All Jazzed up.

Hehe. “Jazzed up”.

But seriously, compared to the other use of the mold we looked at before, Jazz here looks positively radiant. Since this guy has all the parts, let’s take a full and in-depth look at him in all his fully painted glory.

Vehicle mode

The benefits of a good paintjob are pretty clear even in Jazz’s car mode. The nice white with blue details look great in comparison to the original dull grey. It’s also nice as well as kind of nostalgic that all his lights and rims are painted up.

Another thing that’s a really unexpected and sweet touch is that there’s a molded interior behind the clear plastic windows. It’s nothing too extravagant but it’s still a nice touch.

For playability, Jazz can roll on all his four wheels. You can also put his “telescoping sword” on his spoiler as well as aim it up and down. Since you can aim it, it would make more sense to call it a sniper rifle, right?

Transformation

The transformation is very straightforward which is probably because Jazz has a pretty standard robot mode for a Bayverse Transformer.

The way his arms form the hood and the Automorph are all pretty neat touches though.

Robot mode

The new paintjob has made Jazz look much more vibrant in robot mode. Seriously, the mold is exactly the same but Jazz just looks so much better with these colours. His arms still aren’t great though but his head is really nice.

For posability, Jazz has a ball-jointed head. His arms rotate as well as go in and out at the shoulders. He bends at the elbows. His legs rotate as well as go in and out at the hips. He bends at the knees and his lower legs rotate below the knees. His feet move forward and back.

Gimmicks

Jazz has some Automorph that transforms his chest and head when you put the roof of the car into position. The Automorph isn’t the most impressive but it’s still pretty fun to do back and forth.

For weapons, Jazz comes with his elongating “telescoping sword” that I will always call a sniper rifle. He also comes with a decently sized shield formed from the back of the car that goes on his shoulder. Doesn’t that mean it’s a pauldron and not a shield though?

Toy or collectible?

At this point, toy.

The Human Alliance, Movie Masterpiece and Studio Series Jazz all trump this guy in terms of accuracy as well as posability which means adult collectors will probably want to get one of those guys instead. That said this is still the only Movie Jazz that’s available in G1 colours so the figure still has that going for him.

This mold and this guy would get more mileage from kids honestly. It’s a big, pretty and easy to transform car that can be bought at a not unreasonable price as long as you’re buying him used. However, MISB prices for this Jazz, for some reason, are ridiculous.

Closing

Yeah, the mold itself hasn’t aged gracefully but it’s not terrible. However, this Jazz has a really nice paintjob which means that he does look great on a shelf even if he’s not the best Transformer ever.

Jazz isn’t a must have but he’s not bad. I won’t say you should go out of your way to get him but I enjoy him, so that’s something, right?