Toy Review - JP United Stepper

[kup]

I'll write up a review and post it soon.

[Hursticon]

I'll write up a review and post it soon.

Looking forward to it dude.

[kup]

Ok here it goes:



As we know, United Stepper is a Japanese only exclusive available to people who bought the Transformers Generations Volume 2 book. Since one was only allowed to order a maximum of two, Wonkimus_Major, a fellow member of DM.Net in Japan offered to sell me his spare and here it is!



As we all know, Stepper was originally a retool of Jazz that came out as a Targetmaster during the Japanese Headmaster era. He never appeared in the cartoon and even for the time there was limited fiction of him yet he managed to gain a bit of a fan following over the years. As a result there have been several releases of the character in both Japanese and Hasbro markets (where he is known as 'Ricochet') including G1 reissues, an Alternator, even Robot Heroes (! ) and now a 'Classics' United release!

United Stepper is a straight repaint of RTS/United Jazz with a glossy black paint job, bright gold highlights and '80s' style flame decals. Just like his G1 counterpart, Stepper comes with Nightstick as his Targetmaster which is the same mold that came with Generations/Henkei Cyclonus.

The color scheme is really what sets this figure apart, it's fantastic! The black has this 'new car' glossy black and the gold is a very shiny metallic paint similar to what we have seen with the latest waves of United toys. The upper limbs and groin are flat white but for some reason, only the outer half of the shins are painted a brighter white - This is clearly unintended but it seems to have affected the entire production run making it the only real flaw to this new color scheme. Although this is a minor defect that doesn't really detract from the figure, it still noticeable.

All colors contrast really well complementing one another and really sells the character by giving him a unique look that sets him apart from Jazz and looking great! He certainly would stand out on your display as he is very eye catching. The use of the awesome Generations Jazz mold also adds much to his value as you can put him in several dynamic poses although he still inherits the 'flips up' chest problem.







In car mode, he shares the same features as Jazz since he is a straight repaint which include the door speakers (which are now white). Unfortunately he doesn't have any way to attach Nightstick in car mode as the G1 figure could but you can get creative and position him so that he looks attached, but there is no way to properly secure him.

In car mode, there is much less white so only the black and gold is shown with the latter provided by his decals and wheel rims. The decals also have similar red stripes and patterns just like in G1. As with the robot mode, the colors in car more contrast really well and despite him being the same mold as Jazz, the new paint scheme make him look very different as it changes the 'personality' of the toy.





Overall, United Stepper is a fantastic figure and recommended if you like the character. However his price point is fairly expensive in the after market so he is only really worth something to the enthusiast or fans of the character since at the end of the day, he is just a Jazz repaint with an extra accessory.

Anyways as Pixel Dan would say...IT'S COMPARISON TIME!

United and G1 Stepper in robot mode:



United and G1 Nightstick:





Targetmaster modes:



Alternator, United and Robot Heroes Stepper:



A BIG thank you to Wonkimus_Major (DM.Net) for this fantastic toy and thank you for reading!

[Doubledealer]

Thanks for the great review Kup, he sounds like a fun repaint (dare I say, a "stepper" above the rest?).

[Hursticon]

Indeed, and excellent review Kup as I wasn't really aware as to how many 'Steppers' had been produced but more to the point it really sells this rather enticing figure; now if I only had a larger budget...

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Yep, good work there Kup.

I took a few photos at work, but my camera was playing up a tad. Hmm, might be a bit old now.

Anyhoo, posted them here, as I was having issues loading them to photobucket.

Overall a pretty good figure with very good posability, just a real shame about not being able to mount the TargetMaster on him anywwhere. (aside from his fists of course) I find his 'lightpiping' interesting as there is the golden eyes in there, but the clear plastic combo as well. This kind of produces an interesting lit up golden look. the flame decals are COOL!

Targetmaster's name has been Reatained as the bland "Nebulon" as well. Even though Nightstick belongs to Ricochet, I would have been happy to see 'Nightstick' make the continental shift, but I guess it keeps him authentic.

Me likey very much!

[GoktimusPrime]

Targetmaster's name has been Reatained as the bland "Nebulon" as well. Even though Nightstick belongs to Ricochet, I would have been happy to see 'Nightstick' make the continental shift, but I guess it keeps him authentic.

That would've created confusion in Japan because in G1 Nightstick was Artfire's Targetmaster Partner (same toy as Fracas), whereas of course Stepper's Partner - identical to Nightstick - was called Nebulon.