YMMV / Transformers Studio Series

• Broken Base: The focus of the line after 2020 has been an increasing source of fan discourse. Fans of the Bay films are unhappy with how the line slowly shifted away focus from the films, going from exclusively Bay characters to a handful of figures and ultimately none in 2023; to incorporating characters from The Transformers: The Movie and the High Moon games. Fans who don't mind the shift in focus point out that most of the characters from the Bay films have already been covered, with most characters remaining being relative nobodies such as the Decepticons from The Last Knight, or are happy that Studio Series is giving such definitive versions of G1 characters. The announcements in 2023 that doing movie characters has become more difficult and that now virtually anything is on the table for the line has further divided fans with Bay fans lamenting how their cast will take years to complete if at all.
  • A subset of these are specially contentious on the Age of Extinction versions of the Dinobots. Grimlock was one of the first figures of the line, and remains seen as one of the best Leaders produced in it, giving fans hope to see the remaining Dinobots to have similar updates. By 2024, these high hopes have been dashed aside as Grimlock remains the sole AOE Dinobot released, whereas the G1 incarnations of the Dinobots have all received Leader class updates in the 86 sub-line, which have been received with derision by those that have been waiting long for the live-action version of the team. Not helping matters is that the design team have commented that the G1 Dinobots have been pushed by Hasbro to be completed first, and have on numerous occassions teased more AOE Dinobots to come in interviews with none of them on sight as of this writing.
• Crosses the Line Twice: The line has a rather cheeky sense of humor sometimes when it comes to its' fallen heroes and villains.
  • The Fallen comes with a removable face as a nod to his demise at the hands of Optimus Prime.
  • Grindor’s toy bio states he is losing his head during their confrontation in the forest.
  • A 2023 two-pack has Prowl and Ironhide with the same pained expressions of despair and horrific battle damage they sustained during their deaths in The Transformers: The Movie.
  • Core Class Mohawk has a removable head solely to recreate his death scene.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • The Transformers 2007 Ironhide saw an extremely limited distribution with many American fans being forced to order him online and being unable to find him in stores. Those who did pick him up have deemed him one of the very best figures of the line.
  • Similarly, DOTM Leadfoot also saw a limited distribution due to being a Target Store exclusive. For those who had picked him up (Alongside the other Wreckers), he was received very favorably and widely regarded as the best figure among the Wreckers.
  • The Dinobots are widely considered the best in the Studio Series 86 subline, with their large size, impressive articulation, and clean robot and dinosaur modes making them feel well worth the Leader Class price.
  • In terms of the toys pertaining to Rise of the Beasts, fans generally agree that of their respective factions, Bumblebee, Scorponok, and Optimus Primal are the best of the entire lineup (the other Autobots generally had sacrifices in one or both modes, the other Terrorcons tended to have poor kibble management, transformations, articulation and general quality, and the most common complaint pertaining to the Maximals was their generally plain and monochromatic color schemes).
• Improved Second Attempt:
  • Several 86 releases for certain G1 characters have been considered marked improvements over their previous figures in the Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy.
    • Arcee is generally seen as better than her Earthrise figure, namely for actually incorporating parts of her body into the vehicle and having a more involved transformation, likely helped by being a retool of her Thrilling 30s figure, which is widely considered one of the best Arcee figures for the same reasons.
    • Ironhide and Ratchet are considered vastly superior to their Earthrise figures, with a more solid van mode that incorporates every part into the robot rather than partsforming, better posability, and cartoon accurate appearances, as well as being mass retail figures rather than exclusive releases.
    • Ultra Magnus has gotten positive reception for having better robot mode proportions than his Kingdom figure, and a cartoon accurate vehicle mode that can actually carry other Transformers like his G1 toy.
  • Core Class Wheelie and Exo-Suit Spike are likewise much better received than the microfigures of Wheelie and Daniel included with Grimlock and Slug, as both feature more articulation and can actually transform.
  • For years, fans have wanted a complete and large set of Dinobots, but the problem was that Hasbro and Takara almost only released Grimlock figures without the rest of the team, or none of them were big enough to please collectors. The Power of the Primes versions were seen as the best official way to earn this, and while Grimlock is a well-sized Voyager, the remaining four being Deluxes with the compromises of being designed as Combiners made them also feel inadequate, with many purchasing oversized knock-offs of these figures to fill the void. The 86 versions of the team, however, have finally given most fans what they've wanted for a long while: Big and stocky versions of the team with outstanding articulation and properly-sized dinosaur modes at retail price.
