everything about this truck is just too cool!

Oddly enough, Scraphook’s alt mode struck me as being really small when I got him, but comparing it to some other Deluxes showed me that it really isn’t the case. I’ll do some comparisons at the end with another Deluxe Autobot tow truck, Hoist. Scraphook doesn’t actually come with any weapons to plug into his vehicle mode, but there are plenty of ports if you want to borrow some guns from another figure. All in all, this is just a great sculpt and a super fun vehicle that’s perfect for a Junkion.

Before transforming Scraphook, you have to strip him of some of his parts, and some more traditional Transformers fans may not be happy about that. But he’s not really a parts-former, because all of the stuff that comes off is just kind of extras. The parts include his two sets of exhaust pipes, his tow hook, his spiked tire, and his engine, which splits into two parts. You can omit all of these pieces and still transform Scraphook into his bot mode, but his robot mode is definitely enhanced by these extra bits.

And here he is all transformed and looking pretty damn good… and small! I may have been mistaken about thinking his alt mode was small, but his robot mode actually is pretty tiny for a Deluxe. Here, I’ve attached his exhaust pipes to his shoulders, put his spiked wheel on his left arm, attached his tow hook to the back, and we’ll get to the engine block pieces in a bit. Now, I really dig this robot mode a lot and just like his alt mode, it makes for a great looking Junkion. The robot mode casts off some of that rust brown and shows a lot more orange, which makes the figure pop a lot more in this mode. My only nitpick of the design is the long flat feet are kind of weird when viewed from the side or back. I do wish these folded up and tabbed into the backs of the lower legs. I think that would have looked a lot better. And keep in mind, there are sockets all over this guy, so what you do with those extra pieces is up to you. This is just my preferred look for him.

Scraphook has some pretty good poseability and thanks to some nice ankle rockers, he can keep those big slabs of feet flat on the ground in wide stances. My figure does have some issues with his elbows, which are simple friction hinges that love to pop off and are extremely loose. I can get his arms to stay bent for a while, but they will eventually flop down if given enough time. I’m not sure if this is a problem with my figure or the design in general, but at $25, it shouldn’t be an issue.

Hasbro went all out on the head sculpt for this guy. He’s got a rounded brown “helmet” with a pronounced mohawk-like crest in the middle I also dig that he’s got a plate bolted over his left eye. Scraphook also has some sculpted facial hair in the form of a mustache and goatee, which became all the rage after Transformers: The Movie. I’ve never been a huge fan of that, but it kind of fits with the Junkions, I guess. The face paint is dark gray instead of the silver we’re used to seeing, which is also pretty fitting for a Junkion. All in all, this portrait has a ton of personality and I love it!

The two pieces of his engine become handguns, which is pretty cool. Or you can socket these on his body in various places. Not bad!

And as I mentioned earlier, Scraphook is designed to come apart at the shoulders and knees. You can use this to mix and match with other compatible figures in either robot or vehicle modes. Like I said, this gimmick isn’t really my bag, but it’s probably fun for the kiddos. The connections stay put pretty well when fiddling with him in alt mode, but they did separate a few times while I was transforming him.

I like Scraphook, but I fall just short of loving him. He gets major points for great looking alt and robot modes, but his robot mode is way too small for a $25 Deluxe. Add to that the issues with the shoulders, and he just feels grossly overpriced. It’s also a shame that he doesn’t display well with the Studio Series Junkions, but having a tow truck about half the size of a motorcycle is a bummer. Yeah, I know. Transformers scaling has always been wonky, and that’s true. These are also from two completely different lines, so there’s no reason they should be able to cohabitate on the shelves, but with a design this cool it would have been nice to see him in that larger scale. Maybe I will pick up Crashbar to at least have another Junkion that scales well with him as a bot. This guy is also being remolded and repainted into what I believe will be the first Decepticon Junkion, so that may be worth a look too!

Mar 31 2023

Transformers: Legacy Evolution Shrapnel by Hasbro

Last year, Hasbro gave us Kickback and the promise of getting the Insecticon band back together with new versions. I absolutely adore the Insecticons, and so this made me happy. Then Kickback came out and I absolutely loved him, and that made me happy. But as the old saying goes, fool me once! Because the last time Hasbro did the Insecticons, they started strong and we ended up with a team that didn’t really look like they belonged together. I was worried the same thing would happen here, and so I waited with baited breath for the second release, and here he is. Let’s check out Shrapnel.

