Packaging Images of Studio Series 86 Sludge

Looking very nice. I can't wait to get my hands on him.

I've heard rumors that they WILL do Snarl, but that it will be Voyager sized. I hope that's not true. I can see Swoop making it as a Voyager sized Dinobot for the Studio Series, but Snarl? He has to be in scale with Slag and Sludge at least. Anything less would be an insult.

I absolutely love the art on Sludge's box. I use a few boxes as "art" hanging on my wall, as well as using them as shelves for smaller bots. Not sure if a leader box would be big enough,(I just use titan and commander boxes) but it looks super sweet.

As far as Snarl being a voyager, I dont think so at all. No way, if are in their right minds, would they do that. I also am pretty sure Swoop will be leader class as well, with just being a bit shorter with his huge wingspan. Hopefully

DeathReviews wrote:I've heard rumors that they WILL do Snarl, but that it will be Voyager sized. I hope that's not true. I can see Swoop making it as a Voyager sized Dinobot for the Studio Series, but Snarl? He has to be in scale with Slag and Sludge at least. Anything less would be an insult.

That seems to be just an unfounded rumor started by Prime vs Prime in his YouTube review of Studio Series Sludge. He made a comment that was based on misremembering the Swoop as a Voyager rumor. He included Snarl in that comment too, even though no one had mentioned Snarl being a Voyager in the rumor mill previously.

Yet another reason to avoid giving that guy views, I suppose.

The one thing we know about Snarl is that he'll probably have a gallery here before the PotP version does

DeathReviews wrote:I've heard rumors that they WILL do Snarl, but that it will be Voyager sized. I hope that's not true. I can see Swoop making it as a Voyager sized Dinobot for the Studio Series, but Snarl? He has to be in scale with Slag and Sludge at least. Anything less would be an insult.

Don't worry, those rumours are false. Thet were just someone guessing.
Here's another rumour: he'll be a leader class figure

william-james88 wrote:

DeathReviews wrote:I've heard rumors that they WILL do Snarl, but that it will be Voyager sized. I hope that's not true. I can see Swoop making it as a Voyager sized Dinobot for the Studio Series, but Snarl? He has to be in scale with Slag and Sludge at least. Anything less would be an insult.

Don't worry, those rumours are false. Thet were just someone guessing.
Here's another rumour: he'll be a leader class figure

Starting rumors is easy! Here's another one while we're at it - Studio Series leader Snarl will have a segmented tail that can be flexed/posed!

DeathReviews wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

DeathReviews wrote:I've heard rumors that they WILL do Snarl, but that it will be Voyager sized. I hope that's not true. I can see Swoop making it as a Voyager sized Dinobot for the Studio Series, but Snarl? He has to be in scale with Slag and Sludge at least. Anything less would be an insult.

Don't worry, those rumours are false. Thet were just someone guessing.
Here's another rumour: he'll be a leader class figure

Starting rumors is easy! Here's another one while we're at it - Studio Series leader Snarl will have a segmented tail that can be flexed/posed!

Here's another one: Studio Series 86 Snarl will have electronic voice clips recorded by Hal Rayle. We'll think they're brand new recordings, but they'll just turn out to be old ones ripped from random G1 cartoon episodes.

Studio Series Snarl will actually be a blue-and-white wolf!

Silliness aside, I just opened and transformed Perceptor.
Stupidly simple, yet just perfect. I also LOVE the feeling of this plastic in hand. It's solid yet soft to the touch.

Sludge continues to look great, excited for him

Love the art!

But...it makes me wish Sludge came with a BUNCH of mini Sharkticons. Like Wheelie and Daniel, but smaller and more of them.

MeGrimlock78 wrote:Love the art!

But...it makes me wish Sludge came with a BUNCH of mini Sharkticons. Like Wheelie and Daniel, but smaller and more of them.

Well, if you bought that Cyberverse Hotrod pack, you could use those.

Sludge looks excellent! I think I'll need to get all the team when they show up down here.

RotorstormNZ wrote:Sludge looks excellent! I think I'll need to get all the team when they show up down here.

