[Toy Review] Studio Series II

I reviewed my first batch of Studio Series toys here and as the line expands, so does my fascination and admiration for it!

This toy line has it all: screen accuracy, amazing paint jobs, poseability, scale and the phenomenal live action movie designs. Yes, you read that right. I always thought the movie designs were amazing, they gave real life depth to the Marvel comics two dimensional designs and they actually homaged both the G1 cartoon and Beast Wars in many ways. The movie plots may indeed have gotten more ridiculous as they went along (though the same can be said for some G1 episodes), but the real robot Transformers designs were amazing. The problem was that they were not translated into toy designs, one big reason why until Studio Series, I had zero movie line toys.

But on to the latest reviews: Dropkick is a beautiful helicopter with a unique and elegant transformation.

Barricade and Bonecrusher's vehicle modes are likewise spot on. I just love the detail and sculpt. It is so good to have Transformers converting into real vehicles just like in G1. Much as I like some of the future designs from G1 season 3 and the Japanese lore, there is something particularly difficult about designing a real world vehicle that unfolds into an other-world alien robot. It was one of the big draws of the original 1984-85 storyline and the live action movie has returned to this motif.

Of course not all of the movie Transformers are real world vehicles, Grimlock being the exception to the rule. This is part t-rex, part mythic Chinese dragon...and it works great!

The excellence of the Studio Series line is best seen when comparing the line to previous movie toys. Granted, Last Knight Drift (blurred to the right) is probably on the lower end of representatives of the original movie lines, but still, the comparison is telling: Bumblebee and Jazz are intricate in their transformations. Meanwhile Drift literally lies down to become a car and has a false hood. His robot mode is also a far cry from screen accuracy and the paint job is incomplete. Studio Series fixes all of this. 

Studio Series is so good that I was even drawn in by marginal characters like Stinger, who I would never have given a second glance if not for this line. I am mainly drawn to characters, but the movie designs are so good that if you put it into plastic, it doesn't matter how marginal or dull a character was in the films. 

Speaking of good; of all the movie designs, Starscream is my favorite. I am happy that he has a unique design, not repeated by any other seeker, and that design is brilliant. The ape aspect gives him some needed bulk and strong presence, but the limbs are lanky enough that he still has his inherent weaknesses. The head sculpt is part Waspinator homage, part skull, part odd smirk (at least I kind of see it!) The design has a lot of charisma to it. The transformation and plane mode is fantastic.

Another favorite is Bonecrusher. I fell in love with him as soon as he hit the 2007 screen. It was very disappointing to see him so immediately decapitated. Truth be told, he and Brawl/Devastator were such great and imposing characters that it was really a pit they didn't get to do more.

The Studio Series Bonecrusher toy is a fantastic representation. I remember briefly owning the 2007 deluxe. I tried to like it because I liked Bonecrusher, but I just couldn't. The dissonance between what we saw on screen and the deluxe was just unbearable. Studio Series Bonecrusher looks like he walked off the screen!

There's also so much great play value in him due to the design, the claws and the non-anthropomorphic joints.

It is interesting how these designs seem to combine so much that is human, insectoid, mechanical - it's just such a mix. Stinger is a good example. More anthropomorphic than Bonecrusher and Starscream, he still has the rotor wings designed in a way reminiscent of an insect and a face that could have been in Beast Wars.

Beast Wars actually, in my opinion, played a big role in the robot mode designs for all of the movie toys. I will return to this theme in a bit when I get around to Studio Series Rampage. It is not just the fact that the Decepticons robot modes are more similar to insects or monsters, but even the Autobots have an element of the animalistic in them. It's hard to put a finger on it.

Let's take Ironhide here. First, I have to say this design is what Ironhide should be. Sure, the vehicle and the color suggest Trailbreaker, but just as Bumblebee is a mix of the Bluestreak/Prowl/Smokescreen design with the Bumblebee/Cheetor/Hotrod character so too Ironhide kind of blends together Trailbreaker, Kup and Ironhide (G1). As for the beast influence: the head has something of a big drizzly bear in it. Or a dog. In fact if you look closely and think of Beast Wars the head is none other than Silverbolt (BW fuzor). Now that is really an amazing homage to the lore. And the more I consider the movie designs, the more I see that these were not made just to reflect one particular character, but to reflect a whole slew of archetypes which were similar and ran across the Transformers franchise.

