Transformers Studio Series Alpha Trion review

Alpha Trion was one of the few things I liked about the overrated baby movie known as Transformers One. In a film where characters feel like recycling tropes from other current day animated films rather than trying to give them unique identities, Alpha Trion is not only kept in a pretty respectable role as a piece of history found by present-day beings, but he also has the voice of a legend none other than that of Laurence Fishburne, who I'm surprised didn't fall into any usual Matrix references. Then again, he also didn't delve into any references for the Marvel/DC media his VA was in. AT didn't do much beyond tell the cogless quartet about Sentinel's true colors and upgrading them as proper Transformers before getting killed. He did show up as a ghost near the end along with the other Primes to resurrect Orion Pax and turn him into Optimus Prime, but that was about it. I honestly would have preferred if the movie had a longer runtime so it wouldn't feel as rushed as an origin story compared to most animated movies depicting similar story beats, but oh well, heaven forbid you bring up any criticism in front of the "animation = cinema" crowd because they'll white knight any animated movie regardless of its quality (probably the same would happen with a Big Mouth movie). Oh well, let's review the sole part of the 13 Primes we have in the line.

Here we have Alpha Trion in his beast mode. While it gets most of the beats right from the design, the overall product is a mess of clashing colors and  general proportions that are unlike what we saw in the movie, for as brief as he was in his whatever-this-is mode. The part that is supposed to represent the mane sits up much higher than normal, and while you can have the head transformed properly to have it point downwards, it doesn't fix that the piece looks more like it was haphazardly glued in place rather than I regeared properly. The hot pink and lavender overpowers the darker colors too much and thus looks inaccurate to his almost dirty, mossy conditions, and said moss looks poor when it comes to deco; he looks more like he was smeared with baby food rather than actually being painted with proper moss.while the front legs look fine, the hind legs are closer to digitigrade Beast Machines Cheetor than the more naturalistic proportions on the CG model; even the Prime Changer got that right! And what about the tail?! It's clear purple and nothing like how it appeared in the movie, and somehow the earlier Prime Changer got the proper blue tail! This is just a terrible beast mode, both with and without acknowledging what it's based on.

Articulation is somewhat limited on this figure, despite being a Voyager and thus allowing a beast mode like this to get slightly more range than a Deluxe. The hips are fairly hindered by what will be the leg armor on the robot mode, and the hind legs are always stuck in this somewhat stretched posture without any way to keep them closer to the rest of his body. As for the front legs, you can make them work more by untabbing them and using the same joints we'd have in robot mode; I get that the tabs are usually done to keep the bot mode sturdy, but there could have been better ways to make the figure pose better. At least the head can rotate, look up and down somewhat, and articulate at his jaw.

Transformation is annoying to deal with, even in spite of being like any typical quadruped beast former. While the arms and legs are typical, the torso is frustratingly hard to open without a good enough tab to open the damn thing. If you try prying it with the back piece, be warned that you may risk breaking it off. I don't get the whole process of leaving it like this without any proper way of engineering it better, especially with a price hike suggesting they would put more effort in making a better figure than what we had in the past. Even so, they clearly did not. The robot mode has some asymmetry for the shoulders as well as the back, which is accurate for his aged aesthetics after being abandoned for so long to rust. However, the more pristine purple and hot pink betray that intent, making him just as toyetic as the Prime Changer that was more pristine in comparison. I know some figures of late are either underpainted or use less color break up for their parts, but can Hasbro at least use metallic paint for the One characters where that would make up for them being less detailed?! Also, is it me, I does he apparently slightly stumpier than he should be? Maybe it's from the shoulders sticking out more, but it's yet another strike in the name of accuracy. Worse still, he does not come with a cape like he did in the movie. While Megatron's DOTM form was a Leader, at least he was able to come with a cloth goods accessory of some kind; hell, even the DOTM Voyager Megatron had a rubber tarp accessory, and that was back in 2011! This figure is still struggling to keep any positives...