  • The original deluxe class Hot Rod from The Last Knights toyline, while considered decent by fans, was still derided due to its exclusivity, film-inaccurate elements, lack of an accessory, and generally just being a Lockdown retool. After a repaint of the very divisive WWII Bumblebee as his first Studio Series toy, Hot Rod would finally get validation in a later wave, with his own bespoke mold that is not only much more accurate and articulate but also comes with his signature time-stopping gun.
• It's the Same, So It Sucks:
  • Crankcase's figure isn't popular since it's merely a repaint of Crowbar's, completely omitting every detail distinct to Crankcase except for his color palette. Bafflingly, Crankcase's features did see use in the first release of the mold: The Last Knight toyline's Berserker, whose character design is a palette-swap of Crankcase's. But for some reason, Crankcase's Studio Series figure did not use Berserker's parts, leaving it one of the least film-accurate figures in a toyline that prides itself on film-accuracy.
  • The abundance of Bumblebee figures has become grating for many fans, as they mostly consist of recolored or mildly modified versions of the same molds, few of which have a particularly standout reception overall. The fact these molds tend to follow the same general transformation scheme does nothing to alleviate the monotony. The main reasons that the Offroad and Rise of the Beasts Bumblebees were so well received were that they were actually different enough to feel fresh.
  • Grindor's figure is a retooling of Blackout that possesses a new set of articulated hands, addressing the most common criticism against Blackout. However, with one of the main selling points of the line being a correct scale between figures, many fans were disappointed by him being a retool rather than a larger Commander class figure, pointing at how he towered over Optimus in the forest fight. This also means that he doesn't has his actual alternate mode as a result^note Blackout is a MH-53 Pave Low helicopter while Grindor is a CH-53E Super Stallion. Additionally, his figure also bears an extremely similar color scheme to Blackout's, with only mild differences in addition to dirt patches. Thus, many fans who felt satisfied with Blackout did not feel compelled to purchase Grindor, so the figure shelf-warmed well over a year after his release.
  • For many, the main selling points of the Coronation Starscream set are the accessories it comes with, those being a throne and pieces of an outfit celebrating Starscream's promotion to Decepticon Leader. Starscream himself is a barely changed rerelease of his Earthrise figure from two years prior, most notably receiving articulated fingers. The set did not sell well throughout 2022, with it clogging some stores' shelves well into 2023. In fact, some retailers still have at least 1 copy well into 2024.
  • Junkheap, a retool of Wreck-Gar in the ‘86 subline, is a slow mover on shelves, with many feeling the figure doesn’t do enough to distinguish himself from Wreck-Gar. When Scrapheap, another Wreck-Gar retool, was revealed, many predicted he would meet the same fate as Junkheap for similar reasons.
  • Rise of the Beasts Airazor utilizing the same engineering of her Kingdom figure from the War For Cybertron Trilogy was met with disappointment, especially since her fellow Maximals would get wholly original molds.
  • The reveal that the 86 Blaster is just the Kingdom mold in new colors was met somewhat disdainfully by many, though the fact that they cast Eject in opaque plastic was praised for lessening the potential breakage issues.
  • Many reactions to the new 86 version of Springer have been this. Ever since Siege, most Triple Changer characters have been Voyager-sized figures sold at Leader Class with various accessories to fill the price, which is already divisive amongst fans, Siege Springer being a notable exception as he was sold as a Voyager. However, at the official confirmation of the 86 toy's existence, not even the reveal of what it looks like, mind you, the designers confirmed it was going to be a retool of Siege Spinger, quickly earning this reaction from many at literally reselling an old Voyager with accessories for a higher price.
• Just Here for Godzilla:
  • Dark of the Moon Ratchet doesn't hold much appeal for fans outside of his blaster, or for completionists who want his new paint job.
  • The Coronation Starscream set sold poorly, but most of those who did purchase it wanted its throne, which has a lot of playability value.
• Spiritual Adaptation: Some fans have taken to repurposing the figures of the cameo cast of Bumblebee as their High Moon counterparts since they figured it was the closest they'd get to new toys of the designs prior to the announcement of the Gamer Edition figures.
