Toy Review: Transformers Studio Series Long Haul (Commander)

Review:  #881

Name:  Long Haul

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Decepticon

Line:  Studio Series

Year of Release:  2025

Size Class:  Commander

Mold Status:  new

PACKAGING:

For the 2025 Commander in the Studio Series line, it is a two pack with Hook and Long Haul.

Together, they come with extra pieces to make the combined mode of Devastator.  Given inflation and better engineering of each of the individual figures, they couldn't fit it within the budget of a Titan class this time around.

VEHICLE MODE:

Long Haul transforms into a neon green dump truck, and he looks fine in this mode.

He's gappy at the back, due to the leg transformation.

He still feels big and hefty though, and is bigger than your typical Voyager (but not enough to be a Leader).  Unfortunately, he doesn't have a working dump bed at all.

The robot weapon, which is just a small gun, can peg onto the sides.

A quick comparison of him with Hook, the other figure in the set.

In order to have Long Haul be roughly Voyager size and in a similar size as the other Constructicons, some of Devastator's combiner kibble had to be separated out on its own.

It's a trailer for Long Haul, and it attaches via a hitch.

Devastator's other combiner pieces, such as his chest plate and hands, can attach on top of this flatbed trailer.

Long Haul becomes extra long after this.

To be honest, it doesn't look half bad, and it is passable.

Due to the short hitch and the big wide pieces of Long Haul himself and the trailer, Long Haul can barely take corners.

The only play value in this mode are the four rolling wheels of Long Haul, plus the two from the trailer.

It's a decent vehicle mode and does what you'd expect.

TRANSFORMATION:

Despite being such a big figure and being part of a combiner, Long Haul has a very simple transformation.  Not being forced to integrate most of Devastator's lower torso plus the thighs means that Long Haul can basically replicate the original G1 toy's transformation scheme.  It's almost too easy.  The back unfolds to form the legs.  The arms from behind the grill, and that's kind of it.  It's a transformation scheme that you'd expect on Core class and lower.

ROBOT MODE:

Robot mode is fine, and it is distinctly Long Haul.

The most interesting aspect of his transformation is just folding some pieces of the dump bed on top of each other and out of the way on his back.

The head sculpt is nice, and the silver paint is a great finishing touch.

He's shorter than your typical Voyager, but also quite a bit wider.

There is some size differences between Long Haul and the other members of the team, he's basically still the biggest of them all.

Articulation is fine, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

He comes with a small gun that he can hold in his hand.

One big benefit from a simple transformation and a huge blocky vehicle is that his has huge feet, and he stays firmly planted in nearly all poses.

The robot gun can store in the same place as vehicle mode, but now it's situated on the side of his legs.

The set comes with Devastator's chest plate (split into three pieces) and his two hands.

These pieces can double as weapons for the individual robot modes, such as a pair of swords.

Or a big gun.

Or a set of large missile launchers.  These do add quite a bit of extra play value for the figure.

Due to transformation, Long Haul does have knee joints that are situated higher than you would expect, so his shins feel extra long.

Still a decent robot mode, and one that isn't compromised, unlike some earlier attempts.

COMBINED MODE:

As mentioned, the set only comes with Hook, Long Haul, and some combiner parts that form the lower torso of Devastator.  Perhaps the weakest part of the set is that the combiner parts does not have a token "base mode".  So it's either the trailer, or the combined form, which means if you wanted to display Hook and Long Haul in their individual robot modes, then the trailer doesn't do anything.

At least you can form the torso of Devastator from just this set alone, he'll just be missing his limbs.  Interesting, you cannot attach the chest plate now, because they actually attaches to the arm components instead (Bonecrusher and Scavenger).

However, even getting into this mode, you can start to see the scale and how big this Devastator would be (i.e. not as big as you would have expected).

OVERALL:

As a set with Hook, and only on their individual strengths, Long Haul isn't quite worth the price.  However, if you want to create Devastator, then you have no choice and he is well worth it.  This is the best figure we've had of the character yet, and he isn't very compromised in either mode, which is impressive.

