The first year of Studio Series saw the core Autobot cast from Transformers right out the gate along with a healthy spread of figures from other films, including the concurrently released Bumblebee.
The earliest exclusives in Studio Series were hit hard by the bankruptcy of Toys"R"Us in several countries. Thundercracker was only available for a very short window at TRU, and only in store. Likewise, the Bumblebee/Charlie 2-pack was also intended for Toys"R"Us, but ultimately only released that way in Canada, which still had Toys"R"Us by the time it came out. Both releases were eventually made available through numerous online retailers such as BigBadToyStore, Entertainment Earth, ToyWiz, and TFSource.
The Bumblebee Then & Now Two-pack was exclusive to Target and BigBadToyStore in the United States and to Kmart in Australia. The Bumblebee Vol. 1 Retro Rock Garage set debuted at San Diego Comic-Con 2018 and was later also made available via Hasbro Toy Shop. The Bumblebee Vol. 2 Retro Pop Highway set appears to have been an "online exclusive" shared between the same retailers that offered Thundercracker and Bumblebee/Charlie. We say "appear" because the Retro Pop Highway set was also available at GameStop stores in the United States, and both sets were also listed in Diamond Comic Distributors' Previews catalog, so really the only "exclusivity" for these appears to be that neither of them is available from Walmart or Target.
Meanwhile, in Hasbro Asia markets: a special Bumblebee with battle damage deco was given away to customers who purchased at least 100 SGD of Studio Series and/or Power of the Primes products in Singaporean Toys"R"Us stores; and in China, the purchase of Studio Series products from Hasbro's official TaoBao online shop on May 15, 2018, entered buyers into a lucky draw with the chance of receiving one of 300 battle damaged Bumblebees or one of 88 Blackouts in camouflage deco.
Falling on the tenth anniversary of Revenge of the Fallen, the 2019 product saw a return of the film's starring combiners, Jetwing Optimus Prime and a hugely ambitious Devastator, which necessitated a release over two years.
As with the previous year's Vol. 2 Retro Pop Highway, the Drift and Baby Dinobots set was available from multiple online retailers. Battle Damaged Megatron was first found stocked by Hong Kong shops, long before it was available both online and in store at Toys"R"Us in Canada and Target in the U.S.
"As Seen In Parks" Megatron was officially exclusive to Universal Studios, but was released (almost a year after he had been officially revealed) in Hasbro's Asian markets first. Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the toy was ended up being released exclusively via online retailers in the U.S.
2020 ended up being, to date, the final year of the line to focus exclusively on the live-action film series with following years introducing other franchises to Studio Series. This year saw the completion of Revenge of the Fallen Devastator while Dark of the Moon received a lot of focus ahead of the film's 10th anniversary with toys for major players like Sentinel Prime and Shockwave. Finally, Megatron would receive a toy based on his 2007 design, completing that film's main Decepticon line-up after two years (well, except the tiny Frenzy).
2020 saw the release of Leadfoot at Target, the enormous Devastator box set at multiple retailers, and the beginnings of the Target exclusive Buzzworthy Bumblebee line in celebration of everybody's favourite little yellow Autobot. Toys in the latter line are earmarked by the addition of "BB" to their ID numbers.
For 2021's new product, Studio Series started to include characters from The Transformers: The Movie, in celebration of the film's 35th anniversary. These toys feature a separate numbering system in Hasbro markets that utilizes "86" before the number of the respective figure. The '86 figures follow the same style, scale and play pattern of those from the concurrent War for Cybertron Trilogy toyline, complete with blast effect compatibility and 5 mm ports that can support the C.O.M.B.A.T. System. The introduction of '86 figures unfortunately came at the expense of the live-action movie Dinobots who were put on the back burner in favor of the '86 Dinobots. Gnaw also makes the first non-Autobot or Decepticon entry in the toyline.
The Buzzworthy Bumblebee line further expanded in 2021 to include multi-packs. Target also received reissues of Battle Damaged Megatron and the Then & Now Two-Pack.
In 2022, Studio Series adopted the Core Class price point that debuted in the Kingdom toyline, producing both characters too small for Deluxe Class as well as pocket-sized versions of the main cast like in days of yore. Notably, unlike the larger figures in the line, the toys in the Core Class are not numbered.
2022 also saw the first shift in the line’s packaging design, conforming to Hasbro’s initiative to reduce packaging waste. Box sizes were slightly reduced, with plastic clamshells and windows phased out in favor of decorated cardboard backings and small open windows respectively. Leader Class figures switched to a completely closed box design. Core Classes do not have the display backdrops, but retain the new decorated cardboard backings.
2022 saw the first in a line of exclusives themed around NEST in the online exclusive N.E.S.T. Bumblebee, a new assortment of Buzzworthy Bumblebee Deluxes from Target, and a special commemorative multi-pack of Autobots for the 15th anniversary of Transformers available at Amazon.
In late 2022, a second wave of Buzzworthy Bumblebee Deluxes were briefly listed by the wholesaler NDA Toys, with accompanying stock renders, and seemed to fill the pair of conspicuous gaps in the Studio Series numbering system. A listing for a third wavemate was also discovered months later. Unfortunately, Target opted to cancel their release due to poor sales of the previous wave.[1] Hound was eventually released in 2024 for Generations Selects and Hatchet and Bumblebee in 2025 for the main Studio Series line.
