Cliffjumper isn’t always a Bumblebee repaint, but when he is, he’s pretty much just a red Bumblebee, which is what we’re seeing here with the new Transformers Generations Legends Class Cliffjumper figure.
Cliffjumper’s original G1 figure was a retooled Bumblebee with a new head and a new robot “shell.” Their transformation was identical, but their ‘bot modes and alt modes were not. Cliffjumper’s Porshe alt mode made for a more angular and blocky ‘bot mode, and that was more than enough to distinguish him as more than a mere Bumblebee repaint.
Since the glory days of 1984, however, Cliffjumper hasn’t always benefited from the same level of attention his initial figure representation received. Hasbro basically discovered that Cliffjumper and Bumblebee are “close enough” in appearance that in order to maximize mold reuse, all they really needed to do was to give Bumblebee a red paint job and voila — instant Cliffjumper!
Fortunately there have been exceptions to this rule, most notably the Transformers: Prime Cliffjumper figure, but for the most part, a complete collection of Cliffjumper figures is going to yield a whole lot of red Bumblebees.
This brings us to the new Generations Cliffjumper, which, once again, is simply a red Bumblebee. So let’s take a look and see if this repaint works.
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The artwork on the card is awesome and that’s the Cliffjumper I want. Of course, that’s not the Cliffjumper I got. The problem with these repaint figures, like Gears, is the card is selling the figure we want, but the figure in the blister does not match up with the figure we want. This is a strange marketing tactic Hasbro has employed here. I don’t get it. The artwork seems to be the idealized version, but then what we actually get is the “close enough” version. It’s honestly a little annoying, but it’s not as bad here as it was with Gears, at least.
In the case of Gears, the figure received a brand new head sculpt that was at least an attempt at character authenticity. Here, however, Cliffjumper shares his head sculpt with Bumblebee and we get no new, individualized parts whatsoever.
At this point, it’s difficult to feel any sense of excitement or disappointment toward a figure like this. It’s Cliffjumper and there are no surprises here. If you have Bumblebee, you know exactly what you’re getting, only in red. Second verse, same as the first.
Cliffjumper’s accessories are mostly, once again, repaints, but they’re not the same accessories that accompanied Bumblebee; these actually originally came with Optimus Prime. Cliffjumper’s “partner” Suppressor is a yellow repaint of Roller, Optimus Prime’s pack-in partner. Cliffjumper also get the same blaster that Optimus wields, so evidently this version of Cliffjumper packs some serious firepower.
The purple details of his alt mode would seem to be a nod to his Prime character, which is kinda cool, I guess. Outside of that, however, this is a pretty straight forward, paint-by-numbers Cliffjumper alt mode.
Suppressor’s mold is one of the better minibot molds we’ve seen in this new legends-class line, so I actually don’t mind seeing it again. I also like the little bit of drama that was worked into their characters in their descriptions on the back of the card. Cliffjumper was a notorious spy-hunter on the old G1 cartoon, and here he’s partnered with someone who may or may not be a Decepticon — CAN YOU FEEL THE TENSION? It’s just a fun nod to the original cartoon, which is also probably the version of Cliffjumper many Transformers fans are most familiar with.
Would I recommend this figure? Sure, why not? It’s pretty par for the course as far as Cliffjumper figures go, and at just $10 at retail, it’s not a major investment or anything. It’s a decent-enough mold that looks enough like Cliffjumper to earn it a spot on my shelf. So if you happen to find one, grab it, but don’t go crazy trying to find one.
Ive been seeing him readily available at Toys R Us, Amazon, and I’ve seen sightings reported at Target, so it would appear he’s around and shouldn’t take too much work to track down.