We’ve seen the Legacy packaging before, and while I admit it’s rather eye catching in all it’s crazy colors, it doesn’t really scream Transformers to me. All I need in my Transformers packaging is a grid pattern, and either some purple or red to denote faction. Also, what’s this Evolution business? I still don’t know. Hasbro is still refusing to put plastic windows on the boxes, because of saving the planet or whatever, but I get my Transformers online, so there aren’t any kids to put their sticky fingers on my toy or wipe boogers on them. Now the Amazon employees do that. I am pleased to see that somehow Hasbro secured Shrapnel’s name again, as last time I think he was called Skrapnel. Also, the packaged shot showcases the thing about this figure that triggers me the most. Can you guess what it is?

Here’s Shrapnel’s beetle mode and it’s pretty good! But let’s get that one thing that triggers me out of the way first. Somewhere along the way, Hasbro decided to not paint the antenna-slash-pincers silver like it is in the solicitation photos. Instead they left them bare gray and it looks positively awful. I understand that if you read the fine print on the package it actually states that final production appearance may vary, but it still pisses me off, particularly when you look at the price hikes on these little Deluxes. I will give Hasbro credit on two points: First, it’s not a fully enclosed box so at least you can see what you’re getting if you buy him in the store. Secondly, they actually reflect the change in the official package shot online. Of course, I pre-ordered, so the first whiff I got of the change was when I took him out of the shipping box and looked at him.

Other than all of that bitching, I think the alt-mode here is fine. It locks together well and I like how the pincers will open and close without revealing the robot head. The translucent yellow chest plate with the silver plastic behind it and the Decepticon logo stamped on top looks fantastic. Plus, you get that most regal of all Decepticon colors: Black and purple. I also appreciate the use of gloss black paint on the body, as it resembles the diecast of the original toy. There’s some nice silver, red, and blue trim here and there and if it weren’t for that gray plastic, this little bug bot would be a total home run.

Shrapnel comes with two weapons, and you can peg them into his back to weaponize the beetle mode. And look, the G1-inspired gun is actually painted silver, making the ugly gray pincers stand out even more. Yeah, I know. I should get over it. Let’s get him transformed into his robot mode.

Hasbro didn’t muck up the rather simple transformation design from the original figures. Sure, it’s a bit more complex, but it’s still in the spirit of the original toy and it’s still quick, easy, and comfy. Like the beetle mode, Shrapnel’s robot form is a pitch perfect homage to the G1 toy only with better proportions and more articulation. Hey, did I mention how bad the pincers look without silver paint? Oh yeah. I did. Everything else here is just superbly done. You get most of the same beautiful colors on display in his bug mode, and that wonderful yellow chest plate is front and center. I could complain that the upper legs aren’t painted silver too, but that really doesn’t bother me at all. Just the pincers. See… I’m reasonable! From the back, he’s pretty well filled out, except for the hollow upper legs and backs of the pincers.

The head sculpt is also spot on perfect from his big red visor to his silver painted face. You had the silver paint out, Hasbro. It was on the table. You just had to use some more of it on those pincers, dammit!

The two guns are pretty cool, but I’ll mainly just be displaying him with the G1-inspired silver weapon. The purple one can be combined with it a couple of different ways, which is fun, but I don’t like how either of them look enough to go with it.

So, I was really pissed when I opened this figure and saw the pincers, but you probably get that from having read the same complaint over and over again. What I did not expect to happen was to get past it, but get past it I eventually did. At some point the rest of the figure’s merits won me over and I was willing to let it go. And since, Hasbro did something different with Kickback’s wings instead of painting them silver, the two figures do pair up pretty well and look great together. So all that’s left is to see what Hasbro is going to do with Bombshell. If they paint his head cannon silver it’ll make Shrapnel look worse, so I guess the only thing to do is to embrace the gray plastic. We’ll see. But for now, I’m actually really happy with these two, although I won’t be retiring my third party bug bots by Bad Cube any time soon.

Mar 20 2023

Transformers (Studio Series 86) Sludge by Hasbro

How about we start the week with some Transformers, eh? Seems like a little while since I checked back in with Hasbro’s Change-o-Bots! With Hasbro’s reveal that Snarl is coming, it has occurred to me that I am not current on reviewing the previous giant metal dinosaur convertobots. I have checked out Grimlock and Slag (SLAG, I SAYS!), so let’s get caught up with the last of the original Dinobot trio and have a look at Sludge!

The packaging has changed a bit since Slag’s release. The window is gone and Sludge comes in a fully enclosed box with some fantastic character art on the front showing Sludge battling it out with some Sharkticons in his dinosaur mode. It’s kind of interesting that they went with the dino mode on the front, seeing as how the window boxes used to show off the figure in the robot mode. Either way, this works fine. Also worth mentioning is that Sludge does not come with a companion figure. Grimlock came with a semi-articulated Wheelie and Slag came with Daniel in his Exo-Suit. And that’s fine, because I didn’t particularly care for either of those figures and they quickly got pitched into the dreaded Tote of Forgotten Accessories. But naturally Hasbro used the plastic saved here to include swords for everybody, right? No! No, they didn’t. Let’s start with Sludge’s dino mode.

