Transformers 2007 Premium Series Jazz review

As we get a year closer to the 20th anniversary of the 2007 Transformers movie, I have been revisiting some older toys in addition to taking a look at some figures based on some of the later films (especially for the 15th anniversary of DOTM). And of course, I decided to go back and continue what I intended back in late 2024/early 2025 with collecting the Premium Series repaints. Like all of the 2007 Autobots, Jazz got this treatment given he would need to have his silver coat of paint done justice. It's strange that the first version didn't have this treatment, but they rectified it with Deluxe Sideswipes since then (until DOTM), so let's see if the original Deluxe Jazz holds up for today's standards!

Here we have Jazz in his Pontiac Solstice mode, being a very accurate representation of the altmode he took in the movie while also being surprisingly hefty for a toy of this size. I bet he has similar dimensions to the Masterpiece Movie version, with both only being slightly smaller than the Human Alliance version. As with a lot of figures from this era, the vehicle mode gets more of a priority to make it as faithful to the actual model as Hasbro could get it to be. It's a similar situation with the Alternators, though not overly focused on one mode in which you'll realize when we get to the robot. The silver paint on this looks gorgeous, and I'm happy that he isn't missing the circular trim for the rims. The other paint apps for the grille and headlights are also kept intact, or at least altered slightly to match the real world car. The windows being kept in the same shade of blue is a bit odd since one would expect him to have colorless or black clear plastic instead. Either way, this is a nostalgic yet good representation of the altmode, even if the size almost makes the proportion feels a bit broader. It's a weird way of explaining it.

The weapon can slot into the spoiler if you want to go for an attack mode, but considering that this thing is coated in silver paint, be very careful if you want to keep this pristine. And yes, we still have the inaccurate one instead of the proper crescent cannon. More info for the mold history!

Transformation is pretty simple for a Deluxe figure, with the front end becoming both the chest and the arms while the top becomes the back and the rear becomes the legs. Pretty standard yet manages to capture the Jazz philosophy pretty decently. The only issue is that the proportions are somewhat off from the CG model; the hands are barely visible compared to the flappy forearms, the upper body is far too broad (even if it tries to deform to match the movie), and the doors are fused onto the legs like weird skirt armor. Other than that, at least he has the broad strokes right in terms of matching the movie. They hadn't been used to designing Bayverse figures at the time, but this isn't a bad stab. It is kind of funny that there are faux wheels near the ankles while the actual rear wheels are placed on the backs of the legs. Not as ridiculous as the two visible front ends in the Legends version of Jazz!

Head sculpt is pretty close to the CG model, but once again, the blue visor is inaccurate (on top of not having eyes sculpted underneath) while the mouth area is a lot harder to decipher given the size and reference to outdated concept art. Articulation consists of a ball jointed head, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, seemingly double jointed elbows that only go 90 degrees, ball jointed hips, swivels below the knees, 45 degree knees, and slight ankle hinges due to transformation. The hindered range is the worst part of the figure, especially compared to other Deluxes from the time. As for the lack of bicep swivels, once again it's a weird thing he has them, but then again, neither does Stockade. His inaccurate weapon can peg within either forearm after opening it up somewhat so it can also double as a telescoping sword. As for the rear kibble, it can double as a shield on the shoulder, which is clunky but at least he won't die as quickly as G1 Brawn did.

For a little bit of movie accuracy, you can tab the rear of the altmode onto the cannon to loosely recreate the Crescent Cannon. It's not 1:1, obviously, but at least it gives the vague shape. Personally, I stick with leaving it in the back where it should be. Oh, and while you can technically recreate the death of Jazz by detaching him in half, what I did instead is give him a car Gerwalk mode (Carwalk?), all for shits and giggles.

The first version of the mold had fewer paint apps and was in drab grey plastic. The functionality is the same, it's just that we get a more basic release get it should be easier to withstand lots of play from kids growing up at the time. He was also available in a few gift sets, usually included with the Decepticon Punk known as Brawl along with either Protoform Optimus Prime or Bonecrusher.

The G1 color version is perfect for a character homage like this, and it's the best stab at recreating an 80s deco compared to the other characters. Also helping is that Jazz's designs in both continuities are pretty close for the most part. 

Final Battle Jazz retools the mold to give him the damage he sustained in the movie, with the other new addition being a cannon seemingly closer to the Crescent Cannon from the movie. The vehicle mode is only different from the slightly greener hue of the clear blue plastic.

