Transformers Studio Series Jazz review

Jazz may have been a great comrade for the Autobots, but he sadly didn't get enough new merchandise in the movie lines outside of some repaints and a Human Alliance figure. The worst part was that with figures getting smaller, the only suitable option for a display was the Robot Replica version of Jazz, which was a more accurate sculpt but didn't transform. Thankfully, we've got a new Deluxe figure in the Studio Series line, and it is one that I'm sure may leave fans wondering if it's worth the money because of its size, so let's take a look in today's review!

Here we have Jazz in his vehicle mode, bringing back the Pontiac Solstice that hasn't been seen on a Transformers toy since 2010! It's got a nice amount of silver paint all across the toy, and there are also some nice details for the rest of the altmode, such as the grill of the altmode, the small vents on the sides of the car, and a tail-lights being painted. I do wish the tires had more paint on them, but at least the rest of the car looks really nice. And the translucent plastic being light blue works well for this car.

The altmode can store the Crescent Cannon on the back with a small clip that slots onto the spoiler via friction. It's unwieldy, and it looks weird, but it is the only way to store a weapon that big for the figure.

For a vehicle size comparison, here we have Jazz next to some of the Autobots from the first movie (funny enough the same ones from the first movie toy commercial. While Optimus and Ratchet look good next to each other, and while Bumblebee and Jazz look good next to each other, putting both pairs next to each other makes them look weird. Also, Bee abandoned the classic Camaro altmode when he met up with the Autobots.

Transforming Jazz is almost like a simpler version of the Human Alliance version. It's got the rotating torso that the original toy was known for, and it makes the chest look more broken up and accurate compared to the original Deluxe. The rest of the transformation is straight forward, with the arms straightening out, the backpack collapsing, and the feet tabbing in place for their robot mode positions. When you transform Jazz in his vehicle mode, remember to rotate his head before hinging it in the cavity where it's hidden in so you can access the head better with the antennae.

Jazz's robot mode looks pretty good, although the arms do look a bit skinny for my liking, and the feet not having the more extended toes. From the front, the robot mode looks great, but I do wish that there was a better consistency between the light gray plastic and the parts painted silver. From the side, the hands are obscured by the panels of the doors, and there's a massive backpack that is there due to the smaller size of the figure. And from the back? It's pretty big. I do wish there was a way to transform the backpack to at least replicate the rear of the altmode becoming Jazz's back. It would be cool to see, though it's likely not possible because of the toy's size.

The head is definitely Jazz, but the mouth could use a few more paint apps to make it look a bit more distinct. Maybe a wash would work and pick out the details.

Jazz's articulation is pretty good! His head is on a ball joint, the shoulders swivel forwards and backwards, and hinge in and out. The elbows are on double elbows, and the hands can sort of hinge down a bit. While there is no waist swivel, the hips move freely on ball joints and swivel at the thighs. The knees bend, and there's a good amount of ankle pivot! Because of how light the figure is, it can actually do a kick without toppling over!

For his weapon, it can be held in two ways. Here, it's tabbed into a peg that replaces the right hand, and it makes the weapon look like it transformed from the arm. Alternatively, you can have Jazz hold the weapon with the left hand as it has a peg hole on the hand. It does look weird that his hands are different from each other, and that left-hand does look worryingly thin.

We finally got a repaint of this guy in 2022 as part of a 5-pack with his fellow 2007 Autobots, but he's actually the highlight in terms of improvements. With a less distracting darker blue for the clear plastic and.more metallic gray plastic, Jazz feels better than ever apart from the stock photo goofs.

For a size comparison, here we have Jazz next to his MV1 Autobot allies. Considering how weird the sizes have been for the characters in previous lines, it's great to see a more consistent display.

That said, it's not 100% perfect. Putting him next to Bumblebee does make me feel that Bee should be a little bit bigger. Also, Optimus could be a little bit taller than he currently is.

