Ranking the Transformers Studio Series Constructicon figures
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Scrapmetal was the first Constructicon I got, that many collectors got from the new team, and I immediately knew we were going to be in for a treat. This figure was great representation for a character who had really had no form of action figures previously, with abstract designs like his shovel hands and the scoop of his excavator mode which became a tail-like appendage. As it stands though, he just doesn't measure up to a lot of the other Constructicons who followed him, leaving him as being just a taste of what was to come.
7. Mixmaster
One of the final four Constructicons to be released during 2021, Mixmaster had a big hurdle to jump over being the inclusion of Devastator's head in this Decepticon's design. The figure pulled it off about as well as I was expecting, and still manages to be a cool looking new interpretation of the alien robot. Transformation is much less frustrating than his original ROTF figure, and I love the hunchbacked, giant armed look they achieved for the figure. Overall though, articulation isn't quite up to what I would like it to be, and balancing his huge upper body on squat legs has been a bit of a chore.
I'm lumping Rampage and Skipjack together for this slot as they're the same figure, just with paint differences between them. I personally prefer the darker red/orange of Rampage as I think it is a cooler looking color scheme. The detail and sculpting work on these two is incredible, with the entire torso region a work of designing art that shows how complex these movie figures can get. Lack of articulation in the arms is unfortunate, but I love how accurate the spring is to the movie, and the foot mode for combination looks spot on.
5. Hightower
This is one of the figures I was looking forward to most out of the team because he never got a true figure for the original release of the movie, and his design is one of the most unique of all the movie designs! I was thrilled to see the monstrous, T-rex like form of the character follow through from concept art to figure form as we got a Transformer figure unlike anything we've gotten before! The elongated neck is creepy, the arm of the crane becoming some bulky scorpion tail, and the miniscule arms hanging beneath the body make for a figure I'm happy to have in the collection.
4. Long Haul
Everything I just said about Rampage's detail work can be applied to Long Haul, but 100 fold. The amount of mechanical details, pistons, cogs, and machinery laid throughout this figure is astounding. The entire chest assembly of the character and all throughout the arms are a testament to the kind of work Hasbro can do on a Transformers figure. The proportions of the character are also captured better than before, with him being appropriately leaned towards heft than length.
3. Scavenger
This is one I was really interested in seeing because the original voyager class figure wasn't one that particularly impressed me back in the back. Arm articulation was very limited, the wheels were like rubber bands with no center, and he was quite small. This new leader class takes all of those issues and completely reverts them! Scavenger still isn't humongous like he should be, but he is much larger than he was before, and the arms are fully articulated in every way I could hope for! The wheels in robot mode are also completely filled out and look nice and huge which is just like we see in the movie. In terms of improvements from previous toy to the modern one, I think Scavenger is one of the best examples of that!
Just like Hightower, this was another one of my most wanted figures from the Studio Series line has Overload's concept art depicted him as such a uniquely designed character, and he had never received a figure before above legends scale. Hasbro pulled out the stops for him and gave him a leader class figure, making him one of the biggest of the group and while he doesn't come with four legs like his concept art, he still wields four big arms all equipped with awesome claws! I couldn't be happier with finally getting this imposing, concept art Decepticon in figure form and there's only one other figure who tops the list for me.
1. Scrapper
Scrapper was the third Constructicon I was really looking forward to getting since he hadn't gotten the true figure treatment back when Revenge of the Fallen originally came out, though I wasn't looking forward to him as much as the other two since his design wasn't as wild and abstract. I have to say though, Scrapper's debut in figure form had given the line one of its finest figures and one of my all time favorite Transformers figures of all time! It captures the cgi model of the character nearly exactly, with virtually no vehicle mode kibble on the robot mode at all making for one of the cleanest looking of the group. While vehicle mode suffers a little bit, I will always prioritize robot mode over vehicle mode, and Scrapper has a near perfect robot mode that I can't ignore as a great achievement of the line!
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