Transformers Studio Series 86 Ultra Magnus review

So, we now have Commander Class figures in the Studio Series line, and it's about time we had it ever since Siege introduced the size class back in 2019. And with the approach of the WFC Trilogy and Legacy lines providing larger characters such as Jetfire and Sky Lynx as well as figures that utilize trailers with various degrees of functionality (Rodimus with the Mobile Defense Bay, Motormaster with the skeletal frame for Menasor, Armada Optimus with his super mode). Studio Series certainly had characters that deserve to be in the Commander Class size treatment, so our first option should be the long-rumored Devcon from DOTM, or maybe a new take on Scavenger's design for an ROTF Demolishor. Perhaps we'll get a larger Dinobot with Scorn in AOE? Or Infernocus from TLK could be done in one swoop so we wouldn't have to deal with getting team members that are nowhere near as cool as Devastator's Constructicons? Hell, my first pic would be from the most recent film, Rise of the Beasts, giving us a Stratosphere since he has never been made in merchandise form compared to the Autobots we saw on-screen! What? We're doing another Ultra Magnus despite already having the Kingdom one? Oh well...let's see if the third time is going to be the final charm for once with this safe bet.

Here we have Ultra Magnus in his car carrier mode. Yep, after Siege gave us the cool RID 2001 homage and Kindgom attempted to add an Earth mode of some sort while retaining elements of the armored design for the trailer, we're back to this once again., we're back to him having a more traditional look to his altmode. I'm not surprised by this, considering how cartoon-accurate SS86 REALLY strives to be. Honestly, the last time something close to the more open car carrier trailer design we had was with the Combiner Wars version, which was very similar to the Masterpiece version in terms of how it functioned. If anything, it's funny how odd-numbered year, we've gotten a new stab at the altmode for Magnus, and it's almost always Hasbro saying "No no no, this is how it's supposed to be."

It is nice to see them revert to the more traditional side of Magnus's altmode. However, steering isn't his strongest suit since he can't really turn left or right that well. Then again, neither could Earthrise Prime. And just like on the MP version, the cab is exclusively compatible for this trailer, meaning it cannot haul other trailers in the recent Generations lines.

The trailer can haul up to four deluxes, seen here with Red Alert and Sideswipe from Kingdom getting ready to be transported by the city commander. The cab on its own is hollow and mostly red from the back, just like the Masterpiece figure, though there are some sculpted details to keep it from looking "undercooked", with the rivets, panel-lines, and paint apps for the rims and red bumper. I do wish the smokestacks were painted silver in addition to staying straight better.

Here we have him next to the Kingdom version, which certainly shows an example of what happens when you go from an altmode made for that kind of engineering to one that won't look good because of how exposed the legs and hinges will be with an incomplete and not-quite-accurate trailer. It worked with Siege because of how it resembled the RID version, while the Kingdom one's attempt to look Geewunnish ends up looking bad. The traditional Magnus look is more like it when aiming for an Earth mode.

Here he is next to his teammate and leader, Rodimus Prime, from the Kingdom. It's quite interesting seeing two Leader-types have entirely different alt-modes from one another while still essentially carrying trailers of some kind. Rodimus being a Winnebago and Magnus being a traditional flat-nose with a car carrier is appropriate.

Here he is next to Motormaster from last year's Legacy line. Motormaster's trailer is much boxier yet his cab is slightly larger, befitting the so-called King of the Road we've seen him brag himself as.

And here he is next to the Armada Prime release of this year. I'm probably going to get some flack from fans for being biased, but I think Armada Prime is the better release we have here. While we've had a few Magnuses that do the whole single-unit approach of the design we've seen since the Titanium line and later with Masterpiece and Combiner Wars, getting an entirely faithful Armada Prime that is fully articulated is something I desired much more. Not to mention how much less pedestrian he is as a vehicle.

And finally, here we have him next to the Earthrise line's Prime. Yeah, Magnus is not exactly 1:1 with Prime's cab, but I don't mind since I'd rather they be designed somewhat differently from one another so Magnus wouldn't be an albino Prime, kind of like how tweaked his cab is in Beast Hunters.

