Transformers Studio Series SS 86 Junkheap Found in US

Stores around me are saturated with Soundwave, Hot Rod and Sweeps. It'll be a while until I see him. I think he looks better than Wreck-Gar so he'll be a purchase.

Something improved over the distribution woes Americans had the past couple of years because these Studio Series figures are coming in hot. We had the 2022 wave 2 voyagers come in just recently, as well as core class Spike and now we have the deluxes and leader class Sludge spotted at retail. SS-84 Ironhide and SS-85 Arcee, both from the Bumblebee movie, were spotted at a Target store in California while Sludge was spotted at a Target in Virginia. So literally sightings from coast to coast.

These were found by TF fans tfrockmaster and G14Prime who both posted on the TFW2005 boards. Check out that image of the Target shelf, it's a thing of beauty. Sludge is definitely the one on most collectors' minds and if you want to know more about him, we have two video reviews for you below. One from Emgo and another from our dear friend to the site Matt in Japan (who got his from a Chinese distributor).

Sweet, I'll have to check the stores this weekend. I still haven't seen the first wave of Bee movie deluxes though lol. Maybe I'll get lucky.

Starseeker wrote:Sweet, I'll have to check the stores this weekend. I still haven't seen the first wave of Bee movie deluxes though lol. Maybe I'll get lucky.

Same here! I haven't managed to find any of the first wave at any of my local Wal-Marts or Targets when I go out.

Rodimus Prime wrote:Stores around me are saturated with Soundwave, Hot Rod and Sweeps. It'll be a while until I see him.

Same here, so I thought the same thing. Then I found him this week, one store appeared to have a single new case in front of the older ones, so there is hope.

Does anybody have Premium Finish Bumblebee Prime, Is it just me or is there some tolerance issues with a few pannels in truck mode?

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Does anybody have Premium Finish Bumblebee Prime, Is it just me or is there some tolerance issues with a few pannels in truck mode?

You may wanna ask in the Premium Finish thread, itself.

We now have several confirmed sightings from our own Canadian community members of N.E.S.T. Bumblebee being found at Gamestop. The photo below is of a Gamestop in Montreal. This was supposed to be a Universal Studios exclusive but became a fan channel toy due to the pandemic changing distribution plans. This toy has been available in the US for a while, at Entertainment Earth, and has even been found at random retail outlets like Movie Trading Company stores. The figure is a metallic grey redeco of Studio Series SS-57 Offroad Bumblebee with N.E.S.T logos and it comes with Sam.

I still haven't actually seen the deluxe wave with Brawn in stores yet. Just Kups and Blurrs still shelfwarming everywhere.

Have a fun pic

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I still haven't actually seen the deluxe wave with Brawn in stores yet. Just Kups and Blurrs still shelfwarming everywhere.

Have a fun pic

Haven't seen Brawn either. my store is overfilled with Soundwaves, Blurs, Kups, that one Hot Rod and way too many Cybersharks.

Sabrblade wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:Does anybody have Premium Finish Bumblebee Prime, Is it just me or is there some tolerance issues with a few pannels in truck mode?

You may wanna ask in the Premium Finish thread, itself.

Of course, it would have its own thread.

Takara has many new preorders on their end but they are all of toys that have already been revealed. however, that does give us some new images of figures we have not seen too much of yet, like Studio Series voyagers Galvatron and Thundercracker. Takara is usually pretty good at toy photography but according to many fans, these photos are not giving that Galvatron and favours.

We also have more photos of Metroplex, who luckily for Japanese fans is not a TTMall exclusive. In fact none of these are.

Galvatron is a solid buy as soon as he becomes available. I might get Thundercracker when he goes on clearance. Metroplex is a solid pass.

BIGGUY007 wrote:Galvatron is a solid buy as soon as he becomes available. I might get Thundercracker when he goes on clearance. Metroplex is a solid pass.

For me it's Thundercracker a must buy, Metroplex when he's on clearance, and Galvatron is a pass.

Galvatron just continues to look... just so so bad. Like, his onscreen design makes that hard to translate, but this... like he looks so cheap and like they didn't hardly try. The weapons look wonky, the obvious hitch kibble is obvious, the blocky chest is... ick. Hard pass for me.

Galvatron looks weird with his boxy chest, but the overall look is very well executed with pretty much no kibbles.
I'm looking forward having him in hand.

I feel like Takara actually doesn’t like Galvatron and makes him bad on purpose. After SS Megatron being so amazing it’s a bit of a disappointment but he’s much better than previous attempts so I’ll be looking for a sale

GrangerPerry wrote:I feel like Takara actually doesn’t like Galvatron and makes him bad on purpose. After SS Megatron being so amazing it’s a bit of a disappointment but he’s much better than previous attempts so I’ll be looking for a sale

The design is a large part of the issue, and the fact that he's Voyager Class limits things that much further.

Galvatron is simply ugly, even in the alt mode with those two strange things on the back that should maybe be some hooking for the trailer.

Metroplex... simply isn't Metroplex, is a different character. I still ask myself why, when figures get bigger, alt modes look weird and lame.

