Cliffbee.com Actionmaster Jazz Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Jazz
Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Special Operations Agent
Alt Mode: None (was a Porsche)



ROBOT MODE
Height: 10 Width: 5cm

   A white, grey and navy blue robot, with some black here and there, this is very clearly the Jazz introduced to us in 1984. His chest and thighs are white, his forearms and feet grey, the waist and tyres are black, while his hands, upper arms, lower legs and head are blue. The grey feet were chromed silver on the original, while the forearms were white, and most of the black on the original is now navy blue. I'm not entirely sure why the black became blue, but I suspect it's to highlight the painted black tyres on his shoulders and heels, making it more obvious he was once a sports car. Despite the colour changes, the overall look is basically the same - he still has a silver painted face, and aside from his eyes now being sky blue, the facial details are the same.

   It's not just the tyres which give away Jazz's Porsche heritage - the chest the front section of a car, although it's somewhat flattened. You can clearly see the blue headlights, read bumper and white grill across the lower chest, above these is a blue central stripe, which was a feature of the original Jazz, and just like the original it bears an Autobot symbol. The other indicator is the shoulderblades, which stick up and curve out, suggesting the arms (and tyres) once folded out from under the bonnet. Jazz no longer has doors for wings and the windshield and roof on his back are also absent.

   Poseability is the same as every other Actionmaster - head turns, arms rotate and legs have G.I. Joe poseability (fully poseable hips, knees bend 90 degrees). He's certainly more poseable than the original was, although that's not all that difficult. His handgun is silver plastic, and while it doesn't exactly match any colour used on Jazz, it beats the neon yellow some Actionmasters got.

TURBO BOARD

   Generally I'm not a fan of the non-animal accessories for Actionmasters, but this one is an exception. Sure, he's gone from a guy who can turn into a car to a guy who rides a skateboard, but it _fits_ with the sort of guy Jazz is. It's the same silver as the gun, with charcoal wheels and a light orange trigger mechanism which is small enough that the orange doesn't matter.

   They've actually given this thing axles, and there are four attachment posts for Jazz's feet, so it's quite cool as a skateboard accessory. Most of the top surface is latticed grip, and at the back, where the orange trigger button rests, is an engine, with twin jets on either side.

   The gun mode is the weak point of Turbo Board. Like many Actionmaster super guns, it's big and heavy, so Jazz tends to fall forward while holding it. It looks like a giant shield with a gun on the end, and while it's better than some super guns, it doesn't look good, either. Still, the skateboard mode is fun, so it's worthwhile.

VARIATIONS

   None that I know of.

OVERALL

   Jazz was one of the more prominent G1 characters, and while the original toy is nicer, he does make for a decent Actionmaster. The choice of navy blue in place of black bothers me a little, but he still looks pretty good. The skateboard is cool, the gun mode is forgettable but doesn't stop it from adding to Jazz's charm - 7/10

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