His head sculpt looks accurate, at least, though the paint on the face is pretty flat and should be more silver or something closer to metal. Also, his face is shaped like a paper plate mask. Articulation is below average for a design less complex than a live action robot, with a ball jointed neck, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, bicep rotation, single jointed elbows, forearm rotation, waist rotation, universal joints, thigh rotation, and hinged knees. While there have been prior Studio Series Voyagers that didn't have ankle pivots (Brawl, Sentinel Prime, Battletrap), at least they were better engineered for their price points than this. Even most of the Voyager Constructicons had more excuses than this lousy turd. Oh and his inaccurate tail can use the rubber spikes to be some kind of whip. Surely, there could be some kind of bendy wire within the rubber to make it articulated, right? Or use a series of hinges or ball joints to make up for the price hike! As it is, it's inaccurate and lousy.

Here he is next to the former best friends Tumblrites and BluSky dorks love to depict like a divorced couple (even if it made more sense in this flick for better or worse). While he is a Voyager toy, he is the same height as both faction leaders as one would expect when the Energon miners were upgraded with their T-Cogs. Some sources say they grew even bigger in their final DigiPokelution stages, but that's probably the animators boasting about their growing heights as if that were some indirect bet they had on the movie doing super well (ha ha!). That being said, Optimus wasn't a perfect figure on his own, but he manages to be better made than either Alpha or Tron.

And here we have AT between the Hollywood-mandated girl boss character and the annoying sidekick who tries to be the next Benny from The Lego Movie. I already hated Elita-1's figure for how lousy the engineering, yet contrast her with Bee and he manages to be pretty decent apart from his pancake flat shins and bulkier chest. Where does Alpha Trion lie in the tier scale? Lower than both, especially with Voyagers getting a worse price hike than anyone else on top of his figure already being poor.

And here we have a fake Prime who did deserve his death, with Sentinel receiving a fairly comparable height if we set aside his different proportions being less clunky and more super robot-influenced in comparison. No, he can't recreate the scene where he kills AT, so that means the old Prime can live to show his exhaust port to the false prophet! That also sums up how I feel about this piece of shit toy. Honestly, this figure is what happens when you start phoning in a movie that was seemingly bet on too much for how little it provided beyond a stupid ass CeRtIfIeD fReSh score from Rotten Tomatoes. And judging by Orion Pax's lousy proportions, altmode, and size, I'm done with Transformers One characters. Fuck this movie, honestly. Even if this figure was discounted somewhat, it barely saves the piece of shit we end up with.

Final ranking: ⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Age of the Primes Amalgamous Prime review

Amalgamous Prime is one of those Transformers that you can truly do justice simply by letting him be crazy as a design. While nowhere near as complex as his Covenant of Primus design, the Age of the Primes design at least carries elements of his unusual posture and physique as well as the simpler nature of his TF One design into a robot that was meant to be a shape shifter. It also fits that he tends to be somewhat of a prankster amongst his kind, which would no doubt be stemmed from his unique abilities. It's even been said that the Shifters were inspired by his "malleable" nature, with Makeshift from TFP being an example of this. With all that said of this fairly underrated Prime, let's see how well he stacks up as an action figure.

Here we have Amalgamous Prime in his vehicle mode, which is a unique frog-like spider tank of some kind. While altmodes like these are usually going to look bizarre on any other character, it makes perfect sense for someone like him, who could almost turn into anything if he puts his efforts into it. As such, he manages to be even more unique amongst his siblings than Quintus Prime, who looks more like a somewhat common spaceship in TF history in comparison. Amalgamous Prime is hard to compare with anyone else when you consider there is no one else like him, and we can't even say his altmode sucks or that it looks like nothing because his abilities are the point of his bizarre aesthetics. That being said, getting his Scythe in place can be annoying, especially while trying to get it in place.

