Video Reviews for Studio Series Hatchet, Skywarp, Apelinq, TFOne B-127 and New VW Bumblebee

Glad Widowmaker (I guess just Widow now) is still on the way! I was concerned when her listing dropped off a little while ago.

If they're still making that Widow, then I hope they'll do something to actually "Transformerize" her design from the concept art, which is just really lazy "lady robot, make it sexy" IMO (though I'm genuinely shocked that it was 3+ years before Overwatch). The overall body isn't the worst, allowing for the movie "random chunks of metal on a rubber suit" style, but the legs can't decide if they're supposed to be digitigrade or plantigrade, the head is just a glamour model head & hair with lines drawn on it, and the bare chest...

She has nipples, FFS.

Glyph wrote:She has nipples, FFS.

This won't be the first time. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

There's that infamous Thunderblast from the Cybertron cartoon whose details appeared in certain angles.

Also, the first run of Transmetal Blackarachnia had a removable brassiere and the peg-holes were inside the brassiere. They quickly reversed that after. No pictures unfortunately.

Regardless, please stop thinking that female beauty is automatically equal to "porn." That attitude led to all that ugliness in Western media. No wonder anything from Asia sells more.

And speaking of "lazy design", I find it lazy when we have a curvy fembot, but it's just a "Barbie" shellformer.
I'll be impressed to have a "sexy" curvy fembot with absolutely NO shells that transform into a vehicle. Especially in the deluxe scale and budget.

Glyph wrote:(though I'm genuinely shocked that it was 3+ years before Overwatch).

It's happened before. G1 Darkwing was released in 1988, three years before Disney would release Darkwing Duck and forever keep that "Darkwing" Trademark for themselves.

Glyph wrote:and the bare chest...

She has nipples, FFS.

Don't worry, Hasbro's family-friendliess is likely to nip that in the bud.

---

-Kanrabat- wrote:Also, the first run of Transmetal Blackarachnia had a removable brassiere and the peg-holes were inside the brassiere. They quickly reversed that after. No pictures unfortunately.

Top-right corner:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Glyph wrote:She has nipples, FFS.

This won't be the first time. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Oh, I'm very much aware.

-Kanrabat- wrote:Regardless, please stop thinking that female beauty is automatically equal to "porn." That attitude led to all that ugliness in Western media. No wonder anything from Asia sells more.

Yeah, don't put words in my mouth. I made no such general comparison and don't agree with it.
This design, however, with its absolutely pointless bare breasts on a combat robot...? Suggests to me that the point was indeed "sexualised", not "beautiful". And while we're here, beauty doesn't automatically equate to "slim and curvy with big boobs" either.

-Kanrabat- wrote:And speaking of "lazy design", I find it lazy when we have a curvy fembot, but it's just a "Barbie" shellformer.
I'll be impressed to have a "sexy" curvy fembot with absolutely NO shells that transform into a vehicle. Especially in the deluxe scale and budget.

The engineering to combine the two designs is more challenging of course, hence the prevalence of shellformers. But Minerva / Strongarm not curvy enough for you? ROTB Arcee? Energon Arcee?

--EDIT--

Sabrblade wrote:

Glyph wrote:(though I'm genuinely shocked that it was 3+ years before Overwatch).

It's happened before. G1 Darkwing was released in 1988, three years before Disney would release Darkwing Duck and forever keep that "Darkwing" Trademark for themselves.

Yeah, I was mostly surprised by the overall similarity in design, not just the name. If you'd shown me the design without a date on it, I would have guessed one was "inspired" by the other - but then, I suppose there's only so many places you can go with the name "widow maker" and the idea of a femme fatale (paging Blackarachnia...), and Overwatch didn't exactly originate the concept either.

(Kind of etymologically interesting to me that the term "widow maker" has acquired that "femme fatale" idea, actually. As I understand it, it originally came from military slang? And has applied to a handgun, a car - bonus points if they give Widow a Porsche 930 alt mode! - a British rock band and many other things. I wonder whether cross-pollination with "black widow" gave it the "steal your husband" side connotation?)

The best fembots that combine both curviness/sexiness and the minimum of kibble for a great altmode at the deluxe ranges are the bikes and spiders.

So far, all "sexy" cars and jets are just girls wearing boxes. T-30 Arcee got close to get it right.
But to be realist, having a fully curvaceous fembot with a truck/car altmode with minimum kibble can only be done at the voyager range at the bare minimum.

I... can't see how you get that impression when the likes of Windblade / Slipstream exist, but I suspect we're working from different definitions of "curvy".

