G1 Sizzle

Robot Mode: There is nothing particularly fanzy about Sizzle. Simply said, he's a car standing upright. Pretty much all of his robot mode details are on the front (which is the car's underside), while all of the car is on his back. Mostly red and black in colour, his posability is restricted to moving his arms at the shoulders. The detailing on his torso and his arms is well done considering his size, but that's pretty much his sole redeeming quality in robot mode. Sad to say you can already see the beginnings of the Micromaster-transformation style here. So bottom line: Not a particularly good robot mode.

Alternate Mode: What Sizzle lacks in robot mode he mostly makes up in vehicle mode. He looks pretty cool as a souped-up racing car, complete with massive engine block, oversized rear tires and exhaust pipes on the side. The detailing is great, especially considering his small size.

Like all of the Sparkabots / Sparklers, Sizzle features a flintstone in his rear that throws out spark through his rear exhaust when you roll him over the ground. Not the most fantastic gimmick of all time, but if you remember how the Sparklers used their fiery exhausts to melt Decepticons into slag, you can't help but feel some nostalgic appreciation here. So bottom line: The vehicle mode is much nicer than the robot mode.

Remarks: Apart from having possibly the most stupid name ever, the Sparkabots (Sizzle, Guzzle, and Fizzle) were a rather unremarkable subgroup until Simon Furman started using them in the Marvel UK comics under the name 'Sparklers'. They fought robot zombies, alien gladiators and even Galvatron. Which is pretty much the reason I've gotten Sizzle, I wanted to complete my set of Sparklers (I do own Fizzle, I just haven't gotten around to reviewing him yet). Sizzle also had a short cameo in the IDW Spotlight series.

Judging the figure solely by itself, though, it isn't all that hot. The vehicle mode is pretty well done and I like the gimmick, but the robot mode is lackluster at best and drags the figure down quite a bit. So what does that boil down to? I guess Sizzle is an average 'bot for his time (the beginning of the dreaded gimmick-years of G1), with a little bonus for being part of one of my favourite comic subgroups.

Rating: C+