General Information
Release Date: January 2022
Price Point: $22.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: Amazon Exclusive (with limited quantities sold on Hasbro Pulse)
Accessories: Blaster, Sights Battle Master, Blast Effect
Official images and text in italics are from Amazon.com:
- GOLDEN DISK COLLECTION: The Golden Disk is a powerful artifact with the ability to reveal knowledge of the past, the future, and of the infinite possible destinies throughout time. Discover an alternate timeline in which the quantum surge that mutated many Maximals and Predacons into Transmetals, goes very differently…
- CHAPTER 2: …AND OUT THE OTHER SIDE: The quantum surge causes a time vortex, intercepting the Action Master Jackpot and his partner Sights, pulling them through time and space. Somehow the journey through the vortex gave Jackpot the ability to convert into a vehicle mode and altered Sights alt mode
- COMPLETE YOUR GOLDEN DISK COLLECTION: Packaging features a part of a Golden Disk graphic. Collect this pack along with the other 3 Golden Disk Collection packs to complete the graphic! (Each sold separately. Subject to availability)
- CLASSIC CONVERSION AND WEAPONS: Autobot Jackpot and Autobot Sights figures convert to sports car and axe modes in 20 and 5 steps. Includes blaster and blast effect accessories
The Golden Disk is a powerful artifact with the ability to reveal knowledge of the past, the future, and of the infinite possible destinies throughout time. Discover an alternate timeline in which the quantum surge that mutated many Maximals and Predacons into Transmetals, goes very differently… The quantum surge causes a time vortex, intercepting the Action Master Jackpot and his partner Sights, pulling them through time and space to prehistoric Earth. During the journey through the vortex, Jackpot gains the ability to convert into a vehicle mode for the first time while Sights gets a new alt mode! Autobot Jackpot and Autobot Sights figures convert to sports car and axe modes in 20 and 5 steps. Autobot Jackpot comes with a blaster accessory that also mounts on his vehicle mode. Autobot Sights comes with a blast effect for his axe mode. The Golden Disk Collection includes 4 exciting packs, featuring fan-favorite characters involved in the mysterious story of an alternate timeline! (Each sold separately. Subject to availability) Transformers and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro.
In 1990 the Transformers toy line swerved into a very different direction than previous years. Instead of focusing on transforming characters, the main characters such as Optimus Prime and Megatron lost their ability to transform due to the use of the new power source known as Nucleon. Instead, the focus of transformation fell onto their weapons and vehicles. Action Masters had a very mixed reception by fans at the time and they failed in helping to reinvigorate the toy line. However, something interesting happened over the decades following their release. A certain kind of affection for the line grew among those who remembered them upon their first release. The characters wound up being used in both officially licensed Botcon fiction and IDW Publishing's comic books. Action Masters nowadays are generally looked at affectionately. Not really as great toys, but as a fun little blip in the history of the Transformers brand.
When Hasbro wanted to put out a Selects style release for the "Golden Disk" Collection (described above in the official text) they reached back into the Action Master era and chose to recreate a character from 1990: Jackpot! Jackpot is an Autobot who has amazing luck and loves betting on dangerous situations. This figure is a redeco and retool of the Studio Series 86 Jazz figure, which I have not reviewed yet. So this will be one of the uncommon cases where I review a redeco/retool before its base sculpt. Jackpot is paired with his partner Sights, a redeco of Siege Pteraxadon so you'll want to check out that review for my original thoughts on that figure.
It would have been very easy for Hasbro to release Jackpot on his own without Sights and just call it a day, so I am very happy that they found a way to include his partner Sights. In G1 Sights was a robotic bird who transformed into a blaster weapon. This time out he's a Pteranodon, which is quite the change but you know what? I'll allow it since there really wasn't a better Battle Master sculpt to use as Sights.
There have been no tooling changes made to the Pteraxadon sculpt for this release. Instead, the colors are different to match his G1 appearance. The main body is black plastic and the other parts are a nice, dark blue. These match up fairly nicely with G1 Sights and side by side it is not hard to see the visual connection between them. Unlike his G1 form, this body allows Sights to transform from his beast mode to a melee weapon (axe) or a blaster (basically the axe being held in a different way). Having a Battle Master included also adds in the ability of the figure to utilize Blast Effects, which is always fun in my book.
Sights looks great and he adds play value to the set. I am very grateful he was included as part of this set.
A note: the product description says that Jackpot and Sights includes a Blast Effect. However, the Jackpot I opened did not include one. I am including it in the listing above since the official description says it was supposed to have one. If I ever crack open another one for some reason I'll update this review with a photo of that Blast Effect.
