Transformers Review: Classic Jetfire

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Transformers Classic: Jetfire
Size: Voyager
MSRP: $20 (beware of scalpers!)
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A TF review written exclusively for Inside Pulse by Rikkomba

 

As some of you may already know, Milan AC football club is one of Milan’s two football clubs, the other one being… I don’t remember right now.
As ALL of Liverpool knows, Milan won the final in Athens, winning the European Champions League for 2007 and becoming the most successful football club in the world.
Now: is Milan AC my favourite football club? NO.
Does Rikkomba care about soccer? Not that much, except for the World Championship.
So? Well, a dear buddy of mine flied to Athens to see the event… while there, he found a couple of lonely Classic Jetfires laying lonely and sadly on a store’s shelf. Guess what happened next.

Why aren’t we the only two in the universe? I wish everyone would die except you and me!

Voted as the best TF of 2006, Classic Jetfire is a good representation of what a 20$ TF should be. Do you remember when I said that Wing Saber was everything an Ultra TF should be? Well, Jetfire is 99% of what a great Voyager/Mega should be: cool transformation, imposing robot and alternate modes, cool accessories and a badass attitude, which is never wrong.

There are no electronic gimmicks of any kind to be found, but I still have to decide if it’s a bad thing or not.
The original G1 Jetfire only appeared on TV for a short time, beacuse the toy of reference was “lent” to Hasbro by Bandai, being basically a Macross Valkyrie in disguise. After 5 minutes Bandai’s president finished his Happy Meal and decided he still wanted to be the only kid in the block with such a cool toy, that is why in the cartoon Jetfire was called Skyfire (see the homage: Energon Skyblast) and his appearance was quite different. Useless to say, the G1 toy is one of the most wanted G1 TFs ever. This annoying explanation was made for the maybe 2 readers that still didn’t know the story (2 out of my usual, and only, 3 readers, including me and 2 fakes).

You can’t win a war by singing! Stay with me, if we’re going to die anyway…

Not only G1 Jetfire (from now on: G1 Jetfire) was a Valkyrie, but it was a pumped-up Valkyrie, with boosters for interstellar flight, some random armor and weapons. Its Classic version comes with the same idea, providing the Jet a full set of detachable accessories: a couple of lasers, 2 cannons, a “booster pack” and 4 small guns on the cockpit’s sides.

The 2 lasers are held in alternate mode by Jetfire’s robot fists, happily unconcealed and quite visible in this mode: they are actually 2 halves of the robot’s gun, much the opposite of Classic Prime’s transformable smokestacks, which could be separated into 2 indipendent guns.

The missile launchers/cannons are attached to the forearms and look quite cool under the wings. The boosters can be detached, freeing space to open the rear wings.

This accessory actually hides a couple of cannons, which can be also be used in robot mode.
2 red and black cannons remind me a lot of Armada Overload. I am happy.

Removing all of the “extras” still leaves us with a very cool mode.

I really like the blue transparent plastic used for this TF, it greatly balances the red and nicely contrasts with the black. A simple, yet notable paint scheme. Note how the arms are not in disguise at all… but maybe it’s just me.

Valkyries usually come with a third mode, the Gerwalk Mode, which should represent a compromise between firepower and maneuvrability: I don’t really care, but take note that Classic Jetfire makes this possible again, more than 20 years later. Not that I really care…

Senpai died. Kakizaki died. So many have died. They had plans for peace. You can still sing, can’t you?

Jetfire’s transformation is quite simple: straighten legs, rotate shoulders up and spread the feet. Actually, moving one half of a foot wil cause the other half to open accordingly: is this pre-automorph tecnology or what? Whatever.
Half of the transformation’s complexity lies in the cockpit, which is more complicated to transform that a TF basic by itself.
Once everything is at its place you will get a very cool and heavily armed TF. Articulation is good, it’s better not to move the head too much because the ball joint there doesn’t seem to be too durable… Actually, all of Jetfire doesn’t seem too durable: this TF’s plastic sucks!
Really. After Classic Mirage I thought I had suffered enough, but… no, this is worse. Basically, here the plastic’s quality is inferior, almost at bootleg level. Be prepared.
Jetfire actually has an helmet, paying homage to its DW appearance. Remove the helmet and you get Energon Skyblas… Ehm, G1 Skyfire in all of its glory!

As you can see, Hasbro paid homage not only to G1 Jetfire toy, but also to G1 Skyfire cartoon character, which actually was Jetfire, which is also homaged in its DreamWave version, which is also similar to Skyblast, which was accidentally called Skyfire in its Japanese Superlink counterpart. Did I mention that in the DW comics Jetfire performed a Stunner on poor Sunstorm? Those were the days. I’d like to make more comics like that, but Porsche cars cost too much for my pockets…

I’m sorry, Hikaru. I don’t know what came over me. I chose to become a singer. If I don’t now, my mother and father’s spirits will never forgive me.

Classic Jetfire still deserves its label of Best TF of 2006: many aspects could be improved, such as its unconcealed fists in alternate mode, the annoying neck and the plastic quality, but this is a case when a TF is more than the sum of its parts. Jetfire is a gestalt on its own, being its components G1 Jetfire, Energon Skyblast, G1 Skyfire and Stone Cold Steve Austin. You shake all of this with a great and effective color scheme, a great set of accessories and a simple but satisfying transformation and you get a TF toy that will represent a paradigm for the Voyager class for next years. If the movie toy line represents the new to come, Classic Jetfire then represents the peak of its own pre-movie generation (which in my mind started with RID).

Transformers are not simply transformable robots, they have a story to tell, they have personality and a precise style: Jetfire is all of this and much more.

I suggest to all of you to get one as soon as you can, but beware of scalper prices: it’s not an exclusive of any sort, so you should not be paying the 30$ or 40$ some stores ask.

On Elohim’s Energon scale, I give Classic Jetfire 9 out of 10 cubes.

Take care,

Rikkomba