Intro:
Jetfire – this was definitely a figure, whose release had never been anticipated by anyone, especially after the wonderfully Classic Voyager Jetfire figure years ago, but after it was announced, everyone was eager for him to arrive.
Jetfire, a.k.a. Skyfire as he was known in the original G1 animated series, was unique in the sense that his G1 action figure was actually a mold from Bandai, originally used for the Macross series, or Robotech to most part of the world. Hence, both the Macross and Transformers action figures have identical gimmicks. However, as far as the animated series goes, the similarities are miles apart!
Anyways, now that I’ve finally managed to get hold of him, let’s not waste any more time and let’s get down straight to the reviews.
Alternate Mode:
The airplane mode is huge! The aircraft really stayed true to its original G1 action figure depiction. Maybe it’s just me, but the jet mode does remind me of the VF-1 Valkyrie – or rather the version used for the original G1 Jetfire.
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| Together with Classic Jetfire |
Of course, there are 2 ways to display the vehicle mode, either in its original form, with its jetpack and weapons.
The jetpack serves as a dual-blaster cannon mounted on a ratcheting turret. Apart from that, Jetfire also wields a pair of blaster underneath the wings; another pair of blasters below the aircraft; as well as one big blaster attached under the cockpit. So just like the Classic Jetfire, this Jetfire is seriously armed to the teeth!
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| Rotatable Turret |
That’s not all folks – the cockpit can also open to reveal a quite detailed interior, complete with 2 seats for any potential pilots.
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| Weapons deployed |
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| Cockpit opens |
The undercarriage isn’t really that clean – kibbles are way too obvious. Then again, I guess there’s nothing much you can do about it. Any Transformers with jet mode as alternate modes tend to suffer from the same issue.
Also, if you’re wondering if the Gerwalk mode is applicable – well, as far as I could tell, there’s no way to transform him to that mode, due to its transformation methods.
Still, overall, I think the jet mode looks and feels great.
Robot Mode:
The transformation sequence isn’t exactly that difficult, to the point that you might not even need the instruction manual for the first go.
From left: without and with the mask
The head sculpt is kind of unique. Unlike the Classic Jetfire, where he also comes with a helmet to evoke his original G1 action figure look, Leader Jetfire comes with a mask instead, which is kinda unique.
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| With the mask on |
The actual head sculpt itself is very similar to his animated series depiction. The robot mode also looks huge, although not quite as huge as the older generation of Leader Class figures.
Articulation-wise: the head is on a swivel and a rotating joint; the shoulders are on a combination of ratcheting vertical rotating joints, shoulder swivels and horizontal rotating joints; the elbows are on very tight ratcheting joints; the hips are on tight ratcheting universal joints; the legs rotate slightly below the hips; soft ratcheting knees that bend as if they are double-jointed; and finally the feet tilt down and back up – due to transformational joint.
The basic points of articulation are all there, but I’m kind of disappointed that they did not incorporate the simple wrist joints! I don’t mind that they did not incorporate a waist joint, cuz that would be difficult to do so.
Despite being an Autobot, Jetfire is armed to the brim! Get a load of this: he has a handheld blaster, a pair of arm-mounted cannons, a pair of leg-mounted cannons, as well as a Jetpack cannon. Seeing as how the shooting angle of the leg-mounted cannons is a bit awkward, you can actually detach them and mount it together with the existing arm-mounted cannons.
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| From left: Generations Leader-class Jetfire and Classic Voyager-class Jetfire |
The robot mode is quite proportionate is size. The feet, however, is quite huge, especially the heels, as they are needed to keep the back-heavy Jetfire rooted on his feet.
Overall, the robot mode is a slight improvement of the Classic line Jetfire, which already a great figure itself. I think it has better proportions, and definitely deals better with the back heaviness of the figure.
Overall:
Honestly, after the success of the Classic Jetfire, I never thought that there’d be another attempt on this character. All in all, I think Leader Class Jetfire is a good update of the character. I just wished that this version could at least be as hefty as a Leader class figure should be, that would’ve made it perfect.
Recommended.
Final verdict: 8.5/10.
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