Toy Review - Studio Series LDR Blackout

BLACKOUT
Series - Studio Series
Size/class - Leader
New/remould/redeco - new
Wave - 1
Released here - April 2018
Approximate Retail Price - $90
Approximate Size - 19cm (to top of head), 23cm (total height)
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low
Main Features/Gimmicks - N/A
Main Colours - pale blue, grey, black
Main Accessories - Scorponok figurine, gun

https://image.ibb.co/gNUvzx/studiose...lackout00a.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/bTV2ex/studiose...lackout00b.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/eLooKx/studioseries_blackout01.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/i4QeRc/studioseries_blackout02.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/k1vPsH/studioseries_blackout03.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/dUxtmc/studioseries_blackout04.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/cx8cCH/studioseries_blackout05.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/gCXhex/studioseries_blackout06.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/mbQ2ex/studioseries_blackout07.jpg

Thoughts on Blackout:

* As you can see from pics, this is a great looking figure that's the most screen-accurate version we've seen to date. It's oozing with all sorts of details, but I'll let you look at that rather than describing it (a picture tells a thousand words)

* I really like how the tail rotor becomes the weapon.

* The spinning rotor gimmick has been sacrificed and the main rotor cannot spin freely, but this is because two of the rotor hinges need to swing out and sit back in robot mode. This makes the rotors look a lot better in robot mode, looking more like a rotor-cape. So the loss of having a free spinning rotor gimmick is understandable.

* Very much a panel-former (not to be confused with a shellformer). You have to get all of the panels aligned and tabbed in correctly, there's not a large margin for error. And if some panels aren't precisely tabbed in and aligned rightly, then it can affect the way that other panels tab and sit. I found the front part of the rotor housing to be especially nightmarish to tab in. Ended up having to go several steps back to retab the fuselage panels and then reattempting the front rotor housing panels. Literally spent more time on these two panels than on the rest of the freakin' toy! :eek:

* The two shoulder tabs that connects the shoulders to the body in robot mode don't tab in very deeply or securely as I'd like. They hold fine for display but are prone to popping out during play. :( It's not as bad as Deluxe Brawl (2007) but I'd expect better from a 2018 Leader Class figure.

* Does Scorponok fit anywhere in robot mode? Scorponok also doesn't store as securely as on the Deluxe figure. This is because it relies on tabs to hold it in place instead of having a lock-up cage. It makes Blackout's chopper mode look much better, but the downside is that the tabs aren't as secure as the cage so be mindful of this.

* The rear section of Blackout is hollow and there's nothing to cover up Scorponok. I don't personally mind this - on a Leader Class figure I think there's little they could do to cover this. The toy is paneltastic enough as it is, but it might bug some other people.

* Overall, as I expected, this toy is great but in relative terms it's not much better or worse than the smaller and cheaper Voyager Class figure. The Voyager is not as visually or aesthetically pleasing, but it is a much more solid figure in both robot and helicopter mode. For this reason I kinda still prefer the Voyager because I personally prize playability (the core function of a toy) above display aesthetic. But the Leader Class is fine for play too, but arguably weaker compared to most other Movie Leader figures (granted that half of these are Primes :p). On the whole I think that this toy is worth its Leader Class price point (which is $10 cheaper than most other Movie Leaders ;)), but as a toy I'd say it's somewhat recommended. While still an incredibly nice toy it's been the least impressive of the Studio Series toys that I've seen so far.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22..._jaam_jaam.gif

In the movie rotating rotors he uses, are his tailblades not his main rotor if any one is wondering

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

Thoughts on Blackout:



* Does Scorponok fit anywhere in robot mode? Scorponok also doesn't store as securely as on the Deluxe figure. This is because it relies on tabs to hold it in place instead of having a lock-up cage. It makes Blackout's chopper mode look much better, but the downside is that the tabs aren't as secure as the cage so be mindful of this.


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22..._jaam_jaam.gif

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I saw some reviews saying he can peg into the back section via a post?

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Originally Posted by Dimi194

I saw some reviews saying he can peg into the back section via a post?

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I've seen those too. Not sure if Gok has missed a trick here.

