The Activator version of Starscream's vehicle mode has some caveats that I'll get to in a moment, but overall it's nearly as good as the Voyager class version of the figure-- which is pretty impressive for a toy of this scale. The proportions are pretty much spot-on, and Starscream certainly lacking in paint apps-- he's got plenty of dark red and black paint to break up all that dull blue. (That said, he still does look rather dull, and I'll never understand why all the Animated Starscream toys are a light dull blue when his show model is definitely more of a dull gray coloration.) His golden Decepticon symbols on the wings are the Movie Decepticon symbols and not the "traditional" design, oddly enough. He's also got two flip-out landing gear near the rear of this mode-- something rather unexpected for a toy of this scale, so that's pretty cool. There is one major complaint I have about this mode, however, and that's that the robot arms are incredibly obvious on the underside of the wings-- heck, the hands even stick out blatantly from the back. His feet are also rather obvious sticking out from the backside, but that's obvious on the Voyager class toy as well, so I suppose I can't fault them for sticking with the traditional design in that aspect. Activators Starscream does have some noticeably improvements over his Voyager-class self in this mode, though-- for one, his null rays are placed more appropriately, and are also sized better proportionally. There's also not as much noticeable undercarriage junk (though still some), and I actually like the light orange-painted cockpit, I think it looks more eye-catching than the transparent orange on the Voyager class figure.
    By pressing down on the red tab in the middle of Starscream's vehicle mode, he shifts into robot mode almost entirely automatically-- all you have to do is straighten out the shoulder pads and feet, and turn the null rays around. Surprisingly, Activators Starscream is a noticeable improvement over his larger toy in robot mode in almost every aspect. The proportions are a tad better, with bulkier upper legs and more lithe lower arms. He also doesn't have some easily-broken-off tiny wings on his back, and the wing assembly as a whole sits behind his body in a much more show-accurate manner than on the Voyager toy. His null rays also look like they do in the show and aren't positioned near his hands this time around. He's also got more dynamic triangular shoulders, compared to the too-small shoulders on his larger self. In addition to having no vehicle mode extras that negatively impact this mode's look, Activators Starscream also has plenty of good articulation, as well-- he can move at the neck, shoulders, knees, hips, and knees, and all of these are on ball joints so you can get some really good motion out of him. His null rays can also rotate-- something the larger figure can't do.
    Activators Starscream is quite impressive for his size class, and actually outstrips the larger Voyager class toy of him overall in robot mode. And even in vehicle mode, he just barely comes up short (due to the obvious arms). If you don't mind the scale difference, I'd recommend this version of Starscream over the Voyager class toy any day-- it's just noticeably better and more show-accurate in robot mode.

Review by Beastbot

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