Cliffjumper

The Studio Series began with the live-action movies, then expanded to include the cartoon movie, and now we're doing videogames. Cliffjumper spots a hoard of Decepticons prepping to attack Omega Supreme and unleashed defensive blaster fire. The box identifies this as a War for Cybertron figure, though Cliffjumper only appeared in the sequel, Fall of Cybertron. He had a figure before, in 2010, when the Fall of Cybertron toys were coming out; it was, understandably, a repaint of WfC Bumblebee. This is also a repaint of Bumblebee, but a Studio Series figure today should be better than a Generations figure from 14 years ago. Is it, though? The shape of the body is just what was seen in the game: narrow legs, large upper body. The proportions between the two are closer, this time, though it's still a very deep 'bot from front to back, with his chest hanging way out over the feet. The wheels on the forearms are toned down and don't feel as "Popeye"-ish as they did before, which is another change for the better. The large piece of kibble on his back is a bit loose, but nothing terrible. Because at the time of these games' release Hasbro was trying (ultimately unsuccessfully) to create a single unified continuity among all their media, this Cliffjumper is technically the same one seen on Prime, meaning he should sound like The Rock. It also means this toy's head is designed similarly to that one, with the extra-prominent horns and the armor covering the nose. Cliffjumper moves at the head, shoulders, biceps, elbows, waist, hips, thighs, and knees. Because of the way he converts, the lower legs often want to pop out of place, so you'll need to be careful with that. He includes a sword, a pistol, and a cannon - to simulate the way the games' Transformers just morphed their weapons out of their bodies, the figure's right arm can be removed, and one of the guns can be plugged in there. Even if he's holding the sword in his left hand, that still means he comes with more things than he can use at once. Conversion is kind of fiddly. There's a lot of back-and-forth-ing with the arms, trying to get the shoulder armor facing the right way can be tough because the design is so plain, the way you have to unfold the feet is hard to get the hang of without looking at the instructions every time, and a lot of pieces need to be forced into place instead of fitting smoothly. Plus, the back of Cliff's new head is too large, sticking out far enough that the flap designed to cover it in vehicle mode won't close properly - that's one of the pieces you have to force, meaning the tab meant to hold it closed will break off. Obviously Cliffjumper is going to turn into the same kind of little coupe as Bumblebee, a sloping orb that looks like a wireless mouse. The wheels don't stick as far out from the sides of the car this time as they did on the older toy, and there are more molded details on the surface. The Bumblebee version of this mold has one definite advantage over Cliffjumper, and that's the paint. CJ is red, as you'd expect, but that means the accents on the car - the headlights and tail lights, the various Tron-lines on the sides, etc - don't stand out, because they're also red-orange. It makes for a less visually interesting altmode. The three weapon accessories can be attached to the car for storage, but they're just sort of plugged on: they don't integrate at all. The big cannon goes on the roof, the sword across the back, and the gun underneath. Studio Series Cliffjumper is a fine toy, but not special. The robot mode could be sturdier, the colors could have better contrast, and they really should have tested the new head before okaying the CAD files. The biggest redeeming feature of this release for me is that I now have a War for Cybertron Cliffjumper who's not just a redeco of a Bumblebee I already had. -- 03/19/24

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