If there were any toys that demonstrate my continued…frustrations…with the collector segment, it’s those two.
It’s disappointing/baffling/frustrating that the “lesser” Deluxe and Voyager figures “hit their notes” (so to speak) BETTER that the premium/collector segment.
With Mirage, we’ve finally gotten good looks at the Core Deluxe iteration (though, who knows when THAT will be available outside of the Target multipack)...and it’s not a flattering comparison. For the same price, I think Core Deluxe (CD) is actually more reflective of the film’s “vibe” for the design. Even with obvious compromises in parts/sprue counts, articulation and deco, CD captured the lanky look of the character better. Studio Series mostly wins out in a (more than CD) accurate head, the vastly improved deco, and more articulation. But I can see the articulation is resulting in a bulky, likely overly complex, design. At a comparative price point, the CD gets you a better, less hassle-laden, robot mode, but Studio Series nails the Porsche mode.
Frankly, I’m hoping to get a Weaponizer version to have something with some fun in the final product. The biggest boon to me is that the Studio Series feels “un-Mirage” enough I could roll with him as a separate character. But so could the CD version, which may well end up cheaper in the long run.
Optimus Primal ended up being what I was spitballing months ago: a roughly Voyager sized figure bumped to Leader by virtue of complexity and accessories. Which I wouldn’t be too ruffled over…except Hasbro dropped the ball at the finish line. They indicated a darker deco on the final figure, that bumps it up to being better than the Voyager figure (still sad the black and gold deco won’t happen on that). But for all the parts and complexity added…I’m not sure the figure itself ends up appreciably better than the other two options. I give props for the added articulation, especially the hands and opening mouth in beast mode. It’s also nice to see the extra accessories like the Transwarp key, Prime’s ax, and the ability to link the swords (which was seen more in the trailers more than the final film).
But, again, for all the extra parts, extra articulation, how did Hasbro fumble the head? Not once does Primal open his face plate, and even with the excuse of “the film wasn’t done”, at this price point, why isn’t there some sort of option to change it? In trying to make the conversion from ape to robot more distinctive, it just feels like a jumbled mess in the arms and the back of the ape mode is just a Complete cluster. And in robot mode, none really address the foot situation well, but I’m not sure the Studio Series option was the best choice they could have made.
The Voyager, aside from its poor deco choices, would have been MORE than “good enough” for most.
At the $60 price point, we’re comparing the Ultimate figure against the Studio Series. The Ultimate doesn’t have as complicated of an articulation suite, it is basically an up working of the Voyager figure, it does deliver a decent deco, decent accuracy, decent articulation, face options, and some play features which, I feel, has some really value. Whatever accuracy details the Studio Series figure delivers is marred by its own jumbled mess of parts and fumbling on the head. The biggest boon to the Studio Series figure is the extra accessories.
By and large, both Studio Series figures just seem over engineered to placate collectors who EXPECT a Masterpiece level experience for mass retail prices. I’m quite impressed with what the “secondary teams” that had to make do with fewer part counts and deco on the Core Deluxe and Voyager offerings. Again, some tweaks to the sculpts (likely due to needing to be done sooner than Studio Series) some extra deco, and BOTH the Core Mirage and Optimus Primal would be MORE than “good enough”.
It’s disappointing/baffling/frustrating that the “lesser” Deluxe and Voyager figures “hit their notes” (so to speak) BETTER that the premium/collector segment.
With Mirage, we’ve finally gotten good looks at the Core Deluxe iteration (though, who knows when THAT will be available outside of the Target multipack)...and it’s not a flattering comparison. For the same price, I think Core Deluxe (CD) is actually more reflective of the film’s “vibe” for the design. Even with obvious compromises in parts/sprue counts, articulation and deco, CD captured the lanky look of the character better. Studio Series mostly wins out in a (more than CD) accurate head, the vastly improved deco, and more articulation. But I can see the articulation is resulting in a bulky, likely overly complex, design. At a comparative price point, the CD gets you a better, less hassle-laden, robot mode, but Studio Series nails the Porsche mode.
Frankly, I’m hoping to get a Weaponizer version to have something with some fun in the final product. The biggest boon to me is that the Studio Series feels “un-Mirage” enough I could roll with him as a separate character. But so could the CD version, which may well end up cheaper in the long run.
Optimus Primal ended up being what I was spitballing months ago: a roughly Voyager sized figure bumped to Leader by virtue of complexity and accessories. Which I wouldn’t be too ruffled over…except Hasbro dropped the ball at the finish line. They indicated a darker deco on the final figure, that bumps it up to being better than the Voyager figure (still sad the black and gold deco won’t happen on that). But for all the parts and complexity added…I’m not sure the figure itself ends up appreciably better than the other two options. I give props for the added articulation, especially the hands and opening mouth in beast mode. It’s also nice to see the extra accessories like the Transwarp key, Prime’s ax, and the ability to link the swords (which was seen more in the trailers more than the final film).
But, again, for all the extra parts, extra articulation, how did Hasbro fumble the head? Not once does Primal open his face plate, and even with the excuse of “the film wasn’t done”, at this price point, why isn’t there some sort of option to change it? In trying to make the conversion from ape to robot more distinctive, it just feels like a jumbled mess in the arms and the back of the ape mode is just a Complete cluster. And in robot mode, none really address the foot situation well, but I’m not sure the Studio Series option was the best choice they could have made.
The Voyager, aside from its poor deco choices, would have been MORE than “good enough” for most.
At the $60 price point, we’re comparing the Ultimate figure against the Studio Series. The Ultimate doesn’t have as complicated of an articulation suite, it is basically an up working of the Voyager figure, it does deliver a decent deco, decent accuracy, decent articulation, face options, and some play features which, I feel, has some really value. Whatever accuracy details the Studio Series figure delivers is marred by its own jumbled mess of parts and fumbling on the head. The biggest boon to the Studio Series figure is the extra accessories.
By and large, both Studio Series figures just seem over engineered to placate collectors who EXPECT a Masterpiece level experience for mass retail prices. I’m quite impressed with what the “secondary teams” that had to make do with fewer part counts and deco on the Core Deluxe and Voyager offerings. Again, some tweaks to the sculpts (likely due to needing to be done sooner than Studio Series) some extra deco, and BOTH the Core Mirage and Optimus Primal would be MORE than “good enough”.
