Starscream's mainline toy has been "downsized" a bit for Dark of the Moon, but that doesn't mean it's any less accurate in its F-22 Raptor alt mode. The proportions remain extremely accurate, though like with most jet Transformers, there is a bit of underbelly robot mode kibble. Here, it's his arms and part of his waist underneath the rear two-thirds or so of the jet. They're folded up against the underbelly in about as best a manner as one can think of without them outright folding away, however, and particularly when you have Starscream's Mechtech weapons equipped they aren't as big a deal as you'd think. The panels underneath the main wings-- used in robot mode-- bug me more, honestly, since they stick out from Starscream's silouhette a tiny bit more. Starscream's color scheme of a tannish white, brown, and gray aren't exactly the most eye-catching, but they go together pretty well and are-- for the most part-- accurate to how he appears in the movie (though his jet mode colors are just a touch lighter than they should be). As with the previous movie, Starscream is "tattooed out" in vehicle mode, with alien-esque designs and "Cyberglyphs" all over his form, making him quite eye-catching. (That said, the copper brown is a decent enough shade and gives him a dark color besides gray to play against the white, even if it's not really movie-accurate.) Starscream's Mechtech weapons are rather unique-- one is simply a blade that can be turned around to serve as a gun in this mode, whereas the other has a "real" Mechtech gimmick-- folding it out reveals a super-long sword, whereas just like the other, it can be turned around to form a gun. Stick them both together, however, and you get a weapon (mostly made for the robot mode) that is an almost obscenely long, double-edged blade weapon-- and, importantly, it actually STAYS in that mode until you take the weapon apart, unlike with most Mechtech weapons' alt configurations. Starscream has a grand total of six Mechtech ports (though two are inaccessible in this mode)-- one under each of his main wings, one under each of his rear wings, and another two on the sides of his robot lower arms. Starscream has three fold-out landing gear in this mode, but unfortunately none of them have any actual working wheels.
    Starscream's transformation is one of the most ingenious in the entire line, in my opinion, with lots of panels flipping, compressing, and/or folding up upon themselves. That said, it's still not too hard, though I would put it on the more difficult end of "medium"-- it may take two or three times back and forth before you really get the hang of it. The result is, incredibly, the most accurate Movie Starscream robot mode outside of the much-larger Leader class version-- quite impressive for a deluxe toy. The sides of the stomach are a bit more rectangular than they should be, and the arms a little skinnier, but other than that Starscream looks remarkably like his movie model. All of his wings fold behind his main body and completely out of the way, and I love how two of the landing gear become his "heel spurs" to keep him steady in this mode. Everything also pegs together well, so no stability issues here. His mold detailing really shines in this mode, with little pistons and other mechanical details all over his robot parts (and all the requisite lines on his jet parts, as well). He has a few glyph markers on his shoulders and hips to keep him from looking too plain on his appendages in this mode, and the usage of copper on the upper chest and light metallic silvery blue and dull red on the face helps give him a bit more color, at least. As for articulation, Starscream's got that covered, too-- he can move at the neck, shoulders (at two points), elbows (at two points), wrists (at two points), hips, knees (at three points), and his toe pieces on each foot can also move up and down a little bit. This means he can get into some pretty darn dynamic poses.
    Hasbro has improved upon their Movie Starscream toys with each subsequent movie line, and the Dark of the Moon version-- despite being a deluxe this time around-- continues that tradition. Outside of the pricey Leader class version, this is the most accurate-- and one of the most impressive-- Starscream toys out there, movieverse or otherwise. He still has a bit of jet mode kibble on the underbelly-- and I wish his stomach sides weren't so square in robot mode-- but everything else on him is about as perfect as one could reasonably expect it to be, including an awesome Mechtech weapon (or two, depending upon how you look at it). Highly recommended.

Review by Beastbot

Back to Transformers: Dark of the Moon Index