TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Sir Auros' review of: Blackout

Name: Blackout
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Aerial Saboteur
Sub-Group: Combaticons

Just before writing Blackout's review, I wrote a review for Blight where I had to rant about the colorscheme. For Blackout, I believe I'll be doing the opposite. Blackout's primary colors of gray and purple are not only pleasing to the eyes, but almost as classic Decepticon as black and purple. The sweet paintjob goes along with a figure that is really quite good overall and my second favorite out of all the Combaticons.

Vehicle Mode:
Blackout is a helicoptor with a name and paintjob similar to G1 Blast Off. That and being part of a Bruticus combiner are the only similarities since Blast Off was a space shuttle and Blackout is an assault helicopter. The big issue with Blackout is that the legs are horribly disguised in the vehicle mode. What happened to "robots in disguise?" I also would have liked to see Blackout have more armaments in this mode. A machine gun barrel sticking out of the nose of the chopper would have looked nice. The energon weapons attaching as weapons also would have looked good. Strangely, the energon weaponry Blastoff sports in robot mode turns into helicopter legs in the vehicle mode. Yes, they are still gun barrels, but they're positioned so that they appear to be legs. Which is strange, since the type of helicopters Blackout's vehicle mode imitates usually just use wheels. It's a serviceable vehicle mode though and decent fun since the rotors do rotate. Helicopters aren't much fun or safe when the rotors don't rotorate like they're supposed to.

Robot Mode:
Blackout's robot mode is surprisingly well-articulated and it can be put in many dynamic poses. The helicoptor's tail can hurt that a little, but not as much as one would imagine. The robot mode is really superb except for two problems I have with it. One is that I don't like that Blackout has to hold the energon gun to the side. It's not really rational, but it bugs me that the grip for the gun isn't in the middle and it looks like the figure is holding it from one edge. My big complaint though is that the head is ludicrously small. Blackout looks like a pinhead because the head is so out of scale with the body. This is too bad though since the headsculpt is magnificent. Other than those two things, Blackout has a really nifty robot mode that's fun for play or display.

Transformation: 6 - Like Stormcloud, the legs are poorly hidden, but it is part of a gestalt.
Durability: 8 - Blades on Blackout got really loose just like Stormcloud's.
Fun: 9 - Good articulation, but fewer weapons.
Price: 10 - Basics get me every time, so I get them every time.
Summary: 9 - Great colors make it neat even if you aren't going for the gestalt.