Review: #42
Name: Blackout
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: 2007 Movie
Year of Release: 2007
Size Class: Voyager (Wave 1)
Variations: repainted as ROTF Grindor, and retooled with new head, hands and rescue raft as Movie Evac and ROTF Whirl
HELICOPTER MODE:
Blackout transforms into a fully licensed MH-53 Pave Low helicopter, as such, he is really accurate to the read thing. Some of the proportion is off, but it's forgivable given that this figure has to transform into a robot as well.
There is a 3pt landing gear, but for the life of me, I cannot flip the one underneath the cockpit out, nonetheless, due to the Scorponok cage at the back he still lays flat on the table. Something that is annoying is that the back section (the feet and the cage) of the helicopter doesn't like to stay attached, it is a bit too heavy for the friction pegs.
You might notice a weird thing at Blackout's back that is ruining the look of the helicopter, you would be look at the first gimmick, a cage for a mini scorponok figurine.
At the push of a button you can 'release' or 'send Scorponok into battle'. Most of the time, Scorponok will land the right way. The cage has a tendency to fall open on it's own due to the release clasp not being very secure.
The little Scorponok figurine is not transformable, sadly (it would been awesome if they could have added in a simple transformation into a robot), the tail is on a spring joint, but otherwise, it is a very immobile figure.
It's intricately detailed for it's size, but the only paint to be seen is a black paint wash (which is also present on Blackout).
The second gimmick is that when you press the plunger at the end of the tail, it's spins the rotor a few rotations. It's actually really fun when you keep activating it by rapidly pressing the trigger and the rotors keep spinning. It is a fun gimmick, too bad it compromises the figure so much.
The last gimmick, which I hadn't taken a picture of, is that you can attach the Deluxe class Scorponok toy to the underside, and their gimmicks are then geared together. So when you use the plunger, not only does it spin Blackout's rotors, but it also spins Scorponok's claws, this is a cleverly designed gimmick combination.
The rotor span is decent, and the helicopter feels good for it's size class. The tail rotor can also spin (manually).
The engineering that went into the transformation and the construction are definitely the weak points here. There are numerous reports of the cockpit not lining up (thankfully mine isn't one of them) and after a few transformations, none of the panels and parts fit together completely, there are very obvious seams everywhere the compromise the whole look. Anyway, I still like this toy as it was one of the very first figure I've picked up.
TRANSFORMATION:
Transformation is simple, but messy and annoying. If you remove the rotor the process is a whole lot easier. You can feel that the transformation strains some parts, so they will break or loosen (a lot) over time. One obvious flaw is how they jointed the side panels to which he arms are attached to, they only allow one plane of rotation, up and down, when you need at least some sort of outward motion it plug in the peg. As such, you have to really force the plastic outward enough to snap it into the pegs, very easy to break the toy. As if this wasn't hard enough, it is difficult to align the panels properly as there are grooves and ridges on the inside that catch the other bits and pieces. Definitely not my favourite transformation by far, and Blackout it one of the few Transformers where I leave it in a mode for ages before going to the other mode.
ROBOT MODE:
Out of the robot designs from the first movie, I really like Blackout's, even though this toy has a lot of departures from the on screen model, it still looks great and impressive.
Sadly he has a huge chunk of kibble on his back, pretty much the whole top half of the helicopter. I love the idea of the rotor blades folding up like a cape on his back, and it's achieved to a certain degree here, but could be done a lot better.
Due to a lot of mass being on his back, his legs and arms can seem a bit skimpy from the sides. The big panels doesn't look good from any other angle than the front. One good note with the backpack is that because it is so big, it touches the ground, meaning it acts as a third leg, Blackout is nearly impossible to fall over his back.
I like the head design, it conveys the alien feel of the Transformers very well. The two panels boxing in the head does detract from the look. I also like how the cockpit contorts a bit to form his chest, one of my favourite aspects of the figure.
The Scorponok cage rests on his back now, and you can either store him there or take him out, but he seems tiny compare to Blackout. In terms of ranged weapons, he has two missile pods on each shoulder.
If you don't like the big backpack, it is actually detachable, freeing up the look quite a lot. Blackout has big sturdy feet so he's still as stable as ever.
Detaching the rotor also helps ease the transformation. There are a lot of ratchets on this figure, giving you a satisfying clicking sound whenever you're posing him.
The detachable rotor is not only just for show, you can use it as a giant slashing spinning weapon. Granted, he's not using the small tail rotor like in the movie, but this is a good approximation. It's very intimidating, but again, the weapon is a bit too big, he has to rest it on his shoulder (there a peg for a hole in the weapon to rest on), it's unwieldy at best.
The spinning rotor gimmick still works in it's weapon form, and that makes Blackout really fun when you have this weapon out.
In terms of height, especially with the rotor removed, it is very noticeable that he's short. The reason for this is there is a lot of folding panels in the transformation, coupled with one third of the helicopter ending up on his back, and Blackout was either going to be short or skinny. I still like the robot mode a lot though.
OVERALL:
A decent toy, no means spectacular and quite a few flaws, the transformation can be annoying, but both the robot and vehicle mode are nice. This is an example of a toy with the gimmicks compromising the engineering, and as a result, the potential of the figure. I will always be partial to him as I loved his design, and one of the first Transformers that I've bought, but I wouldn't really recommend paying full price for him.
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Credits: linked a few TFwiki.net pages in this review if you wanted more info on the respective links
Other toys reviews can be accessed on the 'My Transformers' page from the top of the blog.
