Jolt
(RotF)
Jolt's vehicle mode is
a Chevrolet Volt. Comparing it to the real thing, it's proportions are
very spot-on-- no robot mode extras or anything. There's a few telltale
cracks in the car mode where there shouldn't be, but that's hardly a big
deal as everything fits together snugly. The shade of dark blue used is
also a semi-metallic, really attractive shade, and looks snazzy, especially
when contrasted with the silver and red details on the headlights. I wish
there was a bit more contrast in this mode for eye-catching reasons, but
it's a realistic color scheme, of course. The transparent aquamarine windows
are nice, but they aren't quite dark enough to hit Jolt's robot parts inside
them. Granted, there's nothing that totally grabs your eye in there like
a head right up against the windshield or anything, but it is a slight
downer on an otherwise near-flawless alt mode.
In robot mode, Jolt
doesn't quite live up to the brief appearances we get of his robot mode
in the movie. There are a few proportions problems, for one-- his are a
little skinny and his legs a bit too bulky, particularly the lower legs,
which is partially the result of the windshield bits hanging off them.
Which leads me to his second problem-- a bit too much kibble. It's nothing
toy-ruining by any means, but he's got windshield bits on the back of his
arms, most of the front of the car mode hanging off his upper back, and
parts of his car doors hanging off like wings on his sides. Luckily, the
backpack stuff doesn't get in the way of movement, nor do the bits hanging
off his lower arms. The "wing doors" can get a little annoying, though
at least they're in a shape where they look genuinely like wings and thus
contribute to the figure's silouhette positively-- more than I can say
for the parts on his upper back or his arm-doors, at least. He is stable
despite the kibble, though, thanks to his wel-articulated feet (speaking
of which, making the halves of Jolt's bumper into his feet is an ingenious
idea). Jolt's mold detailing is pretty darn great, with little robotic
details pretty much everywhere on his robot parts-- wheel bits, "lights",
circuitry lines, that sort of thing. His head sculpt's also really nice
and crisp too, as well as unique. His paint detailing is a little disappointing,
however-- seems like most of the budget for that was used up in vehicle
mode. His head is really the only part of his robot mode that gets paint
apps, which is a shame because his transparent blue chest-- which I really
like overall, given his whole "electric" theme-- could really some paint
on all those awesome details. Luckily, he has enough color variation on
him in this mode that it isn't as much of an issue as you'd think-- the
electric blue plastic makes for a nice accent color, and though the light
gray isn't particuarly exciting, it does break things up a bit more. His
gimmick is two fold-out electric whips that come out of his lower arms,
but they're honestly pretty dinky and short for whips-- kinda disappointing,
given they're his signature weapon. As far as articulation goes, Jolt can
move slightly at the head, as well as the shoulders (at three points),
elbows, waist, hips, knees (at two points), and ankles (at two points).
Revenge of the Fallen
Jolt isn't the best deluxe, but it's far from the worst. It has a great
vehicle mode, nice color scheme, a fun and intuitive yet somewhat simple
transformation, and some nice details, but this is partially offset by
some kibble and articulation issues in robot mode. Mildly recommended.
Review by Beastbot