Toy Review - Studio Series DLX Jazz

[tinyJazz]

10 - Jazz
Series - Studio Series
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - new
Wave - "2"
Released here - Not here yet? (US?) (JP version released July 2018)
Approximate Retail Price - $29-35
Approximate Size - about 12cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Pontiac Solstice custom hardtop
Main Colours - silver, grey
Main Accessories - crescent cannon

I bought my Jazz from comic book heroes in Chermside. Apart from some minor packaging differences the takara figure is identical. If you're having trouble finding Jazz locally there's a JP reissue due december.

I love this figure so much! It's such a good representation of movie Jazz, with lots of neat sculpt details, great headsculpt, plus he's a cute size haha. Seriously, he's a very small deluxe. Although, I always kinda hoped we'd get a scout sized Jazz and this is better than anything I expected. I used to say the premium deluxe was my favourite movie version but the studio series is way better.

He has tons of clever articulation which makes him a lot of fun to pose and play around with. He's a lot more detailed than a typical scout figure.

Transformation is pretty straightforward, as long as you get all the internal hinges lined up he should sit snugly as a car. The takara instructions are a bit clearer visually on how to achieve this.
I love the glossy finish on the vehicle mode and I wish they could have done the same for his robot mode. They got his arms and head though which is decent at least.

The "display stand" is... kinda tacky. It looks like something you should have thrown in the recycling bin by now. At the very least I think they could have used background that actually contrasts a little better with the figure, his head and shoulders get lost in it. I appreciate the thought of it though.

Overall: absolutely recommended!

I took a bunch of pics too so enjoy!


Three Jazzes by tiny jazz robot, on Flickr


3 sizes by tiny jazz robot, on Flickr

it's a small lightbox im sorry jeez


stock pose(!) by tiny jazz robot, on Flickr

He does the pose! From the branding! It's awkward but he does it!


kick test by tiny jazz robot, on Flickr


backpack by tiny jazz robot, on Flickr

oh no... the backpack.. how awful


gun part 5 by tiny jazz robot, on Flickr


my studio awaits by tiny jazz robot, on Flickr

just think about how bad this looks not lit by a lightbox


Movie Club by tiny jazz robot, on Flickr


Scout Classes by tiny jazz robot, on Flickr


Masterpiece Club by tiny jazz robot, on Flickr


i can have this? by tiny jazz robot, on Flickr

united jazz is my favourite jazz so they're gonna hang out


cool guys by tiny jazz robot, on Flickr

lol

[Autocon]

Oh he so small. Think i prefer the largest one in terms of looks with darker paint job in car mode and more defined details in robot mode. SS looks cute though. Good for its size and those wanting relative size comparisons with the other robot cast. Was going to say that looks like a very demented evil BB then i saw the dcon logo. When did BB go evil?

[Butcher31]

Totally agree with the review. Jazz is possibly the best, and definitely the most fun, toy of the line. It's straightforward to transform and looks great in both modes. Just make sure his hips are plugged into the roof properly when going to car mode.
It's small but it's not simplified, it's just shrunken down, and yet it's not fiddly. I'm okay with a small deluxe if the quality's there and it means it's roughly to scale with the others. It's definitely what I'm after with the Studio Series.

[Omega Metro]

He looks so cute!

[GoktimusPrime]

As others have said, this toy is pretty tiny, but given that scale is one of the features of the Studio Series line I understand why it's so. And yeah, the Pontiac Solstice is a pretty small car in real life. Here's the length of a Pontiac Solstice vs some other cars for comparison:
* Pontiac Solstice = 3993mm
* Chevrolet Camaro (5th gen) = 4840mm
* Volkswaven Beetle Type 1 = 4079mm

Here are some links of photos of actual Pontiac Solstices next to other things to give you a sense of scale.
In a car park
Man standing in front of one
Man standing next to one
2 men attaching the roof on a convertible version
The Pontiac Solstice is only 1.27m in height. Same height as my 9 year old.

So yeah, the diminutive size is something that I don't hold against this toy because it is meant to be the whole point of it. And while this toy is the same size as a Legends figure like Seaspray, it is definitely a Deluxe level of engineering. Certainly loads better value than those awful Cyberverse Warriors - I'll take a small well designed toy over a larger badly designed toy any day, thanks.

It's not a perfect emulation of the screen design and it doesn't quite hit that same level of screen-accuracy as other Studio Series figures. But I think it may be due to Jazz being a more difficult design to translate as a toy. Looking at his screen model you can see why. The lack of vehicle kibble on the robot, and what kibble we see seems to be split all over the place. It kinda reminds me of BW Dinobot, and this might be a toy that might be better translated at a Masterpiece price point, but at just a Deluxe price point I can see how challenging this would be. Previous versions of Movie Jazz have had to use certain cheats to try and approximate the look of the screen character in a transformable action figure, and Studio Series Jazz is no exception.

SS Jazz does a top job in trying to incorporate and conceal vehicle parts in robot mode. Gone are those awful forearms from the original toy replaced with faux headlight parts, while the actual headlights form the shoulders (which are formed from the tail light panels on the show model). I quite like how the wheels are incorporated and it does create an overall tighter looking robot mode which is visually more faithful to the screen model. I do wish that the feet were bigger, that's one thing that still looks better on the original figure, but the feet need to be small on SS Jazz due to the nature of the transformation so it's understandable. People have pointed out the backpack on this figure. It would've been nice if the backpack panel had hinges that allowed it fold and compact in, similar to what we see on Bumblebee. But it's not a deal breaker.

