Jack Black is one of those characters that makes for a filler part of a Transformers wishlist considering how insignificant he is. He is a Micromaster and may have had an homage or two, but that doesn't mean he's a particularly interesting guy. The Combiner Wars line did give him a bit of a purpose beyond including him in the Siege line, as he now possesses the role of being Menasor's bra. Yes. In all seriousness, while he may not be a traditional Micromaster, he's at least given an upgrade as a Legends partner this time around and is not screwing around when he's with the Stunticons. Now let's see how his figure turned out after not owning one until December 2020.
Here is Blackjack in hand. He turns into a vehicle that looks mostly good if it weren't for the hinges in the front and the way the spoiler has the peg. Of course, it's a Legends figure with required aesthetic compromises, but it does look weird. That being said, the rest of the design is kind of neat and does harken to Deluxe Class Dead End. The deco is pretty decent as it consists of golden windows, some bits of purple, the silver headlights, and the Decepticon insignia, though it's sparse overall. I guess it only needs some silver for the rims, and that'd be all I can ask for.
In general, it is a nice car design for what it can pull off, though it might use a tiny bit of sprucing up to give it an extra layer of life.
Transformation is very unique from what I have seen with a Carformer, as most of the front becomes the back, the rear window becomes the chest, the arms are made from the sides of the car, and it sort of reminds me of the way Drift transforms in his first Generations figure. I will say that the chest and the back don't really tab in anywhere, which is pretty annoying as it leaves some gaps on the side and might be a little less secure than I'd like. As for the way the legs detach from each other, it feels weird since it gives off the feeling of them being torn off or having a slightly gummy, cheap feel compared to some of the Legends figures. The resulting robot mode is kind of cool, and it makes for a unique way to have Hasbro mix things up with the design traits as they come up with something somewhat new. The back does look kind of like a chunk of kibble, the chest sticks out and has a gap from the side, and the legs are definitely hollow. I do find the feet funny as far as them looking like hooves from the front and the heels being small, but it is okay. There is more coloring revealed, with the purple on the stomach, forearms, thighs, and feet revealed as well as the gold on the knees and biceps.
Head sculpt is pretty generic, but it does add more purple and gold with a blue visor.....which might be a little out of place for a Decepticon but who cares; it's not a big deal for a nobody like Blackjack. His articulation, on the other hand, is not too shabby, with ball joints used on every point of him that moves except for the elbow swivels and the hinges; this means his head, shoulders, hips, and knees are able to pose on ball joints with no problem. He also has his little ax, which he holds pretty decently and works well with it.
As far as reuses go, we have the two characters who may have been intended for this mold; one of them is Adventure Runamuck, who is an entirely white version of the character that'd look kind of like a ghostly toy if it weren't for the small bits of orange and the many, many Decepticon insignias on him; one of them is a sticker used for the Japanese version of the Hasbro Robots in Disguise 2015 gimmick of toys that come with these scannable emblem stickers.
And this is Runabout, the black repaint of the mold that has some nicer deco choices with the darker black shade, slick red windows, and a gray midriff with thighs to boot. Beyond that, he's got the same deco layout that Runamuck has. I have a feeling this would have been what fans would obtain for a CHUG Battlecharger duo if they didn't want Blackjack and didn't get the Generations Wheeljack retool until the Earthrise line popped up.
And finally, for an Autobot reuse, this is Rodimus! He is given a new head and a deco that mostly sells off that Rodimus feel apart from the missing rim coloding. Part of me is reminded of Classics Rodimus with the flame deco and the shade of red, but his spoiler should be yellow rather than orange (ironically, all of the stock photos had his orange parts as yellow). While he might be a little too weird next to the Deluxe Autobots, he is at least a neat novelty for anyone who has Generations Selects Star Convoy.
For a size comparison, here he is in-between a small Deluxe in the form of the Netflix WFC Bumblebee figure and the Titans Return Autobot Clone named Fastlane. You can see how small Blackjack is compared to the two Autobots, what with the aspect of his figure requiring it makes room for the Combiners and how he's slightly more complex than Fastlane is. But that being said, I think Blackjack is a decent but not particularly good toy; mainly comes from the way the figure holds together and the feel of it, but if you like small Transformers, want to give Menasor a chest, and want to have more Decepticons, you can't really go wrong.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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