Leader: Jetfire but Shockwave may beat him soon
Voyager: SS38 or Ironhide
Deluxe: either Sideswipe or Drift (heli)

 

I am lucky enough to live in Michigan where we have Meijer stores. If I recall correctly, this wave was first sited at a Meijer in Wisconsin.

I don't know why they were able to get the new wave out on shelves so early but I won't complain. It's definitely worth checking out your local stores but just be cautious   I want all of us movie fans to stay safe.

 

Another find my McDonald’s Starscream he’s small

 

Imma base these 3 favorites on the figures that catch my joy the most when im passing by my shelf.

Leaders Class-Shockwave for sure. I find it completely illogical that I waited so long to get this glorious figure. He's one of the few figures that's damn near 100% accurate to his screen appearance. Look I get why people don't wanna pay $50 for this but to me it's worth it because every time I pick this awesome figure up I get an extremely joyful feeling. A feeling that reminds me of my excitement from when the DOTM movie came out.

Voyagers Class- Bonecrusher - Never thought I would enjoy this characters SS toy as much as I do. Out of all my Studio Series figures this is the one I usually mess around with the most for some reason. I just love fiddling around and transforming this thing. Maybe it's because he comes with no accessories and is just a no hassling toy for me. He's easy to transform, pretty accurate in both modes and is quite durable in my opinion (courtesy of my little sibling playing with it) and has lots of playability in both modes. He's honestly one of the more underrated SS figures in my opinion tbh as I never really see anyone mention him. Either way I still very much love the figure.

Deluxe Class- Stinger would have to be my choice. Gonna be completely honest when I say I literally do not even pay to any other of my deluxe figures besides Stinger. Few reasons being that I love Pagani vehicles in real life, he stands out the most with that lovely red color scheme and design and lastly he's was literally my first Decepticon affiliated figure I've had in years. I like him for the same reason as Bonecrusher, he has great playability with the added bonus of accessories. He's another forgotten figure of the studio series that I consider extremely underrated. Although it is understood though since people said that he has QC issues. I've never had any so I guess im lucky.

 

A squad of movie Bumblebees that I currently have, from the biggest to the smallest one...

With what I have so far, my favorites among each size class are:

Leader: SS-44 DOTM Optimus Prime
Voyager: SS-38 BB Optimus Prime, followed by SS-54 TF07 Megatron
Deluxe: SS-57 Offroad Bumblebee and SS-10 TF07 Jazz

 

I made an instagram story thingie where you answer questions and pass it on or whatever (check it out if you have IG!), and the background I made for it actually turned out kinda cool. I just chose some of my recent photos that I liked and smooshed them together:

Dude, THEY DIDN'T DELIVER MY PACKAGES. Seriously, they were marked as "out for delivery" since 7am yesterday and I STILL haven't received anything! I'll have to wait for later today if I'm lucky. I fucking hate how random it is sometimes around here (and no this isn't a COVID thing it's happened plenty of times before in the 3 years I've been at this apartment).

Totally! I use the Marie Kondo "does this spark joy?" method where I look at my shelves and decide who to take down for the day. Usually a figure I've ignored for a while but suddenly for whatever reason I wanna mess with again. It's like rewatching an old movie you like when you've given it a bit of time so you don't remember every detail  

You're lucky to have a garden in times like this. Most people I know don't even get fresh air unless they open a window with this quarantine. I'm extremely lucky to have my terrace here!

I don't think that's practical unfortunately. Also, the bot mode size is part of their character so that's important to me.

Hahaha THROWBACK! I'm glad someone remembers that name! Yes that works  

 

Yenting Lai

 

Man. Even with that backpack, he still looks super impressive.

 

He looks pretty good

 

Wow it's been 9 years but he's worth the fucking wait  

And he does have a gun after all. Now I need comparison pics!!!

Edit: I can't save pics from Facebook for some reason but here's a comparison with Jetfire-Prime:

Judging by the head size he looks big! Not as frail and wimpy as SS-32  

 

Huh. I thought from the render images Sentinel had ankle tilts but these photos show it's just a forward back swivel. That's disappointing.

But, he still looks great nonetheless! Robot mode paint apps are crisp!

 

Few? A lot of Studio Series figures, especially Voyagers and Leaders could easily pass off as Robot Replicas. Yet they aren't and transform. If that isn't a feat I don't know what is.

Stinger to me is like Ratchet, an amazing toy that feels unfinished because Hasbro ran out of budget. Most of Studio Series's first wave seem underbudgeted compared to the rest of Studio Series.

I guess with TLK's toyline flopping the fact Hasbro dared put out such a line at all was quite a risk. Fortunately Studio Series took off and Hasbro began to invest more money.

Maybe if Stinger came in 2019 he would've had better QC and paint. Aside from the toy-ish colours of the Pagani (and clip-on wheels!) his face also needs more paint.

I added black details to his face that would've hugely improved the stock figure.

 

Kinda sad he doesnt have ankle tilts but he looks so gooodd   I need him like right now.

 

Oh god I change my opinion of when I called him trash he's perfect. My mouth is watering from the gloriousness of this figures awesomeness! IM SO GLAD HE COMES WITH A GUN!

I've heard that the figure is very fiddly and the plastic tabs snap of. Along with loose joints. Not a problem on mines though considering I barely ever transform most of my figures.

Wait the TLK toylines was a flop? I thought some of the figures were ok to say the least but in all honesty I thought AOE's toyline was trash?

Back to Stinger though yes he definitely needs more black. Would you mind telling what marker you used for him cuz I'm definitely interested. I do think that one day they'll release some of these figures with better paint though

 

Why does everyone say Sentinel is perfect?

 

GOT MY PACKAGE!

Can someone who has SS shatter please post a side pic showing the correct configuration of her backpack? She comes pretty mistransformed out of the package. Thanks!

WOW He looks sooo goooooood! And it's awesome to know that he has two weapons and wrist swivel! What a glorious figure! He might be poised to become one of my all-time favorites  

 

A lot of AOE repaints, Berserkers and Sqweeks were shelfwarmers to my knowledge. In my area there were a ton of unsold Sqweeks up until late 2018.

Good ol' Sharpie works on Stinger!  

Is he? Perfect is quite an exaggeration given his lack of colour and backpack, but compare him to the two alternatives we have and he looks perfect in comparison:

 

I'm confused, where is the second weapon/gun that comes with Sentinel that people are talking about? I see his sword and then the water nozzle that is part of his truck. ...

 

He only comes with his sword.