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Originally Posted by Dimi194

I saw some reviews saying he can peg into the back section via a post?

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I did it with mine... Photos when I get home

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Originally Posted by MayzaPrime

I did it with mine... Photos when I get home

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Awesome! :D I spent most of my weekend marking tests so haven't had time for a good enough play with this figure. :) Good to know.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

Thoughts on Blackout:
* The two shoulder tabs that connects the shoulders to the body in robot mode don't tab in very deeply or securely as I'd like.

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I thought I was going to break the left shoulder on mine for the first transformation because the tab was too tight!

Getting gooder with transforming this beast with practice. Timed myself last night - just transforming at normal pace (not trying to do "speedforming" or anything like that). 8 minutes and 33 seconds. ;)

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

Getting gooder with transforming this beast with practice. Timed myself last night - just transforming at normal pace (not trying to do "speedforming" or anything like that). 8 minutes and 33 seconds. ;)

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How many out of 10 on a scale of Beast War Rattrap to ROTF Leader Prime?

It looks great. I made a mistake of buying mine online so should recieve it by Summer. I didn’t know they were coming to local retail at the time:mad:

I'm sort of surprised no-one seems to be doing pics with Animated Blackout.

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Originally Posted by Ode to a Grasshopper

I'm sort of surprised no-one seems to be doing pics with Animated Blackout.

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Darers do first ;)

http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/...pswiharbek.jpg

:p :p
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Time_Beetle

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

Darers do first ;)

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I don't have the new Blackout...Tassie sucks for distribution.:(

Not sure if I'll ever get him tbh, I try and stick to a general 1-toy-per-character only rule and I like Animated Blackout.

This guy is kinda the opposite of Grimlock-I was more keen for him until I got him out of the box.

Not a bad figure at all (haven't tried transforming yet), but he's covered in kibble and thus can't be super expressive in his poses, which isn't helped by lack of any real weapon (I like the way they use the tail rotor but it's a bit far back to look like a dedicated weapon). However, he looks really impressive and captures the look of the robot very very well.
The little Scorponok is good too.

Overall a nice looking figure, but I think Grimlock has more play value.

I'm quite taken with this.

Vehicle mode looks fantastic. The massive rotors really help make this look especially intimidating.

I love the transformation. It did take me a few goes around to finally figure out the position for everything going back to vehicle. I love the way the whole side of the chopper becomes either the robot mode feet or arms. It reminds me pleasantly in this way of ROTF Leader Prime, in that it draws robot mode mass from places you wouldn't expect.

The robot mode is also intimidating looking. I haven't found the kibble gets too much in the way of posing. The shoulder tabs on mine are just the right level of tolerance in that they're solid but are not frightening. Objectively speaking, it is a small leader class figure but it looks freaking amazing next to the rest of its Studio Series brethren. I'm ever so enjoying the line wide scale.

A quick word for the plastic on this figure. It's really very very light, but doesn't feel flimsy or cheap. I got much the same vibe from Studio Series Starscream. I don't know if there's been some kind of internal change in the factory making these?

Skorponok is a nice bonus I suppose but I'd rather the designers have tried to use that parts/plastic budget to work in an HFTD Leader Starscream style forearm minigun.

Yep, this thing is cool as hell.

I had no intention of buying it, especially at retail prices, but he had excellent shelf presence when I saw him in Toyworld, so an impulse purchase happened.

Definitely one of those TF's that are cooler in person than in pictures; the photos make him look really messy, but in hand it all makes more sense. And the Cons in movie 1 were messy anyway, so it's all good.

Transformation is involved but not ridiculous, certainly not the aneurysm-inducing fiddliness of ROTF Prime, but maybe something close to the Voyagers of that time. Selling these as Transformer's answer to the Star Wars 'Black Series' is a really smart move, it makes a statement to the customer that these are aimed at an older age bracket and gives them the green light for increased complexity. As much as I loved ROTF Prime, I always felt sorry for all the really young kids that would never have seen it in truck mode ever.

