Final
Battle Jazz
(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the original Movie Deluxe Jazz toy. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the original Movie Deluxe Jazz toy here.)
Final Battle Jazz isn't
so much a repaint as a "battle damaged" remold with some extra details.
His colors are pretty much the exact same as the original deluxe Jazz toy,
including most of his paint apps. His transparent plastic is a little lighter,
more a bluish-green shade, though, for some reason. Unlike typical "battle
damage" variants, Jazz does actually have some remolding and not just some
scarred paint marks-- some fairly extensive remolding, in fact. Most obvious
is the fact that his weapon has been completely redone and is ten times
better-- instead of an extendo-sword that he never used in the movie, the
chain gun/shield combo weapon that he should have had in the first place
is now his weapon. It fires a transparent "energy bolt" spring-loaded missile,
and the "shield" part of the gun can rotate upwards behind the barrel or
stay horizontal against it. The gun can also be turned around in robot
mode so that it has a super-long, skinnier barrel pointed towards whatever
Decepticon Jazz is fighting, though this end of the gun doesn't fire a
physical missile. Jazz's robot mode has several parts-- more specifically,
the legs and the head-- extensively remolded with "battle damage". Many
parts have been remolded to look cracked, worn, or broken, and on some
parts on his legs and on one of his antennae the black "circuitry" underneath
is actually showing through with bright blue paint apparently being Energon
leaking out through the wounds. I especially like how his visor is molded,
being solid on one end but cracked through and revealing his long skinny
"Cyclops visor-like" optic underneath. Oddly, however, none of the battle
damage shows through in vehicle mode whatsoever. You'd think that being
all banged up like he is, Jazz wouldn't have such a pristine vehicle mode,
not to mention that having his vehicle mode looks pretty much exactly like
the original deluxe toy's sort of lessens the enthusiasm to purchase this
remold.
Final Battle Jazz has
some really cool battle damage remolds, and the weapon that the first release
of the toy SHOULD have had, but unless you're a completist there's no real
reason to pick up this version of the toy if you already have the original.
If you're missing the original, though, than I'd recommend this version
over it, due to the improved weapon and, as a result of the battle damage,
a more interesting-looking robot mode.
Review by Beastbot
(NOTE: In addition to the normal release, Final Battle Jazz also was released in a Target Exclusive "Battle Over Mission City" 2-pack with a repaint of Voyager class Megatron. This other release of Final Battle Jazz, however, was exactly the same as the original.)