In Hand Images of Studio Series 86 Leader Sludge

Fantastic engineering, and he looks SO good next to the other Dinobots.

But with a good of engineering as he has... they couldn't find a way to, I dunno, make his toes flip under and fill in that hollow space? Still, he looks to be the highlight of my future purchases this year.

Bounti76 wrote:Fantastic engineering, and he looks SO good next to the other Dinobots.

But with a good of engineering as he has... they couldn't find a way to, I dunno, make his toes flip under and fill in that hollow space? Still, he looks to be the highlight of my future purchases this year.

You mean the hollow space under the dino belly? One part too many over budget I guess. At least the weapon storage fill the role.

I'm also glad that the plastics that would have been waisted on a perma-crouching non-action figure went to the main bot instead.

I cannot wait to get this guy!

Yeah as soon as I saw the underside in dino mode my first thought was also about the toes. Otherwise this figure is nearly perfect. If only he was taller...

I was also hoping that his Dino mode would somehow be bulkier & also taller; both the height of his head & back…
But still, even so, he does look incredibly good.
Man I’m hoping we get him here in the states in May…

Also, it’s nice to hear people sharing thoughts that Snarl will be leader class…
I get there’s no proof, but it makes sense & should happen.

i can't believe we still don't have a Sludge toy with googly eyes.

Mechastrike wrote:i can't believe we still don't have a Sludge toy with googly eyes.

Well, maybe the release of these will get Takara to stop wasting engineering dollars on crappy overly-cartoony MPS for a bit and make MP versions of the other Dinobots.

Sludge's transformation scheme has been almost completely changed. I can't see a reason for them to have done so in the context of Sludge himself - looking at Grimlock, pics of Slag, and the PotP versions, I don't see anything that would have stopped them from doing "the G1 engineering but improved" as with Grimlock and Slag; that may in fact have been a bit cheaper.

So I think the changes made may mean he's been set up with a moldmate (possibly in the extreme parts-swap way, but still). I guess we'll have to see.

Even with the odd re-engineering, he's still definitely on my get list.

Mechastrike wrote:i can't believe we still don't have a Sludge toy with googly eyes.

To do true justice to the scene, this is the shot that needs to be represented, and I think this is beyond Hasbro and Takara's engineering capabilities.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

Mechastrike wrote:i can't believe we still don't have a Sludge toy with googly eyes.

Well, maybe the release of these will get Takara to stop wasting engineering dollars on crappy overly-cartoony MPS for a bit and make MP versions of the other Dinobots.

It's been over a decade without any other MP Dinobots, and in that time probably a dozen unlicensed versions have come out. I think that ship has sailed.

AcademyofDrX wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

Mechastrike wrote:i can't believe we still don't have a Sludge toy with googly eyes.

Well, maybe the release of these will get Takara to stop wasting engineering dollars on crappy overly-cartoony MPS for a bit and make MP versions of the other Dinobots.

It's been over a decade without any other MP Dinobots, and in that time probably a dozen unlicensed versions have come out. I think that ship has sailed.

Never say never, but I think the ship has definitely docked long-term, especially with the release of these figures. Isn't it the consensus that these are pretty much MP quality in terms of design and engineering? The only way the MP would do them better is if they included some diecast parts and gave them all their accessories along with Takara packaging.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

AcademyofDrX wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

Mechastrike wrote:i can't believe we still don't have a Sludge toy with googly eyes.

Well, maybe the release of these will get Takara to stop wasting engineering dollars on crappy overly-cartoony MPS for a bit and make MP versions of the other Dinobots.

It's been over a decade without any other MP Dinobots, and in that time probably a dozen unlicensed versions have come out. I think that ship has sailed.

Never say never, but I think the ship has definitely docked long-term, especially with the release of these figures. Isn't it the consensus that these are pretty much MP quality in terms of design and engineering? The only way the MP would do them better is if they included some diecast parts and gave them all their accessories along with Takara packaging.

