Studio Series Core class Concept Art Rumble

Core class looks, for all the world, like it should be a line of pocket-money toys. They're small, they're basic... Similar to the Mini Autobots from Generation 1, but with better articulation. Unfortunately, the £13/£14 UK RRP means they're too expensive to be considered true pocket-money toys... quite apart from being far too expensive for what you're actually getting.

The figure chosen to debut Core class in the Studio Series line was Bumblebee movie Shockwave - a truly baffling choice - which came out four years after the Bumblebee movie, and two years before the Voyager class toy. In some respects, it was also better articulated than the larger version. Some might say that alone made him worth the price - perhaps even better value-for-money than the Voyager - but his 'vehicle' mode was almost identical in structure to the TransFormers Prime version of Shockwave, which wasn't exactly inspiring. There had been no concept art for Shockwave's vehicle mode, theoretically giving the designers carte blanche to create something unique. The other figure in the first wave was Ravage which, arguably, should have been included with SS #83 Soundwave, so it's no surprise that Hasbro would later decide to create more minions for Soundwave, given they're now mining the archives for concept art.

Rumble is an obvious choice, considering his popularity and the frequency of his appearances in the G1 cartoon, and the fact that both he and Frenzy have come along in almost every recent toyline, including War For Cybertron, Studio Series '86 and Legacy, essentially all being Core class, or the closest equivalent in that line... These have all been rather lacklustre, though, so let's find out if the Core class Studio Series Concept Art Rumble breaks this pattern.

MetaGate G-05 Red Fantasy

(Femme-Bot Friday #85)

The Bumblebee movie didn't just bring a new, unprecedented coherence to storytelling in live action TransFormers movies, but a whole new aesthetic. Gone were the overcomplicated, oddly-proportioned Autobots and the insectoid Decepticons seemingly made of needles, knives and random metal shavings; the overabundance of grey and bare metal. The framing of each shot gave characters breathing room, allowing for physical characteristics to shine through, and individual robots were easily distinguishable at a glance, even in the thick of the action. No longer were we, for example, stuck looking at Optimus Prime's armpit as he cut a swathe through legions of Decepticons in the middle of a city, or watching Starscream gob up some lubricant in hyper-sharp, ILM-crafted detail.

Sure, the movie only really featured two Decepticons for the bulk of the story, but what Decepticons they were! Shatter and Dropkick were the ideal - not to say archetypal - pairing of brains and brawn, with the former even convincing the proto-Sector 7 team to work with them, despite representing themselves as "Decepticon Peacekeepers", a flagrantly oxymoronic description if ever there was one. Silver-tongued Shatter was the standout villain, exhibiting intelligence, cunning and a keen mind for strategy, with the dulcet tones of Angela Bassett breathing life into her. To cap it all, both she and Dropkick became Triple Changers, which naturally made it difficult for Hasbro to make toys of them.

To make them viable, Hasbro essentially made two versions of each in as many size classes as possible... The Deluxe class Studio Series car mode Shatter was a clumsy, flimsy mess, but the jet mode toy was excellent, if a little overburdened with vehicle mode parts on its backpack. However, it wasn't long till Third Parties started teasing their plans to make (loosely) Masterpiece scale figures that would actually feature both car and jet modes all in one. Toyworld announced theirs first, back in 2019, but relative newcomers MetaGate - creators of the stunning, triple-changing movieverse Drift, Haiku - were the first to actually ship theirs and, even at first glance, it looked substantially better.

But let's have a closer look and see exactly what kind of dark magic had been brought to bear on this character...

Studio Series #85 Arcee

(Femme-Bot Friday #79)

Arcee doesn't have the greatest of histories in the live action movie series. Unceremoniously pulled from the first movie, she was pushed back in for the second - albeit in such a way that it wasn't clear whether she was a single consciousness split across three bodies or one of a team of three independent robots with superficially similar designs - only to be (presumably) killed off in the final battle. Fans seem to have been reasonably positive toward the original, unused movie design, but overwhelmingly unfavourable toward the so-called 'wheelsnakes' of Revenge of the Fallen.

She was then absent from subsequent movies, only turning up in the tentative reboot that was the Bumblebee movie, in the all-too-brief opening scene set on Cybertron. Even here, the reception to her design was not consistently positive, with many feeling that, while the overall design looked good enough, the uncanny appearance of her face was off-putting... And, of course, that brief CGI sequence only featured the movie protagonist's vehicle mode, so many were inclined to feel pessimistic about any toys that might come along.

But, when the toy was finally revealed, it looked surprisingly good... from most angles, at least. Let's give it the once-over, and see what we make of it.

