Hasbro Transformers Studio Series 86 Voyager Autobot Blaster & Eject Action Figure Hasbro, 2025
Day #2,957: December 30, 2025
Autobot Blaster & Eject Target Exclusive, Fan Channel Rerun
Transformers Studio Series 86 Voyager
Item No.: No. F9654 Manufacturer:Hasbro Includes:Electo Scrambler and Eject sidekick Action Feature:Transforms from boombox and tape to robots Retail:$34.99 Availability: March 2024 (and again October 2025) Other: You snooze, for once you don't lose
Despite being a Target exclusive, I first saw Autobot Blaster & Eject in 2024 at a Zia Records at slightly lower than retail. Was it stolen goods? I can't prove that, and I very rarely saw it at Target. By the time I decided to get it, it was gone. I waited because Kingdom/Legacy Blaster [FOTD #2,429] was a figure I already had, and I didn't want to shell out $35 for a tape redeco and a close-enough-for-jazz Blaster. But then I asked about getting it reissued, and it happened, so I bought it. Skip me twice, shame on me.
The original toy was released in two different boxes - it was good enough, and a tail-ender. The sculpt was very good, but it was more or less toy-flavored with silver highlights and a clear window. This version gives it cartoon colors, giving you one of at least seven toy molds to make the transition from "Classics/Generations/Universe/Whatever" to Studio Series. This one was probably the most sensible given how the sculpted chest door and the red dots above the toes and everything else just matches up so perfectly.
This year's Voyagers have run a little small in Studio Series 86, so it's nice that Blaster stands about 6 3/4-inches tall. That's big these days, and he has all the articulation you can reasonably expect from a boombox. The wrists don't swivel, but you get a nicely sculpted right hand that can almost push his eject buttons. The arms have the generally accepted articulation, and the legs have a great range of movement complete with tilting ankles nobody needs, but fans demand, and are theoretically happy to keep paying extra for as prices go up. The robot's decoration is superb, with nice paint highlighting animation cel-specific chest details like a darker grey line in a sea of light gray or the pale white face with blue eyes. His little red foot dots are above his feet, and the two shades of gray very closely mimic the cel colors with just a hint of exaggeration so you can see the difference. The joints are nice and stiff, giving you the ability to pose this guy almost any way you could want. I'd say "Hasbro can't top this" but they keep proving they'll find a way. I would love the elegant simplicity of the simple 1985 transformation again, but I assume that may be difficult with modern articulation expectations.
This is a mold that holds up very well. The Voyager-class Blaster mold debuted in 2021, but it compares favorably to 2025 Leader-class Megatron ($60) and 2024 Commander-class Optimus Prime (about $90.) Blaster has non-articulated fingers, and is a head shorter, but otherwise seems about on par with the other leader bots. Each added part and feature adds to the cost, and Blaster is a shining example of delivering an excellent figure that pulls out most of the stops - but not all the stops - and delivering the best possible experience on a reasonable budget. Would it be worth paying $60-$90 for the best-possible version? Some fans will say yes, I say no. This is good enough. We'll see a better one some day, no doubt, but I assume the improvements will be incremental.
Eject looks as good as this mold can with opaque paint. There are no accesories, but at least the colors look good and the face is pretty close to some of his on-screen appearances. It's not perfect, but it's tiny. There are limits. At this size, it's an improvement over the clear Eject from 2022 and I think more than a few fans buy this set just for the improved tape. And, again, I expect Hasbro will find a way to improve him yet again like we saw with Frenzy and Rumble. They can't help it.
Transformation is more complex than G1, but reasonably simple. There are more things to rotate and twist, with the area under the cassette buttons now twisting to the back and shin speakers that rotate away in boombox mode. Eject twists into a little box you can pretend looks like a cassette. It's fine. It's challenging to execute well at this size and price.
The audio modes are pretty good too. Elements like the bars over the speakers are a little silly, but otherwise they do a nice job taking an existing toy and giving it animation colors. It's a good mold for the boombox (and tape) but short on Easter Eggs. Eject is now opaque blue with thick white painted gloves, which show signs of chipping before you remove it from the box. It's likely as good as we're going to get for a while. Blaster is painted largely perfectly, with a crisp Autobot logo on a painted yellow door with molded grey "window" with very 1980s-looking horizontal lines. I don't think they could have improved on it without retooling anything, and even then, there's not much you can do other than maybe painting a couple of yellow lights and removing the bars. Hasbro did a good job, and managed to deliver it at a reasonable price while price increases were happening. It's not big like the original toy, but I don't think an upsize is something that reasonably going to happen... unless Masterpiece ever did one, and clearly, Takara-Tomy has no interest after 20 years.
Hasbro has done better humanoid tapes with Rumble and Frenzy, but those were $10-$12 a pop and you can do more when you add money to the equation. Cramming this guy in with Blaster as an extra, I can't complain about the level of detail or the overall quality.
At $35 you get your money's worth. Blaster is a big robot with a nice blaster, and his little friend could use an accessory - but he is the accessory. I don't know if I'm going to keep both versions around forever (I wound up selling "Netflix" Soundwave after the Legacy redeco) but they're distinct enough to be interesting. Especially to tape collectors. I look forward to comparing this to the new upcoming Soundwave, which seems to have mostly addressed things like gaps in the arms and articulated fingers and wrist swivels. (Also, is $25 more. Is it worth the upcharge? We'll find out.)
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