General Information: Images:
*Images and text in italics below from the official Transformers web site: Get ready for “high-flying” fun with this aircraft-to-robot villain! Switch your mighty BLACKOUT figure from Sikorsky Pave Low aircraft mode to battle-ready robot mode. Then convert him back to aircraft mode so he can chase down his enemies. As the battle rages on, keep converting him back and forth, so he’s ready to face whatever his enemies throw at him! Ages 5 and up.
In the first "Transformers" live action movie, the Decepticon known as Blackout took part in one of the most dramatic scenes in the movie. He was one of the first Transformers we got to see transforming on screen and I remember my breath being taken away the first time I saw the footage. While Blackout may have met his untimely end in the first movie, the designers clearly couldn't get enough of his design, bringing back a modified form of his CGI model in "Revenge of the Fallen" as "Grindor" (who also didn't survive the film). Alive or not, Blackout returns once again, this time as a member of the "Cyberverse".
Robot Mode:
Blackout is very well detailed. The head sculpt is fantastic, with lots of small grooves and lines carved into its design. His forearms have some nicely sculpted wires and machinery on them while his legs have everything from tubes to armor panels to pistons worked into the design. Even his EMP blaster has some grooves and lines matching the curve of the weapon that look fantastic. Blackout is cast in two plastic colors: dark blue and dark grey. The blue makes up most of the robot mode, with the grey making up robot limbs such a the upper arms and thighs. His paint applicaitons are done in silver, gunmetal and red. The silver is the most heavily used color. You'll find it on his legs, forearms and chest where it is used to paint a Decepticon symbol right in the center. Gunmetal is used for smaller details such as his head. You probably guessed it already, but the eyes are painted red, matching the traditional "Decepticon eye color" carried over form Generation One. The paint job sounds simple, and I guess it is, but it is done well and you really don't feel that he is missing much thanks in part to the way his plastic colors are distributed. In this form, Blackout has sixteen points of articulation, which is quite a bit for a figure of this scale. This includes ball joints at his shoulders and hips, but what I also like are the ways that his forearms and lower legs are able to rotate in and out (this is partly to accomodate his transformation). I'm not counting the ability of the panels on the sides of the chest to swing in and out, but they do give a tiny bit more posability if you wanted to count them. Being a Commander Class figure, part of the play feature of this figure is having a weapon and in this case, Blackout is once again partnered with Scorponok, the creepy crawly Decepticon featured in the first Transformers movie. This is in essence Scorponok as a Targetmaster. His "robot mode" is really his beast mode as seen in the first Transformers movie. He has his distinctive corkscrew style claws on his arms, his segmented legs and angled armor plates sculpted along the length of his body. His tiny head sculpt even has the big creepy bug eyes from the model seen in the first film. His tail is divided up into armored segments, coming to a three tipped point at the end. Overall, this is a fantastic sculpt for such a tiny figure. Unlike Blackout, Scorponok is cast in soft plastic, which I'm sure is cheaper but also eliminates any safety issues with his sharper bits. The section with the head on it is painted silver, but there are no other paint applications. I'd be interested to see if the Japanese version many have any more paint applications. Scorponok has two points of articulation, both on the tail. It has a hinge at the base and one in the center. The "Targetmaster" functionality comes into play when you flip the robot head back, folding out his weapon barrel. The tail then attaches to it and Scorponok is now in blaster mode. A small peg is revealed on the underside of the weapon now, which is how other Transformers can hold him. I like the fact that he turns into a dual barreled weapon, with the weapon barrel on the bottom and the tail/stinger on the top. It's a cool looking weapon that brings about an additional dimension to the character that fits in with his role as Blackout's partner. I also dig accessories that also serve as characters in their own right. In a nod to his appearance in the first movie, Scorponok can also attach to the back of the EMP weapon using the peg found there. This functionality is based off the scene where Scorponok "ejects" from Blackout's back during his attack on the military base in Qatar. Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
Vehicle Mode:
These larger details are bolstered by tiny sculpted details including armor panels running along the sides of the vehicle along with some windows and even tiny landing gear sculpted onto the "wings" and the front of the vehicle. I was also impressed to see how the curved sections of the robot legs in the middle actually resemble parts of the rotor engine on the Pave Low. Overall this is a really nicely done sculpt. I'm quite impressed. This mode shows mostly dark blue plastic, with some grey showing on the rotor blades. Silver paint is found on the middle and back of the vehicle with a tiny bit of yellow used on the edges of his side windows. I also like the way his Decepticon symbol winds up prominently showing in the front of the vehicle. It was mentioned earlier that Scorponok can attach to the rear section of the vehicle. If you want to arm Blackout even more, there are two holes on the underside of the vehicle that you can fit more weaponry on. Need some more? Pick a Cyberverse weapon with a relatively long peg (such as Optimus Prime's) and you can slip it into his fists which stick out in the back in this form. I'm glad to see that the designers found a way to use the fists sticking out instead of just having them sit there and stick out like a sore thumb. I really like how heavily armed this figure can be made in vehicle mode. Nicely done!
Final Thoughts:
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The "Cyberverse" of Transformers is partly made up of figures that are somewhere between the traditional Scout Class in size and complexity and the old Legends Class of figures. In general, Commander Class figures in the Cyberverse (not to be confused with Commander Class figures in 