For a robot mode comparison, here he is next to his original self from the 2007 toyline! What a difference there is! Obviously, there is a difference between a toy from many years ago, where the accuracy wasn't quite there, and neither was the engineering. While the original Jazz wins in size and value for money, was it ever that great of a mold? Not saying that Studio Series Jazz is worth the money because of its size (though I did get him for 12 bucks), but everything else about him is better than the original in my book!

Overall, Jazz is a shiny good rendition of his character in plastic, and one to fit in with the new figure sizes! While the price may seem a little too steep for him, I do like how he turned out for the most part. Some other issues are present here and there, but this the perfect Jazz figure for fans that want to get a version of the character that better scales with modern displays.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hasbro Power Rangers Beast Morphers Beast Racer Zord (nontransforming) review

The strangest thing to be mentioned from the Hasbro Power Rangers reveals during Toy Fair 2019 was that the Zords were not going to be released initially. While the actual Zords would later be sold in the Summer/Fall waves, Hasbro provided two non-transforming versions of both the Beast Racer Zord and the Beast-X Megazord. These are the Zord equivalent of the 12 inch Ranger figures, and while I may not cover those anytime soon due to my interest in the smaller figures and transforming Zords, I'll give Hasbro credit for putting way more effort in the appearances of their PR Titan figures than they have for their Marvel Titan heroes and Transformers Titan figures (the ones that didn't transform and looked horrible). Let's see what the non-transforming version of the Beast Racer Zord has to offer!

Here we have the Beast Racer Zord, and what you see is what you get. As mentioned, it doesn't transform into its car or cheetah modes. That said, the trade-off of functionality for proportions is pretty good. While the cheetah head is slightly too flat, the rest of the design looks pretty good. No weird proportion issues whatsoever, though if there is one thing that I dislike on my copy, its that the right leg piece has not been painted properly, leaving behind the silver of the thigh. This isn't the fault of the toy in general, it's just my luck with this figure's quality control. Speaking of paint, the arm detail being painted on looks funny. The back has a massive amount of red plastic lacking paint, though that's to be expected with these cheaper toys.

The face sculpt is also really good. Size-wise, it doesn't look too awkward when compared next to the transforming toys. The head doesn't look too small, neither does the visor obscure its face. In general, my favorite part of the toy.

The figure's articulation consists of a neck swivel, shoulders that rotate, wrist swivels, and hips that move forwards only. I do wish there was more articulation, though that's just me feeling that the cheaper price tag shouldn't have the toy be as basic as the Marvel and Star Wars figures.

For the included accessories, the Beast-Racer Zord has a sword that looks nice in his hand. The size is also pretty good, too, though one size is hollowed out. He also comes with a non-show ax that could look good it the handle was painted black and the head as silver.

This isn't the only toy to be released in this size-class. Hasbro made a non-transforming version of the Beast-X Megazord. It's not as nice-looking as the Beast Racer Zord, yet looks better than Go-Buster Oh. I feel it's not quite there in terms of looking good for a non-transforming version of the Megazord, especially with how the design works. Maybe Hasbro's transforming Beast-X Megazord will be better.

Overall, this is an alright toy. It's got some good novelty for fans that want to own a nicely proportioned version of the Beast-Racer Zord and don't mind the limited paint apps. If you do want to get a hold of this figure, you could if you don't care about the limitations, but if you have a transforming Zord already or on shelves, don't bother with getting this.

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

Hasbro Power Rangers Beast Morphers Beast Bots Cruise and Smash review

Robot allies have been common in Power Rangers, though they were made of late in order to recreate the nostalgia of Alpha 5. Tensou and Redbot come to mind, though neither of them stood out as successfully as Alpha 5 did. Tensou was there because Gosei was the next Zordon, but Redbot, despite looking like he could be a great ally, did not do anything significant (and he didn't even become the Robo Red Zord). Hasbro adapting Go-Busters into Beast Morphers meant we would get new robot allies in the form of the Buddyroids now renamed as the Beast Bots, and while I was initially worried that they'd be as useless as Redbot was, they turned out to be more involved in the show. Outside of being parts that link to the Zords, they had an episode showcasing how much they wanted to thank the Rangers even when they were mad at them, and they also got to be in the promotional artwork regularly, especially when they're posed with their Ranger allies. Let's see how the slightly more expensive Beast Bot figures of Cruise and Smash do well in today's review!

