By Loran
Like I said the reviews for Icepick and Thunderhead, I couldn’t get into Transformers Human Alliance originally because it was all characters I already had. Buying the same character more than once just bores me unless it’s some super-duper upgrade or something. But one of them caught my eye; probably because of how lame his Deluxe figure was. That figure was Jazz. The moment I set eyes on him, I knew I had to have him, because well, we still haven’t gotten a good Deluxe of him and I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Does the Human Alliance figure make a decent substitute? You’re damn right he does, scale be damned.
Ah, licensed alt-modes, how I love thee. I like it when my Transformers turn into actually things, branding and all. The Pontiac Solstice was an odd choice for Jazz, but it’s a nice looking car. I was initially turned off by the silver when his first figures came out and tried to pursue the G1 colored version, but when I never found it, I just settled for the Premium. Like the other HA cars, he has opening doors and a detailed-enough interior. Unfortunately some of the panels have a bit of a hard time staying together in this mode.
Jazz has one HELL of a transformation. It’s not Alternators-level of frustration, but it’s certainly above the standard for movie figures. I actually spent a bit of time scratching my head over what became what. Sometimes I like a challenge with my Transformers!
His robot mode is… yeah. This is what Jazz should be. While his hips are a bit far apart, he’s nice and slender, not overly stumpy like his figure from the first movie. He manages to get the “split-up” chest pretty accurately, even though it looks kind of like Johnny Five (now you can’t unsee it). I especially like the hands and the way the arms are made from the doors—much better than the original’s stupid panel arms.
Unfortunately he ends up with a case of serious car-backpack. It’s not as bad as Sideswipe but it’s still really noticeable.
Jazz’s head is probably one of the more detailed heads I’ve seen recently. It is, again, much more accurate than the Deluxe head. Not only is it more detailed, but his visor retracts! I… don’t actually remember that happening in the movie, but cool! …I think I’ll keep it down.
The articulation department has a few issues thanks to his design. No waist joint (so you can’t rip him in half like Megatron did) and his ankles are… kind of far down. His arms need to be put into a weird position to actually bend. These might seem major but they don’t take away from the whole figure. He even has some heel spurs for additional support! Yay for standing!
Captain Lennox joins Jazz for the ride. When I heard about the Human Alliance series, I was really hoping for an Ironhide with Lennox, maybe made close to Leader size. I recall an interview with Josh Duhammel where he said he loved Ironhide, hence the scene at the end of the first movie with Ironhide driving him home. Sadly, that never came to be. And well… this figure isn’t so hot either. It just doesn’t LOOK like him in the slightest. The body sculpt is neat enough, but the head is just weird. It doesn’t even have the right hair color! And those eyes… so lifeless…
He does come with a motorcycle for a little bonus of sorts, referencing the scene in the first movie where he took out Blackout. It also converts into a gun for Jazz, resembling the gun he used in the film. It’s really cool, and actually has a missile. Lennox can ride on this or Jazz’s foot (which looks stupid) or on his shoulder (which looks awesome).
Despite only being in-scale with the other Human Alliance figures, this is pretty much the definitive Movie Jazz figure out there right now. He comes highly recommended, and you can just throw scale out the window for this awesome toy. Look for him at FPNYC, and make Bumblebee the smallest Autobot once again!