Plastic is definitely thin in places, but I'm sure I've read somewhere that Hasbro did have a manufacturing change starting with the TLK toys - there's a definite increase in sharpness of details in places recently, most noticeable in head sculpts. Putting the effort there makes sense too as that's where the eye is drawn first on most TFs.

I saw this guy in TRU in Sydney last weekend and it took a serious fortification of my will not to buy him - he looks fantastic!

Hopefully I can get him a bit cheaper down the line

Have this on pre-order (saving on impatience tax!). Think it looks fantastic in both modes, and as screen accurate a TF toy as we're ever likely to get. Blackout was always my favorite from the Bay movies.

But not thrilled by the 10min transformation time. Oh man, how I dislike puzzle-formers. I'm a Generations Brainstorm kinda collector. WFC Prime is probably my limit. More BW Razorbeast, less BW Magmatron.

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Originally Posted by klystron

Have this on pre-order (saving on impatience tax!). Think it looks fantastic in both modes, and as screen accurate a TF toy as we're ever likely to get. Blackout was always my favorite from the Bay movies.

But not thrilled by the 10min transformation time. Oh man, how I dislike puzzle-formers. I'm a Generations Brainstorm kinda collector. WFC Prime is probably my limit. More BW Razorbeast, less BW Magmatron.

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Honestly it's not that difficult or puzzly a transformation once you get a feel for the tips involved.

The arms are about as tricky as it gets, and even then the trick to making sure everything is aligned going back to vehicle mode is to make sure the USAF logos have been rotated to face the back.

The skirt armour needs to be raised all the way forward and the legs clicked forward all the way on their ratchets to be in the right position when you rotate them back. No counting the amount of clicks necessary, just make sure the skirt is all the way forward and then rotate the legs at the hip as far forward as they can go.

The only bits that are excessively paneltastic are the sides of the fuselage where the arm panels meet the feet panels, bit even there it's clear where everything goes and there are very helpful guiding slots and tabs. That part or not is about par with WFC Prime.

I'll time myself when I get home.

EDIT 4 minutes 23 seconds.

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Originally Posted by SharkyMcShark

snip...
I'll time myself when I get home.

EDIT 4 minutes 23 seconds.

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Ahhh, that makes me feel better. Thanks a bunch!


Gok - the challenge has been thrown down....

After being super keen to get my hands on Blackout, I've ended up returning him to BigW; one of the legs failed to ratchet and just flopped around. They didn't have any more and I'm not going to bother pursuing another as I didn't feel that he was $70 worth of toy. The top-heaviness made it a pain to pose dynamically, the skinny legs (in comparison to everything above his waist) just felt weird in-hand and I hated that the shoulders wouldn't tab in like Goktimus mentioned. Would probably have felt better about it at a $40-50 price point.

I've had this one for a while now, but never got around to typing my thoughts on it.

First up, he looks amazing in both modes. The MH-53 Pave Low was bigger than I was expecting, and there's something inherently satisfying about it as a result.

Perhaps I hadn't been paying too much attention to the characters legs, or I was just used to the old Voyager toy's legs, but I was surprised to see he had digitigrade-style legs, where he has a backwards-bending knee and then a forward-bending 'ankle' below the knee. The hands don't bother me, but I wish he had slimmer forearms - then again, there isn't really anywhere else to put those panels and fuel tank halves.

Functionally, the big issue I have with mine is that that the panels with the arms are held perhaps too securely to the torso - I can understand people being afraid of breaking something when transforming him to MH-53 mode and unfolding those panels from the torso. Perhaps my only other gripe is that I wish he had ranged weaponry, like a minigun on his forearm or the fold-out cannon on his chest.

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Originally Posted by Dimi194

I like the way they use the tail rotor but it's a bit far back to look like a dedicated weapon.

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That's how I felt too, seeing the tail and rotor mounted on the left arm. To get around this, I mount the tail on the right arm to make the rotor more distal to the elbow; the rotor is now pretty much the same distance from the elbow as the wrist.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sutton

Transformation is involved but not ridiculous, certainly not the aneurysm-inducing fiddliness of ROTF Prime, but maybe something close to the Voyagers of that time. Selling these as Transformer's answer to the Star Wars 'Black Series' is a really smart move, it makes a statement to the customer that these are aimed at an older age bracket and gives them the green light for increased complexity. As much as I loved ROTF Prime, I always felt sorry for all the really young kids that would never have seen it in truck mode ever.