We can even split this figure in different, smaller vehicle modes, with one example being a mini tank with an almost nitro powered witch broom on the back, a really long car with hands on each side, and a mini drone comparable to what we had with Megatron's diagnostic drones in Beast Machines.

The fun doesn't stop there as those smaller vehicles themselves can turn into a slightly larger tank, while the rest of the toy can be used as some sort of weird aquatic vehicle for search and rescue purposes. Not necessarily a traditional submarine but moreso a vehicle you'd find fitting for the Gungans in Star Wars to use if the Bongo is anything to go by. There are so many more alt modes you can come up with, and this is the tip of the iceberg.

Transformation is fairly involved for an unconventional design such as his, but more importantly, it still fits overall. The double shoulder swivel system used for the four arms is a clever way of doing a bit of the transformation, while the legs manage to do even more than expected with the way they fold, rotate, and tab in place like a weird yoga exercise. The resulting robot mode is a far less Bayverse-inspired take on the character, which I knew Hasbro was too pussy in trying to recreate given how much it would stand out from the rest of the line. Still, what we have works fine enough for the character. And it was at least inspired by his TF One design, which as much as I hated that movie, the designs for the Primes were one of the few things I did like, Amalgamous included. This hunchback, four armed robot may be easy to compare with General Grievous, yet the similarities end with how much he captures a modular robot look that contrasts the more "traditional" aesthetics of the other Primes, at least the figures representing them in the line. I kind of get some old robot toy vibes from the color scheme to a blend of Lego Technic-esque builds and the look of R.O.B the Robot, not to mention a head that greatly resembles Shockwave's. Not sure if that was intended, but it is shaped somewhat differently from the other cyclops.

His articulation has a slightly higher count than what we normally get with other Transformers. The head is on a 5mm peg for looking left and right as well as a hinge for looking up and down but there is also a swivel on a mushroom peg for tilting his noggin. Very close to what can be done with a double ball joint yet more robotic. Shoulders rotate yet are fairly stiff, while the four arms can hinge in and out. The forearms can rotate on their 5mm ports as well as hinge at the elbows; all hands swivel and can hinge in and out to better hold the Scythe. The waist swivels, the hips are universal, rotation is found above the knees via 5mm ports, and their knees are double jointed. Finally, the ankles to pivot. The Scythe has a sweet bit of clear plastic on the blade, with the blaster filling in the back; on the bottom is one of two T-Cogs, with this one representing how they appeared in Transformers Prime.

His other transformation cog is stored within the head, and in fact, Amalgamous's eye is made of the 5mm port meant to keep it in place. Ironically, his own T-Cog wasn't taken from his corpse from Alpha Trion in TF One, not like it matters. Speaking of TF One, you can take the head off and hide parts of the neck and back piece to represent his TFOne body. I also swapped a few limbs to add some extra fluidity to his design.

Here we have Amalgamous next to Quintus Prime. Don't worry, I'll get the other 8 Primes I covered in 2025 for a group photo once the line is finished. After all, space has been taken up immensely in my review set up, especially to the point Star Convoy can't fit. With how simple Quintus turned out (moreso than I expected), I love how wild and creative Amalgamous turned out by comparison; yeah, his design is likely going to get Reddit Clowns on YouTube making titles like "Erm, this is the most weirdest Transformer design ever" with words like "WTF" and "SO HECCIN' WEIRD" in the thumbnail, but if anyone can get away with all that muck, only he can. The same can also be said with having a $44 price tag, and it's all thinks to the infinite possibilities fans can come up with for his alternate modes and even his robot mode versus the typical 2-mode offerings we get. From the first 2026 waves of Studio Series and Age of the Primes, Brawl was totally not worth it even compared to the Constructicon legs, Wreck-Gar was only a repaint and barely that different from Trashmaster, and Thundercracker had QC issues on some copies but was otherwise mostly acceptable, and that isn't saying much. Before I rip TF One Alpha Trion a new screw hole, I'll just conclude it here by saying Amalgamous is totally worth the full price. Hell, but 2 or more and mix and match with either copies of himself or any Weaponizer, Modulator, Fossilizer, Junkions, or Armorizer to create clusterfucks far bigger than the ship Wheelie and Brains trashed in Dark of the Moon. Transformers prices may be high, but hopefully your imagination can go even higher.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers 40th Selection Lio Convoy review

