Review: #192
Name: Jetfire
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations
Year of Release: 2014
Size Class: Leader (Wave 1)
Variations: retooled into Thundercracker
JET MODE:
Jetfire transforms into a red and white jet that's reminiscent of the original toy but sleeker and better proportioned.
The rear of the jet is a bit disappointing in that you can see his legs and underneath the thrusters are quite a bit of undercarriage.
On the bright side, the cockpit opens to reveal two seats and other sculpted details like a dashboard.
There is a large Autobot symbol on the nose. The nose itself is made from soft plastic.
Like the original toy, the wings can fold back (variable geometry wings) although I find that the front wings are too wide such that when you fold it back, aesthetically it merges with the tailfins and it looks like one big piece.
Jetfire is a Leader classed figure and from the top, he looks decent but that's only thanks to the wing span. In terms of weight, Jetfire is as light as a feather and you can feel the cheapness of the plastic.
Underneath, you can see the robot mode tucks up. Basically, this is a jet with a robot tacked on below, which is unacceptable for a Leader classed figure (especially one with out any electronics) and there's also a false cockpit... sigh.
The rear landing gear cannot retract while the front one does. I see no reason other than saving costs as to why the rear landing gear cannot be made to retract. All three wheels roll.
Jetfire has his removable add-ons including a booster pack and five guns.
All weapons are chromed red which is a plus or negative depending on your preferences. Each piece features nice sculpted detailing.
These guns attach to underneath the jet (or the robot legs) and they have a gap for the rear landing gear to poke through.
While these guns plug underneath the wings.
And finally, this one plugs underneath the nose, it's also a spring loaded missile launcher although the trigger is in such a spot where it's too easy to fire the missile when handling it.
And... all attached, the jet mode gets a big upgrade in terms of firepower.
It does make the figure seem much more busy and the shininess of the chrome doesn't help.
Undercarriage kibble seem more of a problem now.
The gun pokes much too far in front of the nose for it to look good or natural.
The extra boosters looks amazing and gives the impression that Jetfire can go very fast with these add-on packs.
The booster pack also features molded air intakes. I think shiny metallic paint would have been a better choice than chrome.
This is a fantastic jet mode. The proportions are good and there is a lot of play factor here. Jetfire displays well and the plastic used is a brilliant white with vibrant red.
TRANSFORMATION:
I found Jetfire's transformation to be uninspired and lackluster. It works well enough and creates a nice looking bot but there just isn't anything that feels ingenious or unique. The one thing I hate is the force it takes to flip out the torso, for some reason, the crotch is wedged into the torso well to the point where you're feeling like you're going to snap the plastic piece attached to it. It's a very simple transformation, you won't wince or dread getting him to either modes.
ROBOT MODE:
Let's start with the cartoon accuracy (or "Skyfire") mode first. He is show-accurate and this is a fantastic looking robot.
There is a fair amount of back kibble: the top of the plane along with the cockpit.
The kibble sticks some way back which is one of the negatives. The wings and tailfins are compressed against each other and is actually quite nice like that.
The head sculpt is amazing. It looks heroic and captures the essence of the character well. There is a blue lightpipe.
He shrinks a bit in robot mode, to the top of his head, he is approximately Ultra sized (he's one of those new shrunken down Leader classed toys).
The WORST aspect of the figure is the blatant cost cutting measures. Sure, go for hollow parts but don't let them SHOW. This is the outside of his forearms, this is just shameful.
The thighs are equally bad and the back of this legs are hollow too. This makes Jetfire feel so light such that the Voyager classed figure from 2006 feels heavier by hand (even if it may not in terms of actual grams).
The chest is a false cockpit, in order to achieve cartoon accuracy I guess. There are some good looking mechanic details underneath.
Jetfire is mainly white overall with some splashes of red and black. I don't mind the sparse paint applications as the white plastic lets Jetfire's heroic nature shine through.
The head can look up and down and turn from side to side, so there's a good range of motion there.
If you like, you can start attaching a few of his weapons right now to arm him up.
Articulation itself is decent, Jetfire has the works apart from the more uncommon joints such as waist and wrist swivels.
Next, the Jetfire face plate. When initial pictures came up I thought his head had a gimmick where like MP Rodimus, you can somehow swap out the toy accurate face. The actual implementation is just a face plate, :(.
In jet mode, you can leave the face plate on. In robot mode, in order to minimize the risk of losing the piece when you're not using it, it can attach to the top of the gun.
It doesn't look that great but hey, it's practical.
Next, let's attach all the extra pieces to turn Jetfire into his toy accurate form!
Most of the pieces just attach to where they were in plane mode except for the forearm guns.
In this mode, it eliminates the hollow feel of the robot mode (even though he is still quite light) and makes Jetfire look much more of a badass.
The face plate clips on the normal head and it's such a good fit that you don't notice that it's something that could detach. The blue lightpiping still works but since it has to go through more layers of plastic, it's not as strong.
If you find that the backpack sticks way too far up his head (due to the connection piece), you can flip it around for a more proportioned look. Although this means the boosters aren't aiming at the ground to give the illusion that he can fly anymore.
The other gimmick here is that the guns can all combine to form one giant one.
It's too wide to look good though. The guns look better separately.
Thanks to the lightweightness of the extra pieces, Jetfire isn't likely to keel over backwards any time soon.
It's easy to get good poses from this figure.
A fantastic robot mode that looks great as a display figure and is a fun figure to boot. Just that his plastic quality might be questionable.
OVERALL:
Jetfire is a solid toy. Is he worth the full price? I don't think so, the lack of electronics, smaller size, hollow pieces and significant reduction in weight of the size class really works against him. The two modes look good, Jetfire is more of a display piece than a play figure though as the plastic feels quite "bendy" and easy to break. Worthwhile if you can get him at a good price.
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For other Generations toy reviews, have a browse through this page.