Studio Series #84 Ironhide

The funny thing about Ratchet and Ironhide, these days, is that development of one will always lead to the appearance of the other, even if only one of them is actually present in whatever media might be associated with a given toyline.

The less funny thing is that, like the Seekers, it's becoming increasingly common for the pair to be released according to different strategies - witness the US release of both War for Cybertron Ratchet figures as Walgreens exclusives.

Thankfully, no such problems with the Studio Series interpretations of Cybertronian Ratchet and Ironhide from the 2018 Bumblebee solo movie. Not only did both appear on screen (if only for a couple of seconds apiece), but both have received distributions seemingly unrestrained by any retailer-exclusivity marketing deals. As mentioned in my write-up of Ratchet, my expectations were low, but the toy turned out to be both technically impressive and a more satisfying Cybertronian form than those offered by the War for Cybertron line... So let's take a look at Ironhide and see how much of that carries over to the mold's inevitable second use.

Studio Series #83 Soundwave (& Ravage)

The arrival of a Cybertronian Starscream in the Studio Series toyline, based on the brief appearance of the Seekers and Coneheads in the Bumblebee movie, certainly got people excited for the prospect of more toys based on the robots seen in that short CGI sequence.

From my point of view, while Starscream himself was a huge disappointment - firmly putting me off buying the Thundercracker repaint, even if they do subsequently produce a Skywarp repaint as well - the next round of Cybertronian toys made for a very refreshing change from the ugly, blocky simplicity of the War for Cybertron: Siege line... But that's not to say the Studio Series figures weren't without their controversies.

Because, while a certain amount of suspension of disbelief is pretty much prerequisite when it comes to the concept of alien robots transforming into vehicles - even alien vehicles - some folks felt that Soundwave stretched credulity. But could he truly be the straw that broke the donkey's back?

New Purchases - AKA A Third Not An Unboxing Post

During some recent tidying, my girlfriend uncovered a box containing my old Nintendo Game Boy Color and the 17 game cartridges I bought for it many, many years ago. I'd pretty much forgotten its existence, since it hadn't seen the light of day in the eight years Courtney has been living with me. I remember bringing it to my flat, but I wouldn't have been able to remember where I'd put it... And, since I've not used it in so long, I figured it was time to sell it all on.

What has this to do with TransFormers? Well, I've bought nothing new since January, and the act of selling those 17 games made for a surprising windfall. As a result, I decided to spend a small part of it on acquiring the handful of toys I'd actually been looking forward to from Hasbro, and take the opportunity to have a more serious look at obtaining a couple of Third Party figures I was starting to think I'd have to miss out on (unless their release conveniently coincided with Christmas).

It also seemed like a good opportunity to try out a couple of new e-retailers I've found - Dinobot Island Toys and Star Action Figures - both of whom have been added to my sidebar's 'Cybertronian Datanet' section for a short while now. They seem to have a good range of stock, all of which is a few quid cheaper than the likes of Hasbro Pulse, Smyths, and some of the other online stores I've used in the past. They also, between them, had everything I wanted to buy, where my regular options were out of stock when I was ready to order.

Of course, my orders went through at precisely the time the CWU (Communication Workers Union) were going on strike, which naturally had an effect on postal services. That said, I put my orders through on 27/8 and 31/8, they were despatched on 30/8 and 1/9, respectively, which is quick service on the part of the two stores, in spite of the Summer Bank Holiday Weekend.

Additionally, both packages arrived in this morning's post, so I'd say that's still pretty good service on the part of the Royal Mail, in spite of any backlog caused by the (very necessary) industrial action.

Full writeups will, of course, be coming... but here are a few pics to tide you over.

Studio Series #82 Ratchet

Of all the figures to come from the Bumblebee movie section of the Studio Series toyline, the one for which my expectations were lowest was the Ratchet/Ironhide mold. This was largely because of the absolute travesty of simplistic and outdated engineering that was the Siege version and its hopelessly lazy Earthrise retool.

Because, let's fact it, if Hasbro were going to get lazy about an established vehicle mode, and leave the robot's blocky Cybertronian feet hanging off the back of an ostensibly terrestrial van, what hope was there for a transforming toy of a character that never had a vehicle mode designed for him, as he only appears very briefly in the movie, and then only in his robot mode?

And yet, sometimes, just sometimes, Hasbro can surprise a jaded old fan like me, and make me believe that perhaps there is some hope for originality of thinking within the brand. Could it be that the Studio Series figure of Ratchet from the Bumblebee movie is one such surprise? Let's take a look...