But yes, motorcycles and organic modes do tend to mesh better with the slighter, slimmer frame and curves of the standard battle-bikini femme design.

Glyph wrote:I... can't see how you get that impression when the likes of Windblade / Slipstream exist, but I suspect we're working from different definitions of "curvy".

But yes, motorcycles and organic modes do tend to mesh better with the slighter, slimmer frame and curves of the standard battle-bikini femme design.

My main problem with all iterations of Windblade is for the altmode. Sure, the bot usually look very feminine, huge boots or not, but the jet is usually just a girl wearing a pointy hat, and a huge jetpack. A jet with a female torso hanging under with mannequin arms hugging its sides looks very, very daff. Even the expensive 3P "Windblade" falls into that trap.

I wish for a voyager Windblade that would be able to manage her kibble brilliantly in bot mode (I can accept huge knee-high "boots" and a minimum backpack like the still very good Legacy mold) but the jet would be able to hide the arms and fem-torso flawlessly.

Also, I have a dream fembot design in mind, but I wonder how to make it. I'd like to make a HUGE-MAMA fembot. Like, "ultra thicc" but still curvy, with a monster-truck altmode. The wheels of the truck would have a suspension gimmick. A gimmick that would remain where the wheels will go in bot mode. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
The transformation would be a mix between TF Prime 1st Ed Bulkhead, and MP Ironhide/Ratchet.
Making the thing from scratch without any access nor knowledge of how to design and print 3D custom pieces will be challenging.

-Kanrabat- wrote:I wish for a voyager Windblade that would be able to manage her kibble brilliantly in bot mode (I can accept huge knee-high "boots" and a minimum backpack like the still very good Legacy mold) but the jet would be able to hide the arms and fem-torso flawlessly.

But wasn't your complaint before that the femme torso hides inside a box? Not that that's any different from a masc torso really, usually for cars it's the arms or back kibble hiding the sides of the torso, for jets it's just square arms down the side.

-Kanrabat- wrote:Also, I have a dream fembot design in mind, but I wonder how to make it. I'd like to make a HUGE-MAMA fembot. Like, "ultra thicc" but still curvy, with a monster-truck altmode.

Here you go. Now this I would like to see. (Bulkhead partial like the BotCon attempt?)



(Not touching the rest of that post 'cos I'm not frickin' 12.)

Glyph wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:I wish for a voyager Windblade that would be able to manage her kibble brilliantly in bot mode (I can accept huge knee-high "boots" and a minimum backpack like the still very good Legacy mold) but the jet would be able to hide the arms and fem-torso flawlessly.

But wasn't your complaint before that the femme torso hides inside a box? Not that that's any different from a masc torso really, usually for cars it's the arms or back kibble hiding the sides of the torso, for jets it's just square arms down the side.

-Kanrabat- wrote:Also, I have a dream fembot design in mind, but I wonder how to make it. I'd like to make a HUGE-MAMA fembot. Like, "ultra thicc" but still curvy, with a monster-truck altmode.

Here you go. Now this I would like to see. (Bulkhead partial like the BotCon attempt?)



(Not touching the rest of that post 'cos I'm not frickin' 12.)

You misunderstood.
I don't mind some level of shell-forming to form the altmode. It's a thing since ever. It's when the bot carries the shell parts all over its body with zero bot integration that it is lame and lazy.

As for Skyla, she's a big fat MEH. Change her voice, and that's a male. Cyberverse's Clobber look more female than this.

Also, claiming you're "oh so mature" is ironically a sign of immaturity.

-Kanrabat- wrote:Also, claiming you're "oh so mature" is ironically a sign of immaturity.

Why, exactly how seriously am I supposed to treat someone who throws a high-handed admonishment about "equating beauty with porn" at me and then turns around and fantasises about jiggle physics on a toy robot?

Glyph wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:Also, claiming you're "oh so mature" is ironically a sign of immaturity.

Why, exactly how seriously am I supposed to treat someone who throws a high-handed admonishment about "equating beauty with porn" at me and then turns around and fantasises about jiggle physics on a toy robot?

Because by your logic, everyone who makes and consume such products are 12.

I'm not a church going Christian nor a woke "feminist."
I'm just a geek who loves his anime and Asian games like Nikke Goddess of Victory and Stellar Blade without any shame.

But eh, you like what you like, and I like what I like. Do not bring "morals" into this. You'll just look like a some-wing-or-other puritan in doing so.