Thundercracker is great.

Barricade.it wrote:Galvatron is simply ugly, even in the alt mode with those two strange things on the back that should maybe be some hooking for the trailer.

Metroplex... simply isn't Metroplex, is a different character. I still ask myself why, when figures get bigger, alt modes look weird and lame.

Thundercracker is great.

Seems like you've never seen the pictures of Cybertron Metroplex's alt mode, as it is a very real thing (it's also gigantic) also if the name bothers you, just call him by his Japanese Galaxy Force name

All 3 easy pass for me.

Still excited to get Galvatron, though the arms are a little on the small side. Interested to see how it looks in-hand!

I just finished my work on SS ROTF Starscream, It might be my favorite project I've worked on!

Holy crap, outstanding work as always. I think my favorite detail is the red on the bot arms, it pops so well.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:Holy crap, outstanding work as always. I think my favorite detail is the red on the bot arms, it pops so well.

Thank you very much! I was surprised when I was looking at renders for reference at just how much red wiring there was in the arms.

Man, you did the white tatoos and everything. I think no official ROTF Starscream toy has those so far. Great job, as always. Also love the red wiring in the arms, it's always been one of my favourite details from the cgi model for me.

Dude, the level of detail on this is insane. I especially love the detail around the eyes, those silver lines across his eyes are the kind of thing many customizers probably wouldn't even bother with. Impressive as always!

Rtron wrote:Man, you did the white tatoos and everything. I think no official ROTF Starscream toy has those so far. Great job, as always. Also love the red wiring in the arms, it's always been one of my favourite details from the cgi model for me.

Thank you! Yeah, It took me a while to find good reference pictures of alt mode, but I finally did after a while! I was initially going to just trace the existing tattoos, but couldn't bring myself to after finding the refernce pictures of the more accurate markings.

Tuned Agent wrote:Dude, the level of detail on this is insane. I especially love the detail around the eyes, those silver lines across his eyes are the kind of thing many customizers probably wouldn't even bother with. Impressive as always!

Much appreciated, thanks! I actually had to disassemble the head to get in there and repaint the eyes in a brighter red and add the silver lines going across, Starscream's head looks SUPER weird when disassembled!

Man, that Starscream looks great E-M-Bee!

Thundercracker looks very nice. I like that toy a good bit, like that he has the gasmask face.

They should have made Galvatron a leader. I think he needed that budget to be done right

Looks like PvP went full Gentleman Cambrioleur again and is providing us a 'sneak peak" at SS Galvatron!

We now have the best look yet at the upcoming Transformers Studio Series voyager Galvatron. The images below come from a Prime vs Prime review which compares him to the most recent attempt at Optimus in his AOE body as well as the previous AOE Galvatron, in both modes.

We also have more pictures of Arcee that TF fan Elizcar posted on Facebook. Those compare the toy to Earthrise Arcee and while they look similar, Hasbro has confirmed that no parts from ER Arcee were reused. Takara designed the toy only from the T30 release and changed the transformation. Those photos show the lower part of the backpack removed and a short video from Prime vs Prime confirms that while you can do that, it is not an intended featured since it does involve you pulling off a friction joint.

Now I actually kinda wish that AOE Galvatron had simply been reissued with a premium paint job.

Sabrblade wrote:Now I actually kinda wish that AOE Galvatron had simply been reissued with a premium paint job.

Yeah...AOE Galvatron isn't amazing but, at least from the front, looks a lot better to me. The SS version just looks like a square with limbs, from any angle. The hinges at the shoulders and waist are really obvious and just ruin the silhouette. I like that they tried to make the weird hole in his chest go all the way through like the actual movie model, but this just doesn't work IMO.

AOE Galvatron has his own set of problems (the obvious backpack, western release is light on paint), but I really like his transformation (the way that backpack folds in on itself is kind of amazing, even if it doesn't completely hide it), and he looks a lot better in both modes (again, at least from the front for robot mode).

This is a character that is always going to be hard to get right, given the stupid "transformium" gimmick from the film, but I'll be sticking with the original over the SS.

I'll wait for the MPM version if they make one. Hopefully it'll be way better than this

Yikes at those rear wheels in truck mode. Looks like they are really trying so sell x employees upgrade kits again with this one :p

The original toy having all its truck wheels match and no pins just shows how things have gone a bit one step forward two back robot modes arms/shoulders make the bot look bad enough to pass on. Which mold did they use for the exclusive Chinese Red truck? because I don't remember that looking as bad.

blackeyedprime wrote:Yikes at those rear wheels in truck mode. Looks like they are really trying so sell x employees upgrade kits again with this one :p

The original toy having all its truck wheels match and no pins just shows how things have gone a bit one step forward two back robot modes arms/shoulders make the bot look bad enough to pass on. Which mold did they use for the exclusive Chinese Red truck? because I don't remember that looking as bad.

That was just the AoE one, there hasn't exactly been that many toys of Galvatron. I still like this, knowing the compromises that had to be made since this was only a Voyager slot. If he was a leader, I bet we'd still be waiting another year or two.

