Toy review - Studio Series 91 The Fallen

[Magnus]

Series - Generations
Sub-line - Studio Series
Size/class - Leader
New/remould/redeco -New
Wave - 10
Released here - October 2022
Approximate Retail Price - $89
Approximate Size - 23cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - Cybertronian spacecraft
Main Features/Gimmicks - Screen-accuracy, detachable face
Main Colours - Black, grey
Main Accessories - staff

Vehicle mode





A Cybertronian spacecraft. I haven't been able to find concept art of the Fallen's vehicle mode, and it's not in the movie guide book published in 2009 as tie-in media for the movie, so it's easy to think that the vehicle modes of the toys are a case of 'the Fallen is being sold as a Transformer, so he has to transform into something.' Still, the vehicle mode is similar to the vehicle mode given to the legends class and voyager class toys in 2009, implying that somewhere there is concept art that all three toys are based on.



As for the vehicle itself, it's certainly very 'insectoid' and alien-looking, more so than 2007 Megatron's vehicle mode.

Transformation

Fairly simple, although the illustrations in the instructions are small, so there were a couple of instances where I wasn't sure what was supposed to be moved where. The instructions should have been printed on a bigger piece of paper.

Robot mode









This is the main event as far as owners of the figure would be concerned. The Fallen stands at 23.5cm tall to the top of his crown, and his lanky build makes him seem a bit taller. Interestingly, much of the Fallen's body is made of smoky translucent plastic, possibly as a reference to the glow the Fallen's body emits in the movie.

One of the Fallen's distinctive design features is a segmented cord or 'tendon' that connects each of his forearms to his back. This feature is present, and as expected it restricts the Fallen's arm movement. The designers put a series of hinges and two ball joints into the tendons to maximise arm articulation while maintaining the connection, but the ball joints are prone to popping out of the forearms.



The Fallen comes with a staff, which measures just over 30cm long.



Yes, the Fallen's face can be removed. The face underneath is detailed and painted, and the eyes have good light piping.



With Jetfire and Optimus Prime.



With Jetpower Optimus Prime.





The backdrop is of the Egyptian ruins in the Sinai, where NEST and the Autobots fought off several Decepticons while trying to find Sam and his companions. It's a cropped version of the image that came with Studio Series Jetfire.

Verdict



The Fallen looks great, either by himself or alongside other Studio Series figures. Recommended.

[GoktimusPrime]

"You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear."
Studio Series The Fallen is a well crafted toy based on an inherently terrible Transformer screen design. Yes, this toy is much better than its predecessors and is by far the best ROTF The Fallen toy to date... but this isn't hard either. The weird "thing" of alt mode doesn't lend this toy to having an intuitive transformation. The connectors that join the elbows to the lower back are just daft. Yes, screen-accurate daft, but daft nonetheless. HasTak have done well in making them articulated to give as much articulation possible, but the fact remains that these connectors still restrict movement. The fact that Hasbro has made these connectors removable to give us the option of having free arm movement exists due to the fact that they do hinder movement.



















Studio Series The Fallen reminds me of the Beast Machines Maximals. A nice and well crafted action figure, but a poor Transformer. As such, I cannot say that this toy is really worth buying any more or less than the BM Maximals.