Reveal the Shield Jazz & Tracks

[JediTricks]

My order from HTS of Tracks and Jazz showed up the day before xmas eve. I had been hearing a lot of guff about how bad Tracks is, and a lot of lauding for Jazz, so I started with Jazz.

Jazz's alt mode is really a mix of 2 different vehicles, the nose to the end of the hood is an amalgamation of Porsche Boxter and Pontiac Solstice but curiously everything from the windshield back is a Nissan 350Z. That is extremely odd because they've already got a 350Z in the Classics line that 3 characters are done as, first Prowl, then Smokescreen and finally Bluestreak. And it's the 350Z's weakest point, the rear end is vague and bloated. Then Hasbro went so cheap on deco they should be rapped on the knuckles by a nun, they put almost no paint on the car after the B-pillars, so the back window and lights and bumper line are all white except for the racing stripe running across the fenders - they didn't even complete the racing stripe down the middle! There's also no paint on the wheels or grille, but it's not as offensive, although the Japanese version's pictures just hit the web and it has ALL of that stuff painted in. At least when making a new 350Z for no reason they moved the spoiler up to above the rear window which looks quite good. Jazz's forearms are visible from the sides under the doors, and nearly rub the ground even when done right. A gimmick in this mode is opening the doors to reveal a pair of speakers - though not like the loudspeakers from the cartoon, more like bookshelf speakers. Portions of the front fenders have a tiny bit of alignment issue from transformation, as do panels that make up the rear end, but it's not horrible. The color of the plastic is white with a slight hint of translucence that seems a touch milky, while the roof is painted a brighter white over translucent blue. On the top of the roof is a rubsign, and it's been die-cut, no more square block around the shape. Ooh, 3 decades later and we get an advance! The alt mode has a good personality overall, the spoiler offsets the rear end in a way that makes it beefy but still a slick sports car.

Transformation is a variation on the G1 original, adding a little automorph for the head, but making it impossible to fold the door wings back which the original did. Unfortunately, the chest doesn't lock down, nor do the shoulders, which makes posing and play a tad frustrating. Transformation back to vehicle mode is straightforward except for alignment issues with the forearms and the roof which can be easily missed, but aren't a huge deal.

Bot mode is ok, but a number of things keep it from really popping, the aforementioned deco issues and non-locked-down chest, and there's something about it that doesn't exactly feel like Jazz to me, partly due to the door wings, but mainly the face. The head is clearly Jazz's, but there's a really peeved frown on his face which is then amplified by the overpronounced chin sculpt. It's a good sculpt really, just not Jazz's thanks to that expression. This robot mode has a lot of gappy areas that are just barely covered over, from most normal angles it's not a big deal, but from lower angles and close up the chest gap is very cheap-looking, as is the back of the thighs being totally hollow. The figure has some good sculpting, the forearms are black plastic with white paint which makes its details pop out, but unfortunately the rest of the white bits are cast white plastic so they just eat the sculpted details, of which there are plenty but largely lost to poor deco - there are even 2 modern-style car speakers sculpted into the back of each door. And the areas that aren't white are black which looks so plain compared to those areas on the G1 figure which had color to really bring those designs out (those were stickers, these are sculpted elements and don't even get as much attention, how dopey is that?). Articulation is good for a deluxe, ball-jointed head can really move, swivel waist, hinge & rotation hips, ball-jointed shoulders, swivel biceps and thighs, double-hinged elbows and knees, ball-jointed wrists, hinged feet with independent heels. Moving the figure is a bit frustrating though, the ball-jointed shoulders are tight but the chest and shoulder panels are not, so they're likely to get dislodged and then everything requires fiddling again. Likewise, the knees being double-hinged too often ends up with the thighs behind the shins rather than above them, throwing off the balance and visual appeal. The independent heels often get pushed back as well, so every time a pose is messed with, it seems like every bit of the figure needs readjustment.

So, what's good about Jazz's robot mode then? Well, it's a tall figure for a deluxe yet doesn't sacrifice bulk. Decent proportions, no weird skinny bits anywhere. The speakers pop out of his door wings and can be removed on their 3mm clips to be attached to his blaster, that's fun. There's good sculpting on most areas, extra details on interior surfaces, and a ton of touches harkening back to the original G1 figure such as the lined details on the shins, and the shape of the forearms and hips. The soles of the feet are angled for a nice wider stance. His rubsign ends up on his back in the proper orientation, and is his only faction symbol.

