Toy Review - GEN-15 Legends Blackjack

[millhouse]

Had to use a clear rubber band to keep him attached to Menasor, so a bit of a fail in Combiner mode in that respect...

[ProphesizedFunk]

Yeah he comes off super easily unfortunately

[koolkollectibleskhai]

Here's my review of the new Combiner Wars Blackjack. Cute little guy

Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Blackjack - YouTube

[philby]

what kind of real life car (if any) is it based on?

[UltimateGalvatron]

He kind of looks like his transformation is borrowed from Scamper from Titan Class Metroplex...

[prjkt]

there are similarities, but still a few difference - with Scamper his bonnet ends up as his chest, where with BJ (what a bad acronym) his rear window becomes the chest.

[GoktimusPrime]

Pros
The core figure itself is really quite nice; the robot has decent articulation, the paint apps look nice (especially in car mode), and they've tried some new ideas with the transformation. The way that the canopy and bonnet folds and tucks away is pretty clever.

Cons
As others have mentioned, he just does not lock into place as Menasor's breastplate and is easily prone to falling out. He sits there just fine as a static display piece; and I've yet to complete Menasor and thus have a proper play with the gestalt, but I suspect that it'd likely fall out all the time during combat. Luckily Blackjack's not that essential to forming Menasor's chest, as Motormaster's backpack can just close up and form the chest on its own (in fact, that's how Menasor is currently being marketed by TakaraTOMY in their promotional photography).

Anomalies (neither pros nor cons)
What's up with that non G1 accurate face? And his accessory (weapon?) is... a fan? A battle standard? So... he's a Decepticon flag bearer? SPQD*! Perhaps it's a fan. Or maybe he's an assistant referee for Association Football matches. Or maybe it's a big paddle...
"Making fun of my weapon, that's a paddlin'."
TFwiki claims that it's an axe, if so, that's the weirdest (and arguably impractical) looking axe I've ever seen.

Overall
Weapon ambiguity aside, the toy itself is quite neat; it's solid in both robot and car modes, and the transformation is reasonably fun and intuitive for a figure of this size and price point. The main flaw lies in Blackjack being a gestalt component; which appears to be a poor execution of what was an inherently good idea. If only the pegs on Menasor's chest were thicker or if the holes on Blackjack were smaller. :/ A nice enough toy, but not utterly essential to one's Stunticon collection. Since Menasor has his own in-built breastplate (Motormaster's backpack) and considering that Blackjack was never a member of the original Stunticons, he's a rather superfluous member of the team, so you're not missing out on anything critical if you skip this toy; but he's by no means a bad toy either. Recommended.

what kind of real life car (if any) is it based on?

None, although G1 Blackjack is a 1988 Ford Probe GT Turbo.

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*Senātus Populusque Decepticōnus: The Decepticon Senate and People

[Trent]

Cool little guy. Mine clips onto Menasor's chest, but is bumped out quite easily.

Definitely glad I picked it up

[Dimi194]

Cool little figure, but needs some adjustment to look decent/stay on Menasor.

[liegeprime]

Yeah he comes off super easily unfortunately

+1, I put him on Menasor's chest and he just slid out... annoying really. it's already ridiculous the way he combines to be the chest armor and for him NOT to be able to stay at all is just getting to my nerves... I jammed a couple of blutack in there but yeah they should've made the pegholes and the pegs connect better.

Of the figure itself it's very poseable and the color is spot on , good homage to the G1 micromaster. Now Im wishing they just made the whole other 3 and make the Patrols instead of adding him as an armour combiner for Menasor.