Transformers Studio Series 59 Jetfire is a Combiner But That's Not Really the Point

Every Transformers Studio Series toy I've reviewed so far has been awesome. Jetfire continues that trend and it's not because of his combined mode with Optimus Prime. He's a wonderful figure on his own and the fact that he's also a combiner is just gravy.

Jetfire is my top favorite Transformers character, and everybody knows and is in complete agreement that his appearance of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is not only his coolest design, but making him as an old man caricature was the right choice. 

Okay but for real though, he looks controversial at best as many Bayformer designs do, but I appreciate that he looks different than the usual character.  Lots of us fans would've loved a non-old man version of him, but we don't live in the timeline where that's happening. Moving on, let's take a closer look at this toy and see how well it stacks up to his movie-self.

The Devil's in the Details

Just look at that crazy-lookin' face. Good grief the detail is unreal. Can you believe artist first sculpted all that detail into clay? Just look at how fine his face wrinkles are. Unreal. If you like painting your figures, then you're gonna go bananas with this one.

He's also a big boy depending on how you pose him. Typically, movie Jetfire stands with his knees bent and his back hunched, but you can extend his chicken legs to achieve heights that cannot be reached by other movie bots.

By the way, he's the only movie-based Transformer on my shelf that visitors have really noticed. The extreme posablility in his elegant, buxom gams is a factor. Look at 'im go!

That's right, if you buy this toy and display it in your living room, ya know, where guests are likely to be, you'll be the talk of the town. "Who's this sophisticated urbanite with great taste and genetic material perfect for producing many progenies?", they'll say.

He also comes with a cane and axe accessory, both items he used in the movie. They are just as intricately detailed as the rest of him. The cane is neat as it folds up into his actual vehicle mode's landing gear, but it's also kinda dumb.  He's supposed to be a frail enough to need a cane but can murder Mixmaster with an axe and curb-stomp combo?

Ugh. This isn't a movie review this isn't a movie review this isn't a movie review.

Changing him into vehicle mode is delightful in a way matched only by the squeaky mews of my pet cat. You have to unfold the jet mode's inappropriate looking fuselage from the robot's torso, revealing the fuselage seen as his neck in robot mode is a duplicate, smaller one used only in robot mode. Huzzah!

This design allows the vehicle mode to have the full chimichanga fuselage, and for the robot mode to have a smaller, perfectly deformed one to make up his neck.

In the movie, Jetfire shrinks in size going from jet mode to robot mode. If he didn't, he would be way too large to combine with Optimus Prime and Optimus Prime just wouldn't stand for that. HasTak's solution here gets around logic to provide a toy that's impeccably accurate in both modes. How neat is that?

As you can see, it works. Jetfire's SR-71 Blackbird vehicle mode is sleek as heck and looks incredible.

Okay, obviously there's a bunch of robot junk hanging from the bottom of the vehicle mode, but there's no amount of clever tricks to get around that due to the demanding laws of physics' grip on our world.  

Still it looks awesome. But this is where we move on to the parts that aren't as hot...

Gimme More Kibble

Here comes some irony ya'll: the robot mode needs more kibble. In the movie, he has back bits that look like tethered feathers to sell the "old man" motif. This toy doesn't have any of that and instead has two large wing things. 

It works and I understand this toy based on one of the most complicated Transformers ever, but remember all that fuselage folded into his torso, HasTak? Ya'll tellin' me you couldn't figure out how to make some of that material deform into more dangly bits and robot feathers? Ay yi yi.

Finally, I must point out the kibble hanging from Jetfire's ankles and thighs can get in the way of posing him, and they look somewhat like an afterthought just sitting there. I get that this design choice was probably made to keep the toy at a specific price point while making sure he can still combine, but if those triangular bits could be removed for robot mode that would've been great.

10/10, Would Buy Again

But see, that's all easy to forgive because this guy is lightyears ahead of the previous Jetfire toy in all areas, and that's even without discussing his combined mode with Studio Series Optimus Prime. That's a whole 'nother thing itself that I'll review separately. In summary, you shouldn't buy this toy just for that combined mode. 

Jetfire is impressive all on his own. The only thing keeping him from GOAT status like them Bee Boys are a couple bits of kibble on his robo-legs and that's it. The jet mode is perhaps the most sleek one we've seen in the Studio Series line, and the bot mode's mountains of detail, posability, and clever design tricks are enough to make anyone question if he transforms at all.

For me, that's like the Turing Test but for toy design and engineering competence... a Transforming Test, if you will. A Transformer will pass the test if my hypothetical self cannot determine the toy transforms just by looking at it. Whatever ya' wanna call it, Jetfire aces the test with farting colors.

Ugh.