UPDATE 08/08/2020: New Intro Pic and Ranger/Beast Bot 2-pack segment

Here we have both figures together. The size between the two isn't so bad, and while not yet covered in a review, Jax will obviously be the smallest of the three. Now, what's the best way to start the review than beginning with the Morph-X Keys?

Cruise's key is shaped like a weirdly stylized version of his face, and the sounds he makes are the following:

"Moto-mode, activated!"

"Let's take a spin in the Racer Zord!"

The voice does sound like Cruise in the show, although without the Kelson Henderson charm that the show has. Both this and Smash do the hero morph jingles/unleash the beast sounds.

Smash's key also has his face on it, and he makes the following sounds:

"Let's smash this!"

"Blue Ranger, you're so brave!"

Of all the keys that sound nothing like their characters do in the show, Smash's sounds the least like his voice actor. It sounds less brute and more "Gay for Ravi". Maybe the voice would benefit what would be a different character that idolized the Blue Ranger more, like if the blue ranger was female but had Jax as their partner. There is a sound in the morpher that is for a villain, but it goes "I'm ready to fight" and goes well with Smash than Smash's voice does. Also, Smash's key is the only one I have that's translucent, which does look cooler than the opaque ones IMO.

Here we have Cruise on his own, and funny enough, while I cover Transformers from vehicle mode to robot mode, this will be the reverse. He looks good for the most part, but I feel that there are problems with the kibble on him. He has one normal looking hand on the right, but on the left hand he has his wheel permanently attached on. I get that it makes for less partsforming, but this hurts the sleeker appearance of the robot mode than it would on a normal Transformer. Also, as a result of the simpler engineering, the cheetah head sticks out on the back more than it should. The legs being hollow does hurt the appearance, making the toy feel cheap. Maybe not as cheap as an Authentics toy, but close enough.

The toy's face sculpt looks accurate, but it's the paint that makes it the best part of the figure. It's nicely applied, the green details are crisp, and they capture the look of Cruise in the show. I can almost hear his voice whenever I see the quality paint apps on him. They even did the linework well on the mouthplate.

The articulation is limited despite his design being humanoid like the Rangers. The head is on a swivel and it can also look down but not up. At the shoulders, they move up and down. Then at the forearm, they just rotate. There's no outward shoulder movement, no elbows, but you can somewhat move the arms back with a faux-butterfly joint by the transformation. The hips are limited in their movement, yet they feel really loose. I can't seem to repair them because of how getting access to the joints is harder than it should be. Then below the hips, they have knees that bend over 90°. Sadly, Cruise won't pull off the poses he should make in the show.

For his weapons, Cruise comes with a big cannon that looks like an air tank. It even has a missile that looks like air coming out of it. Seriously it does look a bit weird, almost looking more like candy than a repulsor blast. He can use the key as an arm blade.

For a figure comparison, here he is next to the Red Ranger. They look solid for the most part, with the only issues being the kibble that ruins the look of the Beast Bot.

Here we have Cruise next to Cheeda Nick's S.H. Figuart version. While not a 100% fair comparison, I do feel that some of the articulation should be used for Cruise, like the outward arm movement, elbow bends, and less restricted hip movement. I don't need it to be super poseable, but I do wish that the Hasbro toy at least had more arm movement. Hopefully, there will be a Lightning Collection version of Cruise.