I highly recommend all of them.
*edit*
I don't have Sludge yet, but from everything I've seen he's just as good as the first two, and imo probably better than Slag.
For mainline figures, they are the highlight of my collection.
I love Cyclonus... Scourge, Sweep, and Galvatron are all up there, too.
But those Dinobots. They're just phenomenal.

Sowndwave76 wrote:

RotorstormNZ wrote:Sludge looks excellent! I think I'll need to get all the team when they show up down here.

I highly recommend all of them.
[...]
But those Dinobots. They're just phenomenal.

Everything I've seen and read has made me want them, and I had no attraction to anything SS86*. I'm not even a dinobot fan and FoC Grimlock's the only version of any that I've ever owned, but there's just something irresistible about these guys. They look so right!


*Unless they release Shockwave and Megatron...

RotorstormNZ wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:

RotorstormNZ wrote:Sludge looks excellent! I think I'll need to get all the team when they show up down here.

I highly recommend all of them.
[...]
But those Dinobots. They're just phenomenal.

Everything I've seen and read has made me want them, and I had no attraction to anything SS86*. I'm not even a dinobot fan and FoC Grimlock's the only version of any that I've ever owned, but there's just something irresistible about these guys. They look so right!


*Unless they release Shockwave and Megatron...

There's no official word on how long SS86 will last.
But unfortunately, because a mainline-release Megatron will never have a pistol alt mode again, he will probably never be a part of this subline. Shockwave on the other hand, is one I could see taking a voyager class slot down the road, IF SS86 continues.


Sidenote: Wreck-gar and Sweep are seemingly starting to shelf-warm with Coronation Starscream.
There are STILL 7 Coronation SS's on the shelves at my Target.

Sowndwave76 wrote:There are STILL 7 Coronation SS's on the shelves at my Target.

Consider yourself lucky? Mine still has 6 Grindors from before Christmas.

Sowndwave76 wrote:Sidenote: Wreck-gar and Sweep are seemingly starting to shelf-warm with Coronation Starscream.
There are STILL 7 Coronation SS's on the shelves at my Target.

Isn't that the ideal situation? Having the TF aisle stocked with the latest TF toys?

william-james88 wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:Sidenote: Wreck-gar and Sweep are seemingly starting to shelf-warm with Coronation Starscream.
There are STILL 7 Coronation SS's on the shelves at my Target.

Isn't that the ideal situation? Having the TF aisle stocked with the latest TF toys?

I always thought so. I've only seen Starscream once at one Walmart in a mangled box a few weeks ago and it still sold. This same Walmart never got Slug and Grindor. My other Walmart has gotten those two restocked a few times and even stocked again about a month ago after the Leader shelves had been empty since Christmas so they're still being spottily distributed from the warehouse. Logistics issues mean we're going to see a lot of stuff like this. I've seen both Sweep/Wreckgar and Soundwave/Hot Rod restocked at the same time over the past month.

Emerje

Part of my thought with that observation is just not liking how I'm starting to see how some product isn't selling.
I get this is just an opinion, but I really don't see how Coronation SS was a good business decision...
No one is going to be able to convince me that Starscream, let alone the coronation version has some mass appeal to kids. On top of that, the $52-ish cost.

And sure, the same can be said about both Wreck-gar and Sweep... Neither of those necessarily have much appeal for a kid either. But obviously a $20 difference is substantial for a lot of parents.
Especially when we're talking about the cost of a toy. Not a pair of shoes... Or a new jacket... Or even something like a new backpack for school.
Even if you're not a parent, you have to understand this. "You", meaning "anyone".

But overall, no, I can't complain about what my local stores are getting in terms of TF.
I'm starting to believe that never seeing ER waves 2 or 3 was simply a one-off of a tough time in general.

Sowndwave76 wrote:Part of my thought with that observation is just not liking how I'm starting to see how some product isn't selling.
I get this is just an opinion, but I really don't see how Coronation SS was a good business decision...
No one is going to be able to convince me that Starscream, let alone the coronation version has some mass appeal to kids. On top of that, the $52-ish cost.

Starscream is one of the most popular characters in the franchise, even if that's because Hasbro made it that way. I'm sure it's primarily with parents that recognize him and buy him for their kids. But i do think the 50 buck price point might be a bridge too far.