Naturally, Sludge’s alt mode is still a Brontosaurus, or whatever they call this type of dinosaur nowadays. Them science types have been up to a lot of revisionist history since I was in school. Straightaway, I’m going to say that I think Sludge has the best looking alt mode of any of the Studio Series Dinobots so far. They’ve all been good, but Grimlock had some proportion issues and Slag had a bit of a patchwork look to him, but Sludge here is mostly comprised of a really nice and well-rounded shell. He’s got a lot of dark gray with some silver panels making up his hump and tail, a little red showing near his hind legs, and some beautiful satin gold paint on his back, undercarriage and finally his head. Slag let me down a bit with that cream colored plastic they used for his cowl, but all the coloring on Sludge just looks fantastic. The panel lining on Sludge’s hide is especially nice, with all sorts of cybernetic bits and bobs. Almost every inch of this guy has some detail to take in.

The head sculpt is also superb. There’s so much personality in that snap-dragon of a head! I dig the narrow blue eyes, and the nasty looking serrated teeth. With the past Dinobots, I have lamented Hasbro abandoning the translucent yellow plastic of the G1 toys, but I honestly don’t miss it here. I think the satin gold used for the head and upper neck just looks so beautiful in its place. You also get a decent amount of articulation here with not only the hinged jaw and side to side rotation, but the ability for the head to look down. The legs rotate where they connect to the body and have hinges midway down, giving him just enough poseability that I would expect.

I guess if I had to nitpick something with Sludge’s dino mode, it would be the seam on his back can be a bit tough to keep closed, and even when it is closed up, it’s designed to still look like there’s a bit of a gap there. His belly hangs really low to the ground too because of his golden bot-mode toes being down there. But that’s not a big deal. There’s a compartment under there to store his weapon, since unlike Slag, it isn’t incorporated into his dino mode. And while I’m still nitpicking, last time I commented about how I thought Slag’s transformation was a bit needlessly complex. The original Dinobot designs had some elegant engineering, which I would argue could be modernized without messing with them all that much. Sludge here still feels like they went out of their way to make his transformation more complex. Now, I know that some people expect more complex engineering with the bigger and more expensive figures, so that’s not necessarily going to be a sticking point for a lot of people. And to be fair it isn’t really that big of one for me either. After a few goes, I was able to do the transformation without any difficulty.

Getting Sludge converted, reveals a robot mode that is as faithful as the previous two Studio Series Dinobot releases. Sludge is an absolute tank of a robot, very befitting of the original design. In fact, I’d say this one cleans up the best as far as modernizations go. The proportions are all smoothed out, and his wings are a more full and robust than the G1 toy. There’s some impressive packing going on in the lower legs, but I am glad they left the tail sections on the outside of the legs, as it beefs them up. Unfortunately, Sludge does still have the weird elbow hinges, where the hinges are all the way to the front. There’s something about that design that doesn’t sit right with me, but it’s certainly not a deal-breaker. The backside is just a solid slab of robot, with the dino head and neck hanging straight down. It looks very nice and finished, making for a solid and highly playable figure. As for the coloring, it’s all most of what we saw in the dinosaur mode, only with more red revealed in the torso. This is just a fantastic looking figure all the way around!

The portraits have been great in this group so far, and Sludge is no exception His “helmet” is black with the two little angled slats on each side and a large silver coffin-shaped plate on his forehead. The silver paint looks good, but mine has some wear on the forehead plate, giving him an unintentionally weathered look. His blue eyes came out really nice, and makes me wish there was some light piping on these. I also love the bold and crisp Autobot emblem stamped on his chest.

I’ve already established that there’s no sword, which continues to be a huge oversight by Hasbro, leaving third parties to pick up the slack. Sludge does, however, come with a gun and it’s pretty damn nice. It’s cast in black plastic with some gold paint on the barrel and ont he scope.

I’m pretty sure I said this last time, but it still confounds me that Takara never produced a full set of Masterpiece Dinobots. Grimlock’s MP figure went through a whole bunch of releases and seemed like he was always in demand. I can’t imagine that Slag and Sludge would have done any worse. Then Power of the Primes came along and gave us some nice looking versions, which were way too small and sacrificed way too much for what I thought was a terrible and unnecessary combiner mode. So, thank Primus for these Studio Series releases. Sludge marks the first time since G2 that we got a solid set of this trio from Hasbro based on the original designs, and I am extremely pleased with how they all came out. They are appropriately sized, look great in both modes, and having all three together on the shelf makes for an absolutely awesome display! Now bring on Snarl and Swoop!