TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Sir Auros' review of: Meister

Name: Meister
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Warrior

Aaron Archer says you can call him "Jazz" if you want to since they couldn't name him that and he thought "Autobot Jazz" was silly. Yes, Meister is influence by G1 Jazz, but the head sculpt is the only part of the figure that really reflects this. This figure was first revealed in a flash cartoon on Mazda's website last December when the Alternators line only had Smokescreen and Sideswipe released. I've been waiting for this one since it was originally speculated to be a Jazz figure, and while I missed out on the shipment that arrived at the local Walmart just yesterday (when I bought my Tracks), they had one on the shelves today along with every other Alternator except Smokescreen and Sideswipe. Meister's a pretty good figure and the mold didn't disappoint me as much as Tracks' did.

Vehicle Mode:
I'm not a fan of Asian cars (and yes, I do know Mazda is affiliated with Ford), so I was mainly banking on the robot mode for this figure. I'm just not fond of the aesthetics of most Asian vehicles (thanks largely to ricers), and Meister really isn't much of an exception. The car mode is well done though and the interior is almost flawless. Unlike Smokescreen or Silverstreak, Meister manages to have back seats while still having a transformation sequence that has his legs as part of said seats. Meister's a Mazda RX-8, and it is a faithful reproduction of the vehicle according to the pictures I've seen of it. The robot mode's gun turns into part of the exhaust system, and this is a departure from most of the other Alternators that have transforming engines, or in Hound's case, a gun instead of a spare tire. Like the other Alternators (except Hound), Meister has front wheels that turn in unison; however, Meister's wheels utilize plastic pegs instead of magnets like the earlier Alternator molds. The one really negative thing about this mode is the bit of plastic under the front doors that was black but was painted white. It just doesn't work because mine had wear around the edges right out of the box. So you have black showing through on the edges of a white car. This is only prominent on that small piece on either side, but why not just use white plastic there instead?

Robot Mode:
Meister has a pretty rockin' robot mode and a head sculpted to imitate Jazz' with the visor and unique "helmet." Meister's gun also looks like some cool sub-machine gun, and I'm glad to see the Autobots are getting better armed now. The figure has much better articulation than Tracks and is easily comparable to Smokescreen and Silverstreak in that respect as well as others. Meister's transformation pretty similar to the Imprezas as is the general look of its body in robot mode. I may not have completely figured out the intricacies of Meister's odd feet, but he does seem to have a problem with balance because of them. My biggest complaint with this mode is the lack of color. The white is kind of overbearing and the ab area on the torso could have made the figure look much better with more color than just black and the arms could have looked good with say blue bands going around them or something to add color to all the white and black. The use of two Autobot insignias on the shoulders looks pretty good though. Aesthetics aside, this is a good toy robot and a cool rebuilt Jazz. I just think that Jazz' colorscheme doesn't translate well onto a car that lacks all those racing stripes and whatnot to jazz it up a little. Yes, that was awful, I'll just leave now...

Transformation: 10 - Not frustrating or frightening (as in fear of breaking it), and simple enough that I didn't even need the directions the first time...not that the things are ever useful anyway.
Durability: 8 - The white paint can wear off of the black plastic fairly easily and I've noticed some white showing through on some black parts of the feet.
Fun: 10 - Car mode looks fine if you like the car it's based on, robot mode looks great, and it's fun for play or display.
Price: 10 - I have $140 worth of the things, but they're still somehow worth it.
Summary: 9 - Good addition to the line, but not entirely perfect.