Review: #539
Name: Jazz
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Masterpiece
Year of Release: 2019
Size Class: Masterpiece
Mold Status: new
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:
Jazz is part of the Masterpiece Movie Series and comes in the black box that is signature of the line.
The back has various stock photos of his gimmicks and showcases the articulation of the figure.
As well as that, Jazz comes with a few accessories. The first is the his crescent movie weapon.
Next is a weird piece. It's actually a waist piece for mimicking his death scene in the first live-action movie.
For storage, the gun and waist piece can peg together and actually looks like some sort of alien mechanical worm creature...
Lastly, he comes with a Sam Witwicky figurine.
Sam is in a running pose holding the Allspark cube.
VEHICLE MODE:
Jazz transforms into a licensed Pontiac Solstice GXP and he look excellent.
The vehicle mode is doused in silver paint which is befitting of a "Masterpiece" figure and filled to the brim with great detailing.
In terms of sizing, Jazz is slightly bigger than the biggest Deluxes. However, since there is so much packed into the figure, he is really hefty.
The accessories can clip onto the spoiler for storage.
There are no other gimmicks in this mode apart from rolling him on a flat surface.
Unlike a few of the others in the MPM line, he doesn't have a license plate number.
Considering the complex transformation, he doesn't have too many panel gaps.
An amazing vehicle mode, really.
TRANSFORMATION:
Transformation isn't too difficult for the most part but he does officially have 48 steps. He takes a lot of cues from the Human Alliance version but adds a lot of his own twists to make is very interesting. It's intuitive for the most part but there are a lot of tiny pieces that are required to be moved. The back forms his legs, the front splits to form his torso and his arms. His arms are confusing and are formed in a very weird way with a lot of pieces and rotations. It's hard to say whether this works well or not as it feels overly complicated.
ROBOT MODE:
The robot mode carries over the awesomeness from vehicle mode. It is hands down the most accurate Jazz figure we have gotten, and way way better than the Studio Series version.
The amazing attention to detail is on the back as well since there are specific sculpting there when they could have gotten away with leaving it smooth and unpainted.
The headsculpt is good. A little bit undefined but he has a clear visor.
However, the visor is retractable and it is easy enough to open the top of his head to flip it back.
In terms of size, he is approximately Voyager height now. Above is a comparison against Siege Deluxe Sideswipe and Studio Series Optimus.
One thing to note is the insane amount of sculpted detailing. You really do feel that the designer has poured in a lot of effort and love into the figure, something I feel we haven't seen since the first MPM figure, Bumblebee.
As mentioned earlier, there is some detailed sculpting on the back panel, including two flip out spikes that serve nothing else except for aesthetics.
As part of the MPM line, there are some pieces of die-cast. In Jazz's case, they are his feet and helps lower his center of gravity.
One of the touted gimmicks are articulated hands. Jazz has clawed hands and each claw has two hinges.
Articulation is very good. He has hinges for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists (hinges only, no rotation), waist, hips and knees.
Jazz is flexible in however you want to pose him. One slight downside is that he lacks ankle tilts so balancing him in more dynamic poses will require additional effort.
A lot of the robot-only pieces are painted in silver, but there is an equal amount that are not painted. The combined look is not bad and there's more silver than not so Jazz still pops quite a bit.
One of the stock photos has Jazz performing the acrobatics he is so fond of. It is possible to replicate this but will require something to support him so he doesn't fall over.
In terms of weaponry, he has his crescent cannon which pegs over his hand and works well.
As mentioned in an earlier section, the arms are formed through various panels that had been hinged and rotated. It's a weird thing but once you lock everything together, it works okay.
One of the gimmicks is that you can detach the upper and lower body of Jazz through the press of a button. You can then attach the waist piece.
The reason for this is to replicate his death scene at the hands of Megatron.
While he is designed to be held by Megatron, there are no dedicated ports or anything. It can be a little bit difficult for Megatron's long thing claws to get a good grip on Jazz and not drop him due to the weight.
Despite being able to split into two, thankfully this doesn't compromise the figure at all.
An absolutely amazing robot mode that is worthy of the Masterpiece moniker.
OVERALL:
After the amazing MPM-3 figure, we have been let down by the figures since in one way or another. It really felt like those figures were rushed without fixing a few flaws. However, MPM-9 Jazz is a return to form and it is hands down one of the best figures to have come out. It is two amazing modes, a fun and suitably complex transformation scheme without being a pain, and just outright looks great. Jazz is a must-buy.
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