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Toy Review: Transformers Studio Series Hook (Commander)

Review:  #880

Name:  Hook

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Decepticon

Line:  Studio Series

Year of Release:  2025

Size Class:  Commander

Mold Status:  new

PACKAGING:

For the 2025 Commander in the Studio Series line, it is a two pack with Hook and Long Haul.

Together, they come with extra pieces to make the combined mode of Devastator.  Given inflation and better engineering of each of the individual figures, they couldn't fit it within the budget of a Titan class this time around.

VEHICLE MODE:

Hook transforms into a green construction crane vehicle, with various purple highlights (including his windows).

This neon green color scheme actually works (and tend to only work for the Constructicons).  There is a small gap at the back, which is customary for this figure since that's where the head pokes through in robot mode...

Hook is approximately Voyager class, but he does feel a lot more solid and hefty than a mainline Voyager, which helps to justify being part of a Commander pack.

The robot gun can peg quite flush onto the side of the crane arm.

The hook itself it on another arm that can extend, although it can be tight to extend and retract, so you'll need to be careful not to damage it.

A quick shot of Hook with Long Haul...

...and because they put the extra combined mode pieces as a separate piece that Long Haul can tow, Long Haul himself is the same size as the other members of the Constructicons this time around.

Hook has six rolling wheels, which is quite impressive, and the hubcaps are all painted silver too as a bonus.

A solid vehicle mode.  He's can look simple, but that's because he's based upon the G1 version and aiming for show accuracy.

TRANSFORMATION:

Transformation is simple, and feels more like a refined version of what we already had before.  The front extends to form the legs, the arms unpeg from the side, and the back collapses down so that the robot head can poke through.

ROBOT MODE:

Hook's robot mode, considering that he has to combine (and folds in two places as a result), is not too bad.

He's chunky and blocky though, that's for sure, and he has a huge piece of kibble on his back, being the rear of the vehicle plus the crane arm.

The head sculpt is good.

He's not quite as taller as your typical Voyager though, but he still feels solid and hefty in your hand.

A comparison against Long Haul who looks stockier and wider, despite being a similar height.

Articulation is good, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and ankles.

He has a small gun for a weapon that he can hold in his hand.

The gun can store in the same place as on vehicle mode, which is the crane arm on his back.

The set also comes with Devastator's chest plate (split into three pieces) and his hands, which can all double as weapons.

First are the sides of the chest plate, which can be held as swords.

The middle of the chest plate is like a giant gun.

While the two hands / forearms are missile launchers that can either be pegged onto the forearm or held in his hand.

It's a lot of flexibility that the figure benefits from.  There are some flaws though, such as the weird elbow design (the hinge is on the side of the joint, rather than the middle), and his lower legs are very chunky to the point of feeling awkward.

It's still a good update to the character, and hands down the best rendition yet though.

COMBINED MODE:

As mentioned, the set only comes with Hook, Long Haul, and some combiner parts that form the lower torso of Devastator.  Perhaps the weakest part of the set is that the combiner parts does not have a token "base mode".  So it's either the trailer, or the combined form, which means if you wanted to display Hook and Long Haul in their individual robot modes, then the trailer doesn't do anything.

At least you can form the torso of Devastator from just this set alone, he'll just be missing his limbs.  Interesting, you cannot attach the chest plate now, because they actually attaches to the arm components instead (Bonecrusher and Scavenger).

However, even getting into this mode, you can start to see the scale and how big this Devastator would be (i.e. not as big as you would have expected).

OVERALL:

If you want to form Devastator, you'll have no choice but to get this set anyway.  Hook is a nice figure, and Long Haul is so so.  The strength of these two alone may not be able to justify the set, you'd really want to have to complete the Constructions for this set to make sense.

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For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page and this page.

Support this blog by purchasing from Amazon using this affiliate link.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)