Hasbro Rereleases Hard to Find Figures: SS Ultra Magnus and Legacy Beachcomber + Preorders Up

Thanks for the heads up. Just pre-ordered Magnus. Already have Beachcomber.

Beachcomber was sold out in the bare SECONDS it took my minions to put it on Pulse pre order, then navigate to the “payment” page. Thanks a lot, Hasbro..

DeathReviews wrote:Beachcomber was sold out in the bare SECONDS it took my minions to put it on Pulse pre order, then navigate to the “payment” page. Thanks a lot, Hasbro..

At the time for the initial release, or right now for the reissue?

Ordered Magnus in a heartbeat. He will be replacing Earthrise Magnus in my Movie display. I initially didn't want Beachcomber since I don't think I have all the mini-bots anyway, but then I remembered how good Ruckus is, so I figured I would get him from BBTS.

william-james88 wrote:Thanks for the great article, Evasionmodebumblebee

You’re welcome, happy to help! I’ve actually got another one for you coming up in a second.

TFW user Lazerwave has gotten ahold of the highly anticipated Studio Series Que from Dark of the Moon! He got a bunch of pictures showing off the figure in both modes, his accessories, and comparisons with the Takara exclusive original DOTM deluxe and with the other Studio Series Autobots! I got permission from him to share those pictures here as well.

He also gave a few notes on the figure itself, which I’ve summarized here:

- He gave Que an 8/10 overall and recommended it for anyone looking to complete the DOTM cast or Wheeljack fans in general
- Articulation and detail are both improved over the original deluxe
- The lab coat flaps on the sides of robot mode are hinged, so they can articulate a little bit outwards
- For cons, he notes that the 5mm ports in the hands make it look like he’s holding cups, and that he felt the shoulder kibble was handled better on the original deluxe.

A few of my own notes:
- He does scale accurately for Studio Series! Que is 15 feet tall in the movie (about the same height as Dino and Sideswipe, and a little shorter than Bumblebee). We can see in the pics that this is true of the figures as well.
- We heard that the staff can store on his back, but I think this is our first time seeing it. The pistol can attach to the staff as well, so both can be stored there.




































Here’s our first look at Que with the other Studio Series DOTM Autobots!

We also got a series of pictures showing the transformation:

The original Que is still such a fun toy, glad to see him again. And glad to see his toy looks pretty nice!

Glad that they're doing more rereleases and reissues, like with Trypticon. Still, I'd kill for a comics Grimlock reissue.

I missed out on Siege Astrotrain (spotted it a few times but never snagged it and ended up regretting it) so I'll be all over a SS86 repaint of the mold.

Any way we can get a reissue on Tigerhawk? I’m in Las Vegas, Nevada and I’ve only ever seen ONE in the wild. Target, Walmart, third-party mom-and-pop stores, you name it. NO ONE has been able to find that figure.

Carnage Creations sent us a review of the upcoming Transformers One Studio Series Bumblebee deluxe toy. There has been a lot of discussion as to which toy one would keep in their collection between this new one and the Prime Changer we got in the movie line last year. While the Studio Series version has better articulation, many fans find the look of the Prime Changer to be more accurate. Let us know what you think.

And here I thought the overly early reviews were done. I doubt we'll see this before August.

Recently, I finally got the Core Bee Movie Starscream and he's a nifty little guy. It is a shame that we may never see the easy Skywarp and Thundercracker repaints of this mold.

Is it a new trend to barely paint the new studio series? I found leader aoe prime to be lacking paint. Now que.

Cheetron wrote:Is it a new trend to barely paint the new studio series? I found leader aoe prime to be lacking paint. Now que.

Oh it is far from new. But all that plain, gray plastics with full of intricate details that remains unpainted is sad to see.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Cheetron wrote:Is it a new trend to barely paint the new studio series? I found leader aoe prime to be lacking paint. Now que.

Oh it is far from new. But all that plain, gray plastics with full of intricate details that remains unpainted is sad to see.

I feel like it would be less noticeable if the gray plastic was instead a more striking vibrant shade. Like a more silvery gray similar to the gray that Takara used on their Legends releases of Broadcast and Super Ginrai compared to the more dull tan-ish gray Hasbro used for the Titans Return releases of Blaster and Powermaster Optimus Prime. While the gray used here isn't as tan-ish, it's still a very dull-looking drab shade that really emphasizes the unpainted-ness of the look.

