With Haslab’s Unicron due to ship out in a few months and 2021 being the 35th anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie, it’s seems the perfect time for Hasbro to cash in on the nostalgia that still surrounds this cult classic movie to this day.
To this end, their higher end Studio Series line is taking a departure from the live-action movies to make figures intended to look as much like their onscreen counterparts as possible from the 1986 animated movie. The preview pictures online have had many fans frothing from the mouth with excitement and today we get to look at two of the Voyager class figures – Scourge and Hot Rod.
Scourge
Robot Mode
As someone who owns nearly ever iteration of the Sweeps commander, I can confidently say this is the best looking Scourge we’ve ever had! All the little details from the red claws to the facial hair, along with the larger details such as the bat wings, are just spot on. This really is a beautiful looking figure. He feels really solid with high quality materials used and is very easy to pose.
Cybertronian Hovercraft
Once again a fantastic representation of how he looked on the screen. The only downside for me is the feet on the rear end of the hovercraft mode which precludes him having his usual rectangular booster. Given the feet were a problem with Earthrise Ratchet’s altmode as well I hope this isn’t a trend we see continued. However this is a minor quibble. You can attach Scourges weapon to the side of the Hovercraft and with a bit of fiddling about you can make his head pop up just like when he was asking to ‘gut Ultra Magnus’.
Hot Rod
Robot Mode
Hot Rod isn’t nearly as big as Scourge and indeed looks more like a Deluxe Size than a Voyager. However when you see all the options his body comes with along with the accessories you will understand why.
Hot Rod comes with a slew of options from the original toy and movie. As well as his two pistols he comes with;
His arm blasters and visor
His welding hand and circular saw
His Matrix of Leadership
All this adds up to being able to recreate a ton of iconic scenes from the movie and I deny any TF:TM fan to resist recreating many of these cinematic moments. Play value through the friggin roof yo!
Vehicle Mode
A very nice looking Hot Rod. I can’t say it has a giant ‘wow’ factor as we’ve gotten quite a few nice looking vehicular Hot Rod’s over the years. But it’s still pretty damn good and like Scourge you have the options to add weapon details such as guns from the engine (like his Targetmaster incarnation), his circular saw and also flames coming from the exhaust.
Transformations
Both of these figures have very cool transformations. They are quite involved and I recommend using the instructions the first time out, but there are never any moments where you feel lost or frustrated.
Worth Getting?
Oh hells yes! These are both fantastic figures and great representations of their movie incarnations. The only minor quibbles I have are Scourges booster as mentioned earlier, and I found one of Hot Rod’s arms very stiff and apt to pop out during transformation. I also would have liked to see his flame add-ons to be orange rather than matrix-fire blue. But these are all minor detractions. These figures, along with their display stands, will look great in anyone’s collection. I managed to get my figures for nearly half price due to a scanning error at the shop, but would feel I was getting my money’s worth even if I’d paid full price.
So go get these figures now – nothin’s gonna stand in your way – not tonight!
Got something to say about these two figures? Pop it in the comments section below!
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