Announced in mid-2024, delayed around the intended release date for early 2025, and now just coming out as 2025 ends and 2026 begins, we finally have the 40rh Selection Lio Convoy. A figure that is meant to be more faithful version of the character using the Legacy Evolution mold, this was one of the few 40th Selection releases I did want. Adamas Rodimus and Predaking were super expensive and the former had QC issues, while MPM Bumblebee never got a direct Hasbro release for some reason. It was also known for being a part of the new T-Spark line, where making collabs included crossovers with Macross, Godzilla, and Evangelion in addition to having Takara's Diaclone and Zoid lines. While we should have gotten this version of Kimbamus Prime back in 2023, is it worth paying nearly what Leaders cost a few years ago just to make him more show-accurate?

Here we have Lio Convoy in his more anime-accurate lion mode. This figure is not only much closer to what the show looked like with its stylized lion face and mane, but the rest of the figure looks mostly the same beast mode if we move past the head. The limbs are the unchanged from what the Legacy Evolution version had, and the same goes for the tail. Even the shade of white is unchanged; the tail, however, matches with the painted mane far less than what the original tooling had. It was supposed to be painted like the rest of the gold, but Takara skipped it outright either for durability reasons or budget reasons. The Lio Typhoon attack is a new feature, and the jaw opens wider than the original version did, so I will give credit where it's due.

The attack mode is mostly done by tabbing the weapons on top, but you are missing two of the guns that came with the original tooling, making this mode incomplete. On the flip side, they are better painted this time.

For a comparison with the Legacy version, we can clearly see how much more dynamic the new head and the mane are compared to the more pinched gerbil face or the original, and it is appreciative seeing the eyes picked out in the anime style even without some line work to separate the whites of the eyes from the rest of his face. The cost is that he will blend in much less with your regular Kingdom figures given the aesthetics between the realistic beast modes and the 2D character models don't have much compatibility, and who knows if the 3D Mainframe designs would have any proper synergy with the more cartoony 2 and Neo designs. Beyond the head and the toy-accurate gold, there isn't much of a difference between them both; the result is that one of them looks more like a head swap courtesy of a third party beast head kit. One thing that sucks after noticing it on both figures is that the thumb talons are not painted...

The transformation remains the same, and so does most of the robot mode. The main difference is that the deco has a few extra areas picked out, such as the smallest pair of abs on barely above the waist, the.hes are more metallic, the chest isn't painted red and is instead molded that color, silver is added in the inner thighs, and the logo on the left pec is silver instead of white. The claws are much longer on the attack mode, but they don't fold away as nicely. The rest of the figure remains mostly the same, including the articulation and the rest of the tooling. Not sure if wrist rotation would have been possible, but maybe finger articulation could have helped if the hand sizes were kept intact?

The typhoon attack is more accessible this way in robot mode, though angling the head and right arm properly is recommended to keep the mane blades from catching on something. If there was something I wish they kept, it would be the gun that game with Black Lio Convoy since the old toy and the character used a gun in the show.

Here he is with his regular counterpart. While the tooling is always appreciative for the figure, the paint apps are fairly small in terms of size and where they're added, while the blues and gold are more distinct from the Hasbro non-metallics compared to the unchanged red and whites. 

The Energon Matrixes are even repainted differently, with the chambers painted inside while the chest and panel are molded red compared to the original having them molded gray and painted red.

Of note is that none of the guns are seemingly reused, with the 40th Selection ones being new. Makes me wonder if they traded extra weapons in favor of paint apps, because that is usually a Hasbro budget thing and not something Takara by itself would do.

