Jetfire
[War Within] (6" Titanium)
Jetfire's vehicle mode
is a highly futuristic jet-- for the most part, it's very, very sleek.
The nosecone is very long and narrow, far longer and narrower than any
real jet, and the cockpit barely sticks up above the nosecone at all. The
angular wings are also very far back on this mode, and the large tailfins
are also very "swept back" in their position, at first giving the impression
that Jetfire can fly danged fast. The very obvious robot legs sticking
out from under the wings completely ruin this impression, however-- they
don't fit in with the overall feel of the jet at all, and just look bad,
really. There is one small landing gear that comes out of the front part
of said undercarriage, and longer landing gear fold out from the sides
of each leg, but that's all that undercarraige junk is really good for.
That major bit aside, though, otherwise this is a good mode. The color
scheme isn't one to get really wowed over, but it is definitely faithful
to the character, and I like how, with the combination of the "charred
black" spray apps on the wings and the "dirty" shade of white, it looks
like Jetfire's seen quite a bit of flying. The thin red lines on the nosecone
look especially neat and really help to add to the sleek aspect of the
mode especially.
Jetfire's robot mode
looks pretty spiffy, and is quite a big nod to the original G1 mold, which
was actually a Japanese Macross toy, in terms of its design. The proportions
are perfect for the toy, his two guns underneath his jet wings can come
off and become handheld guns, and they both can combine to form one double-barreled
gun as well. His paint apps are superb, especially the "missile rack" detail
on the chest, the head visor, and the black outlining on the lower legs.
The nosecone and tailwing assemblies he has on the back of his lower arms
may get in the way of movement a bit, but they look like neat armguards,
so I don't mind them. However, though Jetfire looks pretty nice, he does
suffer from a few design flaws. For one, part of his transformation "cheats",
as the wing assembly comes off and then re-pegs on at the end of the transformation.
This is all fine and good, but it doesn't stay on the peg very well in
robot mode. Moving the arms backwards just enough to get the jet extras
on the backs of his hands immediately causes Jetfire's backpack to fall
off, which can get pretty annoying. Also relating to his transformation,
it is RIDICULOUSLY hard to get Jetfire's left fist into or out of the rear
wing assembly attached to the back of it. I was honestly lucky to get it
out of there once, I'm never going to even try to get the fist back in
there again. Also, for some inexplicable reason Jetfire's knees can only
move slightly forwards and backwards or side to side, despite the fact
that there's nothing in the transformation that would have prevented more
movement-- it's like the designers PURPOSEFULLY made the lower leg design
that way. Otherwise, though, Jetfire has decent articulation-- he can move
at the hips (at two points), the head, the shoulders (at two points), the
elbows, and the wrists. As part of his transformation his upper waist folds
downwards, but unfortunately the joint isn't strong enough to stay completely
in its place in this mode-- thus, it always looks like Jetfire's slouching
to the right just a little. Jetfire's diecast parts are his backpack assembly
(minus the wings), the nosecone, the lower legs, the waist, and the red
piece on the back of his left hand that connects to the two tailfins.
Titanium Jetfire is
a good toy, with a solid robot mode and a vehicle mode that is plagued
with an undercarriage problem but is otherwise decent enough. Most of his
design flaws aren't really major, but he does have several minor ones,
such as his robot backpack falling off too easily and it being next-to-impossible
to get his left fist into or out of its hole during transformation, that
keep him from being nearer to the top of the Titanium tier of Transformers
toys. (Ooo, hooray for alliteration!)
Review by Beastbot