First Look at Transformers Studio Series Leader Apelinq

The pictures in the news post only show the accessories, the figure itself seems to be out of frame.

Not sure if my phone is the issue, but for some reason I can only see what I believe to be Apelinq's hand. Looking forward to seeing more when pics are released.

Rtron wrote:The pictures in the news post only show the accessories, the figure itself seems to be out of frame.

Ah, i misinterpreted, thanks

He looks like Optimus Primal. He's like a linq to the past. It's incredible.

Some very exciting reveals out of MCM Comic Con!

First up is DOTM Que, who looks spectacular! Note that he has the big gun thing he wears on his back in the movie, and has his tools built in!



Next up is MV6 Bee, who is actually a heavy retool of SS-18! The vehicle shell is largely reused but pretty much all the inner structure is new. He does have door wings but they can reportedly swivel down now.



We also have a repack of 86 Jazz:



WFC Ironhide, who actually has more retooling than I thought from Ratchet. Includes what’s either a scatter blaster or EMP shotgun:



And lastly is AOE Prime! Important note that the colors in this render are incomplete per Hasbro. Love that the sword and shield are properly scaled! Definitely need to see more pics!

Apelinq is fine, no real interest there, when I already have Primal.

Que, is calling me, but will need to see alt-mode pics.

BBMBB is o.k, no real interest.

Definitely interested in Jazz in the toy colors.

Ironhide, yes, gimme…

And Prime, ohh my… yes!.



Need to see truck mode pics though.

More and higher quality pics of Apelinq in this completed eBay sale.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/126743695414?mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5336631220&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

The blurry picture isn't showing much. The TLK voyager of Optimus was a great improvement over the AoE leader. So I wonder how they will do with the SS leader AoE/TlK Optimus? I already spy a huge backplate. That's not good.

-Kanrabat- wrote:The blurry picture isn't showing much. The TLK voyager of Optimus was a great improvement over the AoE leader. So I wonder how they will do with the SS leader AoE/TlK Optimus? I already spy a huge backplate. That's not good.

Do you suppose it could be a retool of that TLK mold?

PvP haters, time so seethe so hard, you'll cooooooom.

Apelink review!

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:The blurry picture isn't showing much. The TLK voyager of Optimus was a great improvement over the AoE leader. So I wonder how they will do with the SS leader AoE/TlK Optimus? I already spy a huge backplate. That's not good.

Do you suppose it could be a retool of that TLK mold?

It's possible that it could be a retool, but you'll end up with something quite small. A modified oversized (slightly oversized) could be made, but doing it for a mold that is almost 8 years old would be baffling and extremely disappointing.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:The blurry picture isn't showing much. The TLK voyager of Optimus was a great improvement over the AoE leader. So I wonder how they will do with the SS leader AoE/TlK Optimus? I already spy a huge backplate. That's not good.

Do you suppose it could be a retool of that TLK mold?

It's possible that it could be a retool, but you'll end up with something quite small. A modified oversized (slightly oversized) could be made, but doing it for a mold that is almost 8 years old would be baffling and extremely disappointing.

Sure, but it wouldn't be the first time Hasbro just reused a TLK mold in Studio Series instead of making a new mold.

Transformers superfan Toys Are Russ was given early access to upcoming Studio Series toys from Hasbro. That includes the newly revealed VW Bumblebee toy for his appearance in the 2018 film. You can see all those review below. For Apelinq, PVP has a review available and we also have multiple images from ebay listings. Those make it easy to see the differences between him and Optimus Primal.

Some very exciting reveals out of MCM Comic Con!

First up is DOTM Que, who looks spectacular! Note that he has the big gun thing he wears on his back in the movie, and has his tools built in!



Next up is MV6 Bee, who is actually a heavy retool of SS-18! The vehicle shell is largely reused but pretty much all the inner structure is new. He does have door wings but they can reportedly swivel down now.






We also have a repack of 86 Jazz and voyager ROTB Prime:




WFC Ironhide, who actually has more retooling than expected from Ratchet. Includes what’s either a scatter blaster or EMP shotgun:



Then there is AOE Prime! Important note that the colors in this render are incomplete per Hasbro. Love that the sword and shield are properly scaled!



We also have a repack of DOTM Shockwave.



Let us know which you look forward to most!

