From everything reported over the past year…I feel it‘s quite probable the first one we saw (which now seems to be from the “core” line”) was probably developed based on preliminary work.
When Snake Eyes underwent its frequent delays, Hasbro basically didn’t do anything with the “Ninja Core” assortment. But the delay DID allow them to produce Classified Series figures that were more faithful to the film than what was originally planned. Hasbro basically came out and said that Rise of the Beasts wasn’t planned to have Studio Series support had the film come out last summer.
All that said…I think I also dig the “kid version” a little better. The Studio Series version suffers from the usual “overdesign” trend the movies suffer from, in general. And I think the more pronounced eyes make the character “more approachable” than the “final” design. If anything, the Kid entry looks like a legitimate “reinterpretation” than the Studio Series, which seemed to have started as something akin to the kid model, but then forced a bunch of details to make it MORE like the existing Airrazor design. It will be interesting to see how the other Maximals turn out.
Battletrap looks nifty. And I dig they are continuing to use more color than in prior films