That Galvatron is surely flawed, but at least the attempt is decent and the transformation is interesting. I'll buy.

As far as a MPM go, I wonder if Hasbro can do better than Unique Toys Nero? I have it and despite the transformation being damn complex, that figure is truly magical.

-Kanrabat- wrote:That Galvatron is surely flawed, but at least the attempt is decent and the transformation is interesting. I'll buy.

As far as a MPM go, I wonder if Hasbro can do better than Unique Toys Nero? I have it and despite the transformation being damn complex, that figure is truly magical.

It comes down to how much Hasbro would want to charge for the MPM. It would be interesting to see, but I can't see them tackling his character for a long time yet.

ZeroWolf wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:That Galvatron is surely flawed, but at least the attempt is decent and the transformation is interesting. I'll buy.

As far as a MPM go, I wonder if Hasbro can do better than Unique Toys Nero? I have it and despite the transformation being damn complex, that figure is truly magical.

It comes down to how much Hasbro would want to charge for the MPM. It would be interesting to see, but I can't see them tackling his character for a long time yet.

Nero sold for around 250/280$US. The only way I was able to get mine was to sell some junk at my local geek store.
So if Hasbro can simplify the engineering, lowering the price, and make their MPM AoE Galvatron look perfect in both modes, that would be quite the slam-dunk.

This is wait-and-see. Even if the wait will take a looooooooooooooong time.

Spider5800 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Now I actually kinda wish that AOE Galvatron had simply been reissued with a premium paint job.

Yeah...AOE Galvatron isn't amazing but, at least from the front, looks a lot better to me. The SS version just looks like a square with limbs, from any angle. The hinges at the shoulders and waist are really obvious and just ruin the silhouette. I like that they tried to make the weird hole in his chest go all the way through like the actual movie model, but this just doesn't work IMO.

I agree about the hole in the chest, the illusion isn't convincing enough

honestly, with galvatron, they should have embraced the crazy and just made him a partsformer. by ripping him into a bunch of pieces and putting him back together in a different form (think fossilizers with more parts) it would at least be more screen accurate.

Immortal Starscream wrote:honestly, with galvatron, they should have embraced the crazy and just made him a partsformer. by ripping him into a bunch of pieces and putting him back together in a different form (think fossilizers with more parts) it would at least be more screen accurate.

HOW DARE YOU being so logical?

If that Galvatron would have been a "model kit" that can do both modes with the same parts, it would not only have looked better, but as you say, the transformation would have been relatively screen accurate!

I'm excited for that Galvatron. I really loved him on Age of Extinction

Galvatron looks a good toy.
He would've benefitted more being a leader class.

-Kanrabat- wrote:If that Galvatron would have been a "model kit" that can do both modes with the same parts, it would not only have looked better, but as you say, the transformation would have been relatively screen accurate!

Then thing is, nobody WANTS a screen-accurate "model kit" type transformation made from a gagillion tiny, easily-losable parts.

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:If that Galvatron would have been a "model kit" that can do both modes with the same parts, it would not only have looked better, but as you say, the transformation would have been relatively screen accurate!

Then thing is, nobody WANTS a screen-accurate "model kit" type transformation made from a gagillion tiny, easily-losable parts.

Well, ask the Furai fans.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:If that Galvatron would have been a "model kit" that can do both modes with the same parts, it would not only have looked better, but as you say, the transformation would have been relatively screen accurate!

Then thing is, nobody WANTS a screen-accurate "model kit" type transformation made from a gagillion tiny, easily-losable parts.

Well, ask the Furai fans.

How often do they take apart their model kits piece by piece and then put them all back together?

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Man, that Starscream looks great E-M-Bee!

Thanks, D-Max! I finally got the Constructicons together, so hoping to upload Devastator pics soon!

As for Galvy, I think bot mode is a huge improvement to the original, but yeah, that kibble in alt mode is unfortunate. I've seen the original voyager in a couple places around here for $15-20, but I think I'm just going to get the SS version.

They could have easily found a way to fold the feet in truck mode instead of leaving sticking out like that. Just because people don't usually don't display the figures in alt mode mean the designers and Hasbro should get lazy. That flimsy weapon appears to store in that gap. That could have been when the feet goes.

Immortal Starscream wrote:honestly, with galvatron, they should have embraced the crazy and just made him a partsformer. by ripping him into a bunch of pieces and putting him back together in a different form (think fossilizers with more parts) it would at least be more screen accurate.

I lowkey would have loved this to happen. we have the technology to do it!

Sabrblade wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:If that Galvatron would have been a "model kit" that can do both modes with the same parts, it would not only have looked better, but as you say, the transformation would have been relatively screen accurate!

Then thing is, nobody WANTS a screen-accurate "model kit" type transformation made from a gagillion tiny, easily-losable parts.

I mean, I kinda do....

I went and refreshed my paint work on SS Barricade! This figure's actually grown on me quite a bit, the back not tabbing in often is annoying, but it has a lot going for it, bot mode is actually really nice.