Animated Blackout! I must have a thing for Helicopters lately...

If you read my post last week on the other Blackout you may have noticed that I have a certain fondness for the character that I can't really explain very well. So I was thrilled when I was able to obtain Animated Blackout here. I was actually planning on purchasing him at Botcon however no one there seemed to have one; at least not that I could find. So as soon as we got back I purchased him online from Japan and he arrived yesterday. True to all the prior Animated figures, Blackout does not disappoint in characterization as well as engineering.

Animated Blackout only appeared in the cartoon in one episode at the beginning of Season 3 as part of Team Chaar (a reference to the planet of the same name in G1). He was described as the biggest Cybertronian ever created before the Omega Project (this is what I love about Animated: it has such a rich backstory for being a brand new continuity. I'll explore this topic further in another post). Unfortunately the toy itself isn't that large. He is only about as tall as a deluxe although he is very wide. His transformation is similar to Lugnut in that the front of the helicopter splits apart to reveal the head and chest. However his toy conveys a certain feeling of massiveness about him. He is definitely not a character you want to take on by yourself if you are an Autobot.

I was so disappointed when Blackout wasn't released in America, the toy is definitely fun and one of the last molds I need for a complete Animated collection. Unfortunately the Animated show and toyline was canceled before he could be released and unlike Rodimus, Ironhide and Arcee he is too large to be a store exclusive. His helicopter mode (which I don't think we actually see on screen) is a very nice homage to Movie Blackout and at the same time does a very nice job of fitting into the Animated universe. This is one of the main travesties of canceling the Animated cartoon too early, it actually made the Movie designs palatable. The Animated Almanac Vol. 2 (available on Amazon) does a great job of demonstrating this fact with all the characters that were being prepped to be added to the show and possibly the toyline. Unfortunately it will never happen.

I don't mind a movie character that looks like this!

With the only other Team Charr member: Oil Slick.

With his movie counterpart (at least one version of him)

Vehicle mode

I like helicopters!

Now all I need to do is find another one and repaint him into Venom.