Also "You already have that toy" because he's a slightly-tweaked Earthrise with extra stuff.

I'd buy him tho, I don't have Earthrise yet and the chair would be a nice prop to have.

Sowndwave76 wrote:Part of my thought with that observation is just not liking how I'm starting to see how some product isn't selling.
I get this is just an opinion, but I really don't see how Coronation SS was a good business decision...
No one is going to be able to convince me that Starscream, let alone the coronation version has some mass appeal to kids. On top of that, the $52-ish cost.

And sure, the same can be said about both Wreck-gar and Sweep... Neither of those necessarily have much appeal for a kid either. But obviously a $20 difference is substantial for a lot of parents.
Especially when we're talking about the cost of a toy. Not a pair of shoes... Or a new jacket... Or even something like a new backpack for school.
Even if you're not a parent, you have to understand this. "You", meaning "anyone".

But overall, no, I can't complain about what my local stores are getting in terms of TF.
I'm starting to believe that never seeing ER waves 2 or 3 was simply a one-off of a tough time in general.

Waves are made to stock a shelf for at least 3 months. So don't worry about it not selling yet. Some places don't reorder and just get their stock all at once.

sol magnus wrote:Starscream is one of the most popular characters in the franchise, even if that's because Hasbro made it that way. I'm sure it's primarily with parents that recognize him and buy him for their kids. But i do think the 50 buck price point might be a bridge too far.

Not directed at you... But I think there are plenty of collectors and fans who lose sight of the fact that there are tons of people who grew-up in the 80's and have almost zero recollection of this franchise. So there could and most likely is zero push or influence for those people to buy their kids these toys.
It's just as unlikely that a 7-11 yr old has much if any knowledge of G1 Starscream. Or why he'd be packaged with a crown, cape, and throne.

And yes, just a small example to emphasize the impact of price point--
Two days ago I stopped by my Target to look for Legacy Kickback...
A mom and her 6-ish yr old (yes I'm guessing) son were looking at the Jurassic Park toys.
The kid was saying something about wanting one of the dinosaurs (I didn't even look at which one; I was minding my business), and then the mom literally says,
"Do you have $63 for that? That's not happening, especially on a random outing".
Her tone wasn't harsh, but matter-of-fact.
I don't live in some "elite", super-rich area, but Liberty, MO isn't exactly a slummy part of the KC metro either...
Point being, if there were kids who wanted any of the 7 Coronation SS's left on those shelves, they'd be gone.

william-james88 wrote:Waves are made to stock a shelf for at least 3 months. So don't worry about it not selling yet. Some places don't reorder and just get their stock all at once.

Fair point.
Buzzworthy Cliffjumper, B-127, and even Kup have been moving from what I've seen.
Everything else seems to be stalling-out.
But we'll see. I'm stopping by there again this afternoon.

Sowndwave76 wrote:Buzzworthy Cliffjumper, B-127, and even Kup have been moving from what I've seen.
Everything else seems to be stalling-out.
But we'll see. I'm stopping by there again this afternoon.

For Starscream in particular, I wouldn't take too much meaning even if all 7 are still there in your store. That may not even tell you how well he is moving in your particular area.

Target has weird assed distribution issues, which is most likely what you are seeing. Those 7 you saw last time may not in fact be the same 7 you saw the time before and could have been restocked.

In the past year, I've seen 1 store put out 12 SS Voyager Bee movie Thrust at once, sell 6 over 3 weeks and then bump it up to 15 on the shelves. This was extra weird because he was supposed to be in a case with SS86 Wreck-Gar, but only Thrust showed up.

A different store put 15 Kingdom T-Wrecks out at once between the aisle and an endcap. When the endcap got re-purposed they only left 6 on the shelf, which didn't run out for months. It wasn't because the 6 sat there and then all of a sudden sold, they were selling, but being restocked as they went from the ones in the back. No way in hell they sold 9 on the last few days the endcap was up.

Its almost like sometimes Target accidentally sends a store a pallet instead of a case, and that may be the case with your store. If they got a ridiculous amount (10+) they might only be putting out 7-8 at a time and restocking as they sell, and you wouldn't really know the difference unless you were timing your visits with when they are stocking to actually see how many they put out. In the case of Thrust getting bumped up to 15, I did just that and was shocked to see them putting more out.

