Well, it happened - my MP57 Skyfire finally arrived. Believe it or not, I actually preordered mine at Dewtoys in Singapore when the figure was first announced. I paid $150 SGD to have this thing shipped to me, which is over $100 USD, to ship it via EMS. Well, as luck would have it, the carrier completely forgot about my box, resulting in a grand total of 10 weeks for shipping. I'm not sure what NZ Post is, but to say I'm not thrilled is an understatement. I'm also not exactly thrilled how the store has been dodging my questions about getting some shipping costs reimbursed, as I'm pretty sure EMS actually has a delivery guarantee, especially when that guarantee is missed because the carrier just kind of lost track of a priority parcel.
I guess at least it's here now... but, looking back, I could have paid a local scalper for one of these, and it would have cost less than what I paid. I feel THIS is probably the biggest insult with regards to this whole situation.
Before I got on, people might be asking... who the hell is Skyfire? Well, I believe that the G1 toy was named Jetfire, but on the show they named him Skyfire. Over time, however, the name Skyfire effectively went away and Jetfire is the one that remained - I don't think anything outside of the G1 cartoon refers to the character as such.
So normally, this is where I'd put a picture of the box and the inner tray, but for whatever reason I deleted them, and wasn't too keen to retake them. The box is giant, measuring 7" x 13" x 20.5", so getting it lit up, even halfassed, was a pain. I think it's about the same size of the Convoy 3.0 box, which I'm too lazy to find at this moment.
Content wise, it's a modestly packed set:
- 1 x Main Figure
- 3 x Faceplates (Neutral, Smiling, Speaking)
- 1 x Battle Mask
- 2 x Thruster Effects
- 1 x Rifle
- 3 x Mini Figures (Optimus Prime, Jazz, Wheeljack)
- 3 x Chest Emblems (Blank, Autobot, Decepticon)
- 1 x Base/Stand with Adapter
Relatively small number of accessories, but considering the size of the main figure I guess not exactly unexpected. I guess my only question is why they didn't include any actual blast effects for his rifle.
What's nice about this particular set is that there's a cavity inside the jetpack to store most of the accessories - the only items that don't fit are the Thrust Effects, which of course are attached to the thrusters.
As the figure was packed in Jet mode, this is where we're going to begin our journey. The length from tip of the nosecone to the tip of the toes is roughly 20.5 inches, and the wing span isn't that much smaller. So overall, this is a really big vehicle that takes up a ridiculous amount of real estate. So if you have the space to display this AND mount it on a stand, then my hat off to you.
More importantly, the Jet mode serves as evidence of the greatest strength of this figure - its adherence to the G! aesthetic. Unlike most of the pre movie figures, G1 Jetfire looked NOTHING like his toy counterpart. I mean, it's not like these days where they try but fail. In the instance of Jetfire, its like animators went out of their way to make sure only the slightest resemblance was there. I'm pretty confident this had something to do with the fact a Macross toy was repurposed for Jetfire, and animators not wanting to references a competitors series any more than they had to.
Back to the point, the Jet mode... looks absolutely nothing like the toy, or any real world vehicle for that matter. It really does look like the designers ripped that weirdly blocky 80s aesthetic and made it three dimensional. There are of course some gaps, most notable being right behind the cockpit area, but truthfully that's not even an issue. This mode is just so loveable.
One thing I did notice is that the Jet seems to sag around this part, most likely due to the weight of the components. It doesn't look as bad on stock photos, but then I noticed that in those photographs the landing gear are not full deployed, so the front and rear aren't being pushed up as much and not emphasizing the sagging as much.
In the show, Jetfire undergoes mass shifting during transformation to vehicle mode, like a good number of other characters like Astrotrain, though arguably it's more important in the case of Jetfire because he's one of the few Autobots that can fly, and serves as troop transport as well as air fortress. I bring this up because the mini figures, while are useable with the figure in robot mode, are really meant for use with Jet and Gerwalk mode, the latter of which I'll get to shortly.
The mini figures themselves aren't too bad. They aren't as articulated as the Witwicky's that came with the various MPs, but these don't fall apart as easily. Each figure has basic shoulder and hips, along with elbows and knees.
Why is Jazz sculpted with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? Well, that's a question for Hasbro/Takara... none of the other characters have that problem....
... but I certainly wasn't to let it slide, though.
So, for the unimitated, Gerwalk Mode on Jetfire (and somehow on the new Seekers as well) is actually a consequence of using that Macross toy. The Veritech Fighters have three modes. Fighter mode emphasizes maneuverability, whereas Humanoid Mode emphasizes firepower. The Gerwalk Mode served as a hybrid of the two, striking that balance. In Transformers, I don't have a clue if strategically it served any purpose other than saying to kids "Hey look! Animated Jetfire can do that too!!". The steps to reach this stage from Jet mode aren't overly complicated, with the most annoying part being deployment of the ankles. You can also get the arms deployed in this mode, but it was way further down in the manual and I just didn't bother.
It should be noted that due to the weight of the figure, your legs will likely splay out to the side, so if you're using this as your primary display mode, you should probably use the stand.
