Matrix Workshop M-76 Sword, Weapon, Eye upgrade for SS 86 Sludge

 Aloha Folks, I am back with a Christmas special I guess. Haha. I decided to do this shoot for the Holidays otherwise it be another couple days before I can do my next one. Today is the upgrades for Sludge from folks who gave you the Matrix workshop upgrades for Slag. This one is M-76. Without further delay, lets get started.

As one of my TF buddies said, it was a split second this scene happened, and it forever was etched into our memories. If you are still oblivious to what I am saying, this is the scene where one of the animators decided to animate Sludge's eyes popping looney tunes style when Devastator pounds Sludge on his back in the 86 film. You can tell that I had loads of fun on this upgrade. For something that feels like a bonus to this set, it was nailed perfectly. The upgrade used here fits and snaps on fine to Sludge's Dino head. With this set is also a rocket warhead for his original factory gun. It also comes with a rifle and a sword. In the Dino mode, the weapons can be stored on his hind legs though it can be a tight fit. 

So this is the part where it got a little disappointing. Zoiks! What? The rifle and the swords are a very tight fit to his fists. You possibly might need to sand the sword/rifle handles to make it fit though I don't want to ruin it. If you do manage to fit the sword/rifle handles in, once you get it in, simply stop because it might get difficult to take it out now. So it's a really tight squeeze. To make matters worse, I have the wobbly leg Sludge so the weapons would pop off easily as you are trying to put the weapons in. The build is top notch though. Really dig how the sword looks. Too bad like I said, its a tight fit.

I didn't have a blast effect which could had showcased the warhead accessory in action, but it fits very fine here to his original factory weapon. So that is a plus, and this is probably the best upgrade to Sludge for this set. You can also fit the warhead accessory to his new rifle if that is your niche. You can fake putting the rifle briefly as a shoulder canon, but there is nothing to lock it in place so thanks to Sludges wobbly-ness again, it falls with a quick movement. His hind legs in Dino mode is now his triceps so that is where you store his rifle and sword. Fairly tight fit again. 

Conclusion:

I think this kit was roughly on Ebay for $14.00. You are getting loads of stuff including the Looney Tunes eyes which is a hilarious feature to this kit. It is the eyes and the warhead accessory which does this set justice. The rifle and sword, are easy on the eyes, but is the most disappointing upgrades in the set due to the handles being such a tight fit. Maybe it is my set copy but I guess in this case you can't win em all. Anyhow, last Dinobot for upgrades is next. I'll see you folks next time. Merry Christmas and God bless. 

Transformers Toys Studio Series Leader Class SS-111 (86-19) Dinobot Snarl Review

 

Aloha folks! Once again I am back with another TF review. This time it's Snarl! The Dinobot that had less than one minute of screen time in the TF 86 flick. How does this guy fare? Let's get started!

Boxing

Ever since the Power of the Primes line, I never picked up any Japanese Transformers since their releases were pretty much the same as the western ones. This went good for my wallet in the past few years. However, I missed the pre-orders for Snarl on Amazon.com. Like lightning, this guy went out quick. As of today, it seems like a bunch of people are still struggling to get this guy during the course of this review. 

I recently went on a trip to Japan and there I saw the Japanese release of Snarl in Osaka! Of course, I didn't hesitate to pick him up. He was pricier but thanks to the strong U.S. Dollar, I was able to pick this guy up roughly for the same $55 this guy originally went for here in the west. So any one traveling to Japan will have better luck picking this guy up if they don't mind Japanese words scribbled all over the box. Not to mention, the Japanese releases are numbered differently. The instructions are in English though. If you are wondering what the words are saying, use Google lens on your phone to translate ( I have a section on this). The last picture in this category is just a tag that says I bought the figure. 

Snarl reporting for duty

It was nice of Hasbro to release this guy who barely appeared in the film. He was shown in some of the first trailers but for some odd reason, Snarl really didn't make the final cut of the film. In fact, his longest scene, which most likely was an animation error, was where Ultra Magnus rallies his Autobots prior to Galvatron attacking them (which is also the theme of this release). You can see Snarl dodging some laser shots but Swoop is apparently missing. And when UM and his crew board the shuttle, Snarl is missing once again though Swoop magically reappears. Of course Hasbro retconned the storyline into saying Snarl stayed behind to help Blaster salvage Autobot city. That works I guess.

As for the figure, Snarl comes with just a sword, which I felt could had been a little longer. The sword is pretty nice looking though. However, his release is lacking a gun which third parties are selling through Ebay and such. The figure comes with his back detached so you got to attach it which is pretty easy. His shoulder wings from behind looks like something of an Egyptian motif. Doesn't really bug me. Just pointing this out, that is all. Snarl plays really well in this mode. I'm probably only saying this because his buddy Sludge was a disappointing release for a Dinobot due to all his limbs being wobbly. I still own the wobbly version as of this date. He looked great but he is best left in Dino mode. Thank God Hasbro didn't make this guy similar to Sludge and he joins Grimlock and Slag in having some replayability. Basically, his joints are tight and not loose like Sludge. Snarl handles great and looks good overall. 

Stegosaurus! And his Dinobuddies. 

Snarl is probably the most easiest to transform of all the Dinobots imo. To a degree, I feel like he is the smallest of the bunch sans Swoop (who have yet to be released). Height wise is he taller than Sludge but Sludge looks bigger overall thanks to his length. Because his head in Dino mode comes out of each of his legs in robot mode; his head is split in the middle. In addition, you can split his bottom lip as well. Two ways you can store his weapon on this mode. If you want more of an incognito look, you can place it underneath his chest/belly area. If you don't mind his sword sticking on his back, he has one peg, well, on his back. It is also here where you can see some of his yellow colors differing from one another. His head and feet have more of a yellow tone while his plates and tail are colored gold. Perhaps, my real and only complaint is his tail. I wish you could raise it because it droops too low for my tastes. The box even shows him utilizing his tail as a weapon. Would had been nice to toggle around with it. His Dino mode is nicely done though. 

One last thing, unlike his Dinobuddies, Snarl is missing an effect holder in his mouth. Grimlock, Sludge, and Slag have one each in their mouths. It would had been nice to keep it consistent but thanks to his transformation style, it was most likely difficult to put one in him. 

 

Scale for your viewing pleasure. It was also this time where I discovered one of Slag's left shoulder plate holder was fractured. The plate will go in but will fall out pretty easy. I only pray it lasts till Swoop comes in. I need to have at least one picture of the Dinobots transformed together. 

Box translated via Google lens. 

The last picture cracked me up: "There are parts that made me laugh." I dunno know if Google lens is accurate but this is what I got. One thing that is missing or is different in this release is the scene description the western releases got. If you look at the 2nd pic of this category, it only tells you info on the release dates of the 86 and 2007 flick. On the western releases, it says "Snarl and the Autobots must find a way to destroy Unicron before Cybertron is devoured." Source: Amazon. 

Conclusion: 

 Snarl is a fine addition to your 86 roster. He is welcome collection especially if you are a Dinobot fan and breath of fresh air after Sludge's looseness. I'm glad once again Hasbro decided to make an 86 figure out of him despite being barely being in the film. Most fans questioned if he really did exist or if he was just an error. Whatever you believe, we got an 86 version of him and he definitely doesn't disappoint. Ciao and see you next time!