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I wish I could find a quote, but my understanding was that the simpler transformations Hasbro/TakaraTOMY implemented for the Age of Extinction and The Last Knight toylines was a response to complaints that the movieverse toys were too complex for even some older children (although there may have also been an element of cost-cutting by reducing the part count and therefore keeping the toys at the desired price points). It's not hard to imagine some children giving up on transforming leader-class Optimus or Sentinel out of frustration.

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Originally Posted by Magnus

I wish I could find a quote, but my understanding was that the simpler transformations Hasbro/TakaraTOMY implemented for the Age of Extinction and The Last Knight toylines was a response to complaints that the movieverse toys were too complex for even some older children (although there may have also been an element of cost-cutting by reducing the part count and therefore keeping the toys at the desired price points). It's not hard to imagine some children giving up on transforming leader-class Optimus or Sentinel out of frustration.

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You're correct, I read the same thing in an interview at some point, it also applied to Generations figures as well - some of those were fiddly to the point of frustration. I love transformations with 'cool moves' in them, but I love a confident transformation more. That is, I want to be clear that the part I've moved is where it needs to be, lined up flush and preferably with a satisfying click or firm tab. Blackout doesn't quite have that everywhere, but there's enough of those 'cool moves' to make me happy.

Slightly off-topic, but I think Hasbro did a really shrewd maneuver when they did the 'Combiner Wars' line, those figures by necessity needed to be more simplistic as they needed to be stable enough to be legs - therefore no torso transformations and limited leg transformations. That meant reduced part counts and costs but it had a good structural reason so fans (mostly) accepted it. After a couple of years of those figures and the fanbase/kids getting used to them, they were able to go ahead with Titans Returns, with those figures also having a similar level of simplification despite less structural justification for it - I can't think of many Titans Returns deluxes off the top of my head that have particularly tricky transformations.

Meanwhile the movie line has also simplified, with the 'Last Knight' figures in particular hitting most of the right notes - Voyager Prime, Megatron and Bulkhead come to mind as being really good at the 'Cool Move/Confident Click' thing.

Which is why these figures are so surprising - after spending the last 5 or 6 years trying to reduce the complexity and part counts in their designs, they go and make this line of figures that seems to fly in the face of their own brand direction, even going as far as to dramatically increase part/plastic content between figures at the same price point, in the same series, in the name of scale and screen accuracy. All very left-field but I'm definitely not complaining.

My six year old nephew got studio series Blackout and Stinger for his birthday...

Idiot people are idiots. While Blackout looks cool in both modes, it is not a child friendly toy in the slightest and the transformation is rather Diddy and the instructions are nearly as bad to see and understand as the blacked background Prime Wars figures.

I refused to transform stinger last night after spending half an hour on blackout (trying to get him out of a weird semi transformed state first!). I agreee that he has many nice steps that seem well planned but he still requires too many steps to be done millimeter perfect in the exact right order for my liking. A nice representation of the character but the original version was the far better toy, especially for a younger fan.

For the record, he loved the crash combiners, Prime Wars Slag and Swoop and the rescue bits he got from me and other family members who asked me for suggestions!

The transformation is a process, that is for sure. The 8+ age recommendation on these Studio Series seems pretty ambitious, as I would imagine plenty of people breaking these figures if they're not careful.

Totally agree about the instructions being awful. I prefer to transform the figures by winging it. If you take your time and see where all the folds and joints are, it's pretty easy to work it out.... Youtube videos on transformations exist if you can't follow the vague intructions.

The age limit isn't about protecting the toys, it's about protecting the user. ;) They may break the toy, but it's more about the toy not hurting the child - e.g. choking hazards etc.

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

The age limit isn't about protecting the toys, it's about protecting the user. ;) They may break the toy, but it's more about the toy not hurting the child - e.g. choking hazards etc.