Glyph wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:Also, claiming you're "oh so mature" is ironically a sign of immaturity.

Why, exactly how seriously am I supposed to treat someone who throws a high-handed admonishment about "equating beauty with porn" at me and then turns around and fantasises about jiggle physics on a toy robot?

How serious are any of us suppose to take someone who says "And while we're here, beauty doesn't automatically equate to "slim and curvy with big boobs" either.", when it absolutely does. It may not be the "Be all, end all.", but it is a very safe bet as where one starts as the default. I mean, I like my bots thicc, but I also can't deny the billions of dollars spent daily to photoshop and edit women to be equated with beauty as slim, curvy and big boobed.

Devastator looks amazing! If it is as sturdy as Menasor, it will be better than CW. Although I am not into it, I am glad people are getting Bayverse stuff again. Seems like a fair mix. I am super excited as my SS86 Prime should be here tomorrow. I also got my pre-order in for gamer Skywarp. He is the one I was waiting for to try out this mould.

Time to catch up on SS.

First up, spent some time with TFOne Prime. He is pretty ok, though I do not like the diaper.






I also found a Skywarp, so the bee movie section of the shelf has a new addition



And the updated shelves





I also got Megatron. He is alright. He feels light though. And I wish his colors were different. He also really needs the cannon from the end of the movie in his actual Megatron form, this feels like D-16 MKII and not megatron





As for the new reveals, at last Hatchet comes out! And I really need to see more of Knight Prime!

To comment on Widowmaker, we actually have a lot of concept art for her (which may have contributed to her being the first Bay SS Concept series figure). We have this one that I think may look more like the final figure, she has the headlights on her shoulders like Studio Series Stinger does:



Since we have such an array of concept art though, I imagine we'll get elements from multiple of them in the final figure. It'll be a fun one to see!

Ouch! You'll break a tooth biting into that.

EvasionModeBumblebee wrote:

Devcon Halloween.jpg

If only... perhaps next Halloween?

Rtron wrote:

EvasionModeBumblebee wrote:

Devcon Halloween.jpg

If only... perhaps next Halloween?

I think G1 Hook and Long Haul are our SS Commander for 2025, but 2026 is the 15th anniversary of Dark of the Moon, there'd be a great opportunity there!

Recently finished up my paint work on Rampage! Lots of fun layered weathering on this guy, and I have a companion project for this guy I'll be uploading sometime soon!

Rampage was and still is one of the best figures from SS, nice job on the paint work!

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Rampage was and still is one of the best figures from SS, nice job on the paint work!

Thank you very much! Rampage is super cool and has a lot of sculpted detail, but I do wish he had elbows. We've actually never had a ROTF Rampage figure with elbows IIRC xD

Studio Series Devastation OP - not one I'd heard of?

Can't say the alt mode is doing it for me, and seems an odd choice when they've just put out a very cartoon-styled Optimus.



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Those madmen at Hasbro actually did it. They made a modern update toy of RobotMasters G1 Convoy!

Budget sunbow prime, nice! I didn't know he was going to be a deluxe, so I was quite surprised too see he was a new mold. Do we know who else we'll be getting? I think I saw listings for the car and plane Decepticon generics, but maybe there's more.

Glyph wrote:Studio Series Devastation OP - not one I'd heard of?

Can't say the alt mode is doing it for me, and seems an odd choice when they've just put out a very cartoon-styled Optimus.



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TFW2005 post

Not feeling him, and I own the Classic Deluxe, maybe with the recent Earthiest, SS86 and G1 Universe Primes, I'm all primed out.

Looks like a blown up Kabaya candy toy.

Rtron wrote:Budget sunbow prime, nice! I didn't know he was going to be a deluxe, so I was quite surprised too see he was a new mold. Do we know who else we'll be getting? I think I saw listings for the car and plane Decepticon generics, but maybe there's more.

Prime is the A Level release for next year alongside TFOne B-127. For Devastation we're also getting a Target exclusive 2-pack of a gray Seeker and blue Ground Soldier (Runabout/Runamuck mold).

Emerje

Happy Thanksgiving!

After completing Rampage (and finding the original set earlier this year), I decided to make a modernized Rampage among the Ruins repaint of SS-74 Bumblebee!

All five pics are broken.

Sabrblade wrote:All five pics are broken.

I had that same issue at first, they seem to take a while to load for some reason. They popped up after I refreshed a few times!

EvasionModeBumblebee wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:All five pics are broken.

I had that same issue at first, they seem to take a while to load for some reason. They popped up after I refreshed a few times!