It doesn't seem like MP Dinobots are on Hastak's docket, however, who knows the reasoning.
These SS86 figures may play into it, but considering the current MP trend, I think more realistically it boils-down to reasons like these:

1. The pure size of an in-scale, MP Dinobot would mean each figure could cost $500+, if not very close to $600 (maybe minus Swoop, who could still be close to $300).
2. We're not just talking 2,3, or even 4 figures, but 5... 5 where each is its own individually unique mold, that has limited potential to re-tool or even repaint.
I'm also not sure how favorable to is in terms of business/marketing that it would basically take 4-5 years to release them all. I'd assume it could be longer if they want to add in any variety.
And yeah, we've all waited for multiple years to get a figure of a certain character (and are still waiting for some), but I don't know that anyone enjoys the waiting game.

I started typing-out why I don't think these guys are MP quality... But I stopped and deleted all of it.
I'll just say I don't quite see that level.
But for being mainline releases, I'm not at all complaining. They're really on point. They're probably m favorite mainline figures of my collection.
While we could probably say they're still overpriced, I can look past the things I see as negatives, and pretty easily at that. In fact, I'm double-dipping on all of them. Which I haven't done since CW/UW.

I was happy about getting BzzWrthy Cliffjumper, Kup, and SS86 Perceptor.
I'm decently anxious to get Kickback and Dragstrip.
But I'm beyond excited about Sludge.

So, I'll admit, I checked out of SS86 while I focused on Kingdom and now Legacy's lines, but is SS86 Spike out/have pre-orders? I assumed he was out but only in Asia, and no on the pre-orders/online listings but I haven't really seen anything about him, so I'm not sure. Do we have any idea when his wave is?

Sentinel_Primal wrote:So, I'll admit, I checked out of SS86 while I focused on Kingdom and now Legacy's lines, but is SS86 Spike out/have pre-orders? I assumed he was out but only in Asia, and no on the pre-orders/online listings but I haven't really seen anything about him, so I'm not sure. Do we have any idea when his wave is?

Not out yet, that's next wave. Only the first wave of the year is out so far in the majority of the world.

Perceptor arrived today from Pulse, didn't open it until the one from Amazon arrives to pick which one has more damage to packaging. So I hope it gets here real soon!

I do like the smaller packaging compared to previous SS86 Deluxe, I just never understood nine miles of packaging for a four mile toy.

Here's an odd question, and dilemma I'm in. What does is the consensus on how you display Movie figures like
Cup and Hot Rod, only with Magnus, Springer and Arcee? Or do you buy two so you can put those two in along with the Classic characters like Prime etc. Being as they had screen time with both?

Right now I have all G1 separate except for Hot Rod is in there next to Prime because I'm tight on space ATM. And it got me to thinking I should have two setups, one prior to Prime's death and one after. lol

I do like to group the movie-introduced characters together (as room permits) because I think they look nice that way; I have G1 Ultra Magnus, T30 Arcee, TR Hot Rod, TR Blurr, TR Kup, TR Wheelie, SIEGE Ultra Magnus, SS86 Hot Rod, and SS86 Wreck-Gar together on one shelf and Armada Unicron, TR Galvatron, two TR Scourges serving as Sweeps, SS86 Scourge, and Kingdom Cyclonus together on another. But I'm fine with mixing them with others as well; heck, the shelf that has Unicron and the Unholy Trinity also has Nemesis Breaker and TR Triggerhappy on it, and G1 Magnus is currently carrying Red Alert, Sunstreaker, and G2 Sideswipe.

I'm not the type to buy duplicates for display purposes, only for army-building and customization.

I only buy one each of non-army builders, but I keep buying updated versions of the same character, so that means I have backups for secondary displays. TR Perceptor and Blaster and the PotP Dinobots are the season two / '85 versions of the movie cast, while TR Hot Rod, Kup, and Blurr are season four / '87 versions of the same. SS86 and Kingdom are for season three / TF:TM / '86.

They're sorted out that way in bins until I get more shelves.

Does anyone have a photo of Sludge in his box? I’m struggling to find one online to add to my wishlist folder (so my wife knows what to look for ).

