Cliffbee.com Sizzle Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Sizzle
Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Interceptor
Alternate Mode: Sports Car




CAR MODE
Height: 3.5cm Length: 8cm Width: 4.5cm

   A dark charcoal (almost black) sport car with grey windows, a chrome silver engineblock in front of the windshield and non-chrome side exhausts just in front of the doors. There's an Autobot logo sticker on the front of the hood, inside what would have been the rubsign indent had Hasbro not abandoned the idea. His tyres are solid black with the rear pair slightly larger. The colours all work together, although it's an odd colour scheme for an Autobot. What's unusual on Sizzle is the use of chrome - which was common a few years earlier but by this stage in G1 was rare as Hasbro were beginning to skimp on quality.

   This car is clearly a street racer, with a long front - longer than the cabin, which ends at the back of the car. The big engineblock and silver exhausts show that Sizzle's built for power and performance. If this was a real car, flames would likely shoot out the side exhausts. This street racer is probably the best idea amongst the Sparkabot vehicle modes, although Guzzle's works a little better.

   There are two main flaws in this mode, and while neither are in themselves awful, they do conspire to drag this car down somewhat. There's a big lump on the back of the cabin, that houses the flint, which sticks out of the grey window. The second is the obvious hinge in front of the engineblock, although on a dark toy it's not as noticeable as it could be.

   The whole point of the Sparkabots is the sparking mechanism. There's a rubber tyre underneath Sizzle, separate to the plastic wheels, and if you roll him along with some downward force flames will shoot out of a small hole at the back of the car - about 5 centimetres. You generally have to push a few times to get it working, since the friction that makes it work is reliant on heavy resistance and it won't work if there's not enough friction. There's a flint (the same as lighter flint) inside, which will eventually wear down, which provides the sparks. More likely to actually wear down is a white gear that transfers the tyre's motion to a flint wheel. A lot of second hand Sparkabots have worn mechanisms. My Sizzle still sparks fairly well, and I've had him for 15 years, so I can't complain. Mind you, I've been careful with this toy.

   The spark mechanism actually works on Sizzle, although it is prone to wearing out. The chrome is a nice touch but otherwise there's not really anything special about his car mode.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Extend the rear to form the legs, flip up the front of the hood and stand him up. The hinges on the hood are unnecessarily tight, so you have to be careful (in fact one just broke as I transformed Sizzle... grrr).

ROBOT MODE
Height: 8cm Width: 4.5cm

   The charcoal gives way here to a robot mode that's almost entirely ochre. The arms are the only remnants of the charcoal in fact. His face is blue and has moulded eyes, mouth and nose. The black rubber tyre sits in the middle of the shins, which are a single piece.

   The robot mode perhaps has too much ochre, but it's more interesting than the charcoal car mode all the same. There are four visible screws on the torso, which is a single piece. One on either hip and one on blocks on either side of his head. I wouldn't mind the screws so much except that the blocks aren't such a good idea to begin with and the screws make for bad kibble. Add to this the thing, single-piece thighs and big wide single-piece boots and Sizzle has a terrible shape here.

   The only play value in this robot mode is the fact the shoulders swing, but this is not enough to save the robot mode. It's not as boring as that of Fizzle, it's not all that much better.

VARIATIONS

   Recoloured in Japan as Hotspark. Sizzle was recoloured in G2, this time in Europe and Australasia.

OVERALL

   An uninspiring toy, Sizzle's best feature is easily the chrome engineblock, chrome being a rarity in later G1. The car mode is okay and the spark gimmick actually works, but his robot mode is poor. If you're after a Sparkabot, get Guzzle instead - or even splash out on a Monsterbot - 3/10

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