Bottom line, Jazz is a mixed bag, there are good things going for this figure but some cost-cutting issues and a few design choices really hold it back from being all it should be, especially at the deco and hollow bits. It's also hard to get past the un-Jazzy facial expression. Design issues also make it hard to pose without other things going wrong thanks largely to the free-moving chest. And why they went back to the Nissan 350Z for alt mode is beyond me. I'd grade this figure a "C+" that could have easily been a higher grade.


"Turbo Tracks" (they couldn't get legal clearance I guess for just Tracks) is so very different from his wave-mate Jazz. When I was a kid, I really dug car toys that flew, the Omnibot Overdrive was simple but really hit home with me. I never got Tracks as a kid, but I quite liked how the pictures looked of his flight mode, they really got that right. This new Tracks carries the spirit of the original yet is its own thing.

G1 Tracks in alt mode was a 1970s Corvette, blue with a garish flame deco on the hood. This new Tracks is a darker blue car, it's wider and beefier than any Corvette, but still has some of its styling, though I'd say the designers here crossed the Vette with a Camaro and added a few angular touches to boot - I think it's a fine automobile they've created, it has its own special style that doesn't remind me of any other TF (yet - they're reusing this mold with a few changes as Wheeljack down the road). The deco has tribal orange and yellow flames on the hood, they are garish, but it feels apt to a modern day show-off. There's also a decent amount of deco around while retaining a clean look, silver wheels and headlights, dark gray grille, red tail lights, dark smoke windows, and white pipes under the doors. Almost all the blue is plastic except for the roof and A-pillars which are painted and don't quite match - mine has 2 shiny lines on the roof from where the clear bands held the part down, the rattan strings didn't harm the paint but these clear bands did. On the roof is the die-cut rubsign, well-hidden among the dark blue, it's the only faction logo on the figure. There aren't many seams in alt mode, but there is some panel massage needed to get the rear end and doors to line up.

Flight mode is in the instructions, although I found the bit about rotating the thin panel at the rear end to be a bit vague since it rotates along the car's Z axis (the length of the car), basically it's just folding stuff out of the way to pull the doors down. What you end up with is... underwhelming, the doors don't impress as wings at all, they have not enough color or shape to carry the concept, the hinges add too much bulk, and they sit too low - well under the wheel line. You can slide them out slightly, hinge them up, fold down the rear wheels, to be hover fans, but in the end it's still lacking. I give them credit for trying though.

Transformation looks complex, in the instructions they make it quite complex. It's actually somewhat elegant though, there's enough to do that it's not simple, but it's major stuff, and there's some automorph with the head and shoulders - this doesn't lock down though, but it's not as bad as Jazz's chest. Tracks' instructions totally fail to show an important aspect about the backpack though, the wings slide out but then they're also designed to hinge up 45 degrees which allows clearance for the backpack to peg down. Oddly, Jazz and Tracks both share a different snafu in the instructions, where tabs holding the windshield to other parts aren't identified and they expect you to just slide parts away which are locked down. Tracks' transformation back to alt mode is fairly direct, although the hips can get out of alignment a bit easily requiring more massage, and the arms and hands have a specific orientation and alignment with regards to the elbow hinges. Oh, and it's SUUUUUPER easy to forget to stash the gun until it's too late.

Tracks in robot mode is a very cool customer. There's plenty of new details and some new paint brought to bear. The end result takes plenty of cues from the G1 figure but feels nicely modern as well. The first thing that's striking is the head with its red face and dark gray eyes, the sculpt is very reminiscent of the original. There are wings beyond his shoulders, rear wheels at the shoulders, the windshield and roof as the chest with the rubsign present, and the flip-down tab-style feet. The pipes/thrusters also can clip onto 3mm rails behind his head, and while the rear section of the car is still a backpack, this one folds all the way down instead of hanging out behind his head. This new Tracks comes off a little wider than the original, the backpack adds a bit of that but I don't find it offensively so, and the blaster can be stowed inside. The figure's proportions are good, no long or oversized arms, knees in the right place, then big boots but that's a standard Transformers thing. Tracks doesn't have as much sculpted detail as Jazz, there are some flat spots on the insides of things, but largely it's not a big deal as he's got it where it counts. He's about a head shorter than Jazz but not short for a deluxe, and he's got enough bulk to counter it.

