Review: #243
Name: Blackjack
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Generations - Combiner Wars
Year of Release: 2015
Size Class: Legends (Wave 2)
Variations: retooled into Rodimus in Wave 4
VEHICLE MODE:
Blackjack transforms into a purple and black car with a metallic gold windshield which is at once striking and looks good.
This is a decent car mode with barely any obvious robot mode kibble. The rear of the car is realistic and plausible but could do with a bit more paint to highlight the sculpted details.
Part of the Legends size class, which is the modern day equivalent of Scout class in the past, he is in actuality fairly small here.
Blackjack comes with a collector's card featuring art from the mobile game Legends.
You can also plug in the robot mode weapon on top of the car which works better than expected as a makeshift spoiler.
Blackjack's only play value in this mode is rolling him across the table. Of note is that in this mode, he can also attach to Menasor to form a chestplate (reminiscence of the roller car from the G1 figure), albeit really loose and prone to falling off.
This is a fantastic car mode that's well proportioned and well formed.
TRANSFORMATION:
Blackjack's transformation is simple but there are some clever aspects to it including the way the chest forms to reveal his head and how his arms fold out. The legs are disappointing in that you don't manipulate anything at all to form them.
ROBOT MODE:
Blackjack's robot mode is a winner as well, he retains the same color scheme of gold, purple and black, with the purple coming out a lot more.
He has a big chunk of kibble comprising of most of the car which sits on his back. It is somewhat disappointing but sits flush enough against the body to not impede on his articulation.
The headsculpt is nice and bears more than a passing resemblance to Runabout. Blackjack also has the advantage of being able to turn his head, something that is unfortunately rare for toys of this size class.
He remains somewhat shorter than Scout class toys of the past but he isn't too bad in hand.
Articulation is pretty good, mainly lacking a waist joint, otherwise, he's as poseable as they come.
His feet has great heelspurs, coupled with the large footprint which makes Blackjack super stable.
Blackjack's weapon is a battle ax, which doesn't look too bad (even though it's copped a fair amount of criticism).
He can hold his weapon in either hand. I did find that due to transformation, his shoulders are further apart from the main body which kinda sucks.
I love the look of this little guy, he looks menacing. Surprisingly, his elbows are on friction ratchets coupled with a swivel, personally, I would have sufficed with a balljoint.
A fantastic robot mode that's pure win.
OVERALL:
Blackjack is a wonderful toy. He has two well done modes plus he forms part of a combiner to boot. Sure, he is not essential to Menasor but he will definitely make a worth addition to your collection. Blackjack has an interesting transformation and good play value stemming from his articulation. Highly recommended if you can grab this little guy at a decent price. His small size and relatively high price is the only negative here.
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For other Combiner Wars reviews, have a look at this page.