Revenge of the Fallen Jolt

Robot Mode: Jolt's robot mode is, to start with the bottom line, pretty good, but certain aspects of it take some getting used to. Let's start at the bottom with the feet. His 'toes' consist of the car's bumper split in half and you can pretty much turn them whichever way you want. The instruction sheet shows them positioned in a downward arc (see the third picture above), but this isn't the best way seeing as the connecting peg scratches across the floor. Personally I've turned them sideways, so he has bigger, broader feet. I like the look and it gives added stability. But like I said, do it whichever way you like.

Going up one notices that Jolt has a lot of parts that are only visible here in robot mode and serve no function at all in alternate mode. This includes his thighs (the 'wheels' there are just for show) and pretty much his entire torso. Very nicely sculpted, but for some reason I can't quite put my finger on it bugs me a little that all this goes to waste, so to speak, and isn't used in any way for the vehicle mode. Just a subjective feeling, though, so no points deduction here.

Going further up, Jolt has a very nicely sculpted had, but here we find the figure's one tiny flaw. What is it with this triangle thing behind his head? It serves absolutely no function, neither here nor in alternate mode, but it does restrict his head movement quite a bit. I've never been quite so tempted to simply saw off a piece of a Transformers figure before. It's really annoying because, like I said, I have absolutely no clue why it's there at all.

Finally we have the arms, where Jolt's trademark whips are stored. Truth to tell, though, the whips look more like jagged blades rather than whips. A bit short for that. ROTF Rampage does the whip thing a lot better (even though that is pretty much the only good thing ROTF Rampage does, but I digress). Jolt's hands are a bit strange, as they are three-fingered claws with two of the three fingers on the downward side (in most poses), so Jolt always looks like he's begging for a hand-out.

In closing Jolt has a pretty good robot mode with only a slight rucksack (though small in comparison with other ROTF figures) and that stupid triangle thing behind his head in the flaw category.

Alternate Mode: A surprisingly simple transformation converts Jolt into a Chevy Volt. Now don't get me started on the whole Jolt/Volt thing. Just for your information: There was an Autobot called Volt back in G2, part of the same subline as G2 Jolt, who was a Decepticon. So if you are using a Chevy Volt, why not call it Volt instead of Jolt, especially if you don't even need to switch allegiances? But let's get back on topic.

There isn't a whole lot I can say about the actual car. I've never seen a Chevy Volt personally, but I assume that the likeness is pretty good. Everything fits together quite well and there are no obvious robot bits visible anywhere. There are his shoulders behind the windshield, but that isn't a big thing, thanks to the dark blue tinted plastic. One little flaw here is that you can see right through the car when you look into the rear windows. All in all, though, a very decent car mode. No real complaints except that the red paint for the brake lights was applied rather sloppily on mine.

Remarks: Jolt just might hold the record for the shortest appearance for a named character in the Revenge of the Fallen movie. He was seen twice in car mode, each time for about half a second, and twice in robot mode. He never spoke a word, but he did use his electro whips to fuse Jetfire's parts to Optimus Prime for the final showdown. He was gone after that, though, never to be seen again. For someone whose profile describes him as someone who dives right in to taunt the Decepticons, he was sure laid back in the movie.

As a figure, though, Jolt is pretty good. Not perfect, as there are a few things that could be improved. But for a figure that seems rather unspectacular on first glance, he certainly grows on you upon closer inspection.

Rating: B+

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