Animated Cliffjumper

Robot Mode: Cliffjumper here is, of course, a repaint of Activators Bumblebee with a different head sculpt. But since I don't own (nor plan to own) Activators Bumblebee, Cliffy here gets the full review treatment. Starting, as always, with the robot mode. Seeing as most Cliffjumpers are repaints of one Bumblebee or another, this Cliffjumper here can probably be thankful for getting his own head. It's similar to BBs, but with a much broader chin and a very different look on his face. I like his face a lot. He just looks... adorably grumpy.

The rest of his body is a rather generic car-Transformer body. The top of the car forms his chest, the front of the car becomes his feet, and the arms are formed from the doors. The hands are actually sculpted into the insides of the doors. Interestingly enough his arms seem somewhat too long if fully extended, but his hands are in the wrong position if you leave the lower arms unextended. Not sure yet which version I like better. Anyway, posability isn't a problem, he can move with the best of them. Now if only he wasn't that exact shade of red that really doesn't fotograph well... anyway. A nice robot mode, easily recognisable as Cliffjumper. No complaints.

Alternate Mode: In the Animated series Cliffjumper never came to Earth (so far) and so was never shown in an Earth mode. Should he ever come to Earth, though, he, like Wasp, will be doomed to transform into a different-coloured version of Bumblebee's alternate mode, a small sports car with a police siren on top. Like all Activators Cliffjumper automatically unfolds into robot mode once you press a button (the police light) here in car mode, the gimmick works fine. The detailing on the car is pretty good as well (at least they didn't paint over the police light here), so all in all a solid, no-nonsense car mode. No complaints here, either.

Remarks: So far we only caught short glimpses of Cliffjumper in the Animated series. He worked with Sentinel Minor in Autoboot Camp, later served as aide/secretary to Longarm Prime, and still later served as contact for the Earth-bound Autobots. His exact role in the Autobot Elite Guard (if he actually is a member, seeing as he doesn't wear the 'winged' Autobot symbol) remains unclear. Still, it's nice to see yet another familiar face from the G1 days in Animated and Cliffjumper, while mostly known as "the obligatory Bumblebee repaint", remains one of my favourite 'Bots. This Activator repaint will probably be his only Animated toy appearance, but I'm glad I got him. Not a spectacular toy, but good and solid.

Rating: B

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