And then there are those brilliant real world transformations again. It is just so awesome to get a truck like this that turns into a robot like that. The complexity of the transformation makes the figurs worth it and the reduction in general size as compared to previous lines is compensated by the added complexity. I prefer smaller Transformers (therefore less plastic) with better transformation, details and paint any day.





Speaking of smaller, that brings me to Jazz. Just as Starscream is my favorite Decepticon design of the movie line, so Jazz is my favorite Autobot design. His 2007 toy was just so bad compared to this design which is just so good. It really is Jazz in all his slick coolness. He's so small, but so packed with details and poseability and that fantastic car mode. Am I gushing? Is this a review or just me gushing? Yes, I am the least critical reviewer on the internet. I don't point out flaws because I don't expect perfection. If I think a figure may be too flawed, I don't add it to my collection (ahem, Studio Series Shatter, ahem)

Even the weapons of the movie designs are alien and unique. Jazz is a case in point. Now I am having a bit of a flash back to 2007 when I went out and bought the entire wave of movie Autobots and Decepticons (except Megatron who just looked terrible) and was so disappointed with just about all of them. What I was expecting and hoping for was something like Studio Series. Oh well - better late than never!

Ironhide's vehicle mode (yes, I jump around alot and ramble...these are more reflections than proper reviews): this certainly conforms the the tough guy name and image of G1 Ironhide far better than a red van.

Play value is also an important part of Studio Series, it is enhanced thanks to the merciful lack of gimmicks. Personally I like gimmicks when they are original: Headmasters, Minicons, Combiners. I can forgive Combiner Wars Longhaul being a bit off as a robot as a sacrifice to the combined form of Devastator. I can forgive Armada Megatron having a lower level of poseability in exchange for Minicon playability. What I can't stand are gimmicks that revolve around oversized unrealistic projectiles, really bad combinations (everything from Energon/Superlink except Power Rangers Prime). Studio Series is fun because the movie designs are fun. Instead of the silly gimmicks of past movie lines, playability is best enhanced by screen accuracy and poseability. Just let the toys do what the robots can do on screen.

Gosh, just look at that. Ironhide in particular, because of his dark color, really doesn't look like he would turn into a GMC truck. That's another thing that's interesting about the movie designs. These are not robots wearing vehicle parts. These are alien machines who really can shift their shapes to a radical extent in order to look like things from Earth.

Then there's Grimlock. Talk about radical reinterpretation of a design. This one had to grow on me. It's been mentioned before and I concur that the influence of Unicorn Gundam is abundant here, not just in the head, but also the legs and oversized shoulder pads. In the end this is a great design and I like that he is just so much bigger than everyone else. You might wonder why I am not complaining about the things other reviewers complain about. Am I unaware that x,y,z? Well, I am aware, I just don't care. The flaws are so minimal compared to what is great about the toy that I just don't see the point of complaining. Some reviewers might want to be objective and point out the good and the bad. Me, I don't really feel like being objective. The toy is either fun or not.

Crowbar is a prime example of fun, although for me the reason is the contrast between what I read about his character profile (which made me want the figure) to his design (which is just a bland devil-robot who seems to bear some resemblance to those dread twins from the Matrix). But the fact that this ugly duckling is a computer genius and amazing scientist is intriguing. There's something about a smart gargoyle that just draws a fan to it!

Cannons. Ironhide is just so awesome. And look at those angled parts. Fantastic!

So if I am such a big fan of the Bayformers movie designs, what do I think of the ones from the new Bumblebee movie? Aren't I glad that they finally look closer to the iconic G1 designs? Well yes, sure, of course, but... let's use the Primes as a template for my thoughts. Of course I think Studio Series Bumblebee Prime is amazing, but is he better than ROTF Studio series Prime? Ultimately hard to say. Time is a strange thing. In 2007 I missed classics flatnose Prime. I was thrilled to see him somewhat return in Age of Extinction, (that was AOE, right?), but by the time the Bumblebee movie rolled around I'd grown to accept and appreciate the 2007 design. More dynamic, more heroic rather than stoic. Yes, that's it. Bumblebee Prime looks like he's made for standing around saying important things while ROTF Prime is made to fight. 

So what's that doing here? Last Knight Voyager Megatron is not Studio Series, not even a repaint or carry over like Studio Series Thundercracker. Yes, true, but he was the Megatron of choice for me. Until Leader DOTM Megatron who is by far my favorite design. I just wasn't interested I'm ROTF Tank Megatron (I actually had the original ROTF Leader and I just couldn't stand the design with the spindly arm and lack of fusion cannon). Yes, Last Knight has a fusion cannon on his arm and still manages to be unique. But with a fusion cannon. Not giving Megatron a fusion cannon would be like not giving Prime windshields for a chest (so that explains my aversion to Last Knight Prime). But how can I therefore say that DOTM Megatron is my favorite design and is my Studio Series Megatron? And if he is my Studio Series Megatron then why don't I just put his picture here? All good questions.

