Maketoys Downbeat Colored In-Hand Images

Anybody really love the v1 (or even its price compared to others) and not really care for FT’s/other ones?

I’d be willing to sell mine off!

Every time I see this thread bumped I think about Downbeat and it makes me smile a bit. Fanstoys Jive is my Jazz on display, but only because I prefer the fully-painted look and the more cartoon-accurate colors. The transformation on Jive just makes me cringe whenever I remember it, and all of that for a robot mode that honestly isn't that much better than Downbeat's.

If Maketoys ever decides to make a fully-painted Downbeat in cartoon accurate colors (And for that matter, the Visualizers, too), I have no doubt they'd have no problem selling them all out.

I don't really have a favourite Jazz, but Downbeat reminds me the most of my original toy  

View attachment 30293778

Heatwaves

For anyone looking for hands for their maketoys downbeat/bounceback the kfc tracks/road rage hands fit basically perfectly m. I sanded the holes a bit for smoother motion. I would also recommend removing the middle knuckle joint as that improves the proportions on the hand dramatically.

If anyone is looking for black hands, X-Transbots' Aegis (v1) hands fit perfectly and are well proportioned too

bluesymetal

I finally scooped up Downbeat for a good price now that everyone is getting Jive. I’m just getting back into MP collecting and I love him. My previous Jazz was J4ZZ who broke at the hips like everyone else’s and had to be glued together. J4ZZ will be my Porsche alt mode now and Downbeat will be my robot. It’s an old figure but I love it!

I guess I'm not the only one whose J4ZZ suffered a crotch explosion, haha. I hadn't realized it was a common issue with the mold, but it makes sense. Fortunately it's easy to fix, and my J4ZZ is back on his feet.

I also got Downbeat in the last 6 months. I really love this figure. I've handled a lot of the other Jazz options on the market, and Downbeat not only feels great, but it's almost impossible not to put him in a cool dynamic pose.

The only downside is that he has that tiny Maketoys head…which looks fine on this figure, but looks a bit pinheaded when he's in a display of other MP figures. Not that bad, but I notice it.

Bnz Toy

oh crap didn't think this would happen to 'new' toys

Yeah, as long as they're exposed to enough natural light (especially) new figures will yellow just like the old ones.

My guess is that the one shared above was displayed in a window (which is why the back is so yellowed, but the front isn't)

I tend to keep most of my displays out of direct sunlight, and whenever it's feasible, I try to turn white figures so they get minimal light (or sometimes I rotate them so at least it won't just be on one side  

Fortunately, painted figures don't tend to have this problem (or less often at least)

zmog

Hey folks. I've got MT Maestro and he took a fall a long ways back, breaking the shoulder joint. A few pieces scattered about and I gave up trying to find them all, but I held on to the figure in the hopes that someday I might find a broken one I could use as a donor to maybe fix mine up (G2 Jazz was a favorite of mine back in the day).

Anyways, I spotted a broken one on ebay recently and the seller pointed out there was a crack in the foot joint in the bottom of the right leg:

(image credit to the ebay seller, you can find the listing on ebay if you want).

Curious, I pulled mine out of the "repair it" bin and checked, finding a break in the exact same spot on mine. There's also cracks in the pin joint next to it, the one closer to the foot. I also see the beginnings of a crack in the same spot on the left leg.

Two figures is not necessarily a pattern, but as the break is in the exact same spot, and I'm seeing it on both legs on mine, I thought it would be worth pointing out here to anyone who has a Downbeat / Maestro / Bounceback. It looks like the kind of break that might happen from a slightly stressed pin firing, and that's a joint that carries a lot of weight in bot mode, but it also looks like the kind that can be easily secured by a careful application of a strong glue (and working the joint while it cures, obviously).

Also, while I'm here, if anyone happens to have a Downbeat (or a Maestro) that is irreparably broken but happens to have an intact left shoulder, hit me up via PM.  

Since I had it out and disassembled I looked over the damage, found the last piece – it had apparently been hiding under a rug for over a year – and spent an hour or so to fix my figure late last night. I didn't notice any other areas where joints were cracked or looked stressed, and was happy to see that a tiny dab of glue in a few spots was all I needed to fix the back windows, front fenders, etc. The construction of the figure was pretty solid, but repairs were also easy – even getting the shoulder piece out involved removing just two screws on the back of the figure (the long pins that the shoulders slide on aren't gnurled, and they are actually separate from the ones that hold the doors in place). Once the screws were removed I was able to gently pull the top of the figure apart and slide the pin out enough to remove the shoulder joint.

