Transformers Generations Deluxe
Item No.: Asst. 37986 No. A7802 Manufacturer:Hasbro Includes:2 guns, comic book Action Feature:Transforms from Robot to Jet Retail:$14.99 Availability: September 2014 Other: First Jhiaxus with New Tooling
Generally speaking "Classics" Transformers toys vanish pretty quickly - Jhiaxus is one of many exceptions from the 2014 line. How much of an exception? You can still get him for about $15, while later waves are mostly gone. This character was the big bad guy of Generation 2 originally, and he's had very few toys to date - this one looks like a mishmash of the Robots in Disguise toy (itself an orange repaint of another toy) and the original comic design, with a healthy dose of Starscream mixed in. You'll note, most of his construction is based on parts from the Armada Starscream from 2014 - itself a pretty great figure. Since this toy does not resemble Jhiaxus' coloring from the comic books - and he's mostly famous as comic characters - it's possible fans just weren't feeling it.
The robot mode is good, clocking in at a decent five inches off the ground at the top of his head. It looks more or less exactly like the Dark Cybertron comics version, which allowed the character to get a new body to sell this toy. So in a sense, they tossed out a few years of familiarity to make an excuse to do this fairly decent figure. The head looks a lot like the comic incarnations, it's just that the color doesn't. At all. It was red, white, green, and yellow - and this mold would probably look fantastic in those colors. The orange and light grey are striking but also kind of dull - usually a light color has a darker color to set it off, and this doesn't. It does, however, have two pretty awesome guns that store nicely in vehicle mode, right under his wings. Jhiaxus also sports 15 meaningful points of articulation, all of which are pretty nice and stiff so he won't fall over after a few months on your desk or shelf.
Transformation is pretty simple - everything tucks away rather nicely, and the big cannons can be moved around before transformation to mount on his shoulders. The plane mode is... decent.
This is not a complicated toy - the jet does, however, actually do things. Most Hasbro Transformers alternate modes have rolling wheels and little else. This one has firing rockets, three retractable landing gear skids, and... well, that's it really. This isn't magic, but it does actually do something which is more than you can say for some of the bigger jets. The Leader-class 2015 Starscream has one firing rocket, and 2014 Jhiaxus has two. Starscream has one retractable landing skid and two non-retractable, all with rolling wheels. Jhiaxus has 3 retractable skids, but no rolling wheels. He's also shockingly orange and has a metallic blue canopy with techno detailing of some sort. I'll be honest, unless this was an attempt to do some sort of solar paneling I have no idea what they were going for. Maybe an attempt to do a Transmetals .shtmlinator? I have no idea.
With 5mm ports for Mini-Cons, two guns, and a few decent toy features this one is better than most Generations deluxe toys on paper. One of the most important things any toy can be is true to the source material - in this case, Hasbro had a toy and reverse-engineered new fiction to justify it. They could just as easily have painted the toy in 1990s or early 2010s comic colors and received a warmer collector response, but I suppose it probably sold well enough for their bottom line - it just wasn't a huge hit. Heck, when you get right down to it the IDW comics incarnation Jhiaxus is not really much of a Decepticon either - but why pick nits? He's cool little toy, who could be better, but isn't. If you like fun, he's fun.
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