Studio Series #81 Wheeljack

It is my strongly-held conviction that the War for Cybertron Trilogy was a poorly-conceived, poorly-executed mess of a toyline that nevertheless produced a handful of great toys. Part of its problem was that it didn't keep to its own brief - Siege was supposed to represent the early days of the war, yet each figure came with extensive battle-damage paint apps. The most egregious problems, though, were that there were some critical omissions from the Siege portion, the Earthrise toyline was rendered pointless by it's own Netflix tie-in show, and the best toys in Kingdom were Hasbro's perfunctory acknowledgements that Beast Wars was a popular thing back in the 1990s, though clearly not popular enough to warrant its own, specific branch of the franchise rather than insertion into yet another of their interminable attempts to perpetuate their golden age of G1.

The omissions, while not obvious, became clearly problematic in the opening moments of the Netflix show, which paralleled the pilot of the G1 cartoon, showing Bumblebee and Wheeljack on an Energon scavenger hunt. This would have been a great idea, but for the fact that Bumblebee's Siege toy only got released under the Buzzworthy banner, while Wheeljack did not get a Siege toy at all. That said, neither of them actually transformed in the TV show, so perhaps their absence from the Siege line is not important to some people.

Surprisingly, it fell to the Studio Series line to present a Cybertronian Wheeljack figure - based on the CGI sequence at the start of the Bumblebee movie - and, based on the average quality of War for Cybertron toys, I'd have to concede that this was probably for the best. So, let's take a look at what is - in my opinion - one of the best War for Cybertron toys not to appear in the War for Cybertron lines, and try to get to the bottom of what makes it so good.

Studio Series #80 Brawn

I have to confess a certain favouritism when it comes to Brawn. The original G1 toy was likely my fourth purchase in the TransFormers line, and I've always loved its blocky awkwardness, long legs, short arms, and utilitarian claw/hook 'hands'. To this day, one of my favourite stories in the 1980s Marvel Comics series is The Enemy Within, in which Brawn goes bonkers after an electric shock, and ends up in a trial by combat with Starscream.

To say that I dislike his animation model from the cartoon would be an understatement, since he became too generic among the other blocky, poorly drawn robots. While the approximate shape of his head remained, its simplistic, almost featureless mask was replaced by a more expressive, humanoid face, even though he was never a particularly prominent character in the show.

I wasn't at all surprised that he didn't appear in any of the first five live action movies - if anything, I was surprised that he did appear - albeit briefly - in the Cybertron sequence in the Bumblebee solo movie... There was a toy named Brawn in the extended Revenge of the Fallen toyline (and which was repainted into a rather more mold-appropriate Outback analogue) but, much as I liked it, it wasn't quite the update to the G1 character I was hoping for. I quite liked what I saw in the Bumblebee movie, though, and so was excited when he was announced as being part of the first wave of Hasbro's 2022 selection in the Studio Series line. Was this excitement justified..?

Studio Series #72 Starscream

Given that the Cybertron sequence in Travis Knight's Bumblebee-centric live action movie was comparatively short, it's spawned an awful lot of products... from the high-spec action figures created by 3A to the Studio Series toy made for the Cybertronian form of Cliffjumper, based on the briefly-glimpsed vehicle mode of B-127 himself, even though he was on screen for only about a minute. There have even been hints of Third Party offerings of some of the character seen in this sequence, so it clearly fired the imagination of many in the movie's audience.

Probably the highlight of this new take on the TransFormers' homeworld was the striking appearance of the Seekers. Taking its cue from the cartoon, there was a veritable rainbow legion of them, almost all of whom were nameless cannon-fodder. Even so, they were exceptionally well-designed: instantly recogniseable, even when in motion, and given an excellent new take on what has been an absolute millstone since the cartoon's pilot episode first aired, the Tetrajet.

And, of course, Hasbro are canny enough to know that making a toy of this design would be a worthwhile endeavour, not least because of its repaint potential. Since Starscream is the only named Seeker to have appeared in any of the movies, it seems only natural that he should be released as the first iteration of the Knightverse Tetrajet.

Studio Series #64 Cliffjumper

When this figure was first revealed, I was quite keen to pick him up, despite his tragically brief role in the Bumblebee movie (something of a running theme for the character in recent years), because Cliffjumper was the first TransFormers toy I ever bought, and I still have fond memories of him. I liked (what little we saw of) the design from the movie, particularly the Bayformer-yet-G1 head, and the toy seemed to have a nice, sleek vehicle mode, somewhat reminiscent of Jazz/Sideswipe from the War for Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron videogames.