Target can be randomly weird, so I wouldn't rule that out as a possibility.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:Buzzworthy Cliffjumper, B-127, and even Kup have been moving from what I've seen.
Everything else seems to be stalling-out.
But we'll see. I'm stopping by there again this afternoon.

For Starscream in particular, I wouldn't take too much meaning even if all 7 are still there in your store. That may not even tell you how well he is moving in your particular area.

Target has weird assed distribution issues, which is most likely what you are seeing. Those 7 you saw last time may not in fact be the same 7 you saw the time before and could have been restocked.

Yeah, I've never seen 7 of those on ANY shelf here in Maryland. It seems an impossible number.

Target may have random distribution, but since my last post about SS86 Starscream, at one point it went from 7 to 6.
But for almost a week now, it's up to 8.
I was just there roughly an hour ago.

Anyway, does anyone have any idea as to when Sludge is going to be released/shipped?
I get it, right now Amazon has his release for date for End of July/early August.
But being wave 2, doesn't it have to be earlier than that?
At least by a month?

Sowndwave76 wrote:Target may have random distribution, but since my last post about SS86 Starscream, at one point it went from 7 to 6.
But for almost a week now, it's up to 8.
I was just there roughly an hour ago.

Anyway, does anyone have any idea as to when Sludge is going to be released/shipped?
I get it, right now Amazon has his release for date for End of July/early August.
But being wave 2, doesn't it have to be earlier than that?
At least by a month?

Release dates have been worst case scenarios for a while now after Hasbro got tired of constantly having to announce delays on Pulse. The actual release date is usually a month or two up from that, though sometimes it can be later. I still haven't seen Legacy at Walmart and only seen one of each Deluxe and two Bulkheads at Target.

Emerje

Sowndwave76 wrote:Target may have random distribution, but since my last post about SS86 Starscream, at one point it went from 7 to 6.
But for almost a week now, it's up to 8.
I was just there roughly an hour ago.

Anyway, does anyone have any idea as to when Sludge is going to be released/shipped?
I get it, right now Amazon has his release for date for End of July/early August.
But being wave 2, doesn't it have to be earlier than that?
At least by a month?

I didnt get Slag ubtil August '21. He came right on schedule (hard as that may be to believe.)

sol magnus wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:Target may have random distribution, but since my last post about SS86 Starscream, at one point it went from 7 to 6.
But for almost a week now, it's up to 8.
I was just there roughly an hour ago.

Anyway, does anyone have any idea as to when Sludge is going to be released/shipped?
I get it, right now Amazon has his release for date for End of July/early August.
But being wave 2, doesn't it have to be earlier than that?
At least by a month?

I didnt get Slag ubtil August '21. He came right on schedule (hard as that may be to believe.)

But wasn't Slag supposed to be released during the second half of the year?

Sowndwave76 wrote:

sol magnus wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:Target may have random distribution, but since my last post about SS86 Starscream, at one point it went from 7 to 6.
But for almost a week now, it's up to 8.
I was just there roughly an hour ago.

Anyway, does anyone have any idea as to when Sludge is going to be released/shipped?
I get it, right now Amazon has his release for date for End of July/early August.
But being wave 2, doesn't it have to be earlier than that?
At least by a month?

I didnt get Slag ubtil August '21. He came right on schedule (hard as that may be to believe.)

But wasn't Slag supposed to be released during the second half of the year?

He was, and August is indeed the second half of the year. Sludge will be on shelves in the summer. Might be earlier than said date, might not.

Sowndwave76 wrote:

sol magnus wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:Target may have random distribution, but since my last post about SS86 Starscream, at one point it went from 7 to 6.
But for almost a week now, it's up to 8.
I was just there roughly an hour ago.

Anyway, does anyone have any idea as to when Sludge is going to be released/shipped?
I get it, right now Amazon has his release for date for End of July/early August.
But being wave 2, doesn't it have to be earlier than that?
At least by a month?

I didnt get Slag ubtil August '21. He came right on schedule (hard as that may be to believe.)

But wasn't Slag supposed to be released during the second half of the year?