Transformation is very similar to that of the MP version, though with a few differences in terms of how the cab transforms as well as how the kibble around the legs is stored. Ultimately, we get a similar yet different approach towards making this feel not quite as repetitive as what we previously got, which I am perfectly fine with if you ask me. After all, there is so many ways you could make Magnus feel interesting again and again, especially when we had this conversion twice in the 2010s. As for the robot mode, it certainly is more cartoon-accurate to the series, though I'm sure many will have issues with how wide the arms are. Granted, it's not that bad of a look, and I can certainly say it manages to be better in-hand, though your mileage may vary. While the sculpted details are not as prominent as with his older toys, they at least aren't absent like how we've seen in the past MP toys. If anything, I prefer the wheels being the proper ones on the ankles rather than using the fake ones.

His head is appropriately designed, giving him what look like shades to make his design a little more distinct from Optimus Prime's, and the face's paint is not too shiny yet not a flat white like in the cartoon, either. His antennae are appropriately white, however, making them pop more as they should on the head. His articulation is standard for a figure this big: Ball-jointed neck, shoulders ratchet front and back while they hinge in and out with ugly gaps, the biceps rotate, the elbows bend, the wrists swivel (though spacing is fairly limited), and the fingers have the same level of articulation that Kingdom Rodimus had. There is a waist joint, shoulders that move front and back, in and out, thighs swivel, knees bend, and the ankles have a bit of pivot to them. His guns can utilize a variety of optional effect parts to simulate firepower.

The rockets are removable at the tips so you can simulate them being fired from the launchers, a good compromise to the long-gone days of a non-reissued toy using missile launchers.

The Matrix of Leadership is stored in his chest, which the Titanium toy could simulate but is too small to hold any Matrix while the Masterpiece did it as perfectly as SS86; on the other hand, Combiner Wars had Minimus Ambus and the Siege/Kingdom version practically didn't have any room for a Matrix Chamber. This one is colored slightly differently from the others, and Magnus could barely hold it with his fingers if you pose it right (this means untabbing the shoulder pieces), so you could make a decent "DAMNIT OPEN" pose.

The weapons have dedicated slots so they can be on his back and his butt flap. It should be noted that out of the box, the antennae come disassembled from the head, though they also come off from the bases that connect to the head. Shrug.

For a comparison with past releases, here is Ultra Magnus next to his Kingdom counterpart. While he is taller and wider from the upper body, I like the Commander Class version quite a bit, as it feels a lot more fulfilling as a CHUG iteration of Magnus based on the philosophy of the WFC trilogy. If anything, I did think the Kingdom version was strong in bot mode more than in truck mode, but the SS86 guy takes the cake as the better version when it comes to engineering as a toy made from scratch. See, this I don't mind compared to Hasbro making a Voyager Arcee just so she can have a slightly flatter backpack. At least with Magnus, they didn't want to do a partsforming toy. 

\

Here he is in front of the recent trend of Legacy figures where the Voyager-sized robot becomes a larger robot. He is appropriately shorter than Motormaster and Armada Prime, though I find it at least is appropriate since he is a big guy, but he is neither a gestalt or a super mode of sorts. Granted, it could be the case if he was a white albino Prime, but not in the G1 cartoon. And next to Optimus and Rodimus, they make for quite a good trio of Leaders, even though Rodimus was more worthy of the Matrix in-universe than Magnus was, and those are a set of words that'd probably haunt even the most sour of Geewunners to this day.

One thing I like is how even though they are each designed differently from one another they utilize the Matrix chamber approach with a great level of detail that makes them feel more complete. Only Rodimus loses points for not having enough paint or sculpted details to convey this look.

For a leader class size comparison, he towers over Galvatron and Grimlock, the former making sense because he is a larger design in general, but the latter not so much since he was meant to be a head shorter than the Dinobot leader. This is because Hasbro prioritized altmode scale much more than robot mode scale, a rarity amongst the WFC/Legacy line since one would expect them to focus on the latter. It isn't the end of the world, at least.

However, one cool trick you could do with Magnus is disassemble him via the arms and the thighs to make him recreate the scene where he died for a few minutes! Ironic how he was blown to pieces by the Sweeps yet came back alive yet the Autobots who died from one gunshot and Optimus, who wasn't even blown to pieces and survived past battles, died in the film. Fucking hell, G1. Anyways, I use that big effect piece to simulate his chest exploding as Galvatron takes the Matrix. The joints are similar to, but not exactly the same, as the Combiner Wars ones, much like with Legacy Menasor's legs.

