COUNTDOWN: 8 New Studio Series Reveals — RANKED!

Hasbro has unveiled a new wave of Studio Series figures celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie. But how do they stack up?

Some of these reveals are absolute showstoppers — long-awaited characters finally getting their due in transforming toy form. Others are solid if unspectacular retools and reissues. And then there’s at least one that’s left collectors scratching their heads, wondering how something so anticipated could miss the mark so completely.

Let’s break down what’s on offer, from the disappointing to the genuinely exciting.

#8: Astrotrain

Of all the reveals, this one undoubtedly has the most significant anticipation-to-disappointment ratio, judging by the online reaction.

Astrotrain is a character who’s been done many times over in toy form, and plenty of people were excited to see a Studio Series take, even though the previous Siege toy was already considered pretty solid. This new Leader Class version aims for greater screen styling than its predecessor, bumping up to full Leader sizing (rather than Siege’s Voyager-with-extras approach) and sporting a colour scheme that matches his final animation appearance more closely. The wings are now fully purple as they should be, albeit there’s a notable omission in the red detailing on his torso due to limitations with the plastic type used in that area. As a nice throwback, his tailfin can reconfigure to open on his chest just like the vintage toy.

The figure offers his classic triple-changing gimmick, shifting between space shuttle and steam locomotive, with some nifty features thrown in. There are functional coupling rods on the wheels of the train mode and an opening rear hatch as seen in the film (though there’s no actual interior space). He’s also well-equipped with a pair of blasters, three pink blast effects that work with either his guns or vehicle thrusters, plus an impressively long steam effect piece for train mode. His hands are even designed to grip Starscream’s crown for that iconic coronation moment.

So far, so good, right? Well, here’s the problem: triple-changers are notoriously hard to get right across all three modes, but I don’t think anyone anticipated this much compromise. None of the modes here really shine.

The train mode is probably the best of the bunch, at least presenting something that looks noticeably closer to what we saw on screen in the 1986 film — certainly more so than previous toys. The shuttle, however, is weirdly truncated. Even if it skews more “real world” in some senses, it misses the mark by not feeling like the character it’s supposed to evoke and just looking… well, a little odd.

However, the robot mode is the real eyebrow-raiser here — very skinny and awkwardly proportioned, with long, slender legs, an oddly tapered torso, and undersized arms. It’s also noticeably kibbly, with lots of messy transformation stuff hanging off and panels on the chest that never look like they’re in the right place. Debates about the mistransformation of the stock photos continue, but whatever the case, the toy never seems to look “right.”

The use of “unpaintable” plastic for the torso has been hugely controversial, with some wondering why they didn’t simply use another type of plastic. The reality is that vinyl or polyoxymethylene (POM) is often necessary for moving parts or high-wear areas that require transformation, as it’s more durable than ABS (which is still used for most of the toy’s design but could break under stress). Even so, there’s no denying the toy looks unsightly despite these real-world considerations, and is desperately lacking in colour, so it’s understandable that the result is being called into question.

Beyond that, it’s just a very awkward design. There are some fun touches, such as the smoke accessory for the train mode, but as it stands, this might be one of the biggest flubs we’ve seen from Studio Series so far.

You can order this release on TFSource here!

#7/6: Sunstreaker & Wheeljack

Honestly, it’s hard to get too excited about these two, given they’re the same designs that have been doing the rounds for over half a decade now.

Both figures are being brought back yet again under the Studio Series banner as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations, essentially repackaging the Generations Selects versions that only recently hit shelves. For Sunstreaker, this marks yet another appearance following his Earthrise reissue just months prior, though this time he’s lost the grey blaster that came with the Selects multi-pack. Beyond the new box art, nothing else has changed.

Wheeljack gets similar treatment, though he at least retains his second blaster from the Selects release. What makes his packaging particularly noteworthy (or morbid, depending on your perspective) is the decision to feature his corpse from the film on the box — a stark contrast to the previously released Windcharger, who received a cropped movie poster instead. Poor lad.

In many ways, I don’t think a new Wheeljack or Sunstreaker was necessarily needed, but given they were only recently re-released, this further reappearance of both moulds — seemingly unchanged from the multi-pack release — is a little underwhelming.

Still, considering Sunstreaker is a blink-and-you-miss-it presence in the 1986 film and Wheeljack quite notoriously only appears as a lifeless corpse, perhaps this will tick the box in terms of Studio Series for those that really want them.

You can order these releases on TFSource here!

#5: Snarl

Snarl returns! This is just a straightforward re-release of the 2023 toy for those that missed out first time around.

It’s a great figure — I really like the design, having recently picked up the red Generation 2 version — and it’s great to see them reissue designs like these, especially since some of these releases can be harder to track down now. But for those who already have it, there’s nothing new to get excited about here. It’s disappointing he still doesn’t come equipped with a gun, but if you don’t own this one, it’s worth picking up!

You can order this release on TFSource here!

#4: The Matrix of Leadership

A return of roleplay items to Studio Series — something we haven’t really seen in years, especially not aimed squarely at the 1986 crowd.

This human-scale recreation of the Matrix is designed as both a display piece and an interactive prop celebrating the film’s anniversary. The core mechanism allows you to pull the casing open, triggering pulsating LED effects whilst “The Touch” plays — essentially letting you recreate Rodimus Prime’s defining moment from the movie’s climax. A dedicated display stand is included, with the Matrix able to rest on it whether opened or closed.

Power options are flexible: you can run it off three AA batteries using the switch located on the rear of the orange housing, or plug in via the USB-C port on the back of the blue core for permanent illumination on display. There’s even a removable panel allowing cable access when the Matrix is in its closed state.

