| 01.17.2020 – The live action Transformers films have produced five main movies and a spinoff from the success of Bumblebee. It built interest to attract a huge fandom, but to be honest; the only significant live action film I remember was the 2007 introduction and the later mentioned spinoff from 2018.
While the rest of the follow-up films from 2007 are forgettable, but the toys and merchandise that came with it wasn’t all that bad. The fifth film Transformers: Last Knight was Michael Bay’s swan song although making a lot of money at the box office it had mixed reactions from the press and the fans alike. Considering the last movie would produce some interesting toys namely a character named Cogman. |
Rarely I would be interested in the films as the last time I ever had a character based from the live action films was actually Drift, which Hasbro produced two versions of the character since he was actually a triple changer shifting from an exotic supercar to a helicopter appearing in Transformers: Age of Extinction.
That was my last Transformers action figure from the live action film until Bumblebee (2018) came out in North America, which was delayed being shown in the Philippines due to the annual MMFF (Metro Manila Film Festival) temporarily banning foreign films to support the locally produced movies.
Personally, I haven’t entirely seen Transformers: The Last Knight as a film directed by Michael Bay it was challenging to get through three hours of robotic chaos given that there’s a story. But for it’s entirely the film is all about robots bashing their brains out without the narrative substances that the very film ever had. Like the old classic cartoon it was a very long toy commercial in the big screen.
The Last Knight had a similar length of screen time, but this one was the most difficult to sit through as most who have seen it. I have been a fan of the franchise growing up and my focus has just shifted instead to the modernize version of the toys produced based from the classic Generation One characters.
Although this film has become forgettable the toys wasn’t easy to forget when Hasbro and Takara Tomy decided to streamline the Movie Series of action figures under the Studio Series range with some of them getting brand new sculpting and retooling of memorable robots in disguise. But my interest in this realm of Transformers has been very much selective since Bumblebee was that first figure I had picked up sometime in November 2018 until I came across the character named Cogman.
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The name is Man, Cogman
In The Last Knight, Cogman is Sir Edmund Burton’s pseudo Robot Butler and based on the information of the character was a ‘Headmaster’ which was not revealed onscreen regarding that ability although the original release of the toy under TLK range of action figures Cogman came with his robot body.
This same figure was re-released under the Studio Series designated number 39 with a repaint in silver updating it as a premium release just like Bumblebee in window type packaging. It was never released in the Philippines only making it to selected few specialty stores, the same with the Studio Series as I never saw it make it to retail.
Knight in Cogman Armor
Cogman is a Titan Master as his head is compatible to other Titan Master figure Deluxe, Voyager and Leader Class assortment revealing his ‘True Form’ based in the films as considered a “transtector” an original term used in the Japanese Transformers series (referred also by the design team).
The design of his robot mode takes inspiration from the character in the films having elements of medieval knights in armor. What caught my attention was this character being a Titan Master and I was immediately sold, but never saw its original release while living in Adelaide as toy shelves in Australia is not as abundance compared how the Philippines are getting them in their toy shelves.
The only accessory he had is the Talisman now painted in silver aside from the hilt, which is modelled after Cade Yeager’s (portrayed by Mark Wahlberg) sword. The overall aesthetics of this figure was well detailed and slightly better than the original release with cleaner look than the previous version.
Nineteen Steps of DB11
Transformation from robot to vehicle mode takes you nineteen steps based on the instructions with the use of tabs and unfolding the back part of the robot to become the front, roof, and rear part of the car. It’s not that difficult just be careful with the process and steps transforming Cogman into his vehicle form.
The intricate details and the steps on the instructions manual is not the difficult to understand. For the usual Transformers fan manuals are just reference guides as being considered a puzzle type of toy its where the challenge you’ll find in this figure.
Aston Martin Grand Tourer
Based on the licenced car from Aston Martin, the DB11 is grand tourer collaboration with Daimler AG in designing this super car. Whenever you think of Aston Martin it is tied to the James Bond films and since Cogman appeared on The Last Knight having a British accent you can’t stop connecting and making a reference with the two iconic popular culture franchises.
The toy version lets you have the Cogman Titan Master have a go in the driver seat however the peg that attaches the diminutive figure doesn’t properly lock it in place. Unlike the other larger Titan Master figures this one can let you have two of them seated and you can see Cogman on the wheel.
The top roof opens up like the classic pre-Transformers toys from Microchange Diaclone having small drivers; the car doesn’t open the doors but rather let you have the Titan Master hop on when you open the roof.
Final Thoughts…
Overall, Cogman was definitely an impressive standout in the Studio Series if you’re a picky collector like me. I don’t really collect the entire series and Cogman just happens to be the second figure aside from Bumblebee that caught my attention.
“Cogman” Studio Series 39 a Deluxe Class figure that appeared from Transformers: The Last Knight from Hasbro and Takara Tomy, which was acquired at Babes Children’s World in Virra Mall Greenhills in San Juan as part of their Sale Promo for ₱ 1,200.00 Pesos ($ 34.50 AUD | $ 23.81 USD**).
Original Price point | ₱ 1,400.00 Philippine Peso | $40.25 Australian Dollar** | $23.81 US Dollar**
**- Currency Converter via Google.com
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