He looks like a Studio Series Happy Meal toy. What gives with SS not painting anything anymore?

Cheetron wrote:Is it a new trend to barely paint the new studio series? I found leader aoe prime to be lacking paint. Now que.

No, I'd say Studio Series (and really every movie toyline) has always been a little lacking in the stock paint department. The movie bots are much more detailed than designs from other media (which is why I like them!), but there just isn't enough paint budget in a mass produced figure to cover all of that detail. Looking to past Studio Series figures, I think AOE Prime and Que are painted pretty well, especially when you compare them to figures like 07 Ratchet or ROTF Bumblebee. None of the prior Bayverse primes (except the PF) have any flames painted specifically for robot mode, while AOE Prime does.

To compare to past movie toylines, AOE Prime is actually painted much better than the previous take on the design, TLK voyager Prime. The alt mode flames are way more accurate and we actually have the flames painted on the robot mode chest this time!

I do think the plastic shades (particularly the grays) could be improved, though. Sam Smith talked a lot about plastic choices in his time on the team, and I think his absence is felt here when you compare these figures to ones he worked on (DOTM Bumblebee, ROTF Sideways, TLK Hot Rod)

Just watched a recording of the Megacon panel, they're at least aware that people want Dispensor and the Shockwave from the 2007 game! Though Evan said that Dispensor would be a licensing nightmare, which is to be expected. He did talk a lot about doing stuff for anniversaries and such, so I don't know how much obscure bayverse we'll really get in main Studio Series.

Rtron wrote:Just watched a recording of the Megacon panel, they're at least aware that people want Dispensor and the Shockwave from the 2007 game! Though Evan said that Dispensor would be a licensing nightmare, which is to be expected. He did talk a lot about doing stuff for anniversaries and such, so I don't know how much obscure bayverse we'll really get in main Studio Series.

Mention of 2007 game Shockwave was the biggest surprise of all for me. Can't believe they're finally acknowledging the long, long time interest in it.

Emerje

With Hatchet here and my DOTM Sideswipe updated, I got some DOTM highway chase shots!

Neat!

Scale is a big topic of discussion among Transformers fans and while no scale will please everyone, we at least want to know what to expect. So hopefully these images will help some fans. Below we can see our first two Consttucticons against our first two Aerialbots. While one of the Constructicons being a voyager might make you think they are all big deluxes, please remember that the Aerialbots are as tall as the Stuncticons. So everyone in the image is standard deluxe height. The images are from Notrab on Weibo. Please take note that they use heavy contrast in their photography to make the colours and details pop more than they would in hand.

The bot scale works perfectly.
Of course, the vehicle scale would be impossible in any circumstance, but that's okay.

These guys really are looking superb, I honestly never thought I'd own them again since the 80's due to all other version not looking all that great to me. I get hyped for them every time I see a new image!

I'm just dreading their eta as everything on preorder has the same ship date meaning all billed at the same time. lol
I can't remember the last time I bought several bots that close together.

I got my Apelinq over the weekend. I appreciate the retooling they put into this, though I wish they were a bit more creative with the robot head, and that some more paint was used on the gray plastic on the heads. But he is nice.




And here he is with 2 other Apelinqs

The robot head is supposed to belong to Optimus Primal, meaning you're supposed to switch the two heads around since Optimus's wasn't as screen-accurate as it could have been, so they made this head to give him a screen-accurate one while Apelinq gets the less accurate one that came with Optimus.

Sabrblade wrote:The robot head is supposed to belong to Optimus Primal, meaning you're supposed to switch the two heads around since Optimus's wasn't as screen-accurate as it could have been, so they made this head to give him a screen-accurate one while Apelinq gets the less accurate one that came with Optimus.

Even so, not a fan

With both Optimus and Jetfire complete, I got the DNA Design upgrade kit painted up as well to finish Jetpower Optimus Prime!

Great work as always! I will never not love that combination

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Great work as always! I will never not love that combination

Thank you! The DNA kit really elevates the set, I feel like I finally have that cancelled Unite for the Universe Jetpower Prime I saw on TFWiki all those years ago xD

The fully green guy looks like he's wearing bedtime jammies

The algorithm gods led me to a random video review of the SS leader AoE Optimus.



Of course, the reviewer does not show the transformation. Why would he?