Honestly, this thing is super impressive in many ways — although full acknowledgement, it’s not something I’ll personally be interested in! However, for collectors who love massive display items like this, it looks perfect and will no doubt make a suitable centrepiece on a shelf or in the middle of a collection display. The fact that it’s interactive is great fun, too.

It’s cool to see Transformers delivering items beyond the characters themselves, and there is clearly a market for it, so why not? However, at $124.99 RRP, it’s an eye-watering sum for what is essentially a fun curio (meaning I’ve placed it lower on this list than I might have done otherwise!), so we’ll have to see how that lands.

But hey, it’s electronic and has LEDs, so who knows — it might just light your darkest hour.

You can order this release on TFSource here!

#3: Shockwave

Rather than creating an all-new design for Studio Series, Hasbro has opted to revisit the Siege Shockwave mould and give it a thorough makeover. The add-on armour pieces are gone, and much of the surface greebling has been smoothed away to bring it more in line with the cleaner animation aesthetic of the other movie-themed releases. His alt mode remains that slightly abstract Cybertronian spacecraft seen in Siege, though the bridge section has been retooled. There’s also a fun bonus accessory in the form of a miniature version of his classic gun mode (as seen in Desertion of the Dinobots — a favourite episode!), sized so other figures can wield it as a weapon.

One particularly clever touch is the cross-compatibility with the Age of the Primes Bruticus. By folding down the bridge of Shockwave’s ship mode, you can attach it to Bruticus’ right shoulder as a massive cannon — a nod to The Revenge of Bruticus (another favourite episode!) where Shockwave was used as a weapon (though he was handheld in the cartoon rather than shoulder-mounted, but apparently this configuration was chosen for stability).

It’s strange that where Astrotrain is an entirely new version of that character versus the Siege mould, the designers chose to return to WFC for Shockwave and overhaul the existing toy. In fairness, it’s a good design, and in this case, it largely works by giving Shockwave a cleaner look and some different proportions. The new colour scheme is also really nice, with a very bold purple giving the desired cartoon feel.

The differences become much more obvious when you compare it side by side with previous versions, but collectors who have one of the various releases of the Siege mould will, of course, have to decide if this is a necessary “upgrade” that’s worth the money or not.

You can order this release on TFSource here!

#2: Skywarp

We knew it was coming — but the results don’t disappoint.

This Voyager offering is a straight redeco of the Studio Series Thundercracker mould, delivering a highly screen-accurate take on the classic F-15 jet design. The robot mode proportions closely track those of the third Masterpiece interpretation of the character, delivering one of the most anime-styled Generations designs in recent memory.

Admittedly, it’s somewhat hard to get pumped about the idea of MORE Seekers in the big year 2026, if only because we’ve been through this cycle more times than many of us can count by this point. And yet whenever it happens, that slight feeling of exhaustion inevitably gives way to excitement as the toys themselves are revealed and perhaps — just perhaps — there’s room for one more go at these characters… until the next one, anyway.

Regardless, Skywarp’s colour scheme is always exciting to see, and this version shows it off amazingly well in sultry black, purple, and grey — gorgeous stuff on an exceptionally handsome mould, though there’s one notable deviation — the shoulders are rendered in black rather than the cartoon-accurate purple. It’s a shame, but truthfully, I don’t think it’s a dealbreaker — it still looks good regardless of slavish accuracy.

How long until Starscream, then?

You can order this release on TFSource here!

#1: Kranix

By far and away the show stealer of these reveals, as we are finally — finally — seeing super-niche characters like the Lithonian Kranix done in proper transforming toy form.

This Deluxe Class figure represents the first time Kranix has been realised as an actual converting toy, capturing his screen-accurate robot appearance whilst also incorporating the spacecraft mode that was designed for him but rarely seen. That alt mode originally appeared in early script drafts and tie-in material for the 1986 film — it shows up in the Marvel Comics adaptation and his profile in The Transformers Universe book — though the transformation ability was cut from the final movie.

That backstory is worth noting: in earlier versions of the script, Kranix was conceived as part of an unnamed alien species of transforming robots who used his “small rocket ship” form to flee their world as Unicron destroyed it. His character design was created with this conversion in mind, even though it never made it to screen.

Sometimes I like to remind myself that Kranix & Arblus from the 1986 movie actually had weird AF alt modes. pic.twitter.com/ooVdCxD0s0

— Sixo | Transformers (@SixoTF) January 24, 2020

Technically, this isn’t the first plastic representation of the character — he appeared as a small non-convertible minifigure with the 2020 Quintesson Pit of Judgement set — but this new Studio Series toy is everything those of us who grew up with the movie have long been imagining.

As a kid, I would spend hours poring over my beloved copy of The Transformers Universe book (I still have my much-loved dog-eared copy), and the alternate mode designs for Kranix and his comrade Arblus always caught my curiosity. To see them represented here is really something.

Yes, it’s a bit weird how obvious the face is in.. I want to say “spaceship mode,” but it’s purposefully so. This design has captured everything oddball about the character model and made it work.

Honestly, at a point when it feels like we’re at peak nostalgia saturation with Transformers, with endless revisions of the same characters year after year, this is how you “do Generation 1” without it feeling repetitive — by filling in the blanks that have never been taken care of before.

Compare this to Sunstreaker or Wheeljack and it’s a total must-buy for 1986 movie fans.

You can order this release on TFSource here!

So that’s our list! What are your thoughts on these reveals? Are you picking up Kranix, or holding out hope that Astrotrain looks better in hand?

TTFN