As tapes, Jaguar definitely holds together much better. The wing panels have an unfortunate tendency to pop out of place on these two. Both have a rather warped shape; like an actual tape that was left too long in the sun in a hot car. Unlike Jaguar, one side of each is tampographed with tape-like features. The other side is a solid color. My youngest couldn't tell me what these are supposed to be. I feel so old. Unfortunately, I no longer have cassette tapes to compare these with, nor a tape player to risk jamming one in.
Transformation is fairly straight forward. The only tricky part is if you fold the legs out wrong, you risk popping them off their ball joints. The two panels of each wing are held together by magnets. I had thought Volture was missing a magnet, but then I noticed it stuck to his foot. His wing mostly stayed together, but the lower panel drooped a little without it. I'll need to use some superglue to keep the magnet in its slot because it does fall out.
It's no surprise that bird mode is more detailed and articulated than the official Masterpiece versions of Laserbeak and Buzzsaw. The paint applications are cleanly applied. There is even paint in the thrusters. They have Die-cast in their feet. If I had one aesthetic complaint, it would be that their wings seem to sit too far back on their bodies. It is toy accurate; it just looks funny scaled up. Like Jaguar, the increased articulation allow these two to be very expressive.
Their heads and necks are on hinged ball joints, affording them a wide range of motion. Their beaks can open a fair amount. At least Buzzard's can. I couldn't get Volture's beak to open. The front portion of their bodies are also hinged. The little cameras on top of their heads can flip up. Their wings are hinged at two points. They are simple pin joints that are already starting to loose their friction, resulting in droopy wings. Their hips are on ball joints. They have single-jointed knees that can curl 90 degrees in either direction. Their talons are hinged at three points. The amount of natural articulation is not quite as impressive as Jaguar, but they shouldn't have any trouble getting into any reasonable poses.
They don't come with any accessories, unless you count the cases. It's a nice touch that the inserts are folded over in a similar fashion to how it was done in days past.
These guys will go on my Masterpiece display next to Soundwave. The larger size affords these figures much more articulation and character than their official counterparts. I can't wait for Rumble and Frenzy and am crossing my fingers for Ratbat, Rover, Overkill, Slugfest, and Blaster's minions to get the same treatment.
