Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series (Dead) Ratchet (Voyager)

Review:  #873

Name:  Ratchet

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Generations - Studio Series

Year of Release:  2024

Size Class:  Voyager

Mold Status:  retool of Studio Series Ratchet

PACKAGING:

This version of Ratchet is inspired by his death scene in the 1986 Transformers movie... and he comes in a 2-pack with a similarly fashioned Brawn.

VEHICLE MODE:

The mold itself is from Studio Series Ratchet, but replaced the front windscreen with a damaged version, as well as replacing all transparent plastic in the original release with painted ones.

Ignoring the windscreen, this is a really good vehicle mode, and unlike the Earthrise Deluxe, the back actually looks like the back of a vehicle.

The only negative is that even though this is a Voyager figure, he is very compact, and is only slightly larger than a Deluxe.  Nevertheless, he does feel nicely put together.

Despite the damaged windscreen, it surprisingly still works fairly well.

He comes with Brawn, who doesn't have any damage visible in vehicle mode.

His robot weapons can store in one of two places, either on the roof or underneath.

Additionally, the lightbar is attached via a simple 5mm peg, so you can remove it for a non-rescue vehicle.

There are a lot of transformation seams though, and this seems unavoidable with Ironhide / Ratchet figures, even the Masterpiece version has them.

TRANSFORMATION:

While inspired by the Earthrise Deluxe, this is a different transformation and one that is surprisingly good.  Most of the budget went into this, hence the smaller size.  There is no partsforming, the whole figure form sth erobot mode, and it manages to do this by having the back form chunky legs, and then having a few panels fold on top of each other to get rid of the extra mass.  While the front form the chest, and the arms fold out from the middle.  It seems elegant when executed liek this.

ROBOT MODE:

Wow, this is one of the best Ratchet figures we've had that had the whole vehicle form the robot mode.  The proportions are surprisingly good and he isn't overburdened with kibble.

A lot of the kibble wraps around his legs, but done in a solid manner.  He doesn't carry much of a backpack either.

The other remolded part of this figure is the headsculpt, where he now has a screaming face of sorts, or maybe it's one of pain.

Unfortunately, most of the budget went into the engineering, so he is only Deluxe sized, and kind of disappointing that way.  At least he does feel solid in the hand.

There is a big cardboard stand, which can fit both the figures in the 2-pack at once.

A short with his packmate Brawn, and another one with the Earthrise Deluxe, showing how they are similar in size, but whereas the Earthrise version feels hollow, this Studio Series version does not.

A close up of his chest showing the remolded chest with all the damage.

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

He comes with a pair of silver guns, as well as two blast effects parts (that are comprised of three smaller pieces).

He can hold the guns in both his hands.

Furthermore, you can attach the purple blast effects to the tips of these weapons.

However, the best is using the blast effects on his chest, as that has a 5mm port, and you can replicate his death scene...

The pair of guns can be stored behind his legs when not in use.

He has big chunky limbs, which helps in making his feel good in the hand and when posing him.

The shade of white used is bright, as well as the baby blue, yet it somehow works well together.

A fantastic robot mode, and this is even a good repaint / remold.

OVERALL:

The mold itself is worth getting.  This version is novel in that it is replicating a death scene, which feels like some sort of dark humor.  Yet its concept manages to work in execution.

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Toy Review: Transformers Age of the Primes Solus Prime (Deluxe)

Review:  #872

Name:  Solus Prime

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  N/A

Line:  Age of the Primes

Year of Release:  2025

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 1)

Mold Status:  new

VEHICLE MODE:

Solus Prime, one of the Thirteen Original Primes, transforms into a purple Cybertronian armored truck.

It's... not a great design.  In fact, it's quite odd looking, and the back is not great either given it's the exposed root's shins.

She is slim, which makes her feel smaller than your typical Deluxe.  She's light as well.

The robot weapon can peg onto the side.

The back is covered by the robot mode's waist armor, so that pretty much means the back of the vehicle mode is just some masquerading robot parts.

This is one of the weakest Deluxe vehicle modes we've had in a while.

TRANSFORMATION:

The transformation is simple, but for some reason, there are sections where parts seem fiddlier than normal and may even pop off.  The sides of the vehicle mode are her shoulders, and the shoulder pads are a bit finnicky.  The front folds back, twist the waist around, and the legs unfold from the back.

ROBOT MODE:

Robot mode is at least a lot better, even though it still isn't the best.

She doesn't have too much kibble, given that the backpack is situated quite close to the body.

The head sculpt is probably one of the best part of the figure, it's a great design and gives her a noble look.

She's around typical height for a Deluxe but slimmer than most.

