Instead of being another repaint of his original movie voyager toy, Starscream gets an all-new mold in the size class for Revenge of the Fallen. And man, in vehicle mode it is simply a MASSIVE improvement. Gone is the bulkiness and rather ridiculous amount of undercarriage robot mode kibble-- instead, even from a side few, it's very streamlined. The only real robot extras to speak of are the fairly obvious robot hands on the back end, the only blight on an otherwise very well-designed mode. Starscream still has the same really dull, boring tan-and-black color scheme that his original Movie toy had, but this time it's done up in "Cyberglyphic" tattoos that really add to the attractiveness of the figure. Having little carvings all ove rhis wings and main body in this mode really make look like more than your average jet-- and yes, it does sort of ruin the whole "robot IN DISGUISE" aspect, but when it looks this cool and it isn't used all the time I can deal wit hit. Starscream has three fold-out landing gear in this mode as well, and two missiles which can attach under his wings or be plugged into the launchers on his back end to look sort of like boost trails.
    Starscream's robot mode is an improvement over his original Movie Voyager's in some respects, and worse in others. It's better in the way the overall body is set up-- the transformation is INSANE while not being overly complicated, with you basically turning Starscream's main body INSIDE OUT for the bulk of the transformation-- and his tailfins actually fold in to become parts of his chest, a particularly ingenius. It's a bit wider this time around while still being screen-accurate without being a bit too absurdly bulky. The wings also fold up behind his boyd and at the sides of his chest in a very efficient manner, to minimize any big wing pieces sticking out-- it works remarkably well, particlarly at the pelvis where the upper tail wings fold in to essentially become part of the main body and cover up a bit of an unsightly gap that would be obvious otherwise. Starscream also has a really cool "Mech Alive" gimmick-- turn his head from one side to the other and bunch of little gears in his chest spin! This is especially impressive given that these parts aren't even really connected in vehicle mode. Starscream doesn't have those annoying missile-hands either, but rather regular hands with one spring-loaded missile launcher on the top of his lower arms (though unlike the box instructions, they can't flip back anywhere-- that was cut for budget reasons). They're a little on the wimpy side when compared to Starscream's movie model, however, and the part where the shoulders connect to the main body still loooks just as awkward here as it did on the original Voyager (though at least the connections don't sag under the weight of the arms this time). The legs are the one part about this Starscream that I would say is definitely 100% worse than the original. The original had the mass and look more or less right, but on this version the legs-- are way too skinny and short, even considering Starscream's gorilla-ish proportions. His feet are also too small, though I do like the pistons sticking out the top of his bird-ankles. Starscream's head sculpt is also... off... somewhat. I can't quite EXACTLY pin down what's wrong, but the upper head loooks a bit too skinny. As far as articulation, Starscream can move side-to-side at the neck, as well as at the shoulders (at two points), elbows (at two points), wrists, hips (at three points), knees (at three points), and ankles. This is certainly fairly good, though the way his missile launchers are situated on his arms makes them look rather odd in many poses, and his small feet make him a bit more unstable than he should be.
    I think the new RotF Voyager Starscream mold is definitely a step up from the previous Movie Voyager mold, but I don't think it's better in every aspect like many Transfans. The proportions of the legs and, in some aspects, the arms and head, are off, and his claws show pretty obviously in alt mode. Still, that's negates and then some by his excellent man body design, very intuitive transformation, great tattoo paint apps, and almost flawless alt mode. Definitely recommended over the original Movie's Voyager Starscream mold.

Review by Beastbot

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