The rest of the transformation isn't complicated per se, but some parts of it will drive you crazy. Most likely, it's going to be the backpack. Steps need to be completed in a specific order, and you need to deal with the friction that comes with sliding panels. The backpack, along with most of the upper body, appears to have some sort of QC issue where tabs and slots are JUST misaligned and getting things to come together (and stay attached) is often a battle in frustration.
The good news is that in robot mode, the various leg joints are strong enough to keep the figure upright (and posed) without any exterior support, provided you're not doing any gravity defying stunts. The complication, however, is that the joints in the legs are all ratcheting joints, which are great for strength, but limits your posing options, as well as increases the likelihood your legs will be misaligned, leading to warped looking legs.
While there's at least two other MP scale Third Party attempts at Jetfire, the one toy this MP is most likely going to be compared against is the Commander sized Transformers Siege: Jetfire. That figure is slightly shorter in robot mode, but I believe in Jet mode is even more noticeable.
Decos are kind of hard to compare at this time, as I put aftermarket decals on my Siege Jetfire, but straight out of the box Siege is pretty plain as well. But here are two things that the Siege does better than the MP. First off, the Siege actually comes with a plethora of weaponry. It's not G1 cartoon accurate, but it's certainly more G1 Toy accurate. though to be fair it sees more a case of the MP being under armed. The second thing that the Siege has over the MP is a waist, which I honestly thought was going to be the biggest negative. After transforming the MP, the sheer annoyance of that activity vastly outweighed a missing waist.
One flaw that might just be present on my Siege is that the hip joints are loose, so my figure either stands up straight or is lying on the ground.
Like Trailbreaker, the faces that come with Jetfire look era appropriate. I know many people, myself included, look at the G1 cartoon with heavy nostalgic feelings, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't notice the difference in episodes done by the two or three different animation studios. Most of the G1 models aren't going to win any beauty contests, which is kind of why it's hard bringing them to life - they're kind of ugly AND there's not much detail to hid anything. There is of course a battle mask (again, thank the Macross toy for that), which has been used in mainline Jetfire figures since Classics.
The top of the head also pops open to reveal a meter of some sort. I have to admit, this particular homage escapes me.
The Chest Emblem can be swapped depending on how you feel that day. This is of course an homage to the fact that Jetfire came out of the Arctic with no affiliation, and through the course of I think one episode went from siding with the Decepticons along side his long time friend Starscream to joining the cause of the Autobots.
From an articulation perspective, I think it's safe to say that the quality of joints is MP level, but the articulation options is average at best. So we've covered there's no waist, which really does put a damper on things as anything requiring a torso twist you're not going to be able to do. The range of motion on the legs is pretty standard, with the hip joints slightly mixing things up a bit by allowing for a simulated ab crunch. All the leg joints, as it should be noted, are ratcheting joints, which if you didn't know, don't exactly allow for precise positioning.
Shoulder joints are standard, but due to the various folds required to move the arms into position, you do have a pseudo butterfly joint type situation here, but depending on how you position the figure, things could look kind of weird. Elbows are single jointed but there's a cavity built into the forearm that allows for full range of motion. Wrists rotate with some limited wrist rocking motion. Fingers are the MP standard of fixed finger position with some moveable joints.
The head features a bit of a surprise in that you can pull the head up to access a greater range of motion, the most useful of which is the ability to tilt the head.
Paint Application wise, it doesn't look like there's much going on here. But from what I can tell, pretty much every surface of this figure is painted, which includes the white sections. So, yellowing really shouldn't be an issue with this release, a fear many people have whenever buying a white figure. Having said that, all the paint apps are nice and sharp looking, including all masking - which isn't that surprising considering the larger surface this figure has to work with. No rough surfaces or other paint artifacts, and no paint gumming up any joints Paint on the mini figures is a bit sketchy, but considering the size of these, I'll give it a pass.
Build Quality is hard to explain. So from a surface perspective, things look great. There's no issue with regards to scuffed surfaces, rough seams, none of the cosmetic stuff (again, on the main figure). Whether it be Jet or Robot mode, Jetfire is truly a thing of beauty. However, it feels to me that the QC guys were on break because I have a very difficult time tabbing the shoulders in place, as well as keeping the backpack parts together. As mentioned earlier, the poor QC also affects the backpack in more ways than anything else, because not only are you contending with parts that must have the appropriate amount of clearance to slide, there's also tolerance issues on the side of the rails themselves that can cause friction and eventual wearing down or breaking. So handle with care.
Ultimately, I feel if you're going to buy MP 57, it's because you want that G1 aesthetic. Without a doubt, this figure excels at that, probably better than any other offering out there. Every awkward angle, every strange proportion. The MP 57 has it all. But if you're looking for a toy that is actually fun to play with, I don't any experience with the Fans Toys FT-10 Phoenix, though I hear good things about it. All the other G1-esque Jetfire figures around this size are pretty much disavowed. But, it's not like the Phoenix is a much better deal - for that, you're probably going to opt for the Siege version.
It's not G1, but at approximately 1/3 of the MP price, so if you just wanted A Jetfire, then the Commander isn't looking to shabby, as it has a much better value proposition.
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