I guess I should talk about “Rust In Peace Cliffjumper,” another of SDCC’s Transformers exclusives. RIP Cliffjumper (seen on the right) is a toy of when Cliffjumper was a Dark Energon zombie, so of course I was interested in it. Because, you know, Transformer zombie. (Zombies actually have a pretty storied history in Transformers, but we don’t get many toys of them.)
RIP Cliffjumper is a retool of the “First Edition” Cliffjumper, which didn’t get sold here in America as planned (but it will later this year). I’ve been told by everyone who got one that it was amazingly awesome, so maybe that put my expectations a little high, but I was kind of disappointed in the toy. While the Cliffjumper we got was pretty simple (if full of fake kibble), FE Cliffjumper’s mold can be pretty frustrating to me. Getting him into car mode was a chore. Not fun. I mean, it’s nice that all his car parts actually become the correct corresponding robot parts, but he kind of cheesed me off.
On the other hand, zombie. So even if this toy was the devil, he’s still better than the more-fun-to-transform non-zombie one.
And he came inside a package that looked like his own head, and the head-package comes inside a box that looks like his chest. He’s a Cliffjumper turducken.
You can put the head on top of the package and make your own zombie Cliffjumper bust!
Oh hey, they didn’t paint his blasters this time around.
Makes sense, not like he’d be using them.
Yeah, FE Cliff is the freaking devil to transform. I’ve had him for months, and have yet to successfully get him back to car mode.
His transformation is delightfully clever (bloody hell, I love how his legs transforms), but some parts of it – specifically those pegs on his shoulders – are absolutely evil. (Seriously, what is with the FE toys and bits awkwardly pegging in? I never thought I’d see one worse than FE Bumblebee until I broke down and bought FE Cliffjumper. Bee, I feel like I’m going to break him, but at least I can get the bits pegged. Cliff, I feel like I’m going to break him without getting it anywhere near correct.)
More zombies please hasbro? mayhaps a botcon set? one non infected attendee freebie, the rest of the set is naught but zombies. rotf Lockdown could make a good zombieformer methinks?
I’d rather get a Bloodron toy.
…which mold would make a decent Bloodron?
You can make basically any Floro Dery design out of Generations Scourge.
I actually bought both the FE and RID Cliffjumpers to see which one was better/more accurate, and it took me did take me quite a while to decide that I liked the FE better. Even though the RID version had more accurate legs and looks a little bulkier, the back kibble and fake chest really got to me after a while, especially once I realised that on the FE version the headlights can clip over chest windshield in robot mode to hold the whole torso together firmly.
Also I guess I love complexity a bit too much.
It’s shame that Zombie Cliff had to have his paint apps for his wheels and guns cut to allow for the energon scarring. A bit odd considering he’s a SDCC exclusive, I thought they had more budget to spend on collector items? Maybe this zombie cliff is the same as the retail version due later this year but with some extra accessories and cool box? I’m still totally going to get retail version when he comes out though.
TL;DR: Get Cliffjumper. NOW
RIP Cliff has a few extra paint apps over the planned retail version, such as the smashed window tampograph, IIRC.
No smashed window!? That’s the best part! noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I personally love the transformation of the first edition version. I needed a Cliff for a Stampede kitbash and settled on the PRID when it looked like it’d be impossible to get the FE cheaply. Now that I have a FE I regret owning it; the shoulders and elbows on that thing are so hard to pose in any way that looks natural.
Regret owning the PRID that is, that last sentence was unclear.
Like I said above, the transformation is amazing…except for those damned shoulder pegs.
I don’t like zombies, though zombie robots are kinda cool. Although I’m quite sure that this Cliffjumper uses the same head mold as the Japanese Terrorcon Cliffjumper toy.
I really hope the First Edition toys will also make the jump to Europe because of Cliffjumper. I like the FE a tiny bit more than the RID one, but I don’t want to spent the additional cash for importing him. So if the FE toys won’t be released here, I’ll most likely go for the RID Cliff.
Yes, this is the same mold as the Japanese Terrorcon Cliffjumper toy. “Terrorcon Cliffjumper” was what this toy would have been called if it’d reached American retail as it had originally been planned.
When FE toys get their second chance later this year, normal Cliffjumper is not included, just the Terrorcon version.
Whaaa-? Oh crud!
Now that makes RID Cliffjumper more interesting to me…
Honestly, Willis, I’m with you on this one. I love my FE Cliff, but he stays in robot mode so I don’t feel hassled. RID Cliff is just… a little easier and more satisfying to me.
Oh, also, wanted to say how cool it was to meet you at SDCC, and thanks for showing me FOC Shockwave!
I’m in the camp that prefers FE to RID Cliffjumper. RID gets show accurate everything but forearms, but the entire arm structure is pretty damn terrible, and of course he’s made of nothing but fake parts. FE Cliffjumper, on the other hand, while a bit less show-accurate, gets everything in the right place. His chest is his real roof, his shoulders are his real rear bumpers, his abs are his real headlights. The only thing they cheat on are the wheels on the back of his thighs. I don’t find him THAT hard to transform, personally, and I really love how little kibble he has due to the leg transformation. In my book, judged only as toys and not representations of TV show characters, FE Cliff is the better toy of the two. But to each their own.
By the way, there’s a cool feature of this mold. You can totally slide the lower body right out of the torso, no disassembly required, to mimic that scene where Zombie Cliffjumper was sliced in half.
Bought RID Cliff today, and I’m cool with him (except for the arms). But honestly, if the regular FE Cliff should also be released in Europe, I’ll most likely buy him too.