Revenge of the Fallen Nebular Starscream

Review by Caked-Up:

Overview: This is the K-Mart exclusive repaint for the ROTF Voyager Starscream. In the past generations of media, Starscream was a spineless whiner who was capable in battle, but afraid of Megatron. In the Movieverse he is still afraid of Megatron, but he is so much more a warrior and leader than he has ever been. I like the new Starscream character so much more than I have ever before, a hero for the good of Cybertron, just on the wrong side.

Robot Mode: First off, Starscream looks good in robot mode with great paint apps (“Powered up paint job”) and detailing. He has nicely sculpted bits throughout his chest and limbs. Most of the detailing that counts received a coat of paint. His face is sort of bland, but it jives with the body. For a one-up on the basic model, the guns on his arms are painted. The barrels are silver and the stock is black. Too bad the missiles are unpainted and the toes could have used some loving too, but alas you can only improve so much and stay within the budget.

The Mech-alive gimmick is usually worthless. Dirge’s nipples were nice and Bludgeon’s scabbard made sense, but usually nothing worthwhile. However, Starscream’s Mech-alive gimmick not only works, but it looks great.

With all of the good news I now have to give the bad news. Next, this figures posability is sketchy at best. His feet are small, so stability can be an issue if you don’t use the kibble there for support. Now his arms are decent, but they are awkward. The “shoulder” actually sits behind the chest, so the arms start from behind the chest of the robot, but they are long enough that this looks more natural. The next big issue is the hands. There are two things wrong with his hands. The wrists only move one way and they are huge. He can swat flies the size of bowling balls with them.

My third note is on his kibble. There are little pieces all over his body. They do not get in the way of his posability, but are difficult to keep in place if you move a limb. His jetpack is small, but the wings are loose on my figure because they don’t tab in anywhere. Finally, looking at the figure you know he turns into a jet, but you will never guess how he does it. He does not carry the plane on his back like Jetfire or crunch down like Stratosphere. How did they do that? His transformation is intimidating, but only as difficult as Shih-Tzu. I won’t go in to detail, but the plane folds down around the cockpit with his limbs sprouting on the way. I will add him to the list of good jet formers with unique and effective transformations (Dirge, Thrust, Ransack, and especially Mindwipe).

Alternate Mode: Starscream turns into a toy version of the F-22 Raptor. Now I am not an expert on this, but I believe it isn’t fully accurate because the missiles would be stored internally so that they don’t cause a radar signature. Looking at this figure you will see three major points. A nicely modeled jet with tattoos (again the point of this figure), lots and lots of seams (it is a toy), and his hands and guns poking from the rear. That last point was the deal breaker for me the first time this figure came out. If he wasn’t $3.00 (coupons and gift cards) it would still be a deal breaker for me.

Originally Hasbro had designed the figure with a hinge in the middle of his hands so that they would fold up and hide under the engines (it is still in the instruction sheet); however it never made it to the figure. Hasbro needs to not be so cheap all the time. That fault aside, this is a much better figure than the 2007 movie edition thought it could be. He has a three point landing gear that works, but the wheels don’t roll and the rear points seem too close together. This figure is SO much sleeker and better made that owners of the original should be able to trade them in for free.

Packaging: In my opinion all Transformers need to be packaged in robot mode so we can see just how well they are put together. And Voyager class figures should always be packaged like this figure. The boxes’ foot print is narrower, but it is also taller. It displays what you are buying instead of surprising our robot loving consumers. Also, this package has some molding with the Decepticon® symbol and the word “DESTROY” on top; a nice touch. To hell with the vehicle mode, if it rolls kids will love it, but to collectors like myself (and I believe my readers as well) I want to see the mode I am going to display. And if you are one to keep them in the box (that is not me) it is even easier to enjoy, because you are not looking at a vehicle in a box. In addition to a cooler-looking package, the ties used to keep the figure in place are not the wires of old, but a soft twine. I hope they keep this type of packaging in the future because it is just a great way of packaging.

Key Transformation Points:
1. There are small panels that rise from the fuselage around the cockpit/chest. They are a pain, but they will lift up to form the detail of his upper torso. Pull firmly, but gently at the same time.
2. Ensure the arms are rotated so that the wheels are on the back.
3. His crotch plates should line up parallel with each other and point down. They are shown as pointing sideways on the box and instructions but interfere with leg movement.

Conclusion: In conclusion, I got my money’s worth. I like this figure a lot even with all of the odd choices made by Hasbro. Choosing another character like Skywarp to use this particular mold would have been a superior choice, but Starscream is still great. If you didn’t get the first ROTF Starscream, you should look at this one. It might make you pick it up, it might not. I rarely buy two molds for the same name, but he was still worth my time.

Grade: B+

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