Review: #445
Name: Blackout
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Generations - Studio Series
Year of Release: 2018
Size Class: Leader (Wave 1)
Mold Status: new
HELICOPTER MODE:
Movie Blackout now gets the Leader treatment he deserves and the MH-53 Pave Low helicopter mode is stunning.
While most of the plastic is unpainted, there are still plenty of sculpted detailing and tampographs.
Blackout is huge in this mode, above is a comparison against Age of Extinction Leader Optimus. Not only do the rotors make Blackout seem bigger than he is, the body of the helicopter is already pretty big.
That being said, the rear third of the helicopter is hollow. However, Scorponok fills up some of that space being in storage there.
The main rotor and tail rotor both rotate freely. The rotors have a huge span which makes the figure really impressive.
As is fairly traditional with Blackout toys, he comes with a mini-Scorponok.
Scorponok is extremely well painted with silver and gold.
The mini-figure doesn't have much articulation, two joints for the tail and swivels for the claws. These joints are just for tucking away when attached to Blackout.
There are three pieces of landing gear but they are all solid molded plastic. In this age of cost-cutting, that's to be expected.
The proportions are a lot better than previous toy incarnations of the character.
The amount of sculpted details is crazy, with rivets all over
There are also details as inspired by the film.
A fantastic helicopter mode that doesn't have any major flaws.
TRANSFORMATION:
Blackout's transformation is complex and to be honest, isn't really that fun due to the heavy reliance on panels. An interesting (and fairly lazy) design decision is that the robot mode is comprised of the front two-thirds of the helicopter and the rear third forms a hollow backpack. This also means that the figure can be a bit spindly in robot mode due to not using all the mass it could. Going back to helicopter mode can be painful with the numerous panels forming the shoulders and arms being annoying to peg together. The first transformation out of the packaging can be scary thanks to the overly tight pegs for his shoulders, which you will notice is so tight that when you try and detach it, it is warping the plastic instead. Despite that, it is an impressive transformation scheme and the way the feet form from the sides of the helicopter is clever.
ROBOT MODE:
The robot mode is where Blackout truly shines. It is crazy how closely it mimics the onscreen character model.
Unlike previous attempts, this Blackout finally nails down the unique cape formed from the rotor blades and it looks awesome.
The headsculpt is crazily detailed but feels a little bit off in person due to being a bit flat.
Despite being huge in helicopter mode, in robot mode due to the rotor assembly, Blackout is shorter than other Leaders.
A comparison against his wave-mate Grimlock shows the massive size difference.
And finally, a comparison against the original Voyager toy and it shows how far toy engineering (and a difference in size), has gone in the past ten years.
All Studio Series toys comes with cardboard dioramas depicting a key scene that they were a part of. Blackout is designated number 8 and his scene is the one from the opening moments of the first film where he attacks a military base.
The dioramas look nice but takes up a lot of space.
The impressive sculpting and attention to detail is rampant here. The iconic rotor assembly above his head is spot on.
Scorponok can peg onto Blackout's back kibble.
Otherwise, he can accompany Blackout but doesn't really have anywhere else to go on the figure.
Articulation is pretty good with joints in his neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, needs and ankles.
Despite the plethora of joints, the kibble hampers poseability. He has a gigantic piece of kibble on his back (the rear third of the helicopter) which gets in the way of his legs.
This isn't to mention the kibble surrounding his arms and shoulders makes it difficult to move them without hitting something else.
The tail rotor on his left arm is detachable and while the instructions has the rotor set farther back of his arms, you can reverse the position to approximate the way how Blackout used it as a weapon in the climax of the first film.
While playability isn't perfect, the accuracy of the design is and this is a wickedly amazing robot mode.
OVERALL:
There is no doubt that this is THE definitive version of the character. Finally, the Leader size class does the character justice and both modes are amazing. While the transformation can be scary with the tight shoulders and a heavy reliance on panels, it is worth it. Blackout is highly recommended and is one of the best Leader classed toy we have had in years.
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