Review #76: Legends Class Cliffjumper
Greetings, folks! Imagine my surprise when as October dawned, I found that Weebly (the service which hosts my websites) had undergone a rather large overhaul! This shouldn't effect things too much on the end of you, the visitor, but it does mean a lot of changes on my end! And so, to test out the new version of Weebly, I thought I'd write up a quick review of a toy I acquired earlier last month.
This toy is a mold I have reviewed before. Far back in the ancient days of August 2012, in fact, when I reviewed a pair of Bumblebee molds. One of the molds in question was a Legends Class mold, and when also talking about that mold's repaint as Goldbug, I lamented the lack of a Cliffjumper from the same mold.
"There was a Cliffjumper made with the Legends figure we've looked at today," I said at the time, "but alas it was only ever released in Japan (in a multi-figure set with other figures I've gotten domestic versions of). While I'd love to have a little Legends Cliffjumper, it wasn't worth enough to me to pay import pricing for. I am kind of surprised that Hasbro never did their own Legends Cliffjumper... They do like their repaints, and this would seem an obvious one... Ah, well."
This toy is a mold I have reviewed before. Far back in the ancient days of August 2012, in fact, when I reviewed a pair of Bumblebee molds. One of the molds in question was a Legends Class mold, and when also talking about that mold's repaint as Goldbug, I lamented the lack of a Cliffjumper from the same mold.
"There was a Cliffjumper made with the Legends figure we've looked at today," I said at the time, "but alas it was only ever released in Japan (in a multi-figure set with other figures I've gotten domestic versions of). While I'd love to have a little Legends Cliffjumper, it wasn't worth enough to me to pay import pricing for. I am kind of surprised that Hasbro never did their own Legends Cliffjumper... They do like their repaints, and this would seem an obvious one... Ah, well."
Well, it seems earlier this year, Hasbro finally got around to that obvious repaint, and thus we will be taking a look at it today!
Cliffjumper finally got a release in this mold, but was only distributed to discount chains. I didn't even really have this guy on my radar, to be honest. But while on a vacation in New York, my girlfriend and I popped into a Family Dollar store to grab a few toiletries we'd forgotten to pack. While I had no expectations of finding anything, as is my habit I went to give the toy section a quick browse. Expectations were defied, as there was Cliffjumper! I won't be commenting too much on the mold itself, as you can go read my earlier review of it as linked to above. Short version: It is an older mold that is definitely not up to the standards of today's Legends Class figures, but it is still a fun little mold. |
What we will be looking at today is how this mold works as Cliffjumper. And starting in vehicle mode, so far I think he is working quite well!
The only minor quibble I might have with him in vehicle mode is that his front end could hold together a little better. I suspect there may be a touch of mold degradation at work. But the resulting gap that it leaves down the center of his front end really is more noticeable in photographs then it is in person. As I said, only a minor quibble.
And here he is, for fun, with a few other toys. On the left, the two other toys I have that use this same mold. And on the right, with my original Deluxe Class Classics Cliffjumper:
And here he is, for fun, with a few other toys. On the left, the two other toys I have that use this same mold. And on the right, with my original Deluxe Class Classics Cliffjumper:
And now, robot mode!
This mold looks good in red, and even though aside from color it is unchanged from Bumblebee, it still manages to say "Cliffjumper" to me. Yes, a new head sculpt may have been nice, but this head works okay. It certainly isn't as bad as it was with the Classics Deluxe Cliffhanger. (Who, as you may recall, was at least able to get a new head thanks to third party intervention.) But here? I am happy with this figure as is.
As above, a look at this Cliffjumper with some other figures:
As above, a look at this Cliffjumper with some other figures:
And now, to the right, my usual photo presenting the figure being reviewed (this time, along with his guests) along with a standard sized DVD case to act as a size comparison.
So, is this Cliffjumper for everyone? Heck, no! 2008 (when this mold was first designed) may not seem like that long ago, but Legends Class figures have come a long way since then. And, in fact, there has been a Legends Class Cliffjumper made using a more recent mold, as seen in the photo below I swiped from TFWiki.net. |
But frankly, and this is pure personal preference here, something about that particular mold didn't appeal to me, so I never picked it up as either Bumblebee or Cliffjumper. But now I do have a Legends Class Cliffjumper to call my own!
So, if you're like me in that respect, sure, go ahead and try and hunt this guy down! Or if you just really love Cliffjumper and need every toy of him, then what a happy time it is for you that there is another Cliffjumper you can collect! But for most people... honestly, this guy is probably a pass. Not because he's a bad toy, mind you! He's just a toy that probably won't fit in with what most people these days are looking for.
Well, that wasn't too painful. I suppose this new Weebly will work out just fine.
Review added 2 October 2015 by Yotsuya. Comments are welcome.
Speaking of which... one thing that will look different on your end! A new commenting system! I found this amongst the new features being offered and thought I'd try it out. Let's see if it works out!
So, if you're like me in that respect, sure, go ahead and try and hunt this guy down! Or if you just really love Cliffjumper and need every toy of him, then what a happy time it is for you that there is another Cliffjumper you can collect! But for most people... honestly, this guy is probably a pass. Not because he's a bad toy, mind you! He's just a toy that probably won't fit in with what most people these days are looking for.
Well, that wasn't too painful. I suppose this new Weebly will work out just fine.
Review added 2 October 2015 by Yotsuya. Comments are welcome.
Speaking of which... one thing that will look different on your end! A new commenting system! I found this amongst the new features being offered and thought I'd try it out. Let's see if it works out!