For his "Cyber Battalion" release, Starscream shares the typical F-22-esque alt mode with just enough differences to keep him from getting into licensing issues. Although the mold is clearly different and not merely upsized, the overall design and engineering of this toy is clearly taken from "Thilling 30" Legends Starscream, so he has a lot of the same pluses and minuses. The minuses are that there are some pretty darned obvious kibble bits in this mode-- his robot arms in particular, which do fold down enough where most of them is hidden under the wings from a relatively top-down view (though not at all if you look at him head-on), but even then the robot fists stick out quite blatantly from behind said wings. The feet are also pretty obvious on the back end of this mode, and the robot chest does stick down just a TAD further than I'd like, though this last downside is being rather nitpicky. Starscream's proportions are generally pretty solid on this toy-- the wings could stand to be a SMIDGE bigger, but it's nothing huge. The mold detailing is a bit more involved in this mode than I'd expect from a Cyber Battalion toy, with plenty of lines along the wings, as well as panel lines along the intakes, the nosecone, and the tailwings. The main plastic color for the toy, unfortunately, is that really boring shade of light milky gray, but there's enough paint and other colors in this mode to still make Starscream look interesting. The red plastic used on the toy is a rather nice semi-metallic swirly shade, and goes great with all the other colors. The light sky blue on the tailfins, the stripes on the wings, and the nosecone tip is a few shades lighter than I'd have liked, but it still goes great with the darker colors. Speaking of darker colors, there's also a fair amount of charcoal black used on the (removable) guns underneath Starscream's wings and between the rear thrusters and the main body of the jet. The extra black paint on the vents is also much appreciated, too. The nosecone is my favorite part of this mode when it comes to colors, though-- the entire thing's covered in silver paint, which looks quite nice, and the metallic pumpkin orange both contrasts against the other colors and complements the red nicely. Starscream does have a flip-out landing gear underneath his cockpit, but the rear landing gear are merely molded on the underside, due to how low the back end sits.
    Again, because of the engineering Starscream has a nigh-identical transformation compared to the aforementioned "Thrilling 30" Starscream, and the end result is very much a G1 Starscream-y design, but a bit more angular. The wings aren't as "soft" as on the aforementioned smaller toy, the shoulders are squares, and the angles on his feet and hips are fairly severe, as well. Overall it's a nice slight change for the Air Commander, and helps to differentiate him at least a little bit from his many other G1-esque toys. His proportions are very solid in this mode, so absolutely no issues there. The mold detailing is also great, with many robotic details and lines along his arms and legs, and his headsculpt in particular looking like it's taking just a HINT from the movieverse and adding in a bit more detailing around the cheeks and sides of the head. The color scheme stays pretty varied, with some silver paint on Screamer's upper legs as well. As for articulation, this is where Starscream falls a little flat, even in comparison to his smaller "Thrilling 30" counterpart; he can move at the neck, shoulders (at two points), elbows, and hips (at two points). I understand the whole "simplification" schtick to the Cyber Battalion line, but there's no real reason he couldn't have had knee movement or better elbow movement. His tailfins also stick out really obviously from the sides of his lower legs, and can't fold back at all. On the plus side, though, his main wings CAN fold back a bit at one point on each wing, allowing Starscream to have a slighly more "aerodynamic" look. His gun accessories can either peg into his upper shoulders or he can hold them like normal weapons in his hands.
    Cyber Battalion Starscream is one of the better molds from the line, though he still has his flaws, like a lack of knees in robot mode and some obvious extras in jet mode. His amount of paint detailing is great, though, and the mold detailing is certainly above-average for the line. It's unfortunate that-- as far as the U.S. goes-- he was only released in limited quantities at Universal Studios' Transformers: The Ride stores, at a cost that definitely makes him prohibitive. Unless you're a Starscream completist, I'd get the "Thrilling 30" version of him or one of the many other G1-esque versions of him that's at a cheaper price.

Review by Beastbot

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