• Tainted by the Preview:
  • Rise of the Beasts Bumblebee was widely criticized upon reveal for the unpainted yellow plastic on his face, leaving him looking incomplete, even though it does match the onscreen design. A later release variant includes a fully painted face for this reason.
  • Gamer Edition Starscream was endlessly mocked for the enlarged canopy which made him appear rather fat compared to his in-game model, especially since the toyline is supposed to prioritize screen-accurate designs.
  • Voyager Bumblebee Shockwave lacking a bicep swivel drew much ire, as bicep swivels are a standard articulation joint that, without one, severely hinders posability. It doesn’t help that the smaller and cheaper Core Class version of Shockwave did include a bicep swivel.
  • The toy for the Transformers One design of Optimus Prime, which while still deemed decent, had slightly divisive reception from fans; the primary complaints pertain to the very noticeable hollow leg parts and the fact that it looks yellowed. Lastly, it was a mainline Optimus Prime at the Deluxe Class pricepoint, which most fans preferring a larger figure took issue with.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The introduction of a subline based on The Transformers: The Movie was met with a visceral response from movie fans casual and diehard alike, angry that G1 is taking over even a line that was originally meant to be a celebration of the live-action films, particularly at a time when Hasbro has pushed hard for brand unification under the G1/evergreen look with little innovation or attention for non-G1 franchises. As time has passed, however, this has died down some since the figures released in the subline have proven to be well worth it, and the main Generations line began incorporating more non-G1 characters and designs, pacifying fans who felt there was too much of it. That said, many still lament the shift in focus from exclusively featuring characters from the Bay-directed films to other lines.
• Unexpected Character:
  • Not many fans expected Blackout to get a Leader Class figure because of how much of a fantasy it became in the ten years since the original film’s release.
  • Hasbro going all out by having a full combining Devastator formed by eight Constructicons with all three modes was easily one of the biggest toy surprises in recent Transformers history.
    • Amongst them, Scrapmetal is the biggest surprise. In the movie he only appeared in the scene where the Constructicons and Scalpel revive Megatron to be killed for parts, here he's retconned as one of Devastator's components.
  • The Baby Dinobots were very unexpected since they were the first mini-figures to be included in the line, not counting the more articulated Scorponok.
  • Few expected mini-figures of Brains and Wheelie to come with Shockwave, and especially not the NEST paratrooper.
  • The Shadow Raiders’ appearance in late 2018 was a surprise, let alone the fact that Hasbro gave a name to Lockdown's generic troops from Age of Extinction.
  • Thundercracker came right out of left field since nobody expected a retool of Nitro Zeus into an obscure comics character who hadn’t appeared in the films.
  • The inclusion of Steeljaw with Dark of the Moon Leadfoot was unexpected since nobody expected Hasbro to include an obscure concept-art character, who only got one pack-in figure included with Leadfoot's Human Alliance figure.
  • As noted above, many expected Ravage to be included with a release of Soundwave, in particular his Revenge of the Fallen figure. However, Ravage ended up replacing Scorponok as the mini-figure included with Grindor in 2021.
  • While Revenge of the Fallen Sideways was expected to come out, nobody would have imagined they were giving him the gun he used exclusively in the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions of the videogame adaptation of the movie.
  • Given the line's focus on accurate scale, it was surprising that the first Core class wave of figures included the Shockwave from the Bumblebee movie, moreso since his wavemate, Ravage from the same movie, adheres to that concept. It was explained in a Hasbro Q&A that this was done to highlight the new Core Class with a popular character.
  • The third wave of Core class figures includes a Laserbeak based on the infamous scene from Dark of the Moon when he takes the disguise of a small pink Bumblebee to trick a child into letting him in her house to kill her father. Not only that form was only ever represented in a Japan-exclusive limited figure, this is the first use of this mold before any Core class Bumblebee would be made.
  • Fans weren't too surprised by concept art of Bumblebee Megatron being turned into a figure, as they already knew he was part of a deleted scene, but Rumble? Pretty much no one knew he was ever considered to be in the movie, but less get a toy.
  • Moreso than Rumble above, Sunstreaker came out as a bigger surprise, as while on the least Rumble could be excused as completing a new set of cassettes for the Bumblebee incarnation of Soundwave, there were no reasons to believe Sunstreaker would ever show up, less so with no indication of his brother Sideswipe existing in the same universe^note That said, the War for Cybertron version of Sideswipe was his wavemate.