The Allspark Power version is basically the original release with blue highlights. I used to have the other repaints of this Target exclusive wave (Barricade, Bumblebee, and Brawl), but not Jazz.

For Dark of the Moon, another Target exclusive puts him in translucent dark grey with black Cyberglyphics painted even darker. This could have been a cool reuse of the mold if not for how unfinished the bot mode looks compared to the car. At least the bronze on the weapon is new.

The final use of the mold we got was for Movie the Best, which combines the tooling of the Final Battle version with the original. While the deco for the car is close to the Premium Series version (with the greener windows from Final Battle), the robot mode parts seem to be unpainted grey plastic like on the regular release. At least he has the accurate cannon.

Between the first movie and Dark of the Moon, Revenge of the Fallen had its own slice of Jazz, albeit as a repaint known as Smokescreen. Not G1 accurate but when you have a bit of an urban rally look, who cares? He could use a bit more color break up in bot mode though.

And for the triple Jazz effect, here he is with MPM and Studio Series. Makes me wish I can get the Human Alliance version, maybe someday. Scale wise, he manages to dwarf the more recent Deluxe by a head (by recent, mostly nearly a decade old). He is also a head shorter than the MPM so maybe scale would be better with those figures? As for Premium Series Jazz himself, he's limited in articulation and has a few proportion oddities, but I think he turned out better than I thought he would have. It's interesting to see how much retrospect and the current climate of TFs for the mainline can change the way people look back on the old movie toys. I bet there were either reviewers who were either saying the toy was fine when he first came out or were bitching about him not being like his G1 self and only reluctantly liking the G1 repaint just for the paint job. Nowadays, with the way movie tie-ins have grown smaller since Age of Extinction, on top of the priority on making toys for little kids more important than traditional Deluxes, Voyagers, and Leaders, it makes a nearly 20 year old Deluxe hold up better than people anticipated. It's kind of like the Beast Wars line in a way, where the toys are clearly distinct from the final models and are clunky or dated in some areas, but when they still manage to be fun and have more going on with them than what kids get today, then they still make for great purchases, regardless of the nostalgia factor. I don't like doing the whole "back in my day" shit a lot of purists would say, but let's be honest: the basic merch we got for TFOne and Cyberworld is getting more attention from the balding millennials who were around since 1984 or any social media hype dork who soygasms at the Reddit-tier writing of said movie & show. You ain't seeing kids picking up toys from those lines while they're playing with their mommies' phones (when they clearly shouldn't but then again, certain parents are interested in smoking), whereas kids from 2007 were certainly picking up TFs even with their DS or PSP in-hand!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Legends Roadbuster review

A lot of people think about the Wreckers when it comes to their history as a Marvel UK idea as well as later media using them regularly, such as the movies and Prime. Not only do people not bring up their first American media appearance from around 2001 for BotCon media set during the events of Beast Machines, but we also have to look into the history of the OG Marvel UK Wreckers they used. One of these characters, Roadbuster, was like a lot of G1 characters from the early days whose life began as a toy originally made by a different company. Instead of Takara, it was made by a competing Japanese company known as Takatoku Toys, who made a set of transforming robots for a line named Special Armored Trooper Dorvack, with the old Roadbuster toy originally named as the Dorvack 1/55 Mugen Calibur. The company went bankrupt, the license was owned by Bandai, and they let Hasbro distribute the molds in the line in the era where they had very little American presence (even before the days of MMPR). This figure, along with Whirl, Jetfire, and the Deluxe Insecticons, had no Japanese release whatsoever, and further still, only Jetfire got to be in the cartoon as Skyfire (which may explain why the design was altered heavily). And with a faithful update made nearly 30 years later, how well does this 2014 toy hold up over a decade later?

Here we have Roadbuster in his vehicle mode. It is an off-road 4x4 combat transporter that could be Cybertronic, but what matters is that this design looks ready to rumble against the Decepticons; you already have the giant tires that would roll through the toughest of terrain, but with other design traits like the tiny windshield, the armor added onto the body, and the wench on the front similar to Siege Hound, it's a good thing this dude is on the side of the Autobots. Even the color scheme is not like the usual "friendly" palette of the Ark crew. It's so good that we later got a use of it for an Animated Ultra Magnus repaint.

As expected, you can load this thing up with weapons also pre-Siege style. That said, the grip of each port varies, especially the ones behind the windshield not having the best angle or tightness compared to the others. 

