Transformers Human Alliance Jazz action figure review

Jazz was the one Autobot that didn't survive the first movie which was a real shame. The Human Alliance Jazz with Captain Lennox (or rather a small human figure with large black dots for eyes. He's no Josh Duhamel) gives us the best version of the movie character to date regardless of his short screen time.  This is both a blessing and a curse because tracking him down is quite difficult for some and paying a premium on the secondary market is even more difficult for others.

Jazz's alt mode which is a Pontiac Solstice is quite nice, if not marred by a few more panel lines than I may have liked. But the overall styling and paint apps are far better than the deluxes we've gotten. Lennox can be seated inside or on the motorcycle that comes with. The bike doesn't turn into one of the Arcee sisters but rather Jazz's Gatling gun that fires a missile

When you transform Jazz you're in for a treat. The transformation is easy to do yet complex enough to be interesting. His robot mode is voyager-class tall and really surprised me seeing as the car didn't look that big. It also has more articulation that you can beak-dance too and basically has double-joints for the elbows/knees, only missing waist and ankle rockers to be marvel-legends type articulated. You really don't see this much articulation in most transformers. Even his collar-bones move and turn into little blasters.

Speaking of weaponry Jazz comes equipped with all sorts. A Predator-type shoulder cannon swings out over his left shoulder, he has hidden kneecap blasters, and of course the motorcycle-cannon that can be attached to either arm when you fold his claws down. Human Alliance figures can right on his left shoulder, on bike in both vehicle and cannon mode, and in his legs to operate those kneecap guns. Seriously, it's in the instructions.

But the one feature for me that tops them all is his hideaway visor. Depress a small tab on the back of Jazz's head and his blue visor snaps out of sight under his forehead exposing his real eyes. It works really, really well. It doesn't affect the neck articulation at all and I wish more features like this were incorporated into Transformers figures where you could give them different looks/expressions.

If you're after an absolutely excellent Human Alliance Transformer then Jazz is your bot. Excellent design, awesome articulation, and all sorts of hidden weaponry make him stand out among the other HA figures. He's just now showing up at TJ Maxx and Marshalls so you should check there first. Jazz is showing up on Ebay more frequently for decent prices if you want one there and Amazon is another option to score him. I highly recommend you don't miss out on this figure!