Starscream
(G1 Reissue, Toys "R" Us Exclusive)
Vehicle mode is a jet.
This mode is very nice, practically of model quality. The opening transparent
cockpit is a nice feature, as is the rubber nose. The detailing is sparse,
but this is common for G1 toys. Starscream has a landing gear in this mode,
but it's not retractable at all, and is in fact a seperate removable piece-
and one that you have to remove to transform into robot mode, on top of
that. So I'm not too fond of this feature. This toy is different from the
"classic" G1 Starscream toy in that the missiles are elongated to the legal
minimum length. So now, they poke out of their launchers more than an inch.
I can certainly see why Hasbro did this, but that doesn't make it look
any better... Another change made is that the pegs that hold the main wings
to the body are longer, making a gap about a centimeter across lying between
the wings and the actual body of the jet. This is probably my biggest gripe
with this mode, since with this added gap, the toy really doesn't look
very solid anymore. The gray, red, and dark blue color scheme is nice,
but the color schemes of Starscream's two other buddies, Thundercracker
and Skywarp, are better.
Transformation to robot
mode is probably my biggest problem with this toy. It involves little more
than detaching and reattaching a bunch of parts. Not much of a "transformation".
The robot mode itself
isn't really that great, even by G1 standards. The wings just hang off
Starcream's back at places that really wouldn't be plausible if he could
move at the places a human does. The huge jet cone hanging off the back
of his head looks ridiculous as well. In addition, the only articulation
Starscream has is on his arms at the shoulders. That's it- substandard,
even for a toy this old. In fact, there's really not much I can say that's
positive about this mode, other than the arm-mounted missile launchers.
For such a famous transformer,
Starscream's toy sure does bite. The vehicle mode is excellent, but the
robot mode is sub-par for a G1 toy. Couple this with the whopping $35 price-
even though he's only about the size of a deluxe- and he's not at the top
of my list. And it'll probably be the same with you, too. Not recommended
unless you reeeally liked the Starscream character or are a completist.
Review by Beastbot