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When the First Edition TF Prime figures were being produced, Cliffjumper was one of the characters made for that line. Unfortunately, he wasn't planned for US release. Instead, we were given the RID version of the character. This new version of Cliff, while not as great as the FE version, is still a very fun toy and a fine rendition of the character. Best of all, he does not share the same mold as Bumblebee.
Cliffjumper come packaged in the standard RID packaging, with a clear view of Cliff in the front in vehicle mode. The back shows a short bio and pictures of the figure, and the tech specs are on the side. Not much I can say about the packaging that I haven't said before, but I do like it.
Cliffjumper's robot mode actually looks pretty good. He looks pretty close to that he does on the show. He also evokes a feel of G1 Cliffjumper, something that only a few of the figures in the RID line actually do. The only real flaw I can find with robot mode is in his arms, they are hollow, and at certain angles you can actually see in and through them. They also don't hold together as well as I would like them to. Other than that he is a very solid toy. The one weapon he comes with is his battle hammer. He never used it in the show, but it does feel like a weapon he would use. It can be held either as the hammer or as a gun. I prefer the gun mode because I know Cliffjumper likes big guns that he can aim right between a con's optics.
Cliff has 18 points of articulation featuring a ball jointed head, ball jointed shoulders, double hinge jointed elbows, ball jointed wrists, waist swivel, ball jointed hips, thigh swivels, hinged knees, and ball jointed feet. His articulation is a bit hindered in his arms, but you can get a lot of cool battle poses out of this guy.
One of the best features of the TF Prime Cliffjumper figures is that they don't fall under the dreaded "Bumblejumper" curse. This basically means that for the first time since G1, Cliffjumper is an entirely different mold from Bumblebee, which is one of the most appealing traits about this guy. You can actually tell Bee and Cliff apart from each other very easily
Cliffjumper's vehicle mode is a red muscle car, very similar to a 70's Camaro. The car mode looks great. It's got a nice shade of red to it and it's well detailed. They even painted the rims on him, which is an unusual treat from Hasbro. There is a port on the right side and on the roof where you can plug in his weapon or any other 5mm peg. Sadly the gun looks kinda goofy on Cliff in this mode so it may be better to put it away if you display your bots like this. The biggest gripe I have about vehicle mode is that the windows are so clear you can see the robot parts underneath them. It would have gone better if they used a blue translucent plastic instead of the colorless plastic they went with.
Putting Cliffjumper next to his First Edition counterpart shows that while the FE version is a little taller and has his arm cannons, RID Cliff still looks pretty good. I like the First Edition better, but I still like the RID. Cliff also looks good with his partner Arcee and his killer Starscream, and in a group shot you can see he scales pretty well with the team. TF Prime has done the best job with scale that I have ever seen in a Transformers toy line. Looking at him with his past incarnations you can see how well he homages his past. Another interesting thing is that he is around the same size as Classics Bumblebee, which may open an opportunity to put him with your Classics figures. Since Classics Cliffjumper was a straight repaint of Bumblebee, RID Cliff may be a nice way to add variety to your Classics shelf.
All in all, RID Cliffjumper is a solid toy and worthy of a place on any TF collector's shelf. His fate may be sealed on the show, but we now have a toy of him that wont soon be forgotten. If you have to choose between RID and FE, go with the First Edition if you can afford it, otherwise you'll be very happy with RID Cliff. See you next time.
