While Hasbro made Walmart the definitive store to offer Stinger merchandise for some bizarre reason beyond making money off the brand, they never made a fully transformable version of Stinger that was able to turn into a Pagani Huayra. TakaraTomy made a repaint of the AOE Deluxe, and while it was appreciated at the time, the fact that they never remolded the figure's alt-mode makes me wonder if they're as perfect for TF toys as people claim they are. Funny how Hasbro made a retool of PRID Megatron for Beast Hunters that looked different from the original but no one can be arsed to make Stinger unique. Whatever, let's talk about the Studio Series figure!
The vehicle mode finally recreates the Pagani Huayra that was sorely missing from the Generations-styled AOE toyline, with the only toy to have the proper alt-mode being the one-step changer. The proportions are nice and sleek, the details are spot on to what should be present in the real-life vehicle, and I can hear the sound it makes as I roll it on the desk. After having mostly Autobots take on the form of American cars (and ones provided by General Motors at that), it felt refreshing to see a vehicle mode that's more exotic by comparison.
I should point out that the vehicle mode has storage for two of the shurikens, which makes for an attack mode that feels eerily reminiscent of Hot Shot's sawblade feet (albeit on the sides of the car than the front). Depending on how well you transform the back piece that connects the shurikens, it could scrape on a surface if you attempt to roll the toy on its wheels, so make sure that it's pushed up in the vehicle as possible. It's something that sort of messes up the ability to roll the car mode as well as keep some of the tires from touching the ground. Also, be sure your copy has the mirrors included on both sides. Most fans would either get one of the two mirrors or no mirrors whatsoever. I'm sure that's something that has to be noted if it's going to be sold second hand over the years.
Here it is next to the original AOE figure on the left next to the Studio Series version on the right. Pretty much a night and day feeling when it comes to just how the colors of the character look on either alt-mode. Takara Stinger feels like buying the red variant of G1 Bumblebee or getting the Cliffjumper repaints of Bumblebee while the Studio Series Stinger feels more fulfilling considering its a new mold. Also, the Decepticon insignias are different on both figures, with the Takara version being smaller, colored silver, and having the smaller eyes that the Movie faction symbols have while the Studio Series version is bigger, is colored purple, and has larger eyes.
Here is a size comparison next to fellow KSI Decepticon, Galvatron! They look pretty good next to each other, with Galvatron being a bigger than usual truck and Stinger's alt-mode being smaller than most cars.
Here is Stinger next to the robot he was inspired by, Bumblebee. This was the original AOE Bumblebee figure that I customized to have a more complete deco. The car mode scale might look fairly close to how they should look, though everyone else's view may vary.
I am curious about how a Studio Series version of the AOE design would look if done with heavy retooling to give Bumblebee his proper altmode so as to not make him a yellow Stinger with the single stripe. If Hasbro can give us a Sandstorm that's heavily retooled from Stinger, then I'm sure they can impress fans again with a vehicle mode retool of Stinger.
Stinger's transformation is a lot more involved compared to the AOE Bumblebee mold, especially in the torso section. There's a swivel on the torso that takes helps make the robot mode feel more robust compared to using a waist swivel more commonly found. It also helps keep the windshield hidden without the typical rooftop backpack found on Bumblebee toys. The rooftop is instead reconfigured on the right arm and turns into an arm cannon. Sadly, the legs just hinge downward and that's about it, but at least the front wheels are hidden away in the chest.
The robot mode looks pretty good on the whole. The proportions are pretty solid, the shurikens are properly viewable, and the toy feels more complete by comparison to his previous incarnation. The figure isn't as perfect as I'd want it to be, given how the hands do look bigger than normal, and the face doesn't have enough paint details save for the green eyes and black on the head. The weapon being made from the rooftop is ingenious, but IDK if I'm more disappointed that it doesn't look convincing for a weapon or if it needed more parts to make it look more like a cannon. Also, it was arm-mounted instead of being built over the forearm, though that's expected due to the transformation.
The side profile looks fairly good until you look ad the legs from the side. It sucks that there was no new engineering to make his legs look more transformed than they are currently. They don't fit well with the rest of the robot mode, and when viewed from the back, they look hollow and don't add much to the leg designs.
Stinger's articulation is everything you'd expect from a normal Deluxe. Ball-jointed head, ball joints on the shoulders, elbows that somewhat ratchet lightly, a swivel above the elbow, ball-jointed hips that move fairly well, a thigh swivel, and knees that bend slightly over a right angle. There's no waist swivel or ankle joints.
The arm cannon isn't screen accurate here, but you can almost make him pose like Megatron does whenever he fires his fusion cannon.
Speaking of Megatron, here is Galvatron in robot mode for a size comparison! Stinger does look delightfully puny next to his master, but again, that's to do with Stinger being a fairly small Deluxe and Galvatron being a normal-sized Voyager. In case you're wondering, my Galvatron's custom painted, so that's why he looks shinier than normal.
Here is the AOE Bumblebee next to Studio Series Stinger, and this is where a retool of Stinger likely may be important at some point. I remember seeing a rumored listing show that one of the options included a ROTF/AOE Bumblebee, and had that been confirmed, I'm sure Hasbro would have retooled Stinger heavily in order to make him turn into a 2014 Camaro Concept. I'm saying this because these two don't match up together that well. It's like KSI did make Stinger better in every way if that was what Bumblebee looked like in fiction. The appearance of the 2014 Deluxe makes Bumblebee look more like he was made in 2007 or 2009 with how the chest, feet, head, and backpack look. The only carryover between the figures is how the shoulder pylons look are oriented, but even those look better on Stinger than on Bumblebee since they're not as big and don't feature the wheels.
There was one reuse of Stinger that came out a few waves after the original use of the mold, that being KSI Sentry. It's a blue repaint of Stinger with a slightly altered deco (essentially relocating the black paint apps in both modes) and a new head sculpt that was carried over from the Chevy Trax drones. Instead of the shurikens, there is a new accessory that goes on the cannon, making an even better-looking arm cannon that should have been included in the original release. I may get this repaint, though I feel it should have been made for the 2019 assortment. I don't like how it has the same piece used for the shurikens since it doesn't include them at all.
Overall, Stinger's a pretty good figure that could have some room for improvement, mainly in terms of painting the face, having the legs transform a little bit more, and making the cannon look more complete. It's still great to have a version of the character after 4 years of nothing from Hasbro and a red repaint of Bumblebee from Takara, but whatever comes for an AOE Bumblebee doesn't mean it's a straight repaint with the wrong alt-mode.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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