Transformation is somewhat straightforward, mostly aiming to match the old toy. While the whole G1-with-knees thing has been a complaint many people had with some recent lines, I don't mind it as much on Roadbuster purely because he hasn't had a new mold like this between G1 and Thrilling 30. I mean, he had both a canceled retool of Energon Strongarm and a Target-exclusive repaint of Hot Shot. As for the bot mode, it's a little leaner compared to the bulk of the altmode, but it still fits for a non-bruiser like G1 Roadbuster. After all, he makes more sense to be the gunner-type, right? The proportions of this mode almost fit that of a soldier, all without making him too generic, and I like the Autobot badge placed on the left side as it feels more like a medal of honor. He doesn't look that hollow, but it should be worth mentioning that because the rear wheels are folded on the back of his legs, he has to stay in a bit of an A-stance. The only other oddity is that the feet look a little off, but not as clown shoe-like as the early photos made them seem. 

Head sculpt appears heavily armored and almost like a mix between a military helmet and a respirator, and the green light-piping is glorious for a design like this. The articulation, on the other hand, is a bit iffy; the neck is on a ball joint, while the shoulders rotate normally whereas the in/out arm movement are on these really awful plastic ratchets that could have been normal swivel hinges. Biceps rotate, elbows are double jointed, and the hips barely move forward yet can move back much further. I'm questioning if Hasbro looked into the space for the hips while engineering the toy. Anyways, the legs move in and out effectively, thighs swivel albeit tightly, the knees are almost double jointed, and the ankles pivot. I believe the Takara Legends repaint has an issue with the quality control versus the Hasbro version. 

The weapons can not only mount on various different spaces of this toy, but he can also combine them into a super cannon. As for the kinds of guns he comes with, they include a missile pod, a grenade launcher, a missile launcher, a rifle, a scope, and a pistol.

The original Hasbro version is colored slightly differently, but it primarily uses stickers to give it that retro G1 feel. Problem is that the cut of the stickers is a bit rough in terms of sizing, and while it is cool to choose either a red Autobot or blue Wrecker insignia for the chest, putting a sticker with a clear background ruined the coloring of the latter.

The other Takara reuse of this mold comes in the form of Cloud Roadbuster. Yes, he looks like Energon Ironhide because the name "Roadbuster" was first used by Takara for the Superlink line, hence why we have this tribute in addition to the G1 Roadbuster colors of this mold.

And finally, we have a BotCon 2015 exclusive in the form of General Optimus Prime. Now before certain Redditor-esque YouTubers make shitty videos with titles like "the weirdest Optimus Prime toy ever" with words like "bruh" or "wtf" in their equally shitty thumbnails, this is based on a canceled Generation 2 toy that was an auto-transforming toy repainted from Auto Roller Dirtbag. If the grey were painted silver or if the visor was yellow or gold, I would use this for a Halo TF mashup based on Master Chief. Soon I will get him and C-81 so there can be a unique bit of history for the Optimus/Megatron shrine.

Speaking of, here he is with SS86 Optimus Prime for a size comparison. Being a Voyager from a decade ago, he is a head shorter than a modern Commander Class. I don't mind this since I'd imagine Roadbuster being taller than the average Autobot Car. Who knows if he would be a smaller Voyager if we get a new mold for him again, but for now, this mold is decent for a 2014 release. I wish the articulation for the legs was refined and the weapons could stay on better, but he will fit in fine with recent stuff overall, and he shouldn't be that expensive in the aftermarket.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Cybertron Crumplezone & Ransack review

Crumplezone and Ransack are like Team Rocket mixed with Dumb and Dumber; neither of them really know how to work that competently, though they are similar to George and Lenny from Of Mice and Men where Ransack's the smarter one. Not smart enough, but still to the point he can be a schemer. That said, they still make for a decently hard-to-tackle duo if their opponent isn't from Velocitron; even Crumply can go faster than the fastest Transformer outside of his homeworld. Another thing worth mentioning for him specifically is that he shares the title of "first Transformer I ever owned" alongside Optimus Prime from the same line! As for Ransack, he is a recent purchase since I wanted to have these two in my collection. Let's see how well they hold up!