The worst part has to be the unpainted lion hair on the back that better matched up with the rest of the mane, which is actually painted on the Hasbro version. Now I get that the new lion head mostly covers it up, and not many people are going to look at their action figures from the back, but since when was this a thing Takara did with their figures? Already sucks that the figure is missing some accessories that would make the toy feel more complete than it could be, but to skimp out on what was already there and use the new tooling to cover it up is very poor on Takara's part. And you can also see how much better the claws hide on the original Legacy version than the Takara retool, but as mentioned before, that is the least of the figure's concerns compared to this.

A redeco of this for the New Legends price is set to come out, with a paint job as well as new glow in the dark plastic, which represents a ghostly appearance of his from Neo IIRC. Funny how this was announced just as everyone outside of Japan got their regular Lio Convoy's.

And here we have all 3 Maximal leaders as represented in Japanese continuity. I guess Optimus Primal could go for the more show-accurate repaint from the Beast Wars again line with the metallic paint job, while who knows if Big Convoy would get any fancy treatments since he is a recent release. While Lio Convoy looks nicer with these two and arguably more than both stock Kingdom/AOTP lines, I can't say I fully recommend the 40th Selection retool as much as I hoped. I really wanted to say that it's a 100% slam dunk compared to what we got before, yet rather than be as impactful of Buster Prime for the premium factor or Super Megatron for the retooling vs price, this feels more like a DNA Design upgrade kit with some reprolabels applied (with the back missing paint). Buster Prime at least had a complete makeover with his paint job, adding silver pin stripes and more paint on his limbs than what the regular version had in addition to the chrome and retooled face and gas tanks/Ion Blaster. Super Megatron almost has nothing in common with Titans Return Megatron and feels like an entirely new toy. This feels more like a small few tweaks. Do they go a long way? Maybe ask those who waited much longer for the toy to actually come out. It wasn't specified what part caused the toy to not transform properly while it was misassembled, but I'm guessing Takara didn't want to deal with another Encore Omega Prime reissue dilemma where the flaws were recall-worthy (especially with the brand unification involving Hasbro now compared to back then). If you want this figure, go ahead and get it. But don't be ready for it to be mind-blowing if you already own the original.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Studio Series 86 Soundwave review

Blah blah blah Soundwave superior blah blah blah a Constructicons inferior blah blah blah 1986 movie look we get it already. We know how his toys work and how the cassettes deploy, we know he is blue and evil. What else can be said about him by this point beyond the decision to make this figure 2 years after the Legacy United line reissued Netflix Soundwave? Given the downfall of current day Leaders of late, I made a review talking about how the tape recording Con compared to SS86 Springer, who just barely won. The decision to make a 2020 Voyager with barely any changes beyond some slight deco tweaks and hopefully not yellowing would have been fine enough if it weren't for the fact that a set that cost around $40 more or less increased by nearly $20. The fact that it was also released around the same time as Dramatic Capture Series Soundwave also proves how much easier it would have been to just make a new mold rather than make us do two repaints too close to each other. Rant out of the way, it's time to see if this figure is worth buying or not at another mark up.

Here we have Soundwave in his tape recorder mode. Once again, this rectangle looks fine as it usually does, and while I don't mind the colorless door since it lets the inner details be better appreciated, I hate how the bottom section has none of the silver to help the button layout stand out better. Just paint it in, guys! While the rec/batt decal is not present the bulb is sculpted but not painted. At least R and L are intact for the speakers. 

The back section is thankfully more filled in than the Netflix version and arguably better than the Masterpiece and Core Class versions. The G1 version still is the most filled in, but it is a simpler toy after all. 

The tape deck can open without issue as per usual with the button on top, and I say without issue because unlike Siege and Netflix, this Soundwave can store tapes without getting the door jammed. Took them 3 tries to fix that, but still better than a third strike.

