No rambling here, just gonna cut right to it...
FBJazz:
Vehicle mode: looks almost identical to his original counterpart, although all of his plastics are at least one to two shades lighter than the original Jazz.
Robot mode: great detail on the battle damage, Autobot insignia is now all black instead of a faint silver like the original's.
Pros:
Arms have been fixed so they transform the forearms as they were supposed to. (shortened the black connectors that hold the hood to the fender, so the arm just folds, right into place.)
Weapon is much nicer than the crappy original... gun/sword whatever thingy that is...
Cons:
Loose, loose, loose. His legs don't want to hold up under his weight, they literally start to slide and collapse.
Doesn't hold together in vehicle mode as well as his predecessor. In fact, you literally bump it, and his entire leg assembly will swing down and forward like you would for robot mode. *insert rolling eyes emoticon here*
Overall:
This is a completist only figure. The casual collector will not be amused, and he/she will most certainly be disappointed with how crappy this one turned out. (Pathetic.) His weapon being movie accurate is not enough to warrant a purchase of this figure, period. It most certainly doesn't warrant a second purchase, especially when this is so subpar.
In fact, I bought him so I could put the arms on my original and swap weapons. Problem is, he sucks so bad imo...it's not worth it. As soon as this post is finished, I'm heading to Wal-Mart to return him. Ugh. Yes. He's that bad.
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Payload:
Vehicle mode: The first ever armored truck TransFormer. That alone makes him very cool, especially with all of the detail.
Robot mode: To quote the MMPR's immortal Alpha-5..."Ai, yi, yi...." Where do I begin? Highly detailed, extremely floppy, and his head detaches. (Yes, you read that right, his HEAD detaches....constantly. It's irritating!)
Pros: The detailing. They put a lot of work into his design, and the minute details. He really does look like your average Armored Truck. It's such a neat design, it really is.
The posability. Unfortunately his head isn't on a ball joint, therefore he cannot look up or down, but he can turn his head left or right. His arms have full range... Shoulders: Front to back, left to right, including a bicep swivel. Forearms: Elbows have forward and backward motion, even has ball jointed wrists! Waist: Full 360.... Knees: Front to back, no side to side. Feet: Ankles move up and down. Once you see him in person, along with his transformation (which is top notch btw...) you'll understand why some sacrifices had to be made.
The transformation. One of the best, aside from a few cons that I'll mention here in a moment, but beyond that...his transformation is quite satisfying.
1.) Pull roof up and backwards away from body.
2.) Pull fenders/arms down, and swing back towards the sides.
3.) Pull nose of cab/feet and leg assembly up and away from body, rotate 180 degrees.
4.) Push in panels hidden behind the grill to create tops of feet, pull feet into position, and pull legs apart from one another.
5.) Turn upright, split roof into two halves, fold them down into wings, fold roof down on the inside of wings.
6.) Push head/chest/wing assembly back on it's sliding mechanism, push assembly down and lock into place.
7.) Open forearm panels, swing hands out, close panels.
And you're done. Might sound like there's nothing to it, and while it's not difficult, it's still enough of a challenge to be satisfying.
Cons:
Did I mention...HIS FRIGGIN' HEAD FALLS OFF?! Oh yes, yes I did. Well, I'll re-iterate. HIS FRIGGIN' HEAD FALLS OFF, MAN!
I thought I broke him, right out of the box, then I realized...his head has pegs for anchors, but none of them lock. I'm going to have to superglue his entire head piece down and hope it holds. (Ridiculous measure btw...shouldn't have to.)
Floppy, floppy, floppy. His knees and waist are weakened, and he will droop like a rag doll ir not supported in the right spots. However, once you get him in a pose you like, and you hold it tight...he'll stay that way.
Transformation. ....you have to remove the headlight assembly to pull him apart and put him back together! WTF?! Why do I have to disassemble him in two areas just to make the transformation sequence work? (Am I missing something here? How ridiculous!)
Automorph. Oh wait, doesn't exist. (This is a bit of a piss off, I was hoping he'd have one. I loooove Automorph, damnit!)
Gimmick. Oh yes, this does exist, but no Automorph. To the designers of this particular piece, I have but one thing to say: Smooth move, Ex-Lax. This is by far one of *THE* most ridiculous gimmicks I've ever seen! IT"S A GIANT FRIGGIN' ROD STICKIN' OUT HIS BACK! What does it do, you might ask? Well I'm glad you did (and even if you didn't, tough luck, siddown and shaddap.) When you push on the headlight assembly (which is prone to falling off!) the spring compresses, and it pushes out a gigantic claw from his midsection. All in one motion the claw protrudes, the clamps swing into place and he makes a quick grabbing motion. Let go of the "button" and the claw automatically closes itself up and the entire thing crawls back into his abdomen. Whoopity friggin' doo!
Overall: If you had to choose between this guy and FBJazz...pick Payload. (Yeah, this rendition of Jazz is that sucktabular. For shame.) His transformation (aside from two nuisances) is one of the better ones for a Deluxe Class figure, he's got loads of detail, and his posability is quite good, all things considered. I can't say I'd exactly recommend him for the casual collector, but completists will definitely need to get this guy, and kids will love him to pieces. Especially the claw. At $10.00, not a terrible dent in the wallet, and you might not even get a case of Buyer's Remorse.
Final Battle Jazz:
Payload:
NOTE: I made the half face logo, for .5 ratings. Feel free to use it. As crappy as it is.
NOTE: Realize that I am not a perfect Christian, nor do I profess to be. I apologize if anyone's ever offended by me, I'm not perfect. Don't hold my posts and opinions against other Christians.
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