Armada Jetfire (Powerlinx)

Robot Mode: Jetfire looks stocky and powerful in his robot mode. His posability is superb (except for some problems where his arms encounter the chest wings) and the wings jutting up from his back give him a cool air, almost like the winged mecca types from the Japanese animes. His head also reminds me of a Japanese robot. His hand-held cannon looks a bit ridiculous, being one of the thrusters of his shuttle mode, but the sound effects included are pretty decent and make up for the oversized 50s SF look. He also carries a shield which can connect to the powerlinx point on his left arm. All in all, a great robot mode if you don't mind the Japanese influences.

Alternate Mode: Jetfire transforms into a space shuttle. Not much to say here, really. He looks just like what he's supposed to look. His cargo bay opens up and Minicons can ride in there. His partner mini-con Cometor becomes the shuttle's front landing gear, while the shield he uses in robot mode becomes the rear landing gear. He also comes with two missiles that can be applied underneath the wings, but not launched or anything. A decent vehicle mode in total.

Combiner Modes: Jetfire has a good robot and vehicle mode, but the coolest aspect of this toy is the many ways in which you can link it up with Optimus Prime and Overload. Jetfire transforms into a lower body (waist down) onto wich Optimus Prime's upper body (from his super mode) can fit. Jetfire's shield is fitted onto Prime's chest to finish the "Jet Optimus". The resulting robot is huge and cool, looking, only the posability isn't that hot, especially in the legs. This combination mode can be enhanced further by adding Overload in his dual cannon mode. The cannons fit onto Prime's shoulders, turning the combined robot into an even more impressive powerhouse bristling with weaponry. He is a bit top-heavy, but still looking mighty fine. Finally, in shuttle mode Jetfire fits onto the back of Overload's trailer mode and both can be towed either by Overload's Minicon Rollout or by Optimus Prime in a kind of convoy.

Partners / Add-Ons: Jetfire comes with Cometor, who transforms into Jetfire's landing gear when he's in shuttle mode. Cometor can transform from robot mode into a small vehicle looking kind of like a mars rover or something. An average Minicon in terms of posability and play value, but fitting in nicely with Jetfire.

Remarks: Jetfire is a great toy, mostly in conjunction with Optimus Prime and Overload. It's a bit of a cheap trick to offer so many cool combination methods for these three, since if forces you to buy all three. Still, it's loads of fun to try out all the many variants (see the entries for Optimus and Overload for some more variations).

In the Armada cartoon Jetfire was Optimus Prime's second and got quite a bit of screentime, coming off as a cool character who wasn't as strict as Prime, but could still lead the way in a scuffle. And the toy is among the best of the Armada line.

Rating: A-

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