Here we have the Velocitron duo in their vehicle modes. Crumplezone turns into some kind of 3-wheeled car with a single seat in the cockpit, and clear blue wheels that compliment the white and two shades of green better than I thought. Ransack is a Tron cycle, which is typical for Hasbro to copy yet he manages to stand out for being more alien in design on top of using lots of red. I don't have any issues with either mode, since both have this futuristic look that makes me want to zip them through the floors with how sharp and fast they look. That said, Ransack's rear wheel assembly is upside down, making it lift from the rear somewhat. It doesn't affect him since it's not detrimental to the toy, but it isn't easy to fix because of the pins and size. Some can tell that the legs of Crumplezone aren't even concealed, but considering this is an alien vehicle and not an Earth one, he isn't focused on being a robot in disguise.

Crumplezone's attack mode has the Cyber Key deploy the thrusters forwards to make missile launchers. While my copy is aged somewhat, I know that the weight of the cannons makes them hard to deploy seamlessly. That and combined with the pegs they snap onto wearing down if you detach these, and they kind of droop a bit. On the flip side, the winglets give him a race car spoiler look.

As for Ransack, you can have the cannon barrels deploy for a sneak attack, and it is in this mode where you may notice the wheel assembly being upside down as I alluded to earlier. If this had been assembled right, then it wouldn't point downwards like it is right now. Oddly, his Cyber Key border lacks silver paint when that is normally kept on other toys.

The transformation for Crumplezone is pretty easy, but for a Voyager made in 2005, the chunkiness and satisfying ratchet joints he has makes up for that. It's kind of cool how the front wheel folds under the cockpit so we can have a tapered V-shaped chest. Speaking of, the robot mode is appropriately bulky and hefty for a guy like him. The huge forearms help complete that look, and they contrast the undersized legs. Normally, weird proportions will be a make or break thing for some TFs, but it works so perfectly for a dude who's a dumb bruiser. I even like that his pre-Bulkhead jaw is articulated, and while the whites, three tones of green, and bits of blue and gold may seemingly not work on some robots, it somehow compliments Crumplezone more than it would anyone else. And hey, if you think the backpack is clunky, then at least you can pretend it's a jetpack.

Transforming Ransack is sort of like any other cycle bot, from the rear becoming the legs to the arms making up the middle portion, but the front wheel rotates 90 degrees. Doesn't serve much of a purpose but it does something. As for this guy's robot mode, it's about what one would expect from a cycleformer, especially at this scale. The arms stick out more from the rest of the body due to the shoulders, while the rear wheel halves get in the way of said arms somewhat. Beyond that, he looks fine, though I'm surprised this character wasn't retooled from Legacy Arcee for a modern toy. Do keep in mind that the forearms are painted black on red plastic.

Articulation for both is similar yet different due to the budgets of each size class. Both have neck swivels, but Crumplezone has swivels for the shoulders, biceps, forearms, waist, and upper legs. He also has ratchets for outward arm movement as well as the knees, and the hips are fairly universal. As for Ransack, the shoulders are also on swivels with hinges for the rest of the arms, and while the waist rotates, it is limited. The elbows and knees are on ball joints. Their Cyber Key gimmicks work in bot mode, and now we have a double barrel gun for Ransack and shoulder cannons for Crumplezone. It should be worth mentioning that everytime you insert the key, electronic sounds play.

As far as Crumplezone's reuses are concerned, his Dark retool is 80% altered from the old toy. The new color scheme is wicked and fiery, almost fitting for a Halloween repaint better than the Universe Snow Cat figure. The colors on the head especially have a bit of a Frankenstein's monster look.

As for Optimus Primal, he reuses the old style of tooling from Crumplezone, but keep in mind that he lacks any electronics. It's a surprise that the deco from Optimus Primal fits this mold better than expected. 

Takara had a special repaint for Ransack based on a Japanese police deco, which is repurposed later as a new character for the New Legends series. Not much else to say about this but it could work for an Autobot version of Ransack.

The GTS version of Ransack makes him black with white and gold here and there, which almost makes him based on Animated Prowl before Animated was even a thing if not for the green.

Much like Optimus Primal, Rattrap received a special repaint, with both of them in the Dawn's of Future Past 5-pack also included with similarly themed versions of Cheetor, Rhinox (both of them based on figures I reviewed earlier), and Dynobot (repainted from the Armada Hoist mold I should get at some point). The rear wheel assembly is correct on him this time, and he has a Golden Disk-themed Cyber Key.

Though not an official repaint, Ransack has had a custom repaint made by Shawn D. Tessmann, who was the head of the BotCon Customization Class back then. The was canonized in one of the FunPub story lines where she was nearly caught the crossfire between Vector Prime and Ramjet. She may not be a true Hasbro-approved toy, but the fan club magazine did provide instructions on how to make your very own. Just replace all opaque red with lavender and you are all set.