Studio Series expanded in scope in 2023, not only with toys for Rise of the Beasts–the first new Transformers movie since the line's early days–but also into the world of the War for Cybertron video game. These "Gamer Edition" toys feature unique packaging and a separate numbering system that we've chosen to represent as beginning with a plus (+), though the actual toy packaging stylizes the symbol as a little D-pad. Neat! It also introduced the Commander Class range of figures from Siege, starting with Ultra Magnus, who was revealed at San Diego Comic Con 2023 by Flint Dille.
There were further releases in Buzzworthy Bumblebee this year, some of which continued the range of NEST-themed redecoes, and none of which were released in waves or regular assortments. Another Transformers 15th anniversary set, this time for most of the Decepticons, was available on Amazon.
2024 introduced figures marked as "Concept Art" releases–based on character designs created for films which ultimately did not appear in the finished product. Bumblebee, having left a variety of designs on the cutting room floor during its tumultuous post-production, was the primary source for this initial round of "Concept Art" releases. Figures from the unreleased Transformers: Reactivate game would also be added under the "Gamer Edition" banner, sharing its numbering system, while the long-running The Transformers: The Movie Dinobots lineup came to a close this year with Swoop.
Another addition for 2024 was the "A-Level" assortment, a concept being introduced across multiple Hasbro collector lines to distribute toys of high-profile, in-demand characters outside of the normal wave-based assortments, meaning they can remain available for retailers to order (and thus for fans to buy) for a longer period of time. The inaugural Studio Series A-Level Deluxe Class case was home to the first toy for the concurrent Transformers One film; taking advantage of the film's standalone nature, Hasbro chose to decrease the scale of its Studio Series toys for affordability, placing leaders Optimus Prime and Megatron in Deluxe rather than their more typical Voyager or Leader size classes.[2]
Leader Class figures would finally adopt the open-window packaging design of the other size classes this year, while thicker cardboard was used for all boxes aside from the Core Class.
With the Buzzworthy Bumblebee branding being rotated out of circulation, its signature Target-exclusive cartoon-style redecoes of War for Cybertron Trilogy toys were released in normal Studio Series packaging. Another Amazon "15th Anniversary" multipack was released, this time for Revenge of the Fallen. Similar to the first year of Studio Series, a limited amount of specially painted Optimus Primes were given to people who spent at least HKD$3000 at the Hasbro Hong Kong Fans Expo 2024. There were also Target exclusive reissues of 49 Bumblebee and 51 Soundwave.
Revenge of the Fallen 15th Anniversary Autobot Multipack
2025
Beginning with 2025's spring wave, the line's packaging was completely refreshed for the first time, notably seeing a return to plastic windows and the abandonment of the line's signature ID numbers and backdrop displays, on a new design in alignment with the concurrent Age of the Primes toyline.[3] In this vein, the unique "Gamer Edition" branding for video game-based toys was removed. Studio Series also began shifting from four waves per year to three, reducing the amount of repacked figures and allowing more time for each wave to stay on shelves. As part of these changes, 2025's initial winter wave served as a sort of stopgap offering, comprised of multiple package refreshes (including two previously cancelled Buzzworthy Bumblebee Deluxe figures!) and redecoes, functioning like an additional wave of 2024 product prior to the spring relaunch.[4] Tragically, the Core Class was discontinued.
2025 saw another combiner in The Transformers: The MovieDevastator. Learning from previous combiner releases, all six Constructicons were scheduled to be released within one calendar year to make them easier to collect. The toyline also saw the addition of the Transformers: Devastation video game, celebrating its tenth anniversary.
The "MTMTE Collection" is Target's new subline of exclusives in North America, replacing Buzzworthy Bumblebee. Overload's product description also labelled it as the "Power Collection." Amazon continued its trend of faction-based "15th anniversary" sets, though such branding has been omitted from this year's packaging. Similar to last year, the Hasbro Hong Kong Fans Expo 2025 saw another limited run of hand-painted Optimus Primes given out for for spending at least HKD$5000 at the booth.
This item is currently scheduled for release, but is not yet available at mass retail.
MTMTE Collection Deluxe/Voyager Classes
2026
2026 would finally see the introduction of Titan Class to Studio Series with a remake of Age of Extinction Grimlock after 8 years, along with a promise to actually finish this Dinobot team this time around after they'd fallen by the wayside. In a sort of trade, Studio Series getting the annual Titan release saw its usual Commander figure being moved to Age of the Primes to give it two figures in the price point.
In 2021, TakaraTomy decided to go back to its old ways and launched the short-lived Premium Finish toyline, featuring re-releases of some Studio Series figures with much more movie-accurate decoes. This line has its own numbering system, and, with the exception of the first Bumblebee, also notes the figure's movie of origin. Premium Finish was imported to western markets via Hasbro Pulse.
↑"Like United wave 5, this wave is somewhat of a last minute addition while being as cost effective as possible, it’s also why we haven’t seen the updated mainline packaging yet because it’s kind of considered a extension of the 2024 lineup."—Jtprime17, TFW2005, 2024/10/26