Sludge looks strong, glad they did away with the little partner, that thing sucked. Amazing how some more molded detail and paint apps on his chest makes him look so much better than Slug. He looks good, looking forward to finding him

With the video/photo reveal of Blitzwing, although I'm really happy with how he looks, it still seems like Sludge is still in-line to be my favorite figure of the year.
But the images of Blitzwing also had me thinking back to the possibility of Swoop being voyager size...
Yes, I understand why Blitzy is being released as a leader class figure.
But the figure itself in terms of his size, both height and bulk, are still pretty close to being what we've known to be voyager class.
Blitzwing is just taller than the ER seeker mold, but just shorter than OP and Megs.
Seeing this figure's size in comparison to others, only has me feeling even more strongly that Swoop really needs to be sized much closer to the other Dinobots.
Knowing they're going for screen-accuracy, if Swoop is only as tall as Blitzwing, he's going to look ridiculously small compared to the rest of that group...
He's already less stout than the other 4 Dinobots. So to make him look decent with his own proportions at voyager-size, the difference is going to be so drastic, that it's going to look like a sad, half-assed miss of an attempt.
I know this means his dino mode will be more out of scale from the others.
But I'll take this over having Swoop look like a deluxe compared to the others in bot mode.
I hope they put 3 pinned hinges in each wing, with obviously removeable missiles.

The one reason I'm feeling pretty confident Swoop will be large like the others, is that Hastak will get to charge $55+ per figure instead of $33-ish per.
Swoop may not match the amount of plastic, parts count, or engineering of the others, but Hastak could still charge leader class price.
And I'll happily pay it.


Also, totally unrelated, I went into two Targets today; the first my go-to location, still has SEVEN Coronation Starscreams... There have been 7 here for about a month.
Another Target that I've never been in, had 6...
I know this figure has been relatively popular around here and maybe among collectors in general.
But I think this is a pretty tough sell to kids who probably don't know much about TF, on top of the $53 price tag.
I'd assume by before the end of April we could see this guy on clearance.

Studio Series 86 leader class Sludge is probably the most anticipated Transformers toy of 2022. Hasbro is finally giving the fan favourite Dinobots the toys they deserve at affordable price points and in great scale so fans, including me, just want to finally complete that collection and Sludge brings us ever closer to that. For some reason, we had not had official images of the packaging he comes in which is more important than standard releases since he is the first of the SS86 Dinobots to come in a windowless package. So his package needed more dedicated art than usual. Well here it is below, thanks to a post form In Demand toys. This toy is due out in August and while preorders are sold out from a few places, there are still preorders available at some online stores like BBTS. Enjoy!

Looking very nice. I can't wait to get my hands on him.

I've heard rumors that they WILL do Snarl, but that it will be Voyager sized. I hope that's not true. I can see Swoop making it as a Voyager sized Dinobot for the Studio Series, but Snarl? He has to be in scale with Slag and Sludge at least. Anything less would be an insult.

I absolutely love the art on Sludge's box. I use a few boxes as "art" hanging on my wall, as well as using them as shelves for smaller bots. Not sure if a leader box would be big enough,(I just use titan and commander boxes) but it looks super sweet.

As far as Snarl being a voyager, I dont think so at all. No way, if are in their right minds, would they do that. I also am pretty sure Swoop will be leader class as well, with just being a bit shorter with his huge wingspan. Hopefully

DeathReviews wrote:I've heard rumors that they WILL do Snarl, but that it will be Voyager sized. I hope that's not true. I can see Swoop making it as a Voyager sized Dinobot for the Studio Series, but Snarl? He has to be in scale with Slag and Sludge at least. Anything less would be an insult.

That seems to be just an unfounded rumor started by Prime vs Prime in his YouTube review of Studio Series Sludge. He made a comment that was based on misremembering the Swoop as a Voyager rumor. He included Snarl in that comment too, even though no one had mentioned Snarl being a Voyager in the rumor mill previously.

Yet another reason to avoid giving that guy views, I suppose.

The one thing we know about Snarl is that he'll probably have a gallery here before the PotP version does

DeathReviews wrote:I've heard rumors that they WILL do Snarl, but that it will be Voyager sized. I hope that's not true. I can see Swoop making it as a Voyager sized Dinobot for the Studio Series, but Snarl? He has to be in scale with Slag and Sludge at least. Anything less would be an insult.