These images were found on the Botposting Facebook page.

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:The blurry picture isn't showing much. The TLK voyager of Optimus was a great improvement over the AoE leader. So I wonder how they will do with the SS leader AoE/TlK Optimus? I already spy a huge backplate. That's not good.

Do you suppose it could be a retool of that TLK mold?

It's possible that it could be a retool, but you'll end up with something quite small. A modified oversized (slightly oversized) could be made, but doing it for a mold that is almost 8 years old would be baffling and extremely disappointing.

Sure, but it wouldn't be the first time Hasbro just reused a TLK mold in Studio Series instead of making a new mold.

If you're speaking about KSI Boss, that was just a straight repaint. Oh and there's Cogman too.

But if they simply repack the voyager Optimus with some extra accessories to make it a "leader", I'll be pissed.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:The blurry picture isn't showing much. The TLK voyager of Optimus was a great improvement over the AoE leader. So I wonder how they will do with the SS leader AoE/TlK Optimus? I already spy a huge backplate. That's not good.

Do you suppose it could be a retool of that TLK mold?

It's possible that it could be a retool, but you'll end up with something quite small. A modified oversized (slightly oversized) could be made, but doing it for a mold that is almost 8 years old would be baffling and extremely disappointing.

Sure, but it wouldn't be the first time Hasbro just reused a TLK mold in Studio Series instead of making a new mold.

If you're speaking about KSI Boss, that was just a straight repaint. Oh and there's Cogman too.

But if they simply repack the voyager Optimus with some extra accessories to make it a "leader", I'll be pissed.

Hence why I specified "retool" rather than a simple redeco. They could possibly reengineer the TLK mold like how Siege Springer was reengineered into SS86 Springer.

Sabrblade wrote:Hence why I specified "retool" rather than a simple redeco. They could possibly reengineer the TLK mold like how Siege Springer was reengineered into SS86 Springer.

If they do that, I hope they'll put much more effort than what they did with Springer.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:The blurry picture isn't showing much. The TLK voyager of Optimus was a great improvement over the AoE leader. So I wonder how they will do with the SS leader AoE/TlK Optimus? I already spy a huge backplate. That's not good.

Do you suppose it could be a retool of that TLK mold?

It's possible that it could be a retool, but you'll end up with something quite small. A modified oversized (slightly oversized) could be made, but doing it for a mold that is almost 8 years old would be baffling and extremely disappointing.

I don't think this is a retool of the TLK Voyager, that one integrated some of the alt kibble on the arms and had a lot of visible truck kibble on the legs. This one does still appear to have a backpack but the leg kibble is hidden much more. Excited to see more though!


To manage expectations regarding the scale though, in Studio Series scale this leader Prime will be smaller than the TLK Voyager. The Studio Series trilogy Prime was undersized but they unfortunately made SS AOE Galvatron scaled to that figure, so this Prime will likely be roughly the same height as SS-32. He may have more accessories to bump him to leader class but we'll have to see, his sword and shield appear properly scaled so that's a good start!

We thank JTPrime17 for letting the community know about an upcoming change. The upcoming Studio Series Widowmaker will have her name changed on the box to KSI Widow. This is supposedly due to not wanting to step on the shoes of Overwatch who also has a character called Widowmaker. There is an image of her below for those curious.

Here are JT’s words.

Widowmaker is officially being called “KSI Widow” on her packaging. Can’t call her Widowmaker due to overwatch.

Love seeing the new AOE Prime, VW Bee, Que, and Apelinq reveals. They along with Hatchet and Double Punch are definitely instant preorders

These are looking like some action figure renders that I can appreciate.

she don't look that bad

Is that Jazz a single pack release of the figure from the legacy 5 pack, the one without the clear plastic?

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Is that Jazz a single pack release of the figure from the legacy 5 pack, the one without the clear plastic?

No it's just the original SS86

Don't forget today is the Hasbro Pulse 1027 event, we'll probably gat a better look at these then.

Emerje

About "Widow Maker".

Both the Overwatch character and the concept art looks like it represent the SAME character too!
Both have the same vibe, the same overall style, and the same deadly sexiness.

I wonder how a normal deluxe toy of her will be made without looking like a girl with kibble cancer?

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.



Facebook source
TFW2005 post

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.