Keep in mind, SS Leaders only come in 3 waves per year unlike WFC which had 4 waves at the leader class (granted with more repacks). So the second wave of SS leaders will typically be later than the second wave of WFC or Legacy.

Edit: I found my Slag on July 4th last year, so second half of the year was right on.

Sowndwave76 wrote:Target may have random distribution, but since my last post about SS86 Starscream, at one point it went from 7 to 6.
But for almost a week now, it's up to 8.
I was just there roughly an hour ago.

Then that tells me you store has more than 8 of them and are only putting out 8 at a time. They likely are selling, but because they still have more than fit on the shelf at once, it will look like they aren't moving because the shelf is getting restocked from back. If they ever start dropping and not being restocked, then your store has likely run out of extra stock in the back. That is the point where you may be able to see how well he is moving.

He did finally show up at 3 of the Targets I check out regularly. 2 of them put out 8 at a time as well, the 3rd only put out 2 (or put out 8 and he did really well, not enough info to know either way).

I will say that compared to previous years, this is a little strange for the SS leaders. Last year around this time the stores would get and put out 1 or 2 cases at a time max. Seeing 8+ SS leaders at multiple stores outside of the Christmas season is almost unheard of.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:

sol magnus wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:Target may have random distribution, but since my last post about SS86 Starscream, at one point it went from 7 to 6.
But for almost a week now, it's up to 8.
I was just there roughly an hour ago.

Anyway, does anyone have any idea as to when Sludge is going to be released/shipped?
I get it, right now Amazon has his release for date for End of July/early August.
But being wave 2, doesn't it have to be earlier than that?
At least by a month?

I didnt get Slag ubtil August '21. He came right on schedule (hard as that may be to believe.)

But wasn't Slag supposed to be released during the second half of the year?

Keep in mind, SS Leaders only come in 3 waves per year unlike WFC which had 4 waves at the leader class (granted with more repacks). So the second wave of SS leaders will typically be later than the second wave of WFC or Legacy.

Edit: I found my Slag on July 4th last year, so second half of the year was right on.

Isn't it only 2 waves per year?

Either way, I'm hoping that it's at least mid-July when Sludge starts showing-up/shipping.

If it is in fact only 2 SS leader figures per year, that has me more worried that Swoop is/will end up being voyager class... Even if Snarl is released with the mainline.
With RotB coming next summer, I'm going to assume at least 1 leader slot will be dedicated to a character from that movie, if not two.
I really don't see Hastak giving us an almost leader-sized (as in Dinobot leader-sized) figure at the voyager price point. Seems like that is impossible, even if prices go up again.

And holy hell, if only 1 of the last 2 Dinobots is released for all of next year... FFS, relatively speaking, I'm going to be extremely annoyed.

Yes, it will most likely be worth it if the wait means Swoop is legit Dinobot-leader class scale...
And it's not like the drawn-out releases of these 5 is equal to dragging out the releases of 5 figures that form a combiner over 3-4 years...
I also get that IF the last Dinobot is released at the very beginning of 2024 (feels weird just typing that), that's better than having to wait until Oct./Nov. of that year, then in-turn, makes the wait between these last two substantially less.

I'm really not meaning to complain about this stuff... Especially in the grand scheme of life...
I think this is part of me being very ready to retire from collecting, and at the same time wanting a handful of characters before the outro.

william-james88 wrote:Isn't it only 2 waves per year?

I should have said 2-3 waves per year. We are supposed to be getting 3 waves this year, and I thought at least 1 previous year had 3 waves, but that might be my memory playing tricks on me.

Sowndwave76 wrote:And holy hell, if only 1 of the last 2 Dinobots is released for all of next year... FFS, relatively speaking, I'm going to be extremely annoyed.

I really do promise that I am trying not to be an a-hole here by saying this, but please calm down about the release date. The first AOE Studio Series Dinobot came out in Wave 1 of the line in April 2018, 4 years ago now. WE haven't even had a RUMOR that a 2nd one is coming. I think you should be very grateful that you are currently getting 1-2 leader Dinobots a year. Live Action movie fans have 1 less dinobot to get to complete the set, and it will be at bare minimum 5 years between the first and second one, and the line was live action primarily first.