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Most children aged 3 and above have the sense to not attempt to eat their toys...:rolleyes:

...and if a child has the urge to swallow Scorponok, well... they deserve to choke. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sutton

You're correct, I read the same thing in an interview at some point, it also applied to Generations figures as well - some of those were fiddly to the point of frustration. I love transformations with 'cool moves' in them, but I love a confident transformation more. That is, I want to be clear that the part I've moved is where it needs to be, lined up flush and preferably with a satisfying click or firm tab. Blackout doesn't quite have that everywhere, but there's enough of those 'cool moves' to make me happy.

Slightly off-topic, but I think Hasbro did a really shrewd maneuver when they did the 'Combiner Wars' line, those figures by necessity needed to be more simplistic as they needed to be stable enough to be legs - therefore no torso transformations and limited leg transformations. That meant reduced part counts and costs but it had a good structural reason so fans (mostly) accepted it. After a couple of years of those figures and the fanbase/kids getting used to them, they were able to go ahead with Titans Returns, with those figures also having a similar level of simplification despite less structural justification for it - I can't think of many Titans Returns deluxes off the top of my head that have particularly tricky transformations.

Meanwhile the movie line has also simplified, with the 'Last Knight' figures in particular hitting most of the right notes - Voyager Prime, Megatron and Bulkhead come to mind as being really good at the 'Cool Move/Confident Click' thing.

Which is why these figures are so surprising - after spending the last 5 or 6 years trying to reduce the complexity and part counts in their designs, they go and make this line of figures that seems to fly in the face of their own brand direction, even going as far as to dramatically increase part/plastic content between figures at the same price point, in the same series, in the name of scale and screen accuracy. All very left-field but I'm definitely not complaining.

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I finally found a quote about simplifying toys. It's from a January 2014 New York Times article about Hasbro that cites among others CEO Brian Goldner and Joshua Lamb, senior design director for Transformers.

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But as the brand evolved over the years, the toys became more complex, some involving dozens of steps to complete a single transformation. In the eyes of Brian D. Goldner, Hasbro’s chief executive, they had lost their magic.

“We’ve made incredibly sophisticated robots,” he said, “but it can be like a 1,000-piece puzzle.”

Enthralled by the special effects in three big-budget “Transformers” movies that enabled the robots to convert in a matter of seconds, Mr. Goldner decided the toys needed to return to their roots. So he challenged his design team to reconceive them. Now, on the 30th anniversary of the brand, Hasbro is revealing a new look for the toys, including simple maneuvers that will complete a transformation with the push of a button or flick of the wrist.

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Mr. Lamb conceded that the brand had gotten a little off track over the years. “As new designers and engineers continued to work on this brand, it got more complicated,” he said. Hasbro will continue to make complex Transformers for adult fans who have collected the toys since their inception 30 years ago. But the new design is intended to re-engage parents and children, who found the transformations too challenging.

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I really only have three negatives about this, The instructions are so hard to see, there are quite a few panels to line up and I would have liked him to be bigger.

That said, I think this is the best Blackout figure so far. Both modes look fantastic and the robot mode is especially hulking and intimidating.

Despite the hard to read instructions (I didn't read past the 5th step) and all the panels, he was good fun to work out how to transform.
Definitely worth getting.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by klystron

Have this on pre-order (saving on impatience tax!). Think it looks fantastic in both modes, and as screen accurate a TF toy as we're ever likely to get. Blackout was always my favorite from the Bay movies.

But not thrilled by the 10min transformation time. Oh man, how I dislike puzzle-formers. I'm a Generations Brainstorm kinda collector. WFC Prime is probably my limit. More BW Razorbeast, less BW Magmatron.

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I like the concept and look of live-action Blackout, partly because his is the first transformation one sees in Transformers (2007) and I consider it a minor moment in cinematic history. However, as good as the new toy looks, I've decided against it due to price, size, complexity and my own focus being on Generations.

Interesting you mention WFC Prime, as I've got him and his transformation is just beyond my frustration limit, and I've barely touched him as a result. Anybody want to swap him for a Delux Orion Pax from 2013? :)

But, back to Blackout, I'd happily watch stop-motion footage of that toy once some fan puts in all the hard work for my amusement. ;)