So; here's the thing: My Studio Series Megatron is in storage with Drift, Rampage and Longhaul, all of whom will be reviewed along with Dropkick (car) in "Studio Series III" (you heard it first here that there would be a part 3 to the Studio Series reviews!). For now, I wanted to mention the three Movie figures in my collection who are not full on Studio Series: Thundercracker, who was issued as a Studio Series toy and reviewed in Studio Series I and Last Knight voyager Megatron and Drift. I have a very strange problem with Megatron(s) and readers of my photo-comics can kind of see it. I will elaborate on it in a Megatron Character Profile. Suffice it to say Last Knight voyager Megatron was the best Megatron I could find at the time. You might wonder why not Siege Megatron? For the same reason that, faced with the choice between Combiner Wars Leader G1 Megatron and Combiner Wars Leader Armada Megatron - I of course immediately got Armada Megatron.

I have some kind of strange aversion to the G1 Megatron. And to spindly arms (so no ROTF), and while I liked the 2007 design - the Voyager of that is not even out yet. And while my favourite was DOTM, that has only just appeared in Studio Series...and....well...to make a long story short I wanted to put my Last Knight Megatron into this review and make some random observations about how much worse he is, quality wise, compared to your standard Studio Series figure. He's much better, mind you, than lots of other regular movie toys, and the fusion cannon on the arm - that's great. But his head design looks like Ultron from the Avengers movies - in fact the whole design looks like Ultron. Why? It's not bad as such, but just a bit jarring. Still if you forget about Ultron and just think Samurai warrior, as I try to do, then he is a master of Metalikato turned Decepticon dark knight and leader. Or something.


Then there's Drift - I don't really know how or why I settled for the Last Knights Drift. The car mode is nice, but the transformation is sub-par and the mould is not the best in terms of screen accuracy or paint job - am I complaining despite claiming I don't complain? I guess so - still, something about Drift just drew me in. But lets get back to Studio Series. Optimus Prime's truck mode is just amazing, and then there's helicopter Dropkick - a truly delightful case of a very well done helicopter Decepticon.

Speaking of Decepticon, did I mention how fantastic Last Knight Voyager Megatron and Studio Series Starscream go together? The colors really work well off of one another and the profound differences in design (between 2007 and TLK) are evidently at play, serving to highlight the conflict as contrast between these two.

Megatron's transformation would and kind of does deserve special mention here for how sleek and elegant it is, but then again since the alternative mode is completely made up, it should not have been otherwise - they don't need his robot design to compress into anything remotely familiar. On the other hand, the big weakness of the 2007 design, which carried over somewhat into the ROTF design, was just how bad the alternative modes were, with heads sticking out and what not. TLK Megatron has at least got a proper trasformation.










So anyways, here are three more pictures to look at. Which Optimus Prime do you prefer?

Me, I don't know. I'll take either design on a good day. Unlike Bonecrusher and Barricade, I won't bicker about it. That pretty much wraps up my random commentary on these toys. At least until I get around to Studio Series Rampage and the others. I Mentioned him in the context of Beast Wars: in short, Rampage is Protoform X. I mean, isn't it obvious that he's BW Rampage just no longer a crab who turns into a robot, but rather a robo-crab which turns into a bull-dozer? It's not a tank, but it's close enough! Look at the head - isn't that Protoform X and Transmetal Rampage? See that's what I call a Beast Wars homage (or maybe you don't see since I don't have any pictures of him here...)

Wel, consider this a kind of tantalising preview of the next review. For now, I am happy I got Barricade and Bonecrusher. Two of my favourite Decepticon... oh - and getting back to Drift: you see, whether or not a toy is good is very relative. With Drift, the samurai design is actually not very common amongst Transformers and I wanted something different in my collection mix. Also, while certainly not as a good a Studio Series, Drift was and is, just by virtue of being a samurai themed warrior, generally better than several G1 and Unicorn Trilogy toys. That is maybe not the best standard of comparison, but there it is. I might be somewhat picky, but no - not really. I' m too busy being happy with my collection.


I guess that's it. Transform and roll out!