Legacy Blaster

with Eject
Series: Legacy
Allegiance: Autobot
Category: Voyager
Year: 2022

Prelude: For the longest time it was all about Soundwave, the Decepticon cassette player. When Blaster, the Autobot cassette player, appeared at all, it was usually as a repaint of whatever Soundwave figure was currently on the market. Now, though, Blaster has finally gotten a new mold of his own, no sharing with the bad cassette player, and Legacy Blaster stands ready to blast tunes and overload Decepticon audio receptors. Let’s say go!

Robot Mode: Blaster is a Voyager-sized robot, so for once he does not tower over everybody else like he did in Generation 1 and Titans Return, but is in proper scale with the rest of the cast. His head design is the one from the cartoon, not from the comics (more on that in the remarks) and looks very nice. He is very nicely articulated, featuring ankle tilt, hip rotation, and just about everything else except twisting wrists. Nicely done. On his left hand, one of his fingers is permanently extended. No, not the middle one, the index finger, which he can use to open up the tape deck on his chest.

One of the reasons why Blaster was oftentimes a retool of a Soundwave figure is their rather similar design with the tape deck sitting dead center on their chest. Blaster can open his by pushing in the buttons below it (push in, not down!), revealing space for one cassette (more on that below).

For weapons, Blaster comes with his traditional sonic scrambler rifle. When you put it ins his right hand, the extended index finger makes it looks like he is about to pull the trigger. The rifle can also be stored on his back by clipping it into one of three 5mm holes back there. Blaster also has 5mm holes on his shoulders and forearms, so he can clip on a lot of extra weapons if you want to.

Overall I like this robot mode a lot. The only slight downside I can find is that he has a slight case of buttflap. A piece of his boombox mode sits on his behind, but it’s on a hinge so it can flip up so as not to hinder leg movement. So bottom line: probably the best Blaster in robot mode we’ve ever seen. Not that there have been THAT many, but still. Very nice.

Alternate Mode: Blaster transforms into the same type of boombox that he did back in days of yore. The transformation sequence is basically the same, too, just with a few extra steps. The result is basically a square with a handle on top and a tape deck in the center, just like in G1. Somewhat smaller, of course, but clearly meant to be the same. He is of proper scale to be put on the shoulder of a Masterpiece figure, if you want to.

Not really that much you can do here, of course, apart from opening the tape deck and putting cassettes in. Apart from the buttons to open the deck, all the knobs and buttons are sculpted and without function. His rifle can still be attached to the back and if you have the muzzle point up, it kind of looks like an antenna, maybe.

Bottom line: a great boombox mode, no complaints.

Partner: Blaster had many different cassettes back in the days of G1. Not quite as many as Soundwave, but still. Here he comes with but one of them, Eject. Eject transforms from a transparent blue cassette into a tiny robot. I know some people don’t like the fact that he is roughly two-thirds transparent plastic, but personally I don’t really mind that. Eject is very nicely articulated for such a small guy, but lacks a weapon. Never had G1 Eject to compare him to, but from pictures alone I’d say he’s a good match. So bottom line: a nice little extra figure, though I know many people would have preferred to get Rewind instead.

Remarks: Blaster is one of those characters whose portrayal differed wildly between the Sunbow cartoon and the Marvel comics. In the cartoon he was a relaxed, happy guy who rhymed a lot and spent much of his time appreciating Earth music. He later became the commander of Autobot City and coordinated the deployment of Metroplex. In the comics, however, Blaster was a grizzled underground resistance fighter on Decepticon-controlled Cybertron, a hard-ass veteran with little time for authority and jumped-up would-be leaders like Grimlock. He even went toe to toe with the time-travelling menace Galvatron and fought Grimlock for leadership of the Autobots.

The Legacy version of Blaster here is identical to Kingdom Blaster, only the packaging differs between the two.

Legacy Blaster (or Kingdom Blaster, take your pick) is pretty much exactly what he promised to be: a CHUG-style version of the G1 Blaster figure. Appropriately scaled, nicely articulated, and with room for a cassette in his chest. He does not need to be more than that (though I wouldn’t have said no to an extra head for the Marvel Comics look). So bottom line: if you’re looking for a great CHUG-style Blaster, you’ve found him here.

Rating: B+

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