Robot Mode:
Jackpot uses the Studio Series 86 Jazz figure as its foundation, which is appropriate since G1 Jackpot had the familiar "front of car as the chest" design. His sculpt even included wheels on his shoulders, indicating his alt-mode was a car of some type before he lost his ability to transform. Fortunately, he also features a new head sculpt to really make this figure look like the G1 Action Master. I'm really glad there's a new head sculpt but there is a problem. If you look at the official images of the figure by Hasbro (in the gallery below) you'll see a head sculpt that looks good and most importantly - even on both sides. However, in the final production model this is not the case. Take a careful look at the part of the head that slopes downward on the top and you will see a clear seam in the middle. The left side of the head is higher than the right in this area and it does not look great. What I will say is that in person the effect is far less pronounced than it is in photos. Somehow, photos make the uneven bits look worse. Still, head sculpts are one of the most basic elements of figure construction. This is something Hasbro gets right 99% of the time, so it is really disappointing that no one in quality assurance caught this error.
The rest of the figure looks more like Jazz's body (because, well...that's what it is). This includes the "car front as chest", the rear of the vehicle forming the lower legs and the distinct shape of the forearms. It's not "perfect" in the sense that G1 Jackpot's "car parts" were more angular while Jazz's design is more curved. Still, the basic shape works for the character and I think he looks great.
Jackpot's color layout pays homage to his G1 Action Master counterpart. The base plastic colors are black, yellow and translucent orange. Paint colors include silver, orange and red. The layout does a good job of mirroring aspects of the G1 toy including silver on the head and chest, red in between the chest and waist and the orange sections on the legs. The colors are great. The brightness of the yellow and the orange color contrast wonderfully with the black and silver colors. I also appreciate the efforts to match up with the original figure.
There are twenty two points of articulation in this mode. This includes five in each arm and leg. I'm cheating a bit by counting the ability of the hand to swivel even though that's just part of the transformation. All the joints on my copy of this figure are nice and tight so no worries about quality control after its release as Jazz. Each hand has a 5mm port, and he has another on his back.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Detach the accessories and set them aside for now.
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Swing each fist into the forearms.
- Point the robot feet down.
- Rotate each of the wheel wells on the lower legs up.
- Swing the back pack up. Swing out the car doors, then swing the rear window out.
- Swing the chest up.
- Rotate the red piece around to the back.
- Swing the robot head down, then swing the small panel under the chest up.
- Swing each lower leg up over the thighs.
- Push the top of the car (windshield, windows and all) down carefully. I tend to press on the back and front. I wouldn't do it too hard because you could crack the translucent plastic.
- Swing the arms back.
- Swing the arms in at the shoulders.
- Rotate the forearms so the tabs on them face outward.
- Swing the doors down, connecting them to the tabs on the forearms.
- Either weapon can be stored on the top of the vehicle.
Vehicle Mode:
While there was a previous transforming Jackpot based on the Animated Jazz sculpt, this is the first Generations style Jackpot with a vehicle mode. Of course, since this was based on Jazz the vehicle mode looks like the cartoon version of G1 Jazz in vehicle form. The original vehicle was based on a real life Porsche 935 and it has a lot of similar lines and shapes including round wheel wells, a rounded front grille and a high spoiler in the back. I love the lines on this vehicle. It is distinctive and there are some really nicely sculpted details including vents on the hood and round headlights in the front.
This mode mostly shows off black and translucent orange plastic. A lot of shiny black paint is used on the window section. Yellow is used over the wheel wells and orange is used on the headlights. The red Autobot symbol is nice and prominent on the hood and I find something really classic about that. More orange peeks out in the back thanks to the robot feet.
As mentioned earlier, both weapons can attach to the port on top of the vehicle. I love the way Sights can attach as a cannon. It is a fun callback to the Action Master play pattern and I really appreciate it.
Final Thoughts:
Honestly, when I first saw in-hand pictures of Jackpot's head sculpt I was very dismayed because of the uneven construction. However, in person it is nowhere near as bad as I had expected. It is not ideal, and had the figure not had this one issue I would have given this a "highly recommended". Instead, I'll say I strongly recommend this if you're a fan of G1 and/or Action Master characters.
Pros:
- Nice choice of sculpt that fits the characer.
- While the excecution leaves a bit to be desired, the actual head sculpt is a great homage to G1 Jackpot.
- Very glad Sights was included.
- Wonderful colors that pay homage to G1 Jackpot and call back to another era.
- No apparent degradation from the previous release.
Cons:
- The head sculpt is an issue (regardless of how good it is meant to look). Hasbro does retools with new heads all the time and my guess is this was either a tooling issue (that should have been caught during Q/C) or some odd assembly issue.
- There are reports that the translucent parts of this figure are very fragile and break easily. This has yet to happen on my Jackpot or the two copies of Jazz I own however.
