Fans Toys FT-49 Jive (Transformers Masterpiece Jazz)
Fanstoys items usually come with an outer plastic baggie to protect the box.
Ye ole Fans Toys protective film shee….. waitaminute! They used Japanese paper this time around? Hmm…
For the most part, Jive comes in pretty much good to go right out of the box. You only need to straighten out his knee joints to get him situated. Be warned though, straightening the joint is a bit difficult. I had more trouble with the right knee than the left for some reason.
Since this is a Third Party, non-official item, it doesn’t come with a faction symbol. It’s best to get some stickers from Reprolabels/Toyhax.com to make this guy more “toon-accurate”. Alternately, you can also use “water slide decals” to make them look even more flawless (you won’t see the edges, unlike with stickers) but I’ve never really had the proper skills, or time (usually needs to be individually cut first) to work with those.
For water slide decals, most folks recommend the one from Ocean Studio. Here:
http://www.unclebillyshop.com/decals-poster/ocean-logo-decals.html
To apply stickers, I find the best way to stick the stickers on is to use the tip of a blade, or a flat, small-tipped object, this way you have more control over the application, as compared to using one’s stubby fingers. You can also use the blade to help gently peel off a corner of the sticker in case you didn’t center it right and need to re-apply.
Cool, stylish, upbeat and clever, Jazz is indispensable to the Autobots. Serving as Optimus Prime’s first lieutenant and right-hand man, Jazz makes sure Prime’s orders are properly carried out, on and off the battlefield. As leader of “Autobot special operations”, Jazz takes on the most dangerous assignments with resourceful enthusiasm.
So we meet again QC 34
Jive stands roughly 7 inches tall and weighs 229 Grams.
Diecast parts include:
-Sections of the torso
-Upper legs
-Knees
-Feet
To recreate the scene from “More than Meets the Eye part 2”, Fans Toys included Jive’s grappling hook.
“Prime, use this for an emergency brake!”
When unfurled, the line’s got some good length to it.
Jive comes with his iconic Photon Rifle.
As a homage to the vintage G1 Jazz figure, this set comes with a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher.
Depending on your tastes, you can display Jive with his door wings out.
Jive comes with optional face plates, one “open mouth” for talking and one for “smirking in the face of danger”.
I think I like this “smirking” face plate the best.
Lastly, Jive comes with speakers.
The speakers simply just clip onto the hard points on his back.
It’s a shame FT didn’t include optional hip speakers for Jive like MT did for Downbeat. You can’t use Downbeat’s hip speakers on this guy since the connections don’t match.
Gotta love that metallic blue on those speakers!
You can combine the Photon Rifle and rocket launcher together and clip it onto the vehicle mode’s spoilers.
Likewise, the speakers can also be mounted onto the spoiler in vehicle mode.
Comparison with Make Toys Downbeat.
Overall, an impressive set. The figure looks awesome in both modes and the level of detail is just beautiful, typical of Fans Toys releases in terms of paint and materials.
I do wish they made the transformation less complicated somehow. There’s just too much that needs to get done when transforming the figure, particularly the legs. It can get very frustrating.
Also, the shoulders tend to untab somewhat easily in robot mode. So make sure you tab them correctly to avoid issues.
Given the choice between this or the Make Toys Downbeat, I think this one just looks and feels better. The proportions and design match closer to the animation models than the Downbeat, plus the FT version cleans up better from all sides and in both modes.
Gold