 

Once I watched some video reviews and saw the figure in a bit more detail, I was put off - transformation was a clumsy adaptation of Offroad Bumblebee, leaving him with a massive backpack... However, finding a small leftover in my Amazon Gift Card balance from Christmas, and a single Cliffjumper toy remaining in their stock, I decided to order...  

 

Studio Series #65 Blitzwing

Probably the one clip from the trailer for Travis Knight's Bumblebee solo movie that got the most attention and generated the most excitement was the transformation of a jet into a red and grey Seeker-style robot that many people conjectured would be Starscream. Knight himself dashed such hopes when questioned, announcing that this robot was named 'Blitzwing' - a great nod to another G1 character, but not necessarily the most appropriate name, given that he didn't also turn into a tank. Then again, he was only on screen for about five minutes before getting blown up so, in the grand scheme of things, I don't think that's particularly significant. I mean, chances are, the name was one of several put forward by Hasbro, and no-one really put that much thought into the selection.

Given the small cast of robot characters in the movie, it's no surprise that they'd all be added to the Studio Series roster, with Bumblebee, Dropkick and Shatter each receiving two releases within the line (and even more for Bumblebee, if you include the special boxed sets). Blitzwing is the last of these, and only the second Voyager class figure from the film, the first (naturally) having been Optimus Prime - another character who probably only had about five minutes of total screen time.

With such a small role in the movie, one could be forgiven for having low expectations of the Blitzwing toy, but just being a Voyager - considering the more prominent Decepticons each became a pair of Deluxes - was a strong positive in my books... So let's take a look.

Studio Series #57 Offroad Bumblebee

I was reasonably convinced, back when I bought MPM-7 Bumblebee, that I'd never feel compelled to buy another live action movie Bumblebee figure. Even when Studio Series #49 turned up, looking pretty good (and, of course, in scale with the rest of the Studio Series line), I didn't feel it was necessary for my collection because I'm still a huge fan of Battle Blade Bumblebee from 2010, and I really think I've had enough Camaro Bumblebees for one lifetime.

So, seeing the flaw in my plan to avoid lining their pockets by buying yet more Bumblebee toys, Hasbro decided to take advantage of the only other terrestrial disguise taken by their protagonist in his solo movie... leading us to now take a look at the so-called Offroad Bumblebee.

Studio Series #59 Shatter (Jet)

(Femme-Bot Friday #73)

There really wasn't much good to say about the first version of Shatter to appear within the Studio Series toyline. Vehicle mode was OK, but transformation was not much fun due to several parts tending to fall off, and the robot mode was littered with clashing panels that restricted its articulation.

However, since she and Dropkick adopted two vehicle modes in the Bumblebee solo movie, and Dropkick turned up as Studio Series #22 in helicopter form, then #46 in car form, it seemed likely that Shatter's abysmal #40 car mode would eventually be followed by a jet form... And since the second Dropkick toy was much better than the first, it didn't seem like too much to hope for that the second Shatter toy would also supersede the first.

I mean, surely, Hasbro couldn't cock up the same character twice..?

Studio Series #46 Dropkick (Car)

Dropkick and his partner Shatter have both been given two separate Studio Series releases, each with a single vehicle mode, rather than a single, triple-changing version (that particular hurdle has been left to the Third Parties). Given that the car-form Shatter was an utter travesty and helicopter-form Dropkick was apparently pretty disappointing (even if it did give rise to helicopter-form Drift), I initially had reservations about car-form Dropkick.

Early photos seemed to suggest he was rather simpler, and perhaps more traditional in his execution compared to his partner. Still, of the Bumblebee movie figures released up to this point, none had been without flaws, and there was no reason to expect any better from this one, right?

Studio Series #38 (Bumblebee movie) Optimus Prime

I can't have been alone in the expectation, while watching the Bumblebee solo movie, that the version of Optimus Prime seen briefly in the trailer - as a hologram projected from the titular Autobot's chest - and in more detail during the Cybertron-set sequences, would somehow end up looking more like the Peterbilt truck from the first TransFormers live action movie once on Earth - if, indeed, he were to make a terrestrial appearance at all. So seeing him at the end of the movie, as a properly G1-styled 'cab over engine' truck, pulling a metallic trailer that looked just like the one packaged with the G1 toy (minus the obvious Autobot insignia on the sides) was a huge treat.

Naturally, I eagerly anticipated a Studio Series toy of this new interpretation of Optimus, particularly in the light of the amazing work that went into creating Evasion Mode Optimus Prime back in 2014, let alone the upscaped and improved Japan-only version released under the Bumblebee movie banner as 'Legendary Optimus Prime' in 2018.