The three cassettes he comes with include Laserbeak, Ravage, and Buzzsaw. While they end up looking slightly better in hand than in stock photos, I wish there was more paint to make these appear less gappy and broken up as possible. I appreciate the spokes in the center representing the tape spools, but there is still room for improvement. The transformations thankfully are better than the Siege versions, and I don't mind the partsforming weapons given they don't compromise the animals as much as on others (cough Steeljaw).

Here we have them with the over versions. Laserbeak transforms more like the MP instead of the cartoon, and Ravage thankfully isn't as chunky. The older versions had far more paint, though. In fact, the red and yellow on the birds is the only paint applied beyond the eyes and wings.

And here we have them with the other Cassette partners of Soundwave. Frenzy and Rumble came individually at a ridiculous price of $10, while Ratbat was part of a Target exclusive retool of Perceptor that also came with Ramhorn. As for the Soundwave duo, here we have Netflix/Legacy United with SS86. While the size differences are barely the priority, I can at least say that the proportions/panel lining are far less prominent on the newer toy than the original. I also like the bottom trim is smoothened out instead of awkwardly having a bumper in front, but I already mentioned that it's not broken up with some silver/grey. Not helping is that the golden yellow lines weren't completed near the door. So much better with being closer to the proper look of the altmode, but some details are annoyingly missing.

Transformation is slightly different from what we had in the past, with the major new differences being the ability to just out the front parts of the shins that were previously kept sticking out on Netflix. The figure ends up with less hollow spots in the forearms as well as having a proper backpack compared to not having one in the Netflix version, though the waist rotation used before is carried over. The resulting robot mode is proportionally much closer to the cartoon than it previously was depicted, and as a result doesn't appear as wide as what we previously had. Ironically, the Siege version had his body frame closer to the character design rather than Netflix, but this ends up being closer to how he appeared in the show. Even moreso than the MP version. I also appreciate that the shade of blue used isn't as bright as it appeared on Thundercracker. Sometimes, he appeared a bit darker in a few G1 episodes, but the movie has a more saturated palette. While he isn't as detailed as the WFC trilogy toys, it doesn't hurt him as much as, say, Windcharger.

Head sculpt is standard affair for Soundwave. Thankfully the mouthplate and visor are easier to pick out with the brighter colors than on the Netflix version. As for his articulation, it consists of mostly the same points as the Netflix version, though now the fingers are able to move while the arms are on butterfly joints and the feet can hinge up for more naturalistic stepping movement. While the cannons still resemble batteries, the silver bit should be rotated on this version's handgun yet it isn't.

Laserbeak or Buzzsaw can perch onto Soundwave's arm via tabs on the forearms, though they barely stay in place. Either the slots are too wide or the tabs just suck as they are.

For a robot mode size comparison, have the same pic from the Thundercracker review. Still feels a bit weird not having Starscream in this size comparison, but besides that, the scale here is also kept accurately to the cartoon. I know Hasbro has a Shockwave on the way, but so far, I'm extremely uninterested in getting a smoother version of a character just for the accuracy when he is not upscaled and cost barely less than the price that Siege Shockwave went for in 2019.

And here he is with his Netflix counterpart. I like the size bump and better proportions, and that takes me back to what I said earlier: we should.habe had this in 2024 instead of Legacy United. It would be one thing to make a straight reissue without any changes, but to put him in a larger size class and justify the price with a Core Class figure that is barely worth its regular asking price is ludicrous. Granted, this also has issues of its own, like the missing paint apps, the cassettes suck in that specific mode, and the price hike is garbage, but this still manages to be better overall than the Netflix version just from being a new mold from the ground up rather than reusing existing parts. Not saying that the Netflix version is automatically garbage beyond the 1.0 version yellowing, but this would have been an easier purchase to go with had it been from a time where Leader Class figures weren't seen as laughable now as they were in the small few years prior to 2025/6. Hell, this easily beats the upcoming Astrotrain without a doubt, and now I want to work on a rant regarding the most recent Studio Series figures coming soon...

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