Blackout [Legends] (Movie)
Vehicle ModeRobot Mode
Allegiance: Decepticon
Size: Legend
Difficulty of Transformation: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Dull pale light blue, black, and some silver and dark dull red
Rating: 7.0

    Blackout's helicopter mode translates quite well into the very small Legends class category, with no robot extras visible in this mode at all, and there not being too many joints or the like exposed to keep Blackout from looking too "solid" in this mode. There are a few minor proportional issues-- namely his rear "fin" is way too small and his already small side wings don't really exist at all on this toy. However, given the limitations of this price point, they don't bug me too much. Blackout's admittedly dull color scheme is broken up just enough with the nice contrast colors of silver and black to keep from getting too boring. The mold detailing, however, is rather sparse, with not enough "panel" detailing for my liking. Oh, and in case you're wondering, both rotors freely spin, and spin quite well, I might add. Due to the transformation, however, three of the blades on the main rotor are a little lower than the other three blades, but this is a minor issue.
    Blackout's robot mode isn't as good as his vehicle mode, but it's still easily identifiable as Blackout, doesn't have any really bad proportions problems, and deals with the limitations of the size category well. There's some rather noticeable helicopter cockpit halves used for his arms, but other than that Blackout tends to keep what vehicle kibble he has on his back and out of the way, where it belongs. (He actually has LESS back kibble proportionally than Voyager class Blackout. Go figure.) The rotors fold onto his back quite well, though because they're long, skinny, and not made of particularly bendy plastic, I do worry about one of the rotors snapping if he accidentally bangs against something a little hard. The legs are pretty much perfect in this mode, though the feet could be a bit more pronounced, and Blackout's chest and head are pretty much right-on given the size limitations. (I do wish the fake "cockpit halves" on the sides of his chest were a bit more pronounced and obvious that they were meant to be the helicopter cockpit halves, though.) Like most Legends class figures, Blackout's articulation is quite limited-- he can move at the shoulders, hips, and side-to-side at the elbows and knees, so you unfortunately can't get many good poses out of him, but hey, he's $4, what do you expect?
    Legends class Blackout is one of the better Movie Legends figures, being fairly decent-looking in both modes. He doesn't have any particular design flaws that could really have been overcome at this small of a pricepoint, besides perhaps a bit more articulation. If you have a thing for little, easy-to-transform TFs, and don't mind stuff like hands molded on the inside of vehicle mode parts, than he's mildly recommended pickup. Otherwise, save up a little and get the more detailed, more articulated, meaner-looking Voyager class version instead.



Blackout Tech Specs:
Strength: 8.0
Intelligence: 6.0
Speed: 8.0
Endurance: 7.0
Rank: 7.0
Courage: 5.0
Fireblast: 9.0
Skill: 5.0

Review by Beastbot

Back to Transformers Movie Toys Index