Here is another comparison, this time with the Bandai MBAF version of Cheeda Nick. The Bandai version handles the wheel thing better, and its articulation is slightly better than Hasbro's, but Hasbro has the better head proportions as well as the face paint and slightly better handling of compact vehicle kibble. Neither toy is perfect but I feel Hasbro's is the better option to get due to the price and it is easier to track down than this Cheeda Nick.

Cruise's transformation is simple, yet accurate to what it should be. The cheetah head/front of the vehicle mode does get a bit stuck on the bike handles, but it shouldn't be hard to move in its vehicle-mode position. The right-hand clipping on the rear wheel is hard to do without scraping on the plastic.

The bike mode is the better mode of the two. It's not as compromised in terms of aesthetics, and it looks pretty slick overall! There are some minor gaps in the bike mode, but it's nothing too severe. There's even a kickstand for it to stay upright.

Here, you can have the Red Ranger ride on Cruise. While the size may be off, it's still neat that the feature is there, though it looks pretty goofy like that.

Still, it's fun to have Devon ride on Cruise just so they can run Blaze over. Poor dude better survive or else his Dark Buster suit's gone for good!

Here is Cruise next to some bike formers, with the examples being PRID Arcee and POTP Wreck-Gar. Why? Because it's for chuckles! He's actually as big as Wreck-Gar is, and he's larger than Arcee, though Arcee's bike is cooler.

Here they are in robot mode. Cruise is the tallest of the three, making him an honorary Voyager! Still, both Arcee and Wreck-Gar are better engineered, and they'll also get to shine in their own reviews in some way!

Overall, Cruise isn't a bad figure, but he does feel like a letdown in terms of engineering and quality. There's just not enough effort put into the figure to make him as worthwhile as the Rangers.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The second Beast Bot figure to take a look at is Smash.

The back has some extensions from his fists along with the gorilla face. We'll get back to those.

The face sculpt is a steering wheel that looks like a gorilla's head. A bit weirder than Cruise's but it works.

Smash's articulation is slightly better than Cruises, with a head swivel and a face swivel! His shoulders move front and back, and there are bends at the elbow along with swivels above the elbow. Hips only move forwards, the knees bend, and they swivel slightly.

For his weapons, the Zord's gorilla face can be removed as a shield. It looks a bit weird, but it seems there'll be some need for paint to be added since some of it came off...

The key does feel a bit more normal for a weapon, especially with the clear blue that looks nice.

The fists are pressure-launched missiles that compensate for Smash's lack of gimmicks in his general design. I wish he had normal hands to swap since these do look more like they're part of the Jungle Pride Megazord.

Here is Smash next to the Blue Ranger who he thinks is so brave. The size works well, and they don't look too bad next to each other.

You can sort of recreate the Blue Ranger steering Smash with the face. Good luck with a cockpit, though.

Then we have Smash next to his Figuarts counterpart, who's called Gorisaki Banana. The latter is more articulated, has a better consistency with the silver paint, and it also has the proper fists. I do feel that it's safer to remove the tubes on the arms, and the head is more accurate in terms of proportions. The Figuarts' face looks more underwhelmed or annoyed than the angrier face of the Hasbro version.

Overall, Smash is decent for what he is. He's a nice, chunky figure that does what it needs to do at the 15 dollar price tag. I say he's the better of the two 15 dollar figure options from Hasbro for now. I do wish he has the proper fists and having silver paint on the chest, but it's still good.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I should mention that these two are nothing like the Red and Blue Ranger/Beast Bot 2-packs. They are hollowed out to better accommodate the unchanged Ranger figures as armor. Cruise doesn't have the ability to transform and Steel doesn't have any launching hands. They're not required for a collection, but they're great for kids and for the completionists.

These two Beast Bot figures are decent but not the real highlights of the Beast Morphers toyline. They have some flaws that keep them from being the definitive versions of their characters in the Beast Morphers line. While Smash is alright, Cruise could use a lot of improvement to be better than he is right now. Get them if they're on a discount.

Overall ranking: ⭐⭐⭐.75 out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