Decepticon Sweep Transformers - Studio Series 86 #10 Transformers Studio Series Voyager Class Toy Item No.: Asst. E0702 No. F0793 Manufacturer: Hasbro Includes: Blaster, energy effect, backdrop Action Feature: Transforms from space ship to robot Retail: $31.49 Availability: September 2021 Other: Blue Scourge
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I shot but did not yet write up Scourge - so you're going to read about Decepticon Sweep first! Lucky you. It's a rare generic army-builder figure in Transformers, nameless legions are a thing we don't get a lot. In the cartoons and movies, the vast majority of Sweeps were identical to Scourge - same color, same model. (There are sometimes subtle variations.) Basically what you get is a purple (but closer to blue) space boat with a robot head that can peek out, plus vampire-like hands and a cape made of ship parts. It's neat! It even has a beard - which was pretty unusual in the early days of Transformers in the 1980s.

This is one of the better figures in the line. While it's possible a $40 or $50 Scourge/Sweep mold could offer more, it feels excellent and I assume I'll never have reason to purchase a new version unless they drastically redesign the character. Studio Series 86 has lots of excellent toys, but these two and Voyager-class companions Hot Rod and Wreck-Gar are truly some of the best Hasbro has ever released at any price point. The Dinonots are also exceptional. The Deluxes are largely good. With relatively few figures in Studio Series 86, I'd pretty much recommend them all so far - they've all got something notable to offer long-term fans of the toys and the cartoon series.

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The 7-inch robot mode is about the same height as Earthrise/Studio Series Starscream, making him bigger than the Autobots but shorter than Cyclonus, who's usually presented as being about the same size. With the wings he seems infinitely beefier, with a fantastically rounded design that contrasts mightily with Starscream and his ilk. This looks a lot like a cartoon character got turned into an excellent toy, rather than the opposite.

I think I like the blue colors of the Sweep better than the purple of Scourge. He's a bit more muted, the beard still looks amazing, and the big-eyed Decepticon symbol still looks kind of off. Fans of the cartoons and comics know that sometimes it doesn't look quite right, so I'm not going to fault Hasbro here. Articulation is superb, with a nearly perfect 20 meaningful points of articulation. For a figure of this size and price, he does pretty much everything I want, and I'd say the build quality is up there with the exceptional SS86 Hot Rod [FOTD #2,270] which still knocks my socks off. The Sweep and Scourge don't have quite as many gimmicks or accessories, but the plastic quality is tip-top and everything seems to more or less feel like it was given a lot of revision to get it right. I am having difficulty finding much to gripe about other than "the Sweep is the same as Scourge which is also nearly perfect."

It's amazing that with those big clawed hands with painted pink nails that he can hold a blaster, but he can, and it's perfect. The blaster is bluer now, and it's got a blast effect that looks pretty sharp - since those seem to be exiting the line, it makes me glad to see a good one. The only thing this figure seems to be missing is pink toes, and Scourge is as well. It's not the end of the world, but it's one nitpick of something the animation model has that I would have liked to see here, too. It's still pretty dang perfect otherwise.

Scourge and his Sweep pals have the same transformation - there's a lot of panel-shifting, but basically you break down a robot and cram it inside a shell made of his wings. It's satisfying, it's pretty easy, and the end results are good. (I needed the instructions as I forgot how it worked.) As big blue space boats go, it's not huge - but the size seems appropriate given the amount of mass in the robot.

The sace boat is great. It's sort of a sneaker, sort of a boat... the flourishes largely match the TV show from the 1980, with the lack of stripes on the front and a generally rounder appearance. The three nacelles are present, as is a big Decepticon symbol - and more detail than the original toy. The sticker detail is absent, so it's a pretty great update for fans who prefer the cartoon model with the toy colors.

Due to it being a space shoe, there's not much to do other than plug on his blaster or plug in a blast effect. You can also fold down some panels to make his face pop out in vehicle mode, which happened on the show.

Scourge and Sweep are functionally identical - Sweep is blue, Scourge is purple, but not as purple as Cyclonus. Sweep has an open right hand, while Scourge has an open left hand - but they look and transform the same. Neither is really superior, but if you want an excuse to buy a second one as an army-builder or really prefer the toy colors (Hasbro said the intent was to make Sweep closer to the original toy colors), get this one. They're both good, but you may not really need both. Getting this second one served as a reminder of just how great the toy and its transformation is, so ultimately I'm very happy to have them both and if I ever see a clearance Sweep (or Scourge) I'll probably buy just one more. But due to my age and the fact I have a 2016 Titans Return Scourge and a 2011 Generations Scourge... I don't think I want to see another one. We've achieved greatness. (But if they want to re-redo Blurr, OK, I'm all for it.)

We're very fortunate to live in a time where Hasbro and Takara-Tomy have the interest to make animation model-specific toys at non-frustrating levels of complexity and non-Masterpiece prices, but it does raise the bar in terms of what we expect from future new molds. The recent Kingdom Galvatron was fine... but not Scourge/Sweep-levels of fine. And since I have the pictures anyway, I'll probably finally whip up the Scourge review, which will be "see Sweep, but purpler."

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