Again, I really am not trying to be rude here, but currently, in this line, you are getting far more far quicker with regards to leader Dinobots.

On a different note, I think we are close to Wreck Gar, Sweep, Kup, and to a lesser extent Blurr, being classified as shelfwarmers. All but SS86 are over 4 months old and are still here, and yes they are the same ones. And based on when I tweeted this originally, groups of 2-12 Sweeps shelfwarming together for months are common, and apparently so is the very easy to locate Wreck Gar, which that one sort of surprises me.

@D_Max,

No worries.
I add “relatively speaking” to a lot of my posts to try & help emphasize that I do have perspective in all of this…
These are toys.
And while I know I’m a “collector”, I would not say this is one of my hobbies…
Painting, drumming, & up to about 3 yrs ago, playing soccer.
Those are/were my legit hobbies.

So as my motto states, there’s really nothing anyone here can say that is going to hurt my feelings.
Call me a Gee-wunner… Tell me my opinions suck & are stupid…
No offense to anyone here… While I think I’d actually be able to have legit friendships with at least a few who post, in the grand scheme, I’m by no means trying to impress anyone. That’s not to suggest I think anyone else is.

Having said that, I hope you have some perspective that there are people like me who have been waiting since either the original G1 toys, and/or roughly 2007 when Classics Grimlock was released for figures like the SS86 Dinobots.
I know they have been versions since ‘07.
And I’m sure some loved them & maybe still do.
For me, those were a tease, and even more so, a huge letdown.
Because Classics only released Grimlock, & that one itself was a mehhhh,
I think it’s fair to say people have been waiting since the 80’s for well-done Dinobots.

Voicing frustration, especially in a typed response doesn’t mean someone isn’t calm.

I just bought Spike on Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H1 ... UTF8&psc=1?tag=seibertron07-20&

sol magnus wrote:I just bought Spike on Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H1 ... UTF8&psc=1?tag=seibertron07-20&

Hey man, I'm here, what's up?

william-james88 wrote:

sol magnus wrote:I just bought Spike on Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H1 ... UTF8&psc=1?tag=seibertron07-20&

Hey man, I'm here, what's up?

I wasn't sure if the community knew about Spike being available and didn't want to derail.

sol magnus wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

sol magnus wrote:I just bought Spike on Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H1 ... UTF8&psc=1?tag=seibertron07-20&

Hey man, I'm here, what's up?

I wasn't sure if the community knew about Spike being available and didn't want to derail.

Sadly he sold out before I had a chance to news it. But yeah, it would have been a great story to front page.

william-james88 wrote:

sol magnus wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

sol magnus wrote:I just bought Spike on Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H1 ... UTF8&psc=1?tag=seibertron07-20&

Hey man, I'm here, what's up?

I wasn't sure if the community knew about Spike being available and didn't want to derail.

Sadly he sold out before I had a chance to news it. But yeah, it would have been a great story to front page.

It's popping in and out of stock. It's also available on Cmdstore.com for those interested. Here's a poor man's video review that I humbly lay before all of you, naked and bare to the world.

Looks like there are lots of fans wanting that Exosuit Spike from the Studio Series 86 line. Fans have been able to get him on Amazon.com since the week-end but the availability has been sporadic. One moment it's available and the other it isn't. But we still wanted to let you know and give you the link so you can check it when you want and have it at your side.

Also, we have a review from fellow Seibertronian Chuckdawg in case you wanted to get a good idea at what you were getting.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H1 ... UTF8&psc=1?tag=seibertron07-20&

Review:

Man thank yall for this because I've been looking up this guy on Amazon every single day with no luck, not even finding the item as out of stock just to add to the wishlist

He is flagged as #1 new release... in Mens Fashion Sneakers.

Immortal Starscream wrote:He is flagged as #1 new release... in Mens Fashion Sneakers.

Yup. There he is:


https://www.amazon.com/gp/new-releases/fashion/679312011/ref=zg_b_hnr_679312011_1?tag=seibertron07-20&

In other words, this is a substitute for a Sports Label Spike Witwicky.

... people want Spike? meh. Saw it in store over a month ago and it just did not interest me one bit.