This wasn't on my radar originally, but BBTS was having a clearance sale and this set was half off. And, of course, the wife loves it when I spend Even More Money on plastic robots, so why not?

This is an upgrade kit that includes parts meant for Studio Series '86 Hot Rod, Studio Series '86 Jazz, and Studio Series '86 Kup. It comes with 22 parts, all told, and at the price I paid it was less than a dollar per part.

The Hot Rod pieces are the most straightforward—you get a fishing pole for Hot Rod to use, complete with soft goods string, as well as a fish that you can either tie to the end of the string or use separately (it's a whopper, all right, measuring at one whole inch in length). There's also a Danny Witwicky figurine, permanently in a sitting pose, holding a fishing pole of his own. If he could stand up, he'd probably be about 2.5" in height, and he seems too large to scale to any neo-G1 toys. But, he's cute enough. They went with the Studio Series Exo-Suit Spike approach to his deco, and didn't paint his eyes. His outfit is entirely white with light blue boots. He could use some color on the collar.

Finally, you get a rock for both characters to sit on. Danny has a peg hole to work with the corresponding peg on the rock, and Hot Rod's pelvis plugs into a rectangular spot on the rock. Now, it's true that Masterpiece Hot Rod beat them to the punch since he already came with a fishing pole, but if you collect neo-G1 but not Masterpiece, this accessory is a neat idea.

The Kup parts are a bit more involved. Basically, they take advantage of the toy's ability to come apart at the arms and legs so you can more authentically depict the moment when Kup is dismantled in The Transformers: the Movie. There are rings that slip over the pegs that depict exposed wiring, and plugs you can stick into the peg-holes that also show exposed gears and components. They can even store on his undercarriage in vehicle mode, which is a great touch. There are, additionally, two pools of yellow liquid, representing how Danny has peed himself after witnessing the horror of Kup's dismemberment. No, wait. It's probably oil or something. Obviously, the parts work with Kupworthy Kup as well.

Finally, there are some fun parts for Jazz. He's got gap fillers for his legs and covers for his forearms, which are not strictly necessary but still cool. He's also got a grappling winch extension that fits on his wrist (as seen in the "More Than Meets the Eye" pilot episode), and a real reel that really reels. Really! A grapplihg hook is included and needs to be tied to the end of the string. It can also store in vehicle mode as well. Finally, he's got some awesome speakers that can be plugged into the back of his car mode, using the holes in the bottoms of his feet (representing the speakers he used in "Attack of the Autobots"). There are separate, removable parts that are meant for use as robot-mode speakers, which can plug into his hips (as depicted in "Dinobot Island" part 2).

These were all elements that I felt were badly-needed and missing from Reveal the Shield Jazz, years ago, and I did some work to try to build something for him (I know I used some LEGO parts, but I forget exactly what I ended up doing). It's awesome that they designed these parts, because it goes a long way towards making the Studio Series Jazz toy a bit more fun.

There are also two replacement fists meant for SS-72, a Starscream toy from the Michael Bay films. I don't own that one. I'm sure there are others toys the fists are compatible with, though.

At forty dollars, this set would have been a bit pricy, and I don't know if I would have nibbled. Probably not, realistically, since none of it is absolutely vital to complete any of the toys. At $20, though, it was a no-brainer.

Zob (doesn't have a box specifically for Studio Series, so I couldn't remember where these toys were for a minute)