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! 

Transformers Toys Studio Series Commander The The Movie 86-21 Ultra Magnus Review

 

Enjoying a Fukuoka stay

       Aloha, I am back with another Transformer review, and as promised from the last review, here is Studio series 86 Ultra Magnus. Well, you know how it goes. Let's get started.

Boxing

 

Your box cover and backdrop. It's really nice and self explanatory for those who've seen the film. But if you are not that sure, its basically Ultra Magnus and his crew trying to board the shuttle scene in hopes to get to Cybertron to stop Unicron. But Galvatron and his cronies attempt to prevent them from doing so. It would had been really cool if you could see other characters in the background. It seems as if UM is just doing everything on his own. 

      

So Ultra Magnus comes with two rifles. You can peg his rifles on his back which apparently I forgot to do a shoot on. But for your reference, you can place weapons on his back. He looks great and after fidgeting with him, this is the Ultra Magnus you want as your G1 classic figure. I probably said that on the previous War for Cybertron line. But this is the guy you want if you are still lacking a classics Magnus. I love how he has finger articulation and it looks good on him when he is commanding his troops. He comes with a Matrix which is accurate due to the fact the Matrix was passed to him after Optimus expired and he also attempted to use it on the Planet of Junk in a wasted effort, unfortunately. Colors look great on him. There is more articulation on this guy in comparison to his WFC counterparts. Joints and ratchets are super tight that it makes that heavy ratchet noise as you bend his limbs. The missiles can be detached to place blast effects (comes with the figure). FYI, I am not a huge fan on placing the effects as one long piece. It makes the elongated effect really limp so you won't see the very long effect for this review.  He does have a waist and head swivel which is always great to have. 

The complaints or something like that: Looks wise, he looks good overall especially his upper torso. Nice engineering at that point. Something about his shins that bugged me. It just look and felt plain. His leg just feels like two big blocks and that is it. Its no big deal really but it just felt so plain to me. If you wish to extend his arms, you will have to release those two red shoulder tabs that are holding it in. But sometimes by doing so, his arms look like folding flaps flapping all over the place. I think the most irksome feature is his ear/antennas come detached. I don't know why but it can be removed and they can sometimes come off easy as you transforming him. They are small as well so it keeps you on your toes of trying to not lose it. These are very minor complaints but I guess there is something in every figure that isn't perfect. 

Alt mode

Fairly easy transformation for the most part. I didn't really need the instruction manual. I did need to go on Youtube for his knees because it took some pressure and time for me to push it up from not scrapping the floor. Even so, the knees are just slightly above the surface. So my anxiety is going through the roof at times. UM can fit mainly deluxe or smaller figures into him. His shins form the ramp in this mode. However for some characters like Ratchet to fit in the bottom, you have to remove his lightbar to do so. And around this time, I realized Ratchet was still flaking some white paint. Oh dear. But the alt mode is done very well and the cab can be removed from the trailer. As you can see somewhere towards the end, his upper torso pretty much forms the cab. The cool thing about this mode is that his body forms the entire cab and trailer straightforward. The previous WFC lines were more part-formers like where you had to remove his armor to make the trailer and then his inner self made the cab. The transformation is definitely more uniform here. 

Ultra Magnus in Japan

Had some fun with him in my Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo hotels. 

Conclusion

Pick this guy up. Is he worth the $90? Yes he is. I remember there was rumors that this guy was probably going to be above $100 since inflation is around. But thank God those were rumors and nothing more. He is a fun figure to play with overall despite just really plain block legs. Super tight joints and immaculate alt mode. Darn those knees though. He is the classics type of figure you want so pick him up if you see him. If he goes cheaper than $90, you be a fool for not picking him up. If you look at the Japan pics above, it will tell you who is the next figure I am reviewing. And to back track a little, it was announced a few days prior to this review that 86 Optimus is coming next year. Now this is one guy that is anticipated but possibly will hit above the 100 dollar price range. Until then, thank you for reading this review and see you next time. Jesus loves you.