Studio Series 86 Appreciation Thread

LordGigaIce

Another babka?
Citizen
ER Op is like MP-10, he's an amazing figure; but that doesn'y mean he can't be improved on.
That's true. Unfortunately the direction they decided to go in for improving it was the exact thing I didn't want. And that seems to be the underlying idea behind this new announcement. More Sunbow accuracy, not my cup of tea.

Like... I'm not writing anything off. Maybe it'll be amazing. Maybe it'll be something I'll get if/when they do it in a more toy-accurate deco. Maybe it's something I just hard pass on. I have no idea, and I'm keeping an open mind.
But I'm not ready to write ER Prime off quite yet, just due to the design mentality behind SS86.
 

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I missed out on EROP, so hopefully this does the trick for me.


IMO Rodimus Prime is the weakest of the Commander Class toys, becuase he's basically just the original toy, but with an actual transformation.
TBH, that's kinda my favorite part. It felt like what the original should have been, what the cartoon (and RG1) made me want, but with modern flourishes.
 

Haywire

Collecter of Gobots and Godzilla
Citizen
The Core Optimus and Bumblebee set scratches my G1 Prime and Trailer itch; Classics Prime is still my default Optimus.

...Hasbro needs to show some Core love to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker some time soon...

It makes the most sense to reserve judgement until we see it, but ss86 Prime would have to be pretty amazing to get me to pull the trigger at this point.
 

Steevy Maximus

Well known pompous pontificator
Citizen
Guess this reveal kind of puts the kibosh on my little hope of getting a redeco’d Earthrise Optimus Prime in a retro G1 box (like the Headmaster Retro releases)
 

Shadewing

Well-known member
Citizen
I missed out on EROP, so hopefully this does the trick for me.



TBH, that's kinda my favorite part. It felt like what the original should have been, what the cartoon (and RG1) made me want, but with modern flourishes.

I'm not saying he's bad. If other Commanders are 10s, then Rodimus is a 9. Jetfire and Sky Lynx before him did A LOT more then just be updates. Armada Prime and Motormaster after him are pretty amazing at what they do with combining. Which is why I'd love to see a Commander PMOP. But Rodimus by comparison doesn't do anything "special" compared to others. Even Magnus I'd say is doing something interesting since he's they're attempt at copying the MP and giving a different take on Magnus so between Kingdom and Studio Series you have a modern Magnus that covers Toy and Cartoon bases.

I love that Rodimus is the G1 toy done right, I had to show a friend the G1 toy just to make them realize how bad it was, even for G1 standards. G1 Rodimus is the laziest figure imo. He barely transforms at all and doesn't even have any articulation; and I don't mean modern articulation. G1 Galvatron, his comtemporary, is incredibly articulated and not all of it was just for transformation purposes: Hips, Knees, waist, fairly universal shoulders, elbows. Rodimus could have at least had elbows, Hot Rod did, and hips and knees since his lower half did exactly nothing in any mode.
 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I actually like Rodimus Prime's vehicle mode, so the Commander is a bummer for me. It's close enough to be more frustrating than if they went with a total reinterpretation.
 

lastmaximal

Administrator
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I was always going to be willing to pay Commander prices for a full Rodimus Prime, however unfavorably he seems to compare value wise to the immense Sky Lynx etc. Whatever. And do like so much about it.

But I'm with Coffee on this, the execution is maddening. Robot and base mode, great. Solo alt mode, wasn't expecting that, but fine. But the full combined altmode, with the car half sticking out juuuuuust enough to look out of place, and with no apparent way to remedy it, has annoyed me from the get-go. Like how in the hell do you deliberately greenlight that.

Conversely, I've always been fine with Earthrise Optimus; I've never cared very strongly for the trailer and its accoutrement, so seeing that minimized didn't bother me because hey, we got the stuff at all. And I like how they implemented the basic torso turn (that we'd see on the Core figure too) and the folding up of the upper half of the chest. It's solid.

But even though I'm less rankled by the proportion issues in the robot mode than I am by Rodimus' car half sticking out a bit much, I can't unsee them whenever I try to pose the thing. The wee arms, the high waist. It's not a deal breaker for this mold but any new take should address that.

Given all that I may skip the Commander at least at first, if it's just a straight Op And Trailer Except With More Bits. But we know so little right now. If it manages to get more interesting than that (and idk how given this is SS86 and Magnus was similarly ehh), I may consider it more heavily.

They did great with Armada Prime at this price point. I'd love to see a PMOP at this price point as well.
 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I'd be more understanding if Rodimus were an inherently difficult design. He's really not.
 

Sciflyer

Two arms and one smile
Citizen
I like Rodimus' design and overall, the Commander figure hits all of the right notes. But I am in agreement with the criticisms leveled at the vehicle mode. I understand that some compromises must be made even at this pricepoint, but I just don't see a reason why the vehicle mode should have ended up like it did. It feels like it needed just one more tweak before it was "ready for market", and they either couldn't or didn't want to address the wonky-looking trailer fitment. In my current display, I have Commander Rodimus in robot mode and PotP Rodimus in vehicle mode.
 

lastmaximal

Administrator
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I'd be more understanding if Rodimus were an inherently difficult design. He's really not.

Absolutely, or like you said, if this were a novel attempt that isn't just straight reusing remaining faithful to that concept. He's really, really not difficult. Even allowing for the extra steps and engineering involved in having him do more than plank under the trailer. I don't care about the apparent value difference vs. the prior Commander figures, or whether the extra engineering bits for the wheels or the hands or the pistons or blah blah are worth it. He gets so close to done and then isn't.

Carve out a sliiiightly bigger space for the car's rear block to fit back into the trailer. Let the spoiler slide forward or something. Maybe have a slide-down piece to complete the pipes. Done. Drop the accessory drawer or the exhaust blast effects if you have to. Just don't let this go into production looking like the two parts don't actually match.

There's a fanmade altmode shell of the front/car half that can plug into the trailer for the full altmode. If not for the cost I'd grab one, as it's not really that much different from what MP09 ended up doing anyway.
 

Dake

Well-known member
Citizen
I’m also betting it’s going to be the G1 version that Takara just put out with minor changes and a new trailer.
That will definitely take the wind out of the Missing Link sails if true. I'd think there'd be a bunch of cancellations.
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
Yeah, I sincerely doubt that this Commander is going to be the same thing as the Missing Link toys. The one that comes with a trailer is way more expensive than the Commander class price point, while the one that lacks the trailer is a fair bit below Commander class price.
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
Plus Missing Link is the /exact/ opposite of Studio Series. Its focused entirely on toy accuracy and not screen accuracy.
Well, the trailer-less one is colored screen-accurate. ;)
 


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