Don't worry, those rumours are false. Thet were just someone guessing.
Here's another rumour: he'll be a leader class figure

william-james88 wrote:

DeathReviews wrote:I've heard rumors that they WILL do Snarl, but that it will be Voyager sized. I hope that's not true. I can see Swoop making it as a Voyager sized Dinobot for the Studio Series, but Snarl? He has to be in scale with Slag and Sludge at least. Anything less would be an insult.

Don't worry, those rumours are false. Thet were just someone guessing.
Here's another rumour: he'll be a leader class figure

Starting rumors is easy! Here's another one while we're at it - Studio Series leader Snarl will have a segmented tail that can be flexed/posed!

DeathReviews wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

DeathReviews wrote:I've heard rumors that they WILL do Snarl, but that it will be Voyager sized. I hope that's not true. I can see Swoop making it as a Voyager sized Dinobot for the Studio Series, but Snarl? He has to be in scale with Slag and Sludge at least. Anything less would be an insult.

Don't worry, those rumours are false. Thet were just someone guessing.
Here's another rumour: he'll be a leader class figure

Starting rumors is easy! Here's another one while we're at it - Studio Series leader Snarl will have a segmented tail that can be flexed/posed!

Here's another one: Studio Series 86 Snarl will have electronic voice clips recorded by Hal Rayle. We'll think they're brand new recordings, but they'll just turn out to be old ones ripped from random G1 cartoon episodes.

Studio Series Snarl will actually be a blue-and-white wolf!

Silliness aside, I just opened and transformed Perceptor.
Stupidly simple, yet just perfect. I also LOVE the feeling of this plastic in hand. It's solid yet soft to the touch.

Sludge continues to look great, excited for him

Love the art!

But...it makes me wish Sludge came with a BUNCH of mini Sharkticons. Like Wheelie and Daniel, but smaller and more of them.

MeGrimlock78 wrote:Love the art!

But...it makes me wish Sludge came with a BUNCH of mini Sharkticons. Like Wheelie and Daniel, but smaller and more of them.

Well, if you bought that Cyberverse Hotrod pack, you could use those.

Sludge looks excellent! I think I'll need to get all the team when they show up down here.

RotorstormNZ wrote:Sludge looks excellent! I think I'll need to get all the team when they show up down here.

I highly recommend all of them.
*edit*
I don't have Sludge yet, but from everything I've seen he's just as good as the first two, and imo probably better than Slag.
For mainline figures, they are the highlight of my collection.
I love Cyclonus... Scourge, Sweep, and Galvatron are all up there, too.
But those Dinobots. They're just phenomenal.

Sowndwave76 wrote:

RotorstormNZ wrote:Sludge looks excellent! I think I'll need to get all the team when they show up down here.

I highly recommend all of them.
[...]
But those Dinobots. They're just phenomenal.

Everything I've seen and read has made me want them, and I had no attraction to anything SS86*. I'm not even a dinobot fan and FoC Grimlock's the only version of any that I've ever owned, but there's just something irresistible about these guys. They look so right!


*Unless they release Shockwave and Megatron...

RotorstormNZ wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:

RotorstormNZ wrote:Sludge looks excellent! I think I'll need to get all the team when they show up down here.

I highly recommend all of them.
[...]
But those Dinobots. They're just phenomenal.

Everything I've seen and read has made me want them, and I had no attraction to anything SS86*. I'm not even a dinobot fan and FoC Grimlock's the only version of any that I've ever owned, but there's just something irresistible about these guys. They look so right!


*Unless they release Shockwave and Megatron...

There's no official word on how long SS86 will last.
But unfortunately, because a mainline-release Megatron will never have a pistol alt mode again, he will probably never be a part of this subline. Shockwave on the other hand, is one I could see taking a voyager class slot down the road, IF SS86 continues.


Sidenote: Wreck-gar and Sweep are seemingly starting to shelf-warm with Coronation Starscream.
There are STILL 7 Coronation SS's on the shelves at my Target.

Sowndwave76 wrote:There are STILL 7 Coronation SS's on the shelves at my Target.

Consider yourself lucky? Mine still has 6 Grindors from before Christmas.

