Toy review - Studio Series Lockdown

Series - Generations
Sub-line - Studio Series
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - new
Wave - 2
Released here - September 2018
Approximate Retail Price - $29 (Big W and Kmart Studio Series deluxe class price)
Approximate Size - 14cm
Allegiance - 'Decepticon'
Alt-mode - Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 coupe
Main Features/Gimmicks - In scale with other Studio Series toys, screen-accurate detail and proportions, licensed vehicle mode
Main Colours - grey
Main Accessories - hook; dagger

https://i.imgur.com/MWiXw3d.jpg

Vehicle mode

https://i.imgur.com/etz6LWI.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/o8xmHBk.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CUO28m1.jpg

A Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4. The car is painted a dark metallic grey, which is darker than the brownish grey of the previous Lockdown toy released for Age of Extinction's Generations line. Major details from the car are present and correct; I particularly like the fact that the wheels have brake discs sculpted into them.

Due to the transformation, the exterior of the car isn't very 'clean', with lots of shut lines for seams, although the dark colour makes the shut lines less obvious than they otherwise could be.

https://i.imgur.com/C8BODTb.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/w8y7NEq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/DKrAtZC.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/GC1BXae.jpg

In vehicle mode, Lockdown is now bigger than The Last Knight's Hot Rod, who was himself bigger than the original Lockdown, the toy he was based on. I no longer own my original Generations Lockdown, but the two can be compared indirectly through Hot Rod.

Transformation

Not complex in terms of steps, but some parts need to be twisted a little bit to get them to align properly for vehicle mode and to release them for robot mode.

Not mentioned in the instructions is a step wherein you have to reach into the back of his open torso with your finger and press the chest plate out before collapsing the car roof up to form his backpack.

Robot mode

https://i.imgur.com/FR7GcoL.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ha6tNHS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/l40BsMG.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VNqWRaN.jpg

Toys of movieverse characters made after their debut appearances on screen tend to be better than the toys made to coincide with the character's first appearance, since the toy designers have been able to study the final production art and movie footage, or in the case of the Studio Series, have access to ILM's CGI files via Paramount. Lockdown is no exception. His proportions are far better than those of the original deluxe released for Age of Extinction, and he has a lot of surface detail that comes from the CGI model. He's not as lean as his CGI model and has a substantial backpack, but a more complex transformation to address these issues would probably not be possible at this size class and price point.

Lockdown is well articulated - the head is mounted on a ball joint, which is itself on a hinge; the shoulders and elbows are on ball joints, the upper arms and thighs have rotators, the waist can rotate, the hips have two-axis rotation, and the knees and ankles are pinned.

https://i.imgur.com/x8GLtMd.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/GGaL30L.jpg

Lockdown is armed with his hook and a large bladed weapon, which can be either inserted into his fists or attached to his forearms via tabs. It's a shame that Lockdown doesn't come with a gun, or better yet, a head-mounted cannon to turn him into 'gunface' (probably the one area where the original toy is superior to the new one), although Shadow Warrior, the orange redeco that has Lockdown's visored head, has a handheld gun.

https://i.imgur.com/i3mBrir.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CZr4wOb.jpg

Both weapons can be attached to the vehicle mode if you so choose.

https://i.imgur.com/oCqCfAq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KjdKSjS.jpg

Again, here is an indirect size comparison with the original Lockdown via Hot Rod.

Backdrop

https://i.imgur.com/SpKvyry.jpg

Lockdown's Studio Series backdrop is of the landing platform in the knights' ship.

https://i.imgur.com/WoWvBjm.jpg

Verdict

https://i.imgur.com/YwUDiW2.jpg

Undeniably a step up from the previous Lockdown toy, and a welcome addition to the Studio Series line. Recommended.

Seems like a common 'feature' in the transformation process in some of these new figures is the use of force in order to get certain parts to tab/ fit properly. :(

Never have my suspicions of a toy been so thoroughly proven wrong.

Aside from the fact that he doesn't have the Head Gun, the Studio Series toy is superior in every way. :eek: And I'm saying this as someone who really likes the AOE Deluxe figure - I still do, but boy does SS Lockdown seriously blow it out of the water! :eek: And looking at my two criticisms of the AOE Deluxe figure, I can see that both issues have been resolved on SS Lockdown. He has waist articulation and the door panels sit flush (although the shoulders can be tricky to tab in).

And for once the lack of an allegiance insignia works in this toy's favour. I don't like how Studio Series Brawl and Jazz have no insignias - I don't care how screen-accurate it is, I want my Autobots and Decepticons to have faction logos, damnit! :o But of course, Lockdown is unaligned so the lack of a logo makes perfect sense. I'm sure that this wasn't a deliberate intention of the designers - much like how Brawl and Jazz have no logos, they were likely just trying to be as slavishly screen-accurate as possible. But for Lockdown, even if by happy chance, it makes sense. :)

https://image.ibb.co/jOhZ6z/studioseries_lockdown01.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/btgizK/studioseries_lockdown02.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/hzBSRz/studioseries_lockdown03.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/jB87Rz/studioseries_lockdown04.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/eZ8kDe/studioseries_lockdown05.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/jVjste/studioseries_lockdown06.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/mCayYe/studioseries_lockdown07.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/g4ikDe/studioseries_lockdown08.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/nn5bKK/studioseries_lockdown09.jpg

Overall: I cannot recommend this toy highly enough.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...h_jaam_yum.gif

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bemblebuu

Seems like a common 'feature' in the transformation process in some of these new figures is the use of force in order to get certain parts to tab/ fit properly. :(

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I found the most difficult part was the shoulders when transforming to car mode. One trick is to ensure that you are tabbing them in at the correct angle. On either side of the grill panel are tabs and there are shallow slots for them inside each shoulder/headlight panel. You need to make sure that you hook those panels around the tabs first before swinging the arms into place to form the doors. But I personally didn't even find this part difficult. For me it was the two small black upper arm panels that swivel 100°. I didn't have them swung down to the base of the vehicle -- I thought that they were meant to hook over and into the driver's compartment. :o Yeah... don't do that. Make sure that these panels are sitting directly underneath the vehicle.
https://image.ibb.co/jhf7te/studioseries_lockdown00.jpg
Because when I had them configured incorrectly, that was the only time that I found myself using excessive force (which proved futile :p). Aside from that I found the rest of the toy fair intuitive and easy enough to transform.