Fall of Cybertron Starscream

Robot Mode: Most Starscream figures, at least those who are more or less based on his G1 incarnation, share certain design elements. The cockpit in the center of the chest, the wings on his back / shoulders, the red shoulder thingies, the works. Generations Starscream ticks just about all the necessary boxes here while still looking different enough to be original and have a pre-Earth look to him. His head and face are classic Screamer, too, though he looks less smug and more pissed here. Articulation is standard, meaning quite good, and even though his feet are somewhat strange-looking, they give him a solid base to stand on.

Two slight complaints here: one, there is quite a bit of unpainted grey plastic in evidence here. Sure, Screamer traditionally has a lot of grey, I'd have preferred it painted grey, though. And two, Screamer has a bit of a hollow torso. Looking at him from the side, you can look right through him. Neither are big things, though. Just something worth mentioning.

Finally, the weapons. Starscream carries two mini-gun-like guns that he can either clip to his arms G1-style or combine into a two-barreled monstrosity of a gun which he can hold or clip to either arm, too. When combined the cogs of the two guns make both barrels turn when you move one of them. So bottom line: a good new version of Starscream with some minor downsides, but all in all: thumbs up.

Alternate Mode: Starscream transforms into a Science-Fiction-style fighter jet, pretty much a mirror image of his alternate mode from the War for Cybertron computer game. Not exactly the pyramid-shaped Seekers from G1, but I actually like this mode quite a bit. It looks a lot more aerodynamic when you remove Starscream's big guns from under the wings, but given that I do not know about the aerodynamics on Cybertron, I might be wrong about this. Anyway, the only slight downsides of this mode are one, that it lacks a retractable landing gear and two, that you can spot the back of Starscream's head in the center of the jet. Otherwise, though: a very nice jet mode. Thumbs up.

Remarks: This isn't the first Starscream as he looked before coming to Earth (Titanium Screamer comes to mind), but it's how he appeared in the War for Cybertron / Fall of Cybertron video games and in the current IDW Robots in Disguise comic (the latter due to the former, of course). And if you are among the very, very few who believe that Transformers Prime and WfC / FoC are set in the same universe, then... well, then you must assume that Starscream underwent a truly radical redesign somewhere between the events of Fall of Cybertron and the various flashbacks in the Prime TV series. For me, this is Starscream from the RID comics. Don't much care about the rest, to be honest.

As a toy he's really good. I'm stopping just short of very good because of the "hollow" upper body and the lack of that certain something extra. Doesn't take anything away from him, though. If you're looking for a good Starscream figure, you won't go wrong with this one. And at the very least a Skywarp repaint is already announced.

Rating: B+