The staff storage on the back is a cool feature, definitely adds more display options. How does the transformation compare to the original deluxe? Is it more complex or smoother?
paper io

Found a spare ROTF Soundwave recently and decided to try painting it in ROTF video game colors! The weapon is a mashup of the one he has in game with his DOTM blasters:

Reminds me of these ROTF redecos:


Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Infiltration Soundwave Gallery

Sabrblade wrote:Reminds me of these ROTF redecos:

Yeah! At one point I had some red details on it that kinda evoked that Gathering at the Nemesis one, but I ended up removing them since they weren't game accurate.

Since SS86 basically ended with the release of Galvatron, I'm going to ask this question here.

Does anyone have any word on when the new SS TTM Megatron is going to be revealed? If his release could be in July, shouldn't we be getting something soon, as in any day now?

Sowndwave76 wrote:Since SS86 basically ended with the release of Galvatron, I'm going to ask this question here.

Does anyone have any word on when the new SS TTM Megatron is going to be revealed? If his release could be in July, shouldn't we be getting something soon, as in any day now?

Probably a Transformers Tuesday stream in April to stay ahead of the leaks.

Emerje

Went to a Meijer a little ways out yesterday and found Studio Series Que! The 86 Jazz reissue and AOTP Red Alert were also there.




Spent just a little time with Que before starting my paint work, and I really like him! Hard to believe I finally have a Que in my collection only about 14 years later xD

Emerje wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:Since SS86 basically ended with the release of Galvatron, I'm going to ask this question here.

Does anyone have any word on when the new SS TTM Megatron is going to be revealed? If his release could be in July, shouldn't we be getting something soon, as in any day now?

Probably a Transformers Tuesday stream in April to stay ahead of the leaks.

Emerje

I get it, he’s a much lesser character, but we’ve known about Vortex & others that are 3rd & 4th quarter since what, the beginning of the year?

Sowndwave76 wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:Since SS86 basically ended with the release of Galvatron, I'm going to ask this question here.

Does anyone have any word on when the new SS TTM Megatron is going to be revealed? If his release could be in July, shouldn't we be getting something soon, as in any day now?

Probably a Transformers Tuesday stream in April to stay ahead of the leaks.

Emerje

I get it, he’s a much lesser character, but we’ve known about Vortex & others that are 3rd & 4th quarter since what, the beginning of the year?

Vortex, Alchemist Prime, and Crasher from AotP Wave 2 + Onyx Prime from Wave 3 were revealed less than 3 weeks ago, and Onyx isn't even up for preorder yet. Considering they usually alternate between the lines, the Studio Series wave containing Megatron will presumably be the next big reveal.

Nemesis Primal wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:Since SS86 basically ended with the release of Galvatron, I'm going to ask this question here.

Does anyone have any word on when the new SS TTM Megatron is going to be revealed? If his release could be in July, shouldn't we be getting something soon, as in any day now?

Probably a Transformers Tuesday stream in April to stay ahead of the leaks.

Emerje

I get it, he’s a much lesser character, but we’ve known about Vortex & others that are 3rd & 4th quarter since what, the beginning of the year?

Vortex, Alchemist Prime, and Crasher from AotP Wave 2 + Onyx Prime from Wave 3 were revealed less than 3 weeks ago, and Onyx isn't even up for preorder yet. Considering they usually alternate between the lines, the Studio Series wave containing Megatron will presumably be the next big reveal.

Am I forgetting an update? Isn't Onyx wave 2 and there's no leaders for wave 3?

Emerje

Emerje wrote:Am I forgetting an update? Isn't Onyx wave 2 and there's no leaders for wave 3?

Emerje

Onyx is Leader Wave 2, but the Leader waves don't correspond with the greater wave schedule, so he's functionally Wave 3, per the schedule graphic Hasbro showed in the initial AotP reveal. I believe that later release date is the reason why he isn't up for preorder yet.
I could have sworn they made an equivalent graphic for Studio Series too, but I can't find the damn thing now.

Nemesis Primal wrote:

Emerje wrote:Am I forgetting an update? Isn't Onyx wave 2 and there's no leaders for wave 3?

Emerje

Onyx is Leader Wave 2, but the Leader waves don't correspond with the greater wave schedule, so he's functionally Wave 3, per the schedule graphic Hasbro showed in the initial AotP reveal. I believe that later release date is the reason why he isn't up for preorder yet.