Articulation with fine, with joints for her head, shoulders, elbows, wrist, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

Her weapon is a hammer, which can split into three parts.

The reason it splits into three parts is so you can slot the handle into her fists, so that she's holding it in a more natural way.  She has enough articulation to hold it with both hands as well which is great.

The hammer can store on her back when not in use.

This is not a bad robot mode, given the armored look, and the front waist skirt looks great.  It's split into three pieces so help with not getting in the way of her legs.

Solus Prime can feel flimsy given her lighter weight than expected, and her slim limbs.  Her small feet does a surprisingly good job of keeping her stable.

Despite the weak vehicle mode, the robot mode helps make up the shortfall with the design.

OVERALL:

Solus Prime is probably one of the weaker figures in the line.  She doesn't have a good vehicle mode, but the robot mode surprisingly can help make up for it.  While it is subjective, the armored look of her design works well, and the hammer is a fun weapon, adding a decent amount of play value.

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Solo Leveling: Arise from the Shadow (2025)

Solo Leveling: Arise from the Shadow is the second season based upon the South Korean web novel and is 13 episodes long. Takes place in a world where some of the population awaken latent abilities (magical, physical etc) and they are ranked as Hunters from S class to E class. The reason being that gates open with monsters inside. These Hunters need to enter the gates and clear the dungeon inside, otherwise the monsters would get out and destroy the world.

The anime follows Sung, who was a Hunter of the weakest class. However, in the previous season, after a near death experience, he can “level up”, the only one to do so, and rapidly gains strength. By the end of the first season, he was already overpowered, and, in this season, he continues to be overpowered. Early on, the anime teases about the secret behind his powers, as well as the gates and monsters. You have some suspicions based on the clues provided.

The anime makes it appear that leveling up is easy for Sung, given that we’re shown that he gains multiple levels every time he defeats some enemies and a boss. It severely cheapens the result, and makes it feel that he doesn’t deserve the power. The first season had this issue, where Sung can just take on anything that are much more powerful than him with little issues (yes, he’s shown to be “struggling”, but that’s all for a minute or two). While the issue still exists this season, it manages it a bit better.

In fact, the season starts off strong. Sung joins a raid and shows off his new powers. It tries to paint him as the underdog, where higher ranks look down upon him given he’s still officially an E rank Hunter. Sung proves them wrong and it paints a bleak picture where most of the Hunters are horrible terrible people. One thing though is that the anime shouldn’t have used a ranking system, as it’s just pointless when the protagonist doesn’t fit into any of those ranks and can easily mow down anything and everything.

The anime also tries to play it cool, to the point where it feels like it’s trying too hard. Compare Sung from before to now, and you can see that he has completely changed from the scrawny kid into the super cool guy that’s powerful, handsome, and popular. It’s a dramatic change whereby he’s a completely different person that is unrecognizable from before. He then just… stays there without developing much more as a character. Despite what the plot tries to show, there are no stakes and no effort. We know that Sung will easily overcome all those that go against him.

The second half of the season becomes more predictable with its plot developments though. When Sung sets out to complete what he started, and clears a massive dungeon, the anime skips through most of it until the final dungeon boss. Even the final dungeon boss isn’t important enough to have more than a third of the episode, so it feels incredibly rushed and underwhelming. All the powers that Sung rapidly gained feels like you were told he got them, rather than seeing him earn them.

Given Sung’s basically cheating with his powers, there are no stakes or tension anymore. Everyone else is rendered useless and is easily overpowered by the enemies that appear. Only Sung can save the day and while every protagonist has plot armor, it’s just too obvious here that there is no challenge anymore (and to make matters worse, he continues to severely outclass others when he gains even more convenient powers each time). His personality is now too cool and stoic (perfect for a self-insert protagonist) but this makes him too bland and generic.

The anime consistently pulls scenarios from other anime but doesn’t do much with it. It feels cliched and generic, and the plot can feel like a mishmash of ideas that doesn’t coherently gel together. Despite its attempts, there is no overarching goal or objective, apart from Sung encountering more enemies so that he can get stronger. That lack of objective is what makes the fights, no matter how flashy they are, somewhat pointless and lack any sort of stake.

Overall, Solo Leveling: Arise from the Shadow is an improvement over the first season in many ways. However, it doubles down on all its flaws as well. Sung lacks personality, and every other character is a “hi and bye” moment because as soon as that story arc is over, they are regulated into the background. Sung far outclasses everyone else so much that it’s boring, because before the fight even starts, you’d know Sung will save the day and win without any issues. While a power fantasy can be fun and enjoyable, Solo Leveling trends more towards the generic side.

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