And finally, here he is next to the 1986 movie cast that was introduced to replace a buttload of mostly undeveloped characters that kids cried to when they died too easily in the movie. This is a nice group of characters, and I quite like the color variety that they each possess, whether it's a two-tone approach of a specific color or if it's complementary for a character design. It's also amusing how Springer is the only one that is still with the Siege battle damage that he was stuck with. Apparently, he will have a Leader Class toy coming soon, but honestly, repainting this would be fine if the joints were tighter. I wouldn't mind if he had a stupid Allspark Blue cockpit. But back to Magnus, he is a recommend, though I will admit that this should be the last stop for Magnus in CHUG scale for a good while. We went from CW to Siege and then Kingdom and now SS86 is in the mix, and I'll have this be my final G1 Magnus toy unless I get the original version. He is good, though my favorite Commander Class guy goes to Armada Prime.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jada Toys Street Fighter II Ryu review

Street Fighter is undoubtedly a badass fighting game, beginning life as the iconic arcade from when the cabinets of the 80s grew bigger and better over time, while the series would eventually grow into the consoles of today with a change in graphic representation as well as a handful of crossovers from different franchises, such as Marvel, SNK, Tekken, Smash Bros, and Power Rangers. Ryu's character is also a famous part of the franchise, though some have found his darker side to be a bit underwhelming. We've had plenty of figures in the past for our hadouken-blasting hero, and most recently, he was covered as a Power Ranger that he took form of in the Legacy Wars crossover game (later in Battle for the Grid); that being said, Jada Toys may make a Ryu figure that does a better job than most retail-friendly 1:12 scale figures, so let's see if it fulfills that.

Here is Ryu in hand. This figure is likely the best we've ever gotten from Ryu in terms of a mainline release. I know there have been Figuarts and Storm Collectibles that tapped into the franchise before, but when it comes to Jada, they did an excellent job. Ryu's design is appropriately recreated in this line, giving him the muscular proportions and the addition of a few paint apps here and there for the fingerless gloves (which were normally brown in SFII but eh) and the kanji for the black belt he wears. The texture for the clothing is done to add an extra bit of layer of realism that proves a sense of dedication from the toy designers. The skin tone is somewhat accurate to the character, as all of it is cast in plastic and has been done to look as natural as possible while the airbrush is added subtlely on the clothes and skin to make it less plasticky. I guess if one were to complain, the white for the gi of his outfit doesn't match the same shade of white for the legs. Otherwise, this is a fairly good job for a more mainline take on the character design.

His head sculpt is mainly good, but be aware that quality control will vary depending on the copies you find in stores. This is one of the knocks against Jada, as the eyes, eyebrows, and lips have paint apps that don't align properly with other reviews. The hair and bandanna appear to be painted separately in addition to being separate pieces. But going to the articulation, the neck is on double ball pegs, the shoulders swivel front and back, hinge in and out, swivel at the biceps, bend at two points for the elbows, swivel at the wrists, and hinge inwards for the hands (outward movement is hindered due to the sculpt of the gloves). There are butterfly joints, two joints for the torso (one for the diaphragm and one connecting the lower torso to the waist). The hips move front and back, in and out (with the waist piece being equally flexible PVC as the gi), thighs swivel, knees bend at two points (which are pinless along with the elbows), there are swivels above the feet while the ankles can hinge and pivot. 

In terms of his accessories, Ryu comes with open hands meant for Hadouken poses with an alternate angry head to boot. While not easily visible, a pair of hands are embedded within the Hadouken piece, a nice touch I didn't expect until reviewing this figure. The black belt and gi are removable, allowing him to have his chest bare. Admittedly, I haven't reviewed Fei Long yet, but I know he's got better anatomy than Ryu does.

Since Fei Long is not a reuse of Ryu despite having a similar body frame, we will cover the repaint exclusive to SDCC earlier in the year: Evil Ryu. Of course, the white of his gi and pants are dark gray, his fingerless gloves are brown, and his eyes are filled with corruption. He comes with two hadouken pieces in orange and purple while the wooden post sign comes in both pristine and damaged forms. An alternate head is included, though it's more in between the expressions of the faces that were already present earlier.

