Transformers Studio Series Blackout review

He was the first Transformer to appear on-screen, he was the first Transformer to change before the audience's eyes, and he was the first Transformer to show how deadly the Decepticons are! He's got a Scorponok, a rotor blade weapon, the one, the only Blackout! Yet, despite those accomplishments, his Voyager figure was less than impressive. Sure, some will defend it for being the first of its kind, yet the size, the terrible Automorph gimmick, and how the propeller blade takes up most of the mass makes everything feel disappointing. It took eleven years for Hasbro to take another stab at the character, yet this one may be the best option provided by them. Let's all stare in awe and utter "My God" as we take a look at Studio Series Blackout!

Here's Blackout in his Pave Low Helicopter mode, a massive beast of a machine, and quite appropriate considering he's one of the larger Transformers in the movie. There isn't much paint needed for an altmode like this, but I do appreciate the parts that make this feel like a heavy-duty vehicle compared to some of the more thin helicopters made after Blackout; I'm thinking of Drift and Dropkick as examples. With parts of the altmode such as the propeller blades being long and the cockpit being small, it's not a force to be reckoned with.

In general, it's a nicely done helicopter mode, though I do wish the wheels would roll. I kind of wish the propeller blades of the helicopter would spin a bit more freely, though because of how they work in the transformation, I can see why Hasbro chose not to do that. And despite the mass of the altmode, there are parts that are clearly hollow, such as where the legs transform, though that's likely done to make the transformation less complicated.

Removing Scorponok from the rear undercarriage of the vehicle, he's got a nice amount of details and paint added on him. Sure, he feels small, and there are some paint apps he should have, but the effort is appreciated, especially since Hasbro isn't making a Deluxe Scorponok.

Here is Blackout next to his MV1 Voyager. Some of the ways the details are done are different in both figures. There's more gold on the original than there is on the Leader, the shades of blue are different (Studio Series is grayer while the MV1 Voyager is bluer), but you can tell how a chunk of the vehicle mode separates for the original Voyager compared to the Leader. That will come into play later.

Blackout's transformation is the most involved when compared to the first wave of figures, though not to the extent where it feels like a shellformer. There are more parts than Grimlock had since the altmode requires that the resulting robot mode doesn't too messy. It's complicated, and there are parts that do feel are meant to be done carefully, but once you get the hang of it, what you get is a robot mode that will look like the photo below.

Blackout's robot mode is surprisingly made well compared to his previous attempts. While the proportions do feel a bit wonky, they do work better than the original Voyager for the most part.

The side profile looks appropriately bulky and gives off the feeling of how massive he would be when put next to some of the other Decepticons. That said, the limbs weren't as bulky as they are here, though that might just be the transformation not being too complex for younger fans, and as a result, they look like wizard sleeves. The back doesn't look too bad, and to keep the propeller blades from moving too much, Scorponok can remain attached to the back.

Blackout's face sculpt is nicely detailed as well as consisting of some slick gunmetal paint. It also looks like a stylized version of the Decepticon insignia, which somewhat reflects on Soundwave's head being the inspiration for the Decepticon insignia. Also, there was the fact that this was originally going to be Soundwave. No, really! A test animation had a Soundwave's head on a bare model of what became Blackout! Then there's the original script mentioning that the battle would have been in the jungle, with Soundwave making Ravage chase the soldiers to the location. But yeah, this is a nicely done head sculpt!

The articulation is good despite the bulk of the character design. The head is on a ball joint, the shoulders are on hinges, and there is a bicep swivel on each arm. The elbows hinge, and the hands can open but do not rotate. I do wish his hands look better since they look weird while remaining flat and lacking in movement. The hips are on ratchets, but more of the plastic variety unlike Grimlock's. They move forwards and backwards (with the skirt being able to hinge forward), they move out. There are thigh swivels, two points at each leg, and the feet can hinge forwards, backward, and rock on the pivots.

Although the refueling probe isn't a proper gun, it can be lifted up and resemble the chest cannon that he used against Epps in the opening of the movie.

The other weapon he can use is the smaller propeller blade. Being the tail propeller blades may seem like it's too small for him, but it should be effective enough compared to taking up a massive chunk of the vehicle mode.

You can have the propellers face forward if you want, though it does look weird.

And while we're still talking about the weapon, it can be flipped around and look like a gun. Not the best option but there for people that want it.

For a size comparison, here is Blackout next to Starscream and Optimus Prime. You can notice that both Decepticons tower over the Autobot leader, but some fans felt that Blackout should be much taller than Starscream. That's mainly for Grindor...

...because Blackout isn't too much bigger than Starscream in this size chart.

Although Blackout isn't Grindor and Starscream's not wearing tattoos, you can recreate a part of the iconic Forest Battle!

And I know this still isn't Grindor (neither is Optimus holding the proper weapons), but you can at least replicate the context of the scene!

It looks like there's one more member of the Forest Battle that needs to be covered at some point. Can you guess who? Hint: He's the only one in the picture that isn't a proper Studio Series toy, and will be getting replaced by one later!

Here is a robot mode comparison this time. Can you spot the errors the Voyager made? Yes, it's robot mode doesn't do the bulk of the design justice! Thanks to a huge portion of the vehicle mode being used for a weapon, Blackout's original toy ends up looking a lot smaller than it had any right to be! While the design should have some mass around the head, that doesn't mean that the head should look that small! Also, when I say it was small, I really mean it; the original Voyager may have that size class, but the height of the robot mode was no bigger than Deluxe Jazz, AKA the smallest Autobot in the first movie. Let that sink in, especially if someone reading this happens to be a guy addicted to plastic that had a meltdown over people legitimately wanting a Leader Class Blackout.

Although it's a repaint that no one will likely get any time soon, Blackout was not repainted as Grindor (yet) but instead in a camo deco that honestly reminds me of one of the Robots in Disguise Commando colors. This was only available in a Chinese giveaway.

And here we have a new use from this mold since 2018, it's Grindor! While he might seem the same from Blackout at first glance, his plastic colors are actually different from the previous mold user, his propellor spins better, there are added paint apps for rust as well as the cockpit, and his hands are better articulated and don't look awkward! He comes with a minifigure of Ravage, but we all know he was meant for Soundwave! I don't mind that we got Grindor later in the line, but I'm still waiting for Studio Series Fallen and the Dinobots that are NOT from G1, HasTak!

Here is the entire first wave of the Studio Series line. I'm sure that there are people that feel I'm too late in showing off this line since it's been over a year after their releases, but even looking at the Spring wave, there's still a nice variety of figures to enjoy from the first 4 movies, which says a lot considering how we've mostly been stuck with characters from one specific movie in previous lines, and while it leans a bit more on MV1, there's still a nice selection of characters to have bought, with four of them coming from the first movie, one character from Revenge of the Fallen, one from Dark of the Moon, and two from Age of Extinction!

And because why not, here is a size comparison with all of the wave (do excuse the quality of the pic), going from the tallest (Grimlock) to the smallest (Bumblebee). But overall, Studio Series Blackout is the best figure in the entire line up in my opinion. Even with the issues of the way his hands are and the gray plastic needing some silver paint, he makes for a fantastic upgrade for the character in toy form! While there are fans that feel he should be a much larger figure, at least the height of ROTF Optimus Prime, that's sadly from an era where the economy didn't ruin the costs of producing action figures, yet what we have here still feels impressive in hand!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