I can see them now on mobile, but not on PC.

So much texture on this one! They look really cool, all those little scratches really add a lot. You did bee's eyes really nicely too.

Rtron wrote:So much texture on this one! They look really cool, all those little scratches really add a lot. You did bee's eyes really nicely too.

Thank you! The eyes are something I’ve been working on over the course of a couple Bee repaints now, it took a few tries to get the current version!

I’d love to see some official battle damaged repaints in Studio Series, it’d be cool to see a forest battle Prime or final battle Jazz revisited!

Got kind of an obscure one today -

About a year ago I got core BB Shockwave in a BOGO sale and wasn't sure what to do with it. I ended up painting it based on Ken Christiansen's concept art for 2007 video game Shockwave, which had a few color variations - including green!

Really cool concept! I wish we could get a toy of that 2007 game Shockwave, but I doubt the hastak team even knows it exists.

Rtron wrote:Really cool concept! I wish we could get a toy of that 2007 game Shockwave, but I doubt the hastak team even knows it exists.

Which would be weird considering we got other game based figures at the time. Love to see one made as a Concept figure.

Emerje

Rtron wrote:Really cool concept! I wish we could get a toy of that 2007 game Shockwave, but I doubt the hastak team even knows it exists.

Thanks! I think he’d make a great addition to the Gamer Edition subline, and he actually placed very well in our 2023 Studio Series September tournament, which I know a few members of the Studio Series team have seen!

Finished painting up ROTB Prime recently!

EvasionModeBumblebee wrote:Finished painting up ROTB Prime recently!

ROTB Prime bot main.jpg

Ooohhh very nice.

Overcracker wrote:Ooohhh very nice.

Thank you! Had this one on the back burner for a while but finally decided to finish it up recently. That metallic blue was also used for my next upload, one I'm very excited about!

I wonder when we'll get more pics of Que and AOE Prime, it's been a while since they were revealed and I really want to see more pics of them!

In the meantime, just finished up another movie Prime, this time a 07/ROTF repaint of SS-44! Used that new metallic blue mix again and I'm loving it:

Hatchet arrived today! Here’s my notes so far:



Robot mode:
- The front shoulders are REALLY close together and close to the head, so you can’t really flare the dreads out very much. I’ve found having the elbows out like this helps with the pose though.

- Like TLK Berserker before him, the forearm panels pop off very easily. You’re gonna want to glue them.

- His front paws are 5mm compatible!



Alt mode:

- Hatchet does tab together pretty solidly in alt mode, much better than the prior Dread due to a tab that allows his forearms to plug into the legs.

- There’s a weird bit of paint matching where one of the side panels is a much glossier black than the rest of alt mode.





Overall, I am very glad to finally have him in the collection but I do think he’s kind of a miss, really the first that Bayverse SS has had in a very long time. I think he really needed to be a new mold, and being stuck with the Buzzworthy retool budget kinda did him in. With that said though, I’m glad I got him and that the highway chase scene in DOTM is complete!

Got my Hatchet Thursday as well. Yeah, the arm panels are really annoying. I'm probably going to glue them in place. I do otherwise enjoy the figure.

With Hatchet here I took the opportunity to update my other Dreads, here's Crowbar now sporting some 3D printed blasters! Looking to upload my finished custom Hatchet on Friday.

Got Hatchet painted up!

Wow they look great! I really like the way the red and blue police lights pop.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:Wow they look great! I really like the way the red and blue police lights pop.

Thank you! I had to go through a few different metallic blues before finding the right one!

As janky as they all are (and one of them isn't even technically Studio Series), it is super cool to finally have a complete set of Studio Series Dreads!

I also had the thought with the box sitting on my desk that Hatchet is the last Bay SS figure in the classic Studio Series packaging, which is kinda sad. I don't like the homogenized new packaging at all, but having Que and AOE Prime finally on the way does overrule that a bit for me.

Yeah, it's a really minor nitpick but I too think the new packaging for Studio Series and Age of the Primes is not as good as the one for previous lines.

More pics are in for SS Que, AOE Optimus Prime, and Shockwave!

Prime looks way better than his initial render, especially with regards to the paint. The extra Energon blade is really cool, hopefully it can replace his hand like it does in the movie.

Also, Shockwave's alt mode image on the box is a reuse of the DOTM voyager's box render xD

Well well well, they're calling him "Wheeljack (Que)" instead of one or the other.

Also, here's the full post with all six reveals: https://www.instagram.com/p/DEx1qjyJghu/