G2 Jazz and G2 Sideswipe were among the first figures I bought for myself a loooooong time ago, with money I'd earned from mowing lawns, so there's a lot of sentimental value in G2 for me. G2 Jazz variants are nearly nonexistent, especially within the same toyline / aesthetic: in the older Classics style there was a G2 Jazz in a box set, but the G2 Sideswipe was a botcon 2010 "build and paint your own figure" exclusive… and that's it for official figures.

Sideswipe has been more common but much more expensive: in addition to the DIY "build it yourself class" figure from Botcon 2010, Botcon 2011 had an Animated-style G2 Sideswipe (Animated Jazz didn't come in a G2 deco). There was G2 Cybertronian Sideswipe in the "Alphastrike" set but none of the recent Jazz figures have gotten the musical note paint scheme. Even with 3P figures: Newage has done a G2 version of their Jazz but not a Sideswipe mold; one of the MS companies or maybe MFT has done G2 Sideswipe but not a G2 Jazz, etc.

So it's a lot of mix and match, except for Maestro here, because he fits in pretty well with the earlier MP look. Though it would have been nice if he had a smarmy grin to go alongside G2 Sideswipe's hilarious comic book face.  

View attachment 30040249
I didn't really have anything to lose – the shoulder was broken at the swivel joint (the "mushroom" top had snapped off), there were the cracks in the foot joint I mentioned yesterday, several pieces had popped out (back windows, front fenders / chest pieces), so I figured I'd give it a shot. Nearly everything was fixable with careful application of glue – loctite liquid superglue – though the shoulder joint took a bit of work. I have a small pile of pins, screws and so on that I strip from figures when they break and found a small one with a thin head on it. I should have taken pictures as I went but I wasn't even sure it would work.

– I used glue to hold the "mushroom top" in place
– then a 1/16" drillbit right down the center of the "mushroom"
– a slightly larger drillbit to make a small indentation for the head of the pin to help hold the "mushroom top" in place
– couldn't get it perfectly flat – didn't want to risk snapping the mushroom top, so that same bit was used to make an indentation in the corresponding spot on the center of the shoulder joint
– I put a small drop of glue down the drilled hole, positioned the tiny pin and used a small set of pliers to squeeze it into place. Happily, everything held, and after a few minutes the glue set and I was able to re-socket the swivel piece.

It obviously isn't perfect, but it's solid and all the rotation capability is still there. I'm just hoping the way I did it won't put additional stress on the joint and break it again – if that happens, replacement parts are my only option. So I'm still on the lookout for a junker Downbeat / Maestro with an intact left shoulder, just in case I ever need it in the future.

This is the only 3P MP figure I have – looking at my shelves now, it may actually be the only 3P figure of any type I have left – and while I'd hoped to get a few other G2 3P MPs as time went on, for various reasons I didn't (I did have MT's G2 Starscream but sold it on). Seems MT is basically gone now, aside from these random reissues and exclusives, so I'm glad I was able to get it fixed up.

EDIT: Sold
Hi all, selling my Downbeat Premium, no box, looking for £70 including shipping in UK and PayPal fees. Has toyhax cel shaded windows and Etsy sourced toon style stickers applied. PM me if interested, thanks  

View attachment 29786410 View attachment 29786411 View attachment 29786412 View attachment 29786413 View attachment 29786415

TenScaryMonkeys

He showed up today. Good goddamn, what a toy. I wasn’t expecting him to be as heavy as he is – compared to a Takara MP, there’s an extremely healthy amount of metal in there. Transformation is fun, albeit slightly fiddly, and that automorph bit in the calves is super cool. The anime aesthetic is exactly what I was hoping for, and while I’m genuinely thrilled for the folks who got and prefer Jive to this one, Downbeat is unequivocally the MP Jazz for me.

View attachment 29777221View attachment 29777228 View attachment 29777217View attachment 29777218View attachment 29777219View attachment 29777220View attachment 29777222View attachment 29777223View attachment 29777224View attachment 29777225View attachment 29777226View attachment 29777227View attachment 29777229View attachment 29777230View attachment 29777231View attachment 29777232View attachment 29777233View attachment 29777234

Looks so good   , no seriously great photos! I love the group shots with his little self and the prime and megs.

I finally scooped up Downbeat for a good price now that everyone is getting Jive. I’m just getting back into MP collecting and I love him. My previous Jazz was J4ZZ who broke at the hips like everyone else’s and had to be glued together. J4ZZ will be my Porsche alt mode now and Downbeat will be my robot. It’s an old figure but I love it!