Lat's close things off with a random size comparison, that including Masterpiece Bluestreak. Maybe I should have put them with some modern Cybertron figures, but oh well. Overall, Crumplezone is one of the best examples of balancing chunky fun with good articulation and engineering that the modern main line could never top. Yeah the gimmick is a bit too heavy for the strings, but it is manageable to work with. As for Ransack, he is fine but not exactly a Scout figure I would recommend 100%. You mostly get him to accompany Crumplezone.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Crumplezone)

⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Ransack)

Transformers Power Core Combiners Smolder & Chopster review

An evil fire truck is extremely rare for Transformers, and it's even rarer for it to not be named Inferno or Sentinel Prime. Such a character hails from the infamous Power Core Combiners line, and his name is Smolder! I know what some people are thinking: "Surge, of all of the old lines you revisited, why go for PCC?!" My answer is this: I know the line sucked for the small size, crappy drones, and some figures either being shite or having fragility issues, but there were still a few gems worth keeping. On top of that, I was revisiting the Cyber Missions web series from 2010, and I'd rather rewatch its crappy CGI than deal with Cyberworld's writers begging to go "how do you do, fellow meme lovers?". Anyways, Smolder was in one of the episodes as an enemy of Bumblebee and Ratchet, and it ended with both he and Minicon Chopster getting EMP'd. I once had Searchlight and Backwind from the same line, and they sucked ass. Let's see if these two are worth keeping. 

Here we have Smolder in his vehicle mode. Chopster is pegged on top as his cannon. This fire emergency brush truck is fairly genericized and thus could be any American model with a purpose like the one Smolder fools people into thinking he has. The sculpted details and paint apps are very good for a figure of this size, and I love the flaming Decepticon insignias on the back. Smolder makes for a clunky cannon on top, but for a Minicon who's partnered with a Decepticon, why would he care? Not so cool is the back bring hollow with the head and the baby blue ports in clear view. 

Transformation is closer to how some carbots would turn into their robot modes: the front becomes the legs while unfolding 180, and the rear becomes the arms. Chopster's a case of straightening the legs out and folding the barrel away. The resulting robot mode looks appropriately monstrous and bulky for a Decepticon who turns into a fire truck. Some may find that the arms stick out way more than normal, and while you can tuck them in closer to the body, you lose arm articulation so leave them out for a Decepticon like him. Once again, the colors of the bot mode look pretty fitting for a Decepticon, but I am not a big fan of the baby blue posts for a figure like this; I know it's part of the gimmick and so kids can mess understand where the pegs go, but it would have worked better if they were safety orange; yeah it would still look gaudy, but at least it fits the fire truck motif somewhat. Worse still, the ones near the legs stick out awkwardly. Sucks those things ruin an otherwise cool design. As for Chopster, on one hand, I like the fact that he is everything piping and has a deranged smile on his face. On the other hand, fragility concerns be damned if this thing wears down. So far, nothing has cracked or broken on my copy.

Articulation consists of a ball jointed head, shoulder rotation, outward arm.movement, double jointed elbows (hinge and ball joint combo), ball jointed hips, thigh swivels, and hinged knees. Chopster can turn into a fire axe, which is said to be Smolder's favorite mode in Cyber Missions. Did you know he was going to be named Kick-Axe? Anyways, torso mode for Smolder is almost comparable to a T, with very wide shoulders as well as thighs that are pretty close to each other. Chopster's armor mode isn't that great either.

Smolder was later repainted as Stakeout, who is now an Autobot with an ambulance mode and has matching blues between the pegs and parts of himself. He has a pair of repainted drones each from the Combaticons (tank and APC drone) and the Aerialbots (helicopter and jet). Despite these military vehicles, they call themselves the Protectobots. Oh and you can see how rough the torso mode looks on the mold. The head is cool though. 

For a thematically appropriate Studio Series size comparison, here he is between Ratchet and Bumblebee. While he was much larger in the series, not even the shrinkflation of current Transformers can help Smolder scale with these two. Sucks but at least the toy is still cool for the most part. Torso mode is weak and the alt mode is gappy from the back, but the plastic quality is good and his main modes still look good in general. I would like to see a whole new mold that is larger than this and trades in the combiner crap in favor of better engineering and articulation. If only Hasbro can do that, but they would rather do a dead Wheeljack & Windcharger set to milk dry ass 1986 movie. 

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