Despite the fact that he died in the first movie, Movie Jazz is stil getting toys even after Revenge of the Fallen. Well, I can't say he doesn't need one-- Movie Jazz' previous toys have been rather medicore. His Human Alliance toy has a MIGHTY impressive Pontiac Solstice vehicle mode, for starters. The proportions are spot-on, and best of all, he's covered in an extremely eye-catching shade of gunmetal gray metallic paint. It really makes his car mode looks "real", lights play off of it QUITE well. The transparent aquamarine windows also give some pop to his vehicle mode, as they give a bit of color variety to it (though with the main color being this nice to look at, I'm not complaining that much about it). There's no real robot mode extras, though if you want to nit-pick you can SLIGHTLY see a few flaps at the bottom of the rear of this mode. At the Human Alliance scale, there's tons of really nice details they were able to work in that they couldn't with smaller versions of Jazz- the clear headlights, a rear window (!), and of course, the detailed interior that's become the whole point of the Human Alliance subline. Both doors can open up, and the Captain Lennox figure fits quite snugly in Jazz' seat cushions. (The Lennox figure has all the standard articulation of the Human Alliance human figures-- no surprises here. Though I don't know what's up with his blond hair-- Lennox has brown hair, not blond!) To compensate for his slightly smaller-than-average size in the Human Alliance category (which is accurate, compared with the scale of the other cars in the line), Jazz comes with a sleek-looking motorcycle. It's very well-proportioned and with lots of mold detailing (though sadly not much of it has paint detailing besides the gunmetal gray on the sides). A missile connects firmly on one side of it, looking like an extra-long tailpipe, which is a bit creative. Unfortunately, Human Alliance human figures can only grab onto its tiny handlebars with their teeny hands, as there isn't any peg placement to hold them firmly in place on the motorcycle, as there is in Jazz' seat cushions. It doesn't have a kickstand, but the transformation bits, plus the missile, give it enough stability to stand up on its own (though if you push it or shake the table it's on very hard, it'll still fall over).
    In robot mode, Jazz also looks surprisingly good considering how flawless his vehicle mode was, but it still does have a few downsides-- we'll cover those first. Firstly, the proportions-- while much better than on his other toys-- are still a bit off. The middle of his legs is probably the worst, as they're really skinny in the middle, yet proportionally accurate at the hips and feet. His lower arms are also pretty darned skinny and rather two-dimensional-- being made up of just his car doors-- but they still look solid. Jazz also does have most of his roof bits hanging behind his body like a backpack, but it thankfully stays out of the way of movement and isn't so incredibly large that it is an eyesore. His waist also connects with his chest at a slight angle, but it's not so bad where it's immediately obvious. Jazz' features are myriad-- his color scheme is broken up a bit more by black and a really nice shade of copper (both in terms of paint and plastic), and he has TON of mold detailing, nearly all of it accurate, with "pistons" and "pumps" galore. The headsculpt is simply amazingly done, whether you decide to leave his visor down or push it up via the lever on the back of the head to reveal his "real", avian-like face. This is also the only movie Jazz toy to get the hands right, with all four claws on each hand positioned equally around the center point. There are also some really neat little touches that didn't have to be done that I still appreciate immensely, such as the additional pieces on the top of his chest that you angle upwards to give it a more "fragmented" look; the gun that flips over his left shoulder; and the insane amount of mold and paint detailing put into his hips and lower legs. Unlike most Human Alliance toys in robot form, Jazz doesn't really have many places for his human partner to occupy, but Lennox can still occupy Jazz' motorcycle-gun, albeit in a somewhat odd manner. And speaking of the motorcycle-gun-- BRILLIANT way to give Jazz his signature weapon seen in the movies without attaching it in some weird way to his vehicle mode. It' a very simple transformation for the accessory, but works well and is fairly accurate if you ignore the wheels. Jazz can hold it fairly firmly via a peg/hole system on each of his lower arms. As for articulation, Jazz can move at the neck, shoulders (at two points), elbows (at three points), at the central point where all his four fingers on each hand move around; and at the hips (at two points), and knees (at three points). His shoulder-gun can also move at three points. So although he's missing a few points like the waist and ankles, in general he's pretty posable and stable. (It should be noted, however, that the vehicle pieces on the back of his hips to restrict movement a little there, due to the backpack pieces right behind them.)
    Human Alliance Jazz is definitely the quinessential version of this character, with not only a ton of features and some REALLY nice metallic paint, but some cool accessories, good articulation and movement, and excellent detailing. He does admittedly have a few somewhat minor proportions issues in robot mode, but these aren't that bad. Highly recommended.

Review by Beastbot

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