Sowndwave76 wrote:Sidenote: Wreck-gar and Sweep are seemingly starting to shelf-warm with Coronation Starscream.
There are STILL 7 Coronation SS's on the shelves at my Target.

Isn't that the ideal situation? Having the TF aisle stocked with the latest TF toys?

william-james88 wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:Sidenote: Wreck-gar and Sweep are seemingly starting to shelf-warm with Coronation Starscream.
There are STILL 7 Coronation SS's on the shelves at my Target.

Isn't that the ideal situation? Having the TF aisle stocked with the latest TF toys?

I always thought so. I've only seen Starscream once at one Walmart in a mangled box a few weeks ago and it still sold. This same Walmart never got Slug and Grindor. My other Walmart has gotten those two restocked a few times and even stocked again about a month ago after the Leader shelves had been empty since Christmas so they're still being spottily distributed from the warehouse. Logistics issues mean we're going to see a lot of stuff like this. I've seen both Sweep/Wreckgar and Soundwave/Hot Rod restocked at the same time over the past month.

Emerje

Part of my thought with that observation is just not liking how I'm starting to see how some product isn't selling.
I get this is just an opinion, but I really don't see how Coronation SS was a good business decision...
No one is going to be able to convince me that Starscream, let alone the coronation version has some mass appeal to kids. On top of that, the $52-ish cost.

And sure, the same can be said about both Wreck-gar and Sweep... Neither of those necessarily have much appeal for a kid either. But obviously a $20 difference is substantial for a lot of parents.
Especially when we're talking about the cost of a toy. Not a pair of shoes... Or a new jacket... Or even something like a new backpack for school.
Even if you're not a parent, you have to understand this. "You", meaning "anyone".

But overall, no, I can't complain about what my local stores are getting in terms of TF.
I'm starting to believe that never seeing ER waves 2 or 3 was simply a one-off of a tough time in general.

Sowndwave76 wrote:Part of my thought with that observation is just not liking how I'm starting to see how some product isn't selling.
I get this is just an opinion, but I really don't see how Coronation SS was a good business decision...
No one is going to be able to convince me that Starscream, let alone the coronation version has some mass appeal to kids. On top of that, the $52-ish cost.

Starscream is one of the most popular characters in the franchise, even if that's because Hasbro made it that way. I'm sure it's primarily with parents that recognize him and buy him for their kids. But i do think the 50 buck price point might be a bridge too far.

Also "You already have that toy" because he's a slightly-tweaked Earthrise with extra stuff.

I'd buy him tho, I don't have Earthrise yet and the chair would be a nice prop to have.

Sowndwave76 wrote:Part of my thought with that observation is just not liking how I'm starting to see how some product isn't selling.
I get this is just an opinion, but I really don't see how Coronation SS was a good business decision...
No one is going to be able to convince me that Starscream, let alone the coronation version has some mass appeal to kids. On top of that, the $52-ish cost.

And sure, the same can be said about both Wreck-gar and Sweep... Neither of those necessarily have much appeal for a kid either. But obviously a $20 difference is substantial for a lot of parents.
Especially when we're talking about the cost of a toy. Not a pair of shoes... Or a new jacket... Or even something like a new backpack for school.
Even if you're not a parent, you have to understand this. "You", meaning "anyone".

But overall, no, I can't complain about what my local stores are getting in terms of TF.
I'm starting to believe that never seeing ER waves 2 or 3 was simply a one-off of a tough time in general.

Waves are made to stock a shelf for at least 3 months. So don't worry about it not selling yet. Some places don't reorder and just get their stock all at once.

sol magnus wrote:Starscream is one of the most popular characters in the franchise, even if that's because Hasbro made it that way. I'm sure it's primarily with parents that recognize him and buy him for their kids. But i do think the 50 buck price point might be a bridge too far.

Not directed at you... But I think there are plenty of collectors and fans who lose sight of the fact that there are tons of people who grew-up in the 80's and have almost zero recollection of this franchise. So there could and most likely is zero push or influence for those people to buy their kids these toys.
It's just as unlikely that a 7-11 yr old has much if any knowledge of G1 Starscream. Or why he'd be packaged with a crown, cape, and throne.