Tracks has a black and silver handgun that is clearly the shoulder weapon from Wheeljack, who the mold is getting used as in a few months. His hands are 5mm holes, but they're sculpted open with a high thumb which can be an issue for shorter 5mm pegs. He's got very good articulation, ball-jointed head, ball-jointed shoulders with a shrug hinge, swivel biceps and thighs, double-hinged elbows, swivel wrists and waist, limited range hinged knees, and hinged feet that have independent ball joints at the front and rear section. The feet joints are a little light, no one joint can do it by itself so they have to work in concert - luckily, they have a great amount of range to really plant for that. The wings and shoulder thrusters/cannons also can move a bit. The chest doesn't lock down but isn't the problem Jazz's is, it doesn't move as often and when it does it only slides down a little bit.

Overall, I really like Tracks, there's a fine-looking alt mode, a keen transformation, a great robot mode, and even a flight mode of sorts. There are a few little issues, but the figure has a lot of personality and thought put into the execution. I'd grade it "A-".

[BWprowl]

Glad to see I wasn't the only one underwhelmed by Jazz. And for most of the same reasons too! (though you liked molded-black/painted-white forearms, which were the damning feature of the toy for me) And we both agree that he looks way too angry.

[JediTricks]

Glad to see I wasn't the only one underwhelmed by Jazz. And for most of the same reasons too! (though you liked molded-black/painted-white forearms, which were the damning feature of the toy for me) And we both agree that he looks way too angry.

Yeah, I saw your thoughts on that stuff, totally in the same boat except the forearms, it surprises me more folks are swept up in the figure. To be honest, if my complaint about the white plastic eating the detail is such a big deal, I can't possibly hate on them painting the forearm in a way that makes the white details pop out so nicely. What about that bothers you enough to be the final nail in its coffin?

[BWprowl]

To be honest, if my complaint about the white plastic eating the detail is such a big deal, I can't possibly hate on them painting the forearm in a way that makes the white details pop out so nicely. What about that bothers you enough to be the final nail in its coffin?

I'm wondering if I just lost the QC lottery on my Jazz, since on mine it's less of 'white paint making the details pop' and more of 'obviously black plastic with a layer of white paint over it looking transparent and sloppy and not matching the rest of the figure at all'. And really, I just keep wondering why? Why, out of all the pieces that needed to be white on Jazz, were just these ones molded black then painted white? It just smacks of a screwup of some sort.

[JediTricks]

I'm wondering if I just lost the QC lottery on my Jazz, since on mine it's less of 'white paint making the details pop' and more of 'obviously black plastic with a layer of white paint over it looking transparent and sloppy and not matching the rest of the figure at all'. And really, I just keep wondering why? Why, out of all the pieces that needed to be white on Jazz, were just these ones molded black then painted white? It just smacks of a screwup of some sort.

On mine, there's no black showing through, it looks like paint but it's not sloppy in any way. I'll attach a quick-n-dirty shot from my ipod touch:

Even in that rather clunky shot, the forearm details come through while you can't make out anything on the chest.

As for why they used the black plastic, I'd guess it's due to the type of jointing the part required. Notice that all the white pieces are thin-walled elements with pins or screws holding everything together (the lower thighs are a good example), while all the black parts are thicker with more body. The ball jointed wrist and the type of hinge on the elbow are the type of manufacture that I think would break through the white plastic.

[Dominic]

I plan to post more fully about this. But, another QC problem: That stripe on the back is off-center. The red stripe within the blue stripe is noticable skewed when you look at the back of the car.

Dom
-really wants to like this toy.

[JediTricks]

I plan to post more fully about this. But, another QC problem: That stripe on the back is off-center. The red stripe within the blue stripe is noticable skewed when you look at the back of the car.

Dom
-really wants to like this toy.

I just measured, it's a quarter millimeter off to the left, half a millimeter difference in the width of the blue sides. My guess is it's an incorrectly-cut paint mask for the red stripe's paint.

[Dominic]

I have seen it skewed both left and right. Only Imperial hand-painting is that imprecise!

Scourge was on the phone with me when I noticed this. I handled it as well as anyone here would have expected me to.


Dom

[JediTricks]

I have seen it skewed both left and right. Only Imperial hand-painting is that imprecise!

Scourge was on the phone with me when I noticed this. I handled it as well as anyone here would have expected me to.

So, not well.

If it skews that much left or right, then I would guess they have 2 badly-cut masks that are mirrors of each other. The stripe is too clean to chalk up that wander to play in the mask, that much play would make for a softer or messier line. Of course, it could be a tampo-on-a-tampo which is an alignment issue with the head and the quarter-millimeter is the allowed tolerance (it's a pretty small number for a $12 toy).

[Dominic]

My god, the sheer variety of mistakes in Jazz's paint....

Oh, and apparently, there is a white base-plastic arm variant of Jazz out there.


Dom
-Hasbro really is ruining the hobby.