Based on initial photos, it looked as though the Studio Series version would not disappoint, potentially being something to rival the Age of Extinction Voyager... but let's take a closer look, just to be sure.

Studio Series #40 Shatter (Car)

(Femme-Bot Friday #68)

When the villains in the Bumblebee solo movie were first announced, the fan reaction was a little muted... Who were Shatter and Dropkick? Sure, they looked interesting and distinct enough, but why not use existing characters from the vast stable of Decepticons from G1 onwards?

Well, in the grand tradition of Hollywood action movie villains, they turned out to be wholly disposeable, existing only as temporary adversaries to the titular hero, and a source of threat to all the humans. Even so, screenwriter Christina Hodson dared to do what Michael Bay's team balked at: she made one of the lead characters a Femme-Bot. Shatter was also probably the first movie Decepticons to truly live up to that title - deceiving and manipulating the humans to get what she and Dropkick wanted, yet not averse to getting into a fight when the situation required.

Add to that, she was voiced by the sublime Angela Bassett, and so instantly joined the cross-continuity ranks of TransFormers Femme-Bots whose velvet tones belie a vicious, deadly nature... Perhaps rivalling even Airachnid in those stakes.

TransFormers: Bumblebee - Proof that it can be done well?

While the Bumblebee movie isn't on general release until after Christmas over here, my best mate let me know it was being 'previewed' this weekend at a cinema convenient to both of us, so we booked tickets and had a quick look.

Briefly, it's very good - far better than any of the movies helmed by Michael Bay - and, despite being essentially a retread of the first movie (but "a girl gets her first car" rather than "a boy gets his first car"), still featuring humans rather too much, and borrowing heavily from The Iron Giant, it's enough of a TransFormers movie that I'm more hopeful for the continuation of the franchise.

More specifics? There will be a few spoilers ahead... You have been warned.

Seriously, do not read further if you don't want to see spoilers.

Studio Series #20 Bumblebee Vol. 2 - Retro Pop Highway

Hasbro really have gone a little bit nuts over Bumblebee over the last decade, and that's come sharply into focus now, with the Bumblebee solo movie hitting cinemas. The marketing machine seems to believe that they should release multiple versions of every single iteration of Bumblebee - myriad repaints in every size class, occasionally with new accessories or minor changes to the engineering.

Frankly, I got bored of that after Battle Blade Bumblebee, released eight years ago, simply because that still represents the pinnacle of Deluxe class engineering on a movie toy - not just a Bumblebee toy - as far as I'm concerned. Sure, I bought two movie Bumblebees from the Age of Extinction line, but they were at least based on different cars. I also had a Dark of the Moon version (Nitro Bumblebee) given to me as a gift, but I refused to buy any of the repaints and minor tweaks, and this will carry over to Studio Series: I bought the very first, because it's an improvement on the original '76 Camaro Bumblebee toy, and have no intention of buying any of the others...

...Except this one, which looked interesting because vehicle mode is almost a homage to G1 Goldbug, while robot mode is simply a more impressive-looking repaint of the SS VW Beetle Bumblebee for his eponymous live action outing. It's not exactly a limited edition, and clearly not as much of an exclusive as it's supposed to be, but the combination of a special paint job and a couple of G1 cassette-bots was more than enough to encourage me to (temporarily) lift the self-imposed Bumblebee embargo on my collection.

Annoyingly, though, I preordered this set in September, when it was supposed to ship in October, and then found him available at the Hasbro booth at the MCM London Comic Con at the end of October (probably cheaper there, too). He eventually arrived in the post last weekend, more than a little overdue (not least because of Royal Mail's 48-hour service taking closer to 72 hours)... so let's take a look at him.

Masterpiece Movie Series MPM-7 Bumblebee

Considering the prevalence of Bumblebee figures in all the live action movies' toylines, I made a decision very early on - after Age of Extinction, in fact - to be very selective of my Bumblebee purchases. Thus, I bought the original Studio Series Bumblebee because I felt it was a good way to close of my collection of Michael Bay-era Bumblebees (until the WWII version was announced, at least), and decided to preorder the gold, 'Retro Pop Highway' version of the Studio Series Bumblebee movie figure simply because it was something different and special.

Around the same time, though, I caved in and decided that I did rather want a 'proper' version of the new yellow VW Beetle figure, and so ordered the Masterpiece version in the hope that it would serve as the definitive figure of the new CGI character, so I won't feel compelled to buy any others.