Transformers Reviews

Starscream

January 9, 2009 1:52 pm Ryan Animated, Toy Reviews, Voyager

What the heck, I’ve opened a few new toys this month, so I might as well start reviewing again. Since he’s closest at hand, Starscream gets the honors.

I opened the box months ago, but never took him off the tray until today (loose toys are harder to store, and I don’t have any shelves). I took him out, after a minute or so of fiddling with him I figured out what the rattling noise in the box was - his head came off. It popped back on easy enough. Some of the flaps move around, and you can lower the landing gear and roll him around the desk. His missile launchers can be swung around to fire forward, but they don’t do his ground clearance any favours. Clearly, he shouldn’t be firing those things on the runway. I was a bit skeptical of the blue and red Starscream colour scheme, but honestly, I think it works well on this mold. Something more show-accurate would be nice, and I’d like to see some of the (inevitable) redecos that are happening for it, but I just can’t picture it looking as good in G1 colours. There’s nowhere on here wanting for another paint application, although the mauve paint behind the cockpit on mine is a bit sloppy. Overall, it’s a solid jet, with less undercarriage kibble than I’d expected, and I love the forward swept wings.

Transformation from Jet to Robot

Stow the landing gear, flip the missile launchers to point rearward.
Swing the legs/thrusters down, which will retract the nosecone using some nifty gears.
Swing the legs the rest of the way around, allowing the top of the fuselage to swing around, which will pop up the head and swing the arms into position. The piece of fuselage that forms his back has a little hook-like peg that will hold it in place.
Separate the black-tipped bit on the lower back, then swing both halves out, and rotate the fins into whatever position looks good for you. The swivel joint here is extremely loose on my figure, and likes to pop off. Split the feet (the joints here are extremely stiff on my figure, and I am too much of a wuss to force them and risk breakage). Strike a devious pose and you’re done!

Another deceptively simple transformation in an Animated voyager. I definitely liked the automorphing features there, but the clicking of the gears when I don’t get it just right makes me nervous. I’d also like it to have a bit more to hold the torso together - it just doesn’t feel solid, almost like it could fall apart into a half transformed wreck at any moment. The robot mode itself is quite nice - he’s tall, and should tower over deluxes, and loom a bit around shorter voyagers like Bulkhead. He’s extremely posable, and can easily assume just about any dynamic pose you want (the big feet make balancing a snap). The lightpiping in his head is a bit silly - they painted over the eyes, so the lightpiping illuminates his mouth. Still, the deco works for him in this mode. There’s nowhere desperately begging for paint (I guess his thighs are a little monochrome, but it really doesn’t bother me). His missile launchers are arm mounted in robot mode, and if you slide them forward, panels pop out of either side of his forearms. It takes a bit more force than I’m really comfortable with, but it didn’t break, so that’s okay. Really, this is a much, much better toy than I was expecting when I brought it home.

Articulation Breakdown

Head - ball joint with very limited range
Arms - Double or triple swivel shoulders (it’s hard to tell - if there’s a third one, it’s got virtually no range of motion), double swivel elbows, swivel and slide on the missile launchers, swivel thumb and fingers (the fingers move as a single piece)
Legs - Double swivel hips, mid-thigh swivel, swivel knee, ball joint ankle, two swivels on the foot

Score

Deco: Rating: . I like the colour scheme. It’s not show-accurate, it’s not G1-accurate, it just sort of is, but it works for the mold, and works well enough for the character. There’s a generous amount of paint on here, and it’s well placed. I’d probably have given a 4.5/5 if there was less sloppiness to the actual application of the paint - nothing major wrong with it (I’d have returned it otherwise), but I’m just being picky.
Posability: Rating: . Easy to stand up, he can scratch his chin (an important feature!), and frankly every bit of posability you could really need.
Transformation: Rating: . Good use of automorphing (or whatever they call it this year), good integration of components in both modes, and damn it, I just love the head reveal. I’m glad Hasbro has figured that out.
Badassery: Rating: . He’s got the smirk, he’s got missiles (and can fire them backwards or forwards), and he’s just plain big for his size class. Loses one point for being Starscream.
Vehicle Mode: Rating: . It’s bang on perfect. It’s a fun little toy plane, the weapons integrate very well into this mode, it’s all you could really want.
Robot Mode: Rating: . Again, it’s a good reflection of the character model (except for the deco, and the weapons are mounted in the wrong spot, but I don’t care), and it’s just plain fun. The pop out panels are a nifty gimmick too.

Overall, Overall Rating: . Another highly recommended (like nearly everything Animated), and I expect that’ll be a trend. If you’re into that (and I certainly am), he’ll be worth buying redecos of, too.