Transformers Review – Classic Jetfire (Rewind)

Intro:

In the early days of the Transformers franchise, Transformers figures mostly consists of action figures that were originally from other brands, that were given a fresh breath of air. Optimus Prime & Megatron for examples originated from the now defunct Diaclone & Mircroman toy line. Traditionally, most of the earlier Transformers action figures are from those two lines. It was not long after, that one of the more familiar action figures at the time, made his way into the Transformers line – Jetfire. Jetfire was, and is still one of the most unique and difficult to obtain figures from those days. It is unique in the sense that, of all other sources, Jetfire was a mold produced by one of Takara’s fiercest rivals, Bandai, and was originally created for the highly popular Robotech series. Jetfire, which was taken from the then existing Valkrie mold was very articulated for its time – highly articulated arms & bendable knees, it set the trend for most modern Transformers figures. Jetfire was also unique in another way – its action figure & animated depictions were totally different and unidentifiable except for the common color scheme.

Then came the Classic line, which sought to redefine and re-imagine Classic G1 figures into a more updated & improved modern depictions, and for as long the line lasted, it did a magnificent job with so many G1 characters such as Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Mirage and many more. So with so many great works done to many a G1 Transformers, how would Jetfire/ Skyfire fare?

Read on…

Alternate Mode:

His jet mode is quite convincing. You could see glimpses of the old animated G1 design & the traditional Macross Valkrie in the design. For a Voyager figure, he looks and feels huge. It’s predominantly white with stripes of red here and there. One thing about jets is that you don’t expect them to be kibble-free. If you turn the jet over, you could literally see every single of the robot’s body parts hiding down there. But as long as you don’t turn the fella over, he’s an excellent figure.

Although the jet is naturally meant for usage on Earth, space travel is also never an issue since you could install the huge red color jet pack fuselage meant for space travelling.

As in most cases with jet-formers, there are bound to be kibbles underneath them jets, and the case is still true here. You can clearly see the arms underneath the jet, and despite HasTak’s best efforts to hide it by putting some guns and ammos on it, it didn’t work. Still, the issue is minimal, and if you’re like me and you already kinda expect to find lotsa kibbles with jet-formers, you’ll just learn to ignore it completely.

Robot Mode:

As awesome as the jet mode maybe, it is in the robot mode where this action figure really shines. Back in the G1 days, you don’t normally get to play what you get to see on TV. Take old Megs for instance: on TV he looks menacingly tough and deadly. But once you get the real thing in your hands, you suddenly realize that old Megs looks more like Cher, minus the plastic surgeries.

Jetfire was the same, although his robot mode was miles better than the old Megatron would ever be. That’s because the old Jetfire’s mould was that of Bandai’s Valkrie robot from the popular series Macross. All Takara had to do was repaint the mould and remarket it as Jetfire, and it worked, better than it was ever expected, to some extent that it even sold better than the original Valkrie itself, to the dismay of Bandai.

So this time around, HasTak has decided to combine both elements of the G1 animated series and the original action figure itself, and they did it with flying colors. Looking at the figure, it is exactly as how he was depicted in the animated series, which bears little resemblance to those Macross Valkries. However, just for the sake of nostalgia, that you really wanted to have those Valkries without having to buy one, you’d just have to put his helmets on and, voila, instant Valkrie.

In this mode, he is predominantly white, with patches of red and black. He looks awesome and menacing at the same time. He feels buff and tough, and quite simply, one of the best figures of the entire Classic line.

Overall:

I never had the original Jetfire, and the closest thing I have ever had to it was a knockoff version of the original Valkrie, which was die-cast by the way, sold under the banner Galaxy Defender. Since the original Jetfire was so difficult to come by, I did contemplate the idea of repainting the entire figure to make it look exactly like the G1 Jetfire figure. But since my artistic talents never included artworks (just ask my arts teacher), I eventually decided against it, before I’d make a real mess out of everything. Coupled with the fact that I had failed to get my hands on any Jetfire’s other incarnations’ figures, which includes the Armada & Energon version, I was adamant that I was gonna get this version, even if I had to go to the ends of the world to get it (really). In the end, I did manage to get him, and I couldn’t be happier. It would be years later that I would land yet another Jetfire other incarnation – the Revenge of the Fallen, Leader Class Jetfire.

All in all, I think Classic Jetfire was worth the effort, and I really like it, and it was really one of the best, if not the best figure ever released in the Classic line.

Final verdict, I give Jetfire 9.5/10.