Revenge of the Fallen Optimus Prime & Jetfire (Legends)

OPTIMUS PRIME

Robot Mode: Unlike the first Movie Legends Prime, the ROTF Legends version of the Autobot leader actually has a good deal of resemblance to the bigger, Leader-class version. The set-up of the body is a bit different, of course, but Optimus has the actual truck front on his chest and the front of the truck becomes the legs. So pretty close to the bigger version.

Also, Legends Prime here is among the more posable Legends figures with both shoulder and elbow joints, as well as (slightly) posable feet that give him a rather solid stance. So all in all a pretty good miniature version of Optimus Prime. One of the better Legends figures I know.

Alternate Mode: Hardly surprising, Optimus Prime transforms into a red and blue long-nosed truck. The resemblance to the bigger truck of the Leader-class version is very good here. Only the rear is slightly different, due to the joints necessary for the transformation. Apart from that, though: Excellent. Play value is, of course, limited to rolling the little truck across the floor, but you can't really expect more here. So bottom line: A pretty good, solid vehicle mode. No complaints.

JETFIRE

Robot Mode: Jetfire has one of the more odd-looking robot modes I've seen so far. His face (which is actually the upside-down tail end of the jet) is right between his shoulders, no neck. That, coupled with his rather short torso gives him a bit of a hunchback look. He also has long legs and long, spindly arms, enhancing the somewhat alien look.

Sadly Jetfire doesn't exactly offer much in the way of posability. His shoulders are balljoints, but the rest of him doesn't move all that much. So bottom line a Legends figure that looks good (if strange), but has some drawbacks in actual play value. Not bad, but I've seen better in this size class.

Alternate Mode: Jetfire is pretty much bound by his name to transform into something jet-like. In this case we have a SR-71 Blackbird stealth jet, best known to all comic book fanatics as the original transport of the Uncanny X-Men. The jet looks pretty realistic (speaking as someone who has never seen a Blackbird in the flesh) and almost no traces of the robot can be found. You can glimpse Jetfire's face if you look at the jet from the back, but seeing as the face looks pretty alien to begin with, you barely notice. The only thing that bugs a bit is that the feet of the robot mode stick out a bit from the jet's engines. Apart from that, though: No complaints. A good-looking vehicle mode.

JETFIRE & OPTIMUS

Combiner Mode: As Optimus Primes and Jetfires have done regularly since the days of Armada, these two figures here can combine as well. Sort of. Basically Jetfire just transforms into jet mode and then attaches to the back of Optimus Prime's robot mode as a big jetpack. There are actually different ways you can do this. Personally I like the variant I took pictures of best, but there are others. You can simply turn Jetfire upside down, which results in the engines being above Prime's shoulders, but the long cockpit scrapes on the ground. You can leave the cockpit pointing up and tug the engines in closer. And there are probably still more ways that I just haven't thought of yet.

Whichever way you want to combine them, though, the fact is that it's a pretty neat way to make the usually rather mediocre Legends figures more interesting. There aren't really that many combining Transformers in this size class, so this combination gimmick alone makes these two worth getting.

Remarks: I think it is probably the worst-kept secret of the upcoming Revenge of the Fallen movie that Jetfire, despite being labelled as a Decepticon on his package, is going to fight alongside the Autobots and end up combining with Optimus Prime at some point. Whatever the case, Revenge of the Fallen as a series seems to try to put a little something extra into its Legends line-up. We have these two here who can combine, there are pictures of a combining Legends Devastator, and who knows what else will come before ROTF is done. So even though I'm not usually a big Legends-fan, these two here just spoke to me. They said: Take me! Take me! So I listened. Haven't regretted it.

Rating (Optimus): B+
Rating (Jetfire): B-

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