Scourge and Battletrap both look pretty good, but I think I'm gonna have to be convinced by their on-screen appearances before I decide if I'm gonna get them or not. Scourge's truck mode looks killer though, I'll give them that

 

I don’t see how people come to these conclusions. Like, he’s never been photographed with other figures or frames of reference before recently yet people still yell about him not being worth the money?? I had to argue with someone on Instagram last week that Cheetor is indeed a voyager, all cause he saw the dimensions of the box in a listing and thought it was the figure’s dims and doesn’t understand centimeters. Like WTF people calm down.

 

In all fairness Crankcase’s design didn’t have to deal with dreadlocks. It’d be fairer to compare DOTM to Berserker - who frankly is nothing short of acceptable.

 

Others have needlessly made a big deal over it but I do see where they're coming from. His engineering doesn't seem to be the primary reason he's a Leader, I think it's more that he's just a huge character and because scale is a focus, Leader class made the most sense to the designers. However, comparing Scourge to other Leaders like Shockwave, Grindor/Blackout, The Fallen and Grimlock makes him feel like less of a Leader to me and more of a Voyager in terms of the engineering. The back of his truck mode is very hollow with obvious kibble and he has a huge backpack in robot mode. Like, easily the biggest backpack I think I've ever seen in Studio Series. On a Leader. Those are things that I wouldn't really expect to see on such a thing. And like you said, until today we hadn't really seen just how big he actually is compared to the other RoTB figures so it's nice to have that context and it makes sense that he's a Leader in that regard.

To be fair to Hasbro and Takara though, Scourge's design in the film reminds me of the AoE and TLK designs; highly streamlined with very minimal alt mode parts visible on the robot mode. And of course Scourge transforms into a big, bulky truck which is in stark contrast to his robot mode. That makes finding the right balance between modes even harder. With all of that said though, I still think he looks really cool and I'm definitely going to pick him up. There's enough detail and size on offer that makes him ultimately worth the money in my opinion, but I completely understand those that think he's disappointing for the price point.

 

Most discussion about him being worth it or not came after direct comparisons with Galvatron and Battletrap.

 

Yeah just size wise Cheetor is same size or even taller than Battletrap.

 

Lucky, and you are saving money.

Due to ROTB and BBM toys last year and this is the year where I’ve probably bought the most SS stuff or more than the generation G1-ish line.

 

I mean, leader figure doesn't always mean crazy engineering, that sounds like a made-up standard that you're holding him to. It's a size class/price point. And the back of the truck isn't really kibbly, with the weapon attached it's actually decently accurate to the truck, which has a bunch of stuff on the truck bed.

Keep in mind you're comparing a figure that none of us have yet, to figures that you've had for years and are intimately familiar with, not to mention that there are STILL people who bitch about Shockwave being "a voyager", or grimlock not being complex enough, or blackout/grindor having bad QC, or the fallen not having a real alt mode, all of which could be reasons to say the same thing that you're saying. So what's worth the price of a leader is subjective, really.

Also, "the biggest backpack in studio series"? Really? Have you met, WWII bee or cybertron cliffjumper or roadbuster? Scourge's back is very flat, it's just a bit wide cause of the panels.

OK cool he looks like a normal voyager size, as he should be. Not sure where the idea that he was smaller came from.

 

If I where to guess it’s length of his Cheetah mode next to Bee’s alt mode in the trailer. Or just thinking about standard Cheetor height (being more Deluxe-ish sized).

 

It might have been the sculpt on cheetor, he has less depth/sharpness to the sculpt compared to a lot of the others which might have made some people think he was smaller than he really was.

 

That could be it also yeah.

 

I just meant sculpting-wise, not transformation-wise. I think the DotM version looks a lot more like the Chevy Suburban. The TLK/SS molds just look more boxy in comparison. And I love the black windows and clear headlights.

 

Jazz, the coolest Bot out there!



Helpful tip:
SS Sentinel Prime's official set of swords hang nicely on the hinge post for his backpack.

 

I haven't bought anything from BB despite being tempted by the Cybertronian designs. But I think they're suckering me back in with the beasts and Terrorcons. Cheetor especially is one of those designs that clicks with me on some weird fundamental level I can't even explain, I'm really digging him. But I think the portrayal of the characters in the movie will have a big impact on whether or not I can commit to spending on them, so it's a little annoying so many of them are releasing before the movie.

 

A friend of mine did a great video looking back at wave 1 of Studio Series and giving his thoughts on the figures! Wanted to share if anyone was interested.

While I think that Studio Series has improved for the most part wave 1 was still pretty impressive on the whole, especially with those two Leader figures.

 

Tbh wave 1 might be the beast wave we’ve ever gotten in SS.

 

Just in case anyone was wondering, the dna design kit for megatron works with the baiwei KO too. The silver is a bit lighter on the KO, so they don’t match exactly but it’s not the worst.

 

i also got my upgrade kit in and god DAMN this makes one of my favorite figures even better



07 megatron sweep

 

Blackout:



Additional Pics:

 

I've modded the NEST version for more sideways head movement AND considerable up/down as well.



I'll put it in a Radicons thread sometime, feel free to remind me. It does require a little bit of damage to the piece that holds the head on, some visible, some not, so be warned.