TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

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Rookwise's Review: Beelzeboss Devil Horns Upgrade Kit

Name: Beelzeboss Devil Horns Upgrade
Function: Fan Made 3rd Party Custom Upgrade Kit
Size Class: Designed To Fit Transformers Classics Deluxe Cliffjumper

As this is a 3rd party unofficial upgrade kit that has no transformation ability. The usual review criteria doesn't really fit. Instead I'll attempt to describe each part in the kit and how it's used.


Cliffjumper was released around 2006 as part of the classics line which was basically a reboot of the original G1 figures from the 1980's. However. This version of Cliffjumper was basically just a red and silver repaint of Classics Bumblebee from the first wave of Classics figures. Being a straight repaint of Bumblebee, Cliffjumper also shared the same head instead of Hasbro/Takara designing a new one.

This is where 3rd party creators have stepped in. The first upgrade kit that was released was made by Fansproject. This consisted of a new head, weapons, spoiler and bumper extensions/attachments. While the kit seemed good and certainly popular (the Fansproject kit commands a price tag of over £200/£300 these days). I think its slightly ott with the vehicle modes bodykit.

A few years later (approx 4 years) we now see a new upgrade kit being made by 3rd party company Beelzeboss. This Devil Horns upgrade kit is the first offering from Beelzeboss. Their second offering was again the Devil Horns upgrade kit but this time in Yellow. Designed to fit Classics/Henkei/United/Reveal The Shield Bumblebee to turn it into a yellow version of Cliffjumper (to represent the 80's release being available in red and yellow).
Beelzeboss are now in the process of making their third upgrade kit titled Growing Pains which will turn a Classics/Henkei/United/Reveal The Shield Bumblebee into another popular character by the name of Goldbug.


Packaging

The kit comes in a small/medium sized cardboard box with some very nice artwork on the front that shows a modified Cliffjumper running into a fight firing his Beam Cannon. The title of the kit is present on the box front and is done with raised lettering.

The top and sides of the box show toy safety info and the Beelzeboss website address.

On the rear of the box we see 3 pictures as if they were being viewed on a computer screen. These images show the new head along with it being placed onto the figures balljoint/neck section and the third picture showing the location of the head on the figure.

Opening the box reveals a black plastic carton with a black lid. Remove the lid and we see the 3 upgrade parts. These are the Cliffjumper head, Beam Cannon and Special Function Laser Gun.

Unfortunately. There are no instructions to show how to perform the conversion. It would have been helpful if instructions were included to help people who were not used to do these kind of modifications. However. The process of the conversion is not overly difficult.

Weapons

There are 2 weapons included in the kit. These are the Beam Cannon and a Special Function Laser Pistol. The laser pistol is used to resemble Cliffjumper's standard weapon which fired the typical laser blast and also has an ability for emit a gas which turns an object into brittle glass (nicknamed Glass Gas).

The second weapon is the larger Beam Cannon. This weapon resembles the one used by Cliffjumper in the original 80's G1 cartoon series episode titled More Than Meets The Eye. Cliffjumper and Hound were sent to spy on the Decepticons and after gathering info, and Cliffjumper decided to attempt to take a shot at Megatron. Even though he apparently had Megatron dead center in his viewfinder, Cliffjumper somehow missed with the shot hitting a piece of the background. This alerted the Decepticons and Laserbeak was sent to give Hound and Cliffjumper a telling off. This ended up with Hound being injured.

Both weapons are made from plastic and appear to be quite solid. They show some decent detail with a smooth finish. They both fit the figure very well are a tight fit into the figures fist. Neither of the weapons hinder the movements of the arms.


Head

This is the important part of the kit. The Devil Horns Cliffjumper head. The head is made from red plastic with a silver face. The head is very much like the original 80's character and features nice detailing and also has blue light piping for the eyes. The head was a tight fit onto the balljoint/neck section but goes on with a little pressure. The best way to fit the head is to completely remove the balljoint from the figures main body. This is done by lifting the base that the head is fixed onto. Underneath the base is one small screw. Undo it and the head and balljoint comes straight off. Next remove the screw from the rear of the figures head and seperate the head sections. Next locate the hole on the inside of the rear of the figures head which the ball joint can be seen through. A flatblade screwdriver close to the size of the hole can be used to remove the balljoint using some pressure. Doing it this way minimizes any damage done to the original head.

Push the balljoint into the hold on the rear of the new head. Make sure you do it from the rear of the head and not from the bottom. Again a little pressure is required to fit the balljoint into the head. Refit the head/balljoint onto the main body.

The finished result is very good and makes the figure resemble Cliffjumper much better than it did before. Articulation is exactly the same as with the original head. Transformation isn’t hindered either and still folds away nicely.


Marks out of ten for the following:

Design: 8 - Nicely detailed head and accessories. Gives a very good represention of the original character
Durability: 7 – Excellent build quality. Cant see it getting damaged easily.
Fun: 8 – Improves the figure really well.
Aesthetics: Weapons could have done with a little more colour but the head is nicely designed.
Value/Price: 5 – You dont get much for the price. Most online stores are selling the kit for around £24. I got mine from a seller in the USA for £21 including delivery. However. Most places are running out of stock and Beelzeboss have ceased production of this kit.
Overall: 7 – Nicely made and designed kit which is not ott like other versions. Improves the standard figure nicely.