Jazz

When Power of the Primes was announced as the end of the Prime Wars trilogy, I didn’t know what to think. But now that it’s here, I find myself more excited for it than I was for Titans Return & Combiner Wars. So, I’m on the hunt, and my first score is the latest rendition of the Autobot SPECOPS agent & saboteur, Jazz.

As a deluxe-class figure, he comes on a bubble card. Visually, the theme isn’t as cool as Titans Return in my opinion, but it’s still a great piece of part.

On the right side are molded symbols, representing twelve of the thirteen Primes. On the left is a teaser of the combiner Jazz is meant to be part of. All POTP deluxes can serve as combiner limbs.

amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "quibx-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_design = "enhanced_links"; amzn_assoc_asins = "B072KD9T3T"; amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "9006fffc5324ee090b55e9cb3c52a64e";

Though unconfirmed, this appears to be a new car team consisting of him, Elita One, and the rest of the original Generation One fembots: Chromia, Moonracer, & Firestar.

The back consists of the usual product shots & the one-sentence bio all figures in this line are relegated to.

Additional contents consist of excellent instructions that cover every mode and a trading card I’ll get to later.

As usual, Jazz has a Porsche alt-mode, but in a first, he seems to now be the 962-model used for F1/Le Mans racing from the mid-80’s to the mid-90’s.

From the front, we see half of Jazz’s deco in his classic racing livery: red & blue stripes, 4, and an Autobot symbol. In addition, there are panel lines, vents, and headlights.

On both sides are more racing graphics, engine detailing, and a bit of controversy. Someone went to the trouble of translating the Cybertronian characters underneath the Autobot symbol, and discovered they’re the acronym MAGA. Could be random coincidence, but some speculate it’s in reference to the phrase “Make America great again”.

Hasbro stated this was done without their knowledge and that they’ve altered the deco so future units won’t feature this. So, if you’re into bizarre variants, here you go. Back on track, I wish the hood was flusher with the body, but it’s not a big deal.

From behind, there’s even more sculpted detail, but it’s bare without paint.

In alt-mode, Jazz can mount both his accessories in several ways, so I opted for what the instructions showed. In addition, like all POTP deluxes, a Titan Master or Prime Master can ride in his Prime armor. Two more in robot mode can also peg onto his rear half.

Up close, it looks like an engine block or super booster, so it’s fitting.

For comparison, here he is between TR Metalhawk & CW Rook.

In robot mode, my first impression of Jazz is that he’s influenced by several previous toys or resembles them at least: Pretender Jazz, Alternators Jazz, & Animated Jazz. I can also see Robots in Disguise Jazz, but only in lack of paint. None of this is bad (except the paint part), just interesting. Regardless, I think the real intent is something akin to his current IDW design, something Hasbro seems to be moving more & more towards.

His mouth is subtle, but the face, visor, & helmet are super visible & bright.

From the sides & behind, there isn’t much new to see. It just becomes more obvious how he transforms. The arms flip out from the sides. The canopy lifts and repositions via hinge. This allows the hood to fold down as a chest plate, with the center piece folding down to brace against the body, creating the opening for the head. His rear half creates the legs CW-style, splitting into two pieces that fold open to release the upper legs, and then locking back together into forelegs. The feet fold down, and that’s it.

Up front is the major reveal, G1-styled forelegs. There’s also some additional details on the upper legs & forearms, but I couldn’t get a good picture of them.

Articulation is typical for his class. His arms hinge outward & rotate forward & back. His head tilts a bit but mainly rotates from side to side. He has wrist swivels, but they’re neutered by the arm plates below. His waist swivels, but is stifled by the back unless you pull it out some. He has ball-joint hips, thigh swivels just below, and knee hinges. And the feet can be unlocked for forward tilt, but there’s no support if you do so.

For weapons, he has a simplified version of his classic photon rifle. It’s on the flat & hollow side, but at least it’s symmetrical.

He can also rock his Prime armor by hand or mounting.

I mentioned before a Titan Master or Prime Master can ride in the armor. This is enabled by removing the translucent piece in the center. I don’t have any Prime Masters yet, so TR Thunderwing demonstrates.

This leads to the revelation that the translucent piece doubles as a second hand gun, and the nature of the Primes. Each Prime Master can imbue larger Transformers with their power, and each Transformer is affected by or uses those powers differently.

To that end, every figure in the line comes with one of twelve different cards (one for each Prime for each figure), each one describing how the character would use the power from a specific Prime. So, I’ve got “Vector Jazz”, who travels through time to experience all music. Sounds like Jazz to me. Good news for the completists, you can sort of tell what card each deluxe comes with at least by looking inside the bubble. If your vision’s good enough, you can make out the color or the Prime logo.

Also, you can attach the Prime armor to Jazz’s chest, which actually makes it armor.

For comparison, here’s Jazz with Metalhawk, Rook, and CW Sky Reign.

For a $15 toy, Jazz is nice. He’s a bit plain, but I suspect Reprolabels can fix that. If you’ve enjoyed Generations at any point, like combiners, or Jazz, this isn’t a bad toy to grab.