(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Classics Masterpiece Starscream. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Classics Masterpiece Starscream here.)

    Although you think he would be, Masterpiece Thundercracker is not, in fact, a straight repaint of Masterpiece Starscream. In fact, he's the first stateside release of the "new and improved" mold for the Masterpiece Seekers. It's not an entirely new mold-- the general transformation, jet proportions, and articulation remain the same, as do a good number of the pieces-- but several changes have been made to it to make it a bit more cartoon-accurate in robot mode. The biggest one is that the tailfins no longer hang on a long piece behind the hips-- now they simply slide down and stay on the sides of the lower legs. This looks considerably better than having those big unsightly pieces on the hips. The feet have also been made a bit more square, with there being actual heel pieces now (they flip out of where the "engine detailing" panels used to be). The upper arms and jet intakes have also been redone to make the transformation slightly easier and remove those odd little intake pieces that used to be above the shoulders in robot mode at an odd position. The shoulders are also more square-- a positive look in robot mode, but in vehicle mode it makes them stick out slightly more obviously. The weapons are also now attached to the arms via ball joints, a change which I find rather annoying and puzzling, as it actually lessens the number of areas where they can be used while adding another piece to the assembly. The head has been changed for the better, however-- there's no more "face swapping" gimmick, but the head has been widened slightly so that it's larger proportionally and better-looking overall (the sides of the head collapse inwards during transformation-- that's how this was able to be accomplished). The side waist pieces which form the place for the jet mode to tab into its stand have also been slightly modified, which make them look slightly better in robot mode but unfortunately make it so that the mold doesn't stay on its stand nearly as solidly in jet mode-- a relatively big negative, in my opinion.
    As for Masterpiece Thundercracker's colors, you likely know Thundercracker's basic color scheme by this point-- dark blue with black, light gray/silver, and red & white stripes. That certainly doesn't change here, though the paint apps contrast against each other particularly nicely on this version. The shade of dark blue is particularly eye-catching, having just a touch of a metallic look to it. The only part of the color scheme I'm not entirely enarmored with is the light milky gray bits (mostly visible in robot mode), which I would've preferred to have been painted silver or at least have a more metallic shade to it. Thundercracker also has several tongue-in-cheek nods to various other aspects of Transformers and G1. This includes a silouhette of Thundercracker holding Soundwave in cassette player mode painted on his tailfins, along with the word "SONIC BOOM" written next to it; pictures of G1 Reflector's camera mode on the sides of his robot mode shoulders; paint apps on the backside of his vents that very closely mirror his G1 toy's sticker details there; the name "LTC JOE BIG DADDY KYDE" under the right side of the cockpit, both a nod to the Hasbro employee in charge of many of the TF exclusives at that time, as well as an oddly-named G1 Micromaster; and the name "CPT J. DRAGON SASS" under the left side of the cockpit, another Hasbro designer.
    Masterpiece Thundercracker has the nice color scheme you'd expect from a G1-esque Thundercracker toy, along with some nice obscure homages here and there (even if some of them, like the Reflectors on the shoulders, seem a bit out-of-place). The changes to the mold vary between good and bad, with the "good" being the tailfins now attached to the lower legs and the better-proportioned head, while the "bad" involve how his guns are oddly connected to his arms by ball joints as well as the less sturdy connection his jet mode has to the stand he comes with. Overall I think the revamped mold is a slight net gain, and it's already a fantastic mold, so this is a highly recommended purchase.

Review by Beastbot

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