And yes, just a small example to emphasize the impact of price point--
Two days ago I stopped by my Target to look for Legacy Kickback...
A mom and her 6-ish yr old (yes I'm guessing) son were looking at the Jurassic Park toys.
The kid was saying something about wanting one of the dinosaurs (I didn't even look at which one; I was minding my business), and then the mom literally says,
"Do you have $63 for that? That's not happening, especially on a random outing".
Her tone wasn't harsh, but matter-of-fact.
I don't live in some "elite", super-rich area, but Liberty, MO isn't exactly a slummy part of the KC metro either...
Point being, if there were kids who wanted any of the 7 Coronation SS's left on those shelves, they'd be gone.

william-james88 wrote:Waves are made to stock a shelf for at least 3 months. So don't worry about it not selling yet. Some places don't reorder and just get their stock all at once.

Fair point.
Buzzworthy Cliffjumper, B-127, and even Kup have been moving from what I've seen.
Everything else seems to be stalling-out.
But we'll see. I'm stopping by there again this afternoon.

Sowndwave76 wrote:Buzzworthy Cliffjumper, B-127, and even Kup have been moving from what I've seen.
Everything else seems to be stalling-out.
But we'll see. I'm stopping by there again this afternoon.

For Starscream in particular, I wouldn't take too much meaning even if all 7 are still there in your store. That may not even tell you how well he is moving in your particular area.

Target has weird assed distribution issues, which is most likely what you are seeing. Those 7 you saw last time may not in fact be the same 7 you saw the time before and could have been restocked.

In the past year, I've seen 1 store put out 12 SS Voyager Bee movie Thrust at once, sell 6 over 3 weeks and then bump it up to 15 on the shelves. This was extra weird because he was supposed to be in a case with SS86 Wreck-Gar, but only Thrust showed up.

A different store put 15 Kingdom T-Wrecks out at once between the aisle and an endcap. When the endcap got re-purposed they only left 6 on the shelf, which didn't run out for months. It wasn't because the 6 sat there and then all of a sudden sold, they were selling, but being restocked as they went from the ones in the back. No way in hell they sold 9 on the last few days the endcap was up.

Its almost like sometimes Target accidentally sends a store a pallet instead of a case, and that may be the case with your store. If they got a ridiculous amount (10+) they might only be putting out 7-8 at a time and restocking as they sell, and you wouldn't really know the difference unless you were timing your visits with when they are stocking to actually see how many they put out. In the case of Thrust getting bumped up to 15, I did just that and was shocked to see them putting more out.

Target can be randomly weird, so I wouldn't rule that out as a possibility.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:Buzzworthy Cliffjumper, B-127, and even Kup have been moving from what I've seen.
Everything else seems to be stalling-out.
But we'll see. I'm stopping by there again this afternoon.

For Starscream in particular, I wouldn't take too much meaning even if all 7 are still there in your store. That may not even tell you how well he is moving in your particular area.

Target has weird assed distribution issues, which is most likely what you are seeing. Those 7 you saw last time may not in fact be the same 7 you saw the time before and could have been restocked.

Yeah, I've never seen 7 of those on ANY shelf here in Maryland. It seems an impossible number.

Target may have random distribution, but since my last post about SS86 Starscream, at one point it went from 7 to 6.
But for almost a week now, it's up to 8.
I was just there roughly an hour ago.

Anyway, does anyone have any idea as to when Sludge is going to be released/shipped?
I get it, right now Amazon has his release for date for End of July/early August.
But being wave 2, doesn't it have to be earlier than that?
At least by a month?

Sowndwave76 wrote:Target may have random distribution, but since my last post about SS86 Starscream, at one point it went from 7 to 6.
But for almost a week now, it's up to 8.
I was just there roughly an hour ago.

Anyway, does anyone have any idea as to when Sludge is going to be released/shipped?
I get it, right now Amazon has his release for date for End of July/early August.
But being wave 2, doesn't it have to be earlier than that?
At least by a month?

Release dates have been worst case scenarios for a while now after Hasbro got tired of constantly having to announce delays on Pulse. The actual release date is usually a month or two up from that, though sometimes it can be later. I still haven't seen Legacy at Walmart and only seen one of each Deluxe and two Bulkheads at Target.

Emerje