One cool feature on this toy are the hands. The right hand has the fingers pointing down like the original, whereas the left hand has the fingers in a grip position with a hole for 5mm post weapons. Unfortunately the door panel means that only certain sized 5mm post guns can actually be held by SS Jazz (i.e. thinner guns). Both hands flip in to reveal posts which can be plugged into the weapon, making it an extension of the arm as if it had transformed out of the arm instead of Jazz just holding. But the option to hold it is there too. I think it's important to mention that this toy hasn't sacrificed the integrity of its arms for the sake of being able to hold a gun, which of course was the problem with the original figure.

Are you having trouble making the door panels sit flush?
This is something that I initially struggled with, but it's because there's a critical step in the transformation that isn't shown in the instructions and isn't necessarily immediately obvious. If you look at the back of the waist section you'll see a small hole that you would normally attach a flight stand post to. When you swing this section up during transformation, take a good look underneath the roof panel and you'll see a peg. You must insert this peg into that hole all the way. Once you've done that then the door panels will sit flush. The downside is that it will also make putting the arms inside the car body even trickier (this is by far my least favourite part of the transformation).

Overall
Similar to my thoughts about Studio Series Brawl. Jazz is a nice transforming action figure and display piece, but the original still feels like a better toy in terms of playability (except for those indefensibly awful forearms, which I must admit is a pretty major flaw on that toy). I still find the original to be a more solid figure. While the metallic silver on SS Jazz looks much nicer, the original does break its main colour up more with black and gold accents throughout the figure. The original also has silver rims and an Autobot insignia! Can someone tell me where SS Jazz's Autobot logo is? I can't find it. I don't care if it's not necessarily screen accurate, I want my TFs to have faction logos, damn it! SS Brawl had this problem too. The original Deluxe Jazz used a silver Autobot logo that made it blend with the main colour of the toy. I thought that that was a nice way to include the logo without making it stand out. Recommended for adult collectors but not so much for kids. If you prefer a larger Jazz then stick with your Human Alliance figure.



PHOTOS

[Magnus]

I get the complaints about the size, but as Gok pointed out, the engineering complexity and part count justify the deluxe class price point.

I still have my Human Alliance Jazz and think it's a very good figure, but this one looks kind of tempting as something that will take up less space on a shelf. Then again, I'm hoping Jazz gets the Movie Masterpiece treatment, so it's not just about the size...

Sorry Gok, but this picture you linked to has no Solstices in it - the white cars and silver car are all Mazda MX-5s, while the red car is an Abarth 124, which is based on the MX-5. To be fair, the Solstice is a comparable size to the MX-5, so for anyone having trouble visualising the size of a Solstice, just think of an MX-5. The point is that it's smaller than a Camaro, so it shouldn't be a surprise that Jazz is shorter than Bumblebee.

Was going to say that looks like a very demented evil BB then i saw the dcon logo. When did BB go evil?

That's Cyberfire Bumblebee from DotM, dubbed 'Murderbee' by some thanks to his orange-red eyes. It looks like tinyJazz just put a Decepticon sticker on him.

[christalcase]

My complaint is the size (surprise ), it's almost the size of the Scout. While the transformation is Deluxe level and the car is painted silver, I still feel it is not worth the price of a Deluxe. I don't really care about scale... I just feel that Hasbro shrunk it too far this time...

I compare him to wave-mate Lockdown and it feels depressing. My favourite is still Human Alliance Jazz

[GoktimusPrime]

Remember that "Deluxe" isn't a size class, it's a price point. We've had Deluxes close to the size of Voyagers before (e.g. Animated Lockdown) and Voyagers the size of Deluxes (e.g. Animated Lugnut) etc. People view them as size classes because usually toys within these price points adhere to a common size - especially during Beast Wars which originated these fixed classes - but it's never been a hard and fast rule. Yes, Jazz is the size of a Legends figure, but he is not at the same level of design or engineering as a Legends toy. There is an above-average level of complexity for a Deluxe toy. Contrast this with the Cyberverse Warriors which are closer to the size of a Warrior/Deluxe toy but waaaaaaay below that level of design and engineering.

IMO SS Jazz better justifies its Deluxe price point than any Cyberverse Warrior.

[MayzaPrime]

I got one yesterday. I was surprised how much I like this figure.

[christalcase]

Remember that "Deluxe" isn't a size class, it's a price point. We've had Deluxes close to the size of Voyagers before (e.g. Animated Lockdown) and Voyagers the size of Deluxes (e.g. Animated Lugnut) etc. People view them as size classes because usually toys within these price points adhere to a common size - especially during Beast Wars which originated these fixed classes - but it's never been a hard and fast rule. Yes, Jazz is the size of a Legends figure, but he is not at the same level of design or engineering as a Legends toy. There is an above-average level of complexity for a Deluxe toy. Contrast this with the Cyberverse Warriors which are closer to the size of a Warrior/Deluxe toy but waaaaaaay below that level of design and engineering.

IMO SS Jazz better justifies its Deluxe price point than any Cyberverse Warrior.

It's not just the size but the feel of it in my hands. Animated Lockdown is as tall as a typical Voyager but is much lighter and Animated Lugnut is as short as a Deluxe but he is a lot heftier in hand.

For me, SS Jazz feels so tiny in my hands that it's harder for me to justify the $29 I paid into him. Yes, I understand all the R&D that goes into the price (the transformation scheme is as good as the other SS toys) but when the Deluxes in the same line has equally good designs and is bigger, I just can't help but feel Jazz was short-changed. However, that being said, once I got him into vehicle mode, he is much more compact with no gaps.