With Wolverine posed fighting against Wolverine in reference to their crossover careers being shared from X-Men vs Street Fighter all the way up to Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, I feel now is a good time to discuss where I stand with Jada Toys' efforts in the Street Fighter line. Overall, this has been a fairly solid start to a hopefully promising wave. I never had any other experience with Street Fighter action figures made by Tamashii or Storm, and I know Hasbro flopped with the MvC Infinite line just like the game itself sucked, but not only is this a sign of promising things to come, but it's also free of the MCU being shoved down our throats since 2012 after Disney strongarmed licensees. The same goes for the photo with Wolverine fighting Ryu since they basically shaped what makes the iconic side of Marvel vs Capcom into a beloved franchise that began even before Spider-Man was involved (since there was also X-Men: Children of the Atom before X-Men vs Street Fighter was made). I recommend you get this figure, but do keep in mind of the quality control issues on the face.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Star Wars The Black Series Archive C-3PO & ROTJ 40th R2-D2 review

If you don't know who C-3PO and R2-D2 are, what are you even doing here? These two need no introduction, especially if you've seen them with pretty big roles in both Original and Prequel trilogies, combined with the fact that they're hard to imagine co-existing separately unless R2 is involved in any missions with Anakin and later Luke or the time they briefly separated between the end of the Mos Espa Podrace and the moment Anakin and Padme went to Tattooine in Attack of the Clones for a decade. They've had their own spinoff cartoon, were given focus episodes in The Clone Wars, and are guaranteed to stand next to each other in almost every cameo or guest appearance seen in pop culture. So why don't we give these unambiguously gay droids the review they've been waiting for?!

Here we have C-3PO in-hand, and he looks just as I'd expect him to apart from the lack of any gold chrome. The metallic gold paint is at least comparable, and it helps him feel faithful to the character's appearance in at least the Original Trilogy, since he evolved from being incomplete in The Phantom Menace to being gray in Attack of the Clones to being fully gold apart from not having a silver leg yet. The details are sculpted pretty well, what with the pistons and the exposed midriff wires to represent this as a standard protocol droid design. Nailing the aesthetics of a Star Wars character is common with the Black Series.

His head sculpt is also detailed nicely, even having the "pupils" painted in to make him look more complete overall. This is especially appreciative when you consider how pricey these figures can get. His articulation consists of a neck swivel and a hinge below the swivel, shoulders that move front and back (with the pieces that cover the joints moving in unison), in and out, elbows do not bend (though that is accurate to the design), wrist rotation and inward hinging, diaphragm joint is included, somewhat limited hip articulation and thigh swivels, knee bends, and ankle hinges as well as pivots.

Here he is running away from Cogman. Probably because the C-3PO joke that Crosshairs said was made just in case audiences wouldn't get the similarities. I'll admit the movie still sucks but the joke was funny.

And here we have R2-D2. The astromech being a huge contrast to C-3PO's human-cyborg relations makes sense, as each droid possesses an in-universe purpose different from one another. After all, the unique shape of this guy makes sense for assisting pilots of X-Wings, Y-Wings, Naboo Starfighters, and Jedi Interceptors. R2's white plastic looks normal in these photos due to the color correction I used, and the paint apps are generally nice and clean (apart from a slight scuff on the wires on the right foot), though in-hand, the white plastic did have a very, very slight yellow tint. It's a strange idea since Hasbro probably hasn't listened to the criticisms that fans had regarding the yellowed plastics on most recent Transformers and instead chose to somewhat repeat them here. We'll see how long this guy will last being white if my SS86 Jazz could hold up alright. Not many paint apps on the back but that is expected from the character design; the spaces on the chrome dome do vary one which arts are left silver, though.

R2's articulation is only a head swivel, two points on the main legs, and his third leg can extend out (though not easily) and give you the option to display him in a more mobile state. To access the accessories, you can pull the head up and reveal six different items for him to use. Most of these don't really stay in place that well, so you'll either have to find the right ones for them to grip on or simply put them somewhere else.

R2 also has some panels that can open, such as a selection of repair arms as well as a control panel interface plug. The other panels on the chest can open as well, but they don't do much on top of being extremely annoying to open without having to use another tool. removing a blue piece on the head can allow you to either display a radar or a viewer as seen in Empire. These are somewhat easier to add than the other accessories. Overall, while Threepio is fine despite having limited articulation that makes sense, Artoo is annoying to work with because of how annoying the accessories are for people to work with. What are you, a kit? Also, the normal price isn't really worth it, I'm sorry.

Final ranking (for each droid): ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