I got mine too earlier this week, and I love him   It's also the first G1 Jazz mold I own, or see in the flesh actually, so I can't compare it with any previous one. But for a display piece I find him very nice, both mode look good and hold very well. Only need to get some reprolabels sticker for him and he should look even greater  

 

anybody else out there got the loose left shoulder?? (ie jazz's left)

 

Great review! Thanks.

 

yeah mines a lil loose on the left

 

I got mine on tuesday. He is flawless. No loose joints. He looks great. I especially love the painted visor. That's a great touch.

 

I must digress with the OP. Got him in today, and he is phenomenal. Personally, I have had nothing but good experiences with the encore line. I was surprised at how sturdy Jazz is; nice hefty weight, solid, tight joints, and everything clicks together as it should.

 

I think that in this issue a lot will come into play, but maybe, because i am so used to the original vintage diaclone and g1 molds i see all the errors in the figures, I just received the "Black protect Ironhide" and definetely it is "crap"(again the ko mirage is FAR superior), i mean, it is better than having nothing i have to admit, because the diakron black ironhides are too expensive, but when you compare it to the originals A LOT is left to desire, even compared with the 2002 TAKARA re-issue this toy is far inferior, I am preparing a review, will post soon!

 

I understand your point. For me, I have not had this mold in, oh, 20 years or so. So it is great. Maybe if I had an original or whatnot I would feel different, but I am very happy with my encore  

 

I have the original diaclone 'jazz' and the encore (ive also owned the classic euro reissue jazz from 1991 from new and the collection version). the encore isnt in the same league overall BUT its does not actually feel cheap and nasty, the collection version felt all wrong, the only collection toy that i was really unhappy with. The encore is actually easier to transform than the diaclone version and is a bit more play friendly for sure (i think the original diaclne mould was changed for G1 to make these changes).

its a shame if takara is cutting quality but my encore ironhide/ratchet dont seem especially poor quality, im sure they are not as nice as previous incarnations but by no means are they like bad KO's.

 

I finally got Jazz today.

Really, I try not to use the word flawless too much, but Jazz really deserves it.

Vehicle mode is clean, lines up perfectly and looks amazing. Transformation is smooth with no errors and the robot mode stands and holds together fine. No paint errors, no chips, no assembly problems, everything is awesome.

I always loved Jazz, and now I finally have him. 

 

You guys did a great job comparing the encore jazz with the TFC jazz, but how does the Hasbro commemorative reissue compare? I got the TFC Jazz a while back and had no idea it was different from the original.

 

as far as i know the hasbro jazz has the inferior head sculpt like TFC but has a slight remould to help the rear windshield stay put in car mode. He also has black missiles, longer for safety if im not mistaken.

overall the i'd say the encore is easily the best reissue to get.

 

just got this guy in the mail today! Had a quick question though.....In robot mode, he sorta wobbles back and forth at the bottom....I'm guessing that's just a victim of the design? Also when in robot mode, his chest can't click into anything or is it supposed to sit in place

 

Did you split his feet?
As for his chest, I don't think it locks on to anything however it really doesn't need to be locked.

 

Encore Jazz looks great there, makes me convinced on actually buying him!

 

as mentioned before make sure the lower legs are fully separated, holding him upside down and pulling the feet apart with a little wiggle works well. he should stand very solidly.

 

^ yeah I did that, but he wobbles a little, still though it's not a big deal he's great!

 

i opened a second jazz, seems that the QC issues on this toy are rather varied. THis one doesnt have the loose shoulder issue as my other but his door pops off rather easily, also the front half of the car lifts very easily from the rear half (where the lower leg black inner sections lift from their 'chassis' position over the metallic foot tabs), the vintage toy and my other encore have the two sections hold together well and when you lift the front half to begin the Tf sequence its a little click to separate them.

as a rule if you get an encore jazz it will probably have at least 1 QC issuse, again this is a shame when you consider how the other earlier reissues have been close to perfect, i think a lot of that is to do with the moulds themselves rather than a specifically encore issue (i could be wrong though i hear theres a few issues with screamer), eg i can find no discernible difference between my UM reissue cab and the encore prime cab aside from the minor tyre differences.