Image of Transformers Age of the Primes Legacy of the Thirteen Primes Official Reveal (90).jpg

I could have sworn they made an equivalent graphic for Studio Series too, but I can't find the damn thing now.

Ah, OK, I figured it was something like that, but I thought Onyx would be a summer release, like mid August or something. Weird to have G2 Grimlock and Megatronus carry the line for 2/3 of the year.

Emerje

Nemesis Primal wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:Since SS86 basically ended with the release of Galvatron, I'm going to ask this question here.

Does anyone have any word on when the new SS TTM Megatron is going to be revealed? If his release could be in July, shouldn't we be getting something soon, as in any day now?

Probably a Transformers Tuesday stream in April to stay ahead of the leaks.

Emerje

I get it, he’s a much lesser character, but we’ve known about Vortex & others that are 3rd & 4th quarter since what, the beginning of the year?

Vortex, Alchemist Prime, and Crasher from AotP Wave 2 + Onyx Prime from Wave 3 were revealed less than 3 weeks ago, and Onyx isn't even up for preorder yet. Considering they usually alternate between the lines, the Studio Series wave containing Megatron will presumably be the next big reveal.

If those first three are wave 2, then why is the release date for all of them October? That’s the start of the 4th quarter.
Being revealed early March means that’s basically 7 months early.

Either way, the point is that even if Megatron isn’t due until July, that’s only 3-4 months away. With the popularity of this character, along with how overdue a new mold is, revealing him 5 months early isn’t exactly some crazy idea.

Sowndwave76 wrote:If those first three are wave 2, then why is the release date for all of them October? That’s the start of the 4th quarter.
Being revealed early March means that’s basically 7 months early.

Because Hasbro's preorder dates are almost always an incredibly conservative estimate that Hasbro themselves contradicts and/or set for well after when the figures actually show up at retail. As a current example, AotP Wave 1 has been hitting retail over the course of this month, the graphic the marketing guy showed in the AotP initial reveal said April, and yet Pulse says preorders for the majority of that wave won't ship until May. I know there's multiple figures that I cancelled a preorder on because I found the figure at retail before my preorder even shipped, and I've also received many an email saying a TF preorder suddenly got it's release date moved up and I got the figure "early" (translation: when the designers or leakers said it would be out in the first place). Those dates are merely a guarantee of the latest they should ship it, not when it's intended to release globally.

Also, considering the contents of at least the Studio Series waves got all shuffled around between the leaks and the official reveals, and the TF team in the streams have been saying they're trying to pivot to a new release schedule by next year, I'm willing to bet there's some additional funkiness going on behind the scenes with release dates that could also be contributing to this. The preorder for SS TFOne Elita still says she won't be out until November, and they showed her at Pulsecon last year!

Sowndwave76 wrote:Either way, the point is that even if Megatron isn’t due until July, that’s only 3-4 months away. With the popularity of this character, along with how overdue a new mold is, revealing him 5 months early isn’t exactly some crazy idea.

Two things:
1. Considering they love saving big reveals for big events like SDCC (see SS86 Magnus and Optimus), wanting to save a new figure of the main villain of the franchise rather than reveal him instantly actually tracks with normal Hasbro behavior.
2. While I still can't find that schedule that I swear exists, I did remind myself that the designers said back at the Devastator reveal that Scavenger and Mixmaster are supposed to come out in September, and they are supposed to be the same wave as Megs, which does technically buy them time to reveal that wave later than you would prefer.

Keep in mind that 2025 is already going to be a bit of an anomaly for Studio Series Leader class in general. So far, all previous years through 2023 there were only 3 leader figures per year usually in just 2 wave assortments (with a possible repack wave). 2024 had 4 leader figures not including repacks, and 2025 already has 3 new figures and 2 repacks scheduled before even getting to Megatron.

For whatever reason, Studio Series always had fewer leader figures per year then the main G1 line from Combiner Wars through Legacy, while being closer in numbers on deluxe and voyager classes. Even after adding SS86 and then the GE sublines, this has still held true until recently. Also since Age of the Primes is technically starting in April or Q2, trying to track Studio Series release schedules against Age of Primes for leader class will just not give you much of anything useful.

Well, this just arrived.

The box is so unnecessarily large for the size of prime. so much empty space in there.