Takara Tomy Animated Blackout Review.

Blackout only had a small cameo in the Transwarped episode of the third series, but his form being based on Blackout from the first Transformers movie by Mr. Bay makes a fine toy to be included into the Animated toyline.  It's a good thing the Animated Almanac volume 2 goes into a bit more detail on this guy.



I got the TT version of this dude, because it was unclear as to whether or not Hasbro were going to release him at l.  I can say with confidence that he manages to fit right in with the Hasbro Animated figs, as he is mostly the matt colour and hasn't been shined up like a lot of the rest of the Animated toys from Japan.

I really dig this dude.  From the powerful start he got in the TV show, to the almost legendary status they achieve with him from the Almanac which both aid in his coolness.  As a voyager sized toy, he actually stands just over a deluxe size from the same series, in some cases under.  Where the voyager difference  comes in is his bulk.  Like Bulkhead and Lugnuts these are all big characters who would look awesome as a leader figure but we are stuck with voyager size instead. 

Still, this is pretty cool, although Blackout doesn't stand tall over his opponents, with a bit of imagination he can be as menacing as need be.  Just have a look at that face!  The different sized eyes, crossed brow and one thing I am particularly fond of, his moustache!  All rendered in lovely yellow gives him a cool dumb and strong attitude.

As you can see he looks about equal to a deluxe but fatter.  Sadly though he is still one of the smaller sized voyager toys around.  Nevertheless, for me its all about character in these cases.  From the back, he carries off the blackout look nicely.  The blades all fold back neatly except for the two over the shoulder and it looks reminiscent of a cape and of the movie character.  Dang, I meant to take a shot of them together.  Oh well, I will add one in later after I can remember where the movie one is. Well well well, I managed to dig him out.  Read on for more.

The wings of the chopper fold down and allow a bit of movement for the blades, but not heaps.  I don't think you would be able to get much spin off them in robot mode.  If you want, the wings can be lifted up to point the weapons they have forwards.  His arms are a little confusing.  The instructions say to move them back a bit for robot mode, but this would push them quite far back.  It is also the spot where they need to be for the helicopter too.  His arm movement is actually quite limited.  Up and down at the shoulders, right angle elbows with a bit of swivelling able to be done in the bicep area.  His wrists can move up and down, but no twisting.  He does have one join on his fingers though.  As a result of the limited shoulder movement, getting him to point his guns out to the sides can be tricky.

Wa ha ha! Up yours!

The Helicopter mode is nice and sturdy.  You can get good spin on the blades and the multitude of mini-guns make him very formidable looking.  It's just a shame that the missiles are so tiny as to be hidden too successfully under the wings.  The tail weapon clicks onto the folded up legs and connects nice and strong, so you don't have to worry about it falling off.  In fact it is so strong that you can hold it by the tail quite faithfully.

There is no undercarriage, so best not look there. It is mostly open robot parts, well his waist anyway.  The engine bits have a nice Decepticon logo on them with a few lines that give it a slightly more "Decepticon Airforce" look.  Very cool.

A comparison pic with the movie blackout above.  Not my best work that's fer sure!  I couldn't find the last blade either.  I was in too much of a hurry at the time. Will try to avoid in the future.

Overall we have here a vary nicely characterised toy.  Detail is good enough, since you don't want too many fine lines and moulding with Animated as well as bright colours, it fits well with the Hasbro versions.  I like very much and was worth the effort it took to get it.

The rest of the pics I took.

Blackout's weapon loaded.

Unloaded with disc in hand.