General Information:
Release Year: May 2007
Retailer: General release and specialty markets (Toys R Us, Walgreens, Alco, Shop Rite etc.)
Price: $5.99 (Depending on retailer)
Accessories: None
Difficulty Level: 2

Images:

• On Card (Front)
• On Card (Back)
• Vehicle Mode
• Vehicle Mode (Side)
• Vehicle Mode (Back)
• Robot Mode
• Robot Mode (Side)
• Robot Mode (Back)

Tech Specs:

One of the coolest Autobots around gets his own Legends class figure in the first assortment of movie figures from this sub-line of Transformers. Jazz's stylish Solstice vehicle mode definitely makes him memorable (on top of his personality) and it's neat to have a nice compact version available to review.

Robot Mode:
Much like Legends Ratchet, Jazz is a good synthesis of simpler design principles meshed with the design aesthetic of the movie. Jazz takes what could have been a pedestrian use of the "car front as the chest" design and puts a nice spin on it that results in a cool looking figure. Here, the car's front section does indeed become the chest, but the parts are arranged such that the doors become the arms and the front of the vehicle actually becomes the legs. This leads to a somewhat unique transformation among the Legends figures and also keeps his chest from looking like it's sticking out way too far. It also gives Jazz a good height that the deluxe figure lacks to a degree. All the of squat appearance of the deluxe sized figure are gone and in their place a pretty sleek looking form overall.

The smaller details show a clear influence from the movie's more complex designs. His head is the one used in the movie with the "battle mask" up instead of having the mouth show (I personally would like to see one Jazz toy from the movie with the actual mouth). The chest has the front of the Solstice including its cross hatched grille and a small triangle representing the Pontiac symbol. The mid body to the legs are composed of a lot of angled parts that curve and bulge out here and there, looking almost like the somewhat irregular panel on machinery patterns of the movie design. The sharpness of Jazz's details is kept intact via the knee armor coming to a point and his rather narrow feet. The robot arms differ from the movie designs somewhat. While the insides of the doors do have somewhat thin, tube like arms, he actually has fists instead of the four sided claw hands shown in the movie. I'm sure some of this has to do with how far ahead of time these figures were designed. This simplified movie look works well with this sculpt since, despite its bulk, it actually looks very sleek.

Jazz is primarily cast in silver and black plastic. Yellow, red, metallic blue and gold paint aps are used for detailing. The gold is found on his legs at the knees and the metallic blue is used on the visor eyes. The Pontiac symbol on his chest is painted red, which is a really nice small detail to have captured.

There are five points of articulation on this figure. I'm cheating a bit by counting the ability of the upper body to swing up since that is actually part of the transformation. Still, it is kind of fun to have him holding his arms forward, head forward as if he were flying. Hey, it's a toy, you've got to have some fun with it! The legs are on ball joints, which is nice as it gives them a wide range of motion.

Transformation to Vehicle Mode:

1. Swing the chest panel up over the top of the robot head.
2. Swing the arms up.
3. Swing the feet up.
4. Turn the legs inward and connect the two legs.
5. Swing the combined leg sections up, forming the bulk of the car.
6. Push the robot arms in.

Vehicle Mode:
Jazz's Pontiac Solstice vehicle mode is a very sleek and smooth looking car. The front end is designed to be very rounded not just in general design, but also in smaller parts. The front end is curved both vertically and horizontally. The headlights and even the outer edge of the grille are rounded in shape. Ther are two triangular points coming out from the underside of the vehicle's front end. These are not present on the real life car, but are there to help the robot mode stand. The curves go al the way back to the middle of the car and the rear where the spoiler curves in the back and down. With smaller details such as the door handles and the small triangular sections in front of the rear wheels, there is no mistaking what car this represents.

As one would expect, Jazz's vehicle mode is mostly cast in silver. The wheels are cast in black. The windshield is painted in metallic black and the grille is painted a dark grey. Yellow and read are used for the head and rear lights respectively.

While the overall sculpt is good, the main weaknesses of this vehicle mode are the points sticking out in front and the chest piece on top, which breaks the flow of the vehicle mode. The only consolation is that it makes for an interesting transformation.

Final Thoughts:
Autobot Jazz is a cool legends figure. He looks good in both modes despite some of the weaknesses of the vehicle form. Recommended.