Earthrise Starscream

Prelude: It was the year 2006 and Hasbro’s Classic toy line – really just a bridge between the end of Cybertron and the beginning of the 2007 Movie toy line – started what is now known as CHUG and brought us the figure that, for the longest time, was THE definitive Seeker mold: Classics Starscream. Fourteen years and roughly 100 repaints later, we are finally getting a new (non-Cybertronian) Seeker mold with Earthrise Starscream. And he is... well, bigger. What else? Let’s see!

Robot Mode: In robot mode Starscream stands just as tall as Siege Starscream and the two versions of the same character look very similar, too. He’s got the G1 Starscream look down pat, no complaints here. Thankfully this figure foregoes the dreaded battle damage deco, giving us a cleaner image of the Decepticon Air Commander.

Apart from the size, the figure really is a spitting image of the Classics Seeker mold, which sadly includes some of the original mold’s deficiencies. Earthrise Starscream cannot twist at the waist and looking at him from the side, you can see quite a bit of hollow space in his chest. Unlike the Classics figure Earthrise Starscream has tilting ankles and the wings on his back can fold along their length, too, giving him more room to move his arms. Articulation-wise he is a tad better than his Deluxe-sized predecessor, but what bugs me a bit is that one-piece waist flap. It folds up whenever Starscream moves his legs forward. Siege Starscream solved that one much better by segmenting the waist plate instead.

Starscream carries his trusty Null Rays as weapons, which can plug into his shoulders or forearms. Unlike the Classics versions these are non-shooting guns instead of missile launchers, which I actually prefer to be honest. Less chance of a part flying off and getting lost somewhere. So bottom line for the robot mode: what you see is what you get. A bigger version of Classics Starscream with only some minor changes.

Alternate Mode: Starscream once again transforms into his classic F-15 alternate mode and here, too, the first thing I have to write is: it’s Classics Starscream, just bigger. The jet mode looks nearly identical to that of the Classics model, down to the somewhat hollow undercarriage. Something that is missing, though, namely the landing gear. Classics Starscream had at least something pretending to be one, but Earthrise Starscream has nothing at all. Which seems to be a trend currently, but still. Anyway, look-wise there is little to complain here, the jet looks very good (unless you look at it from underneath), no visible robot parts, everything fine. So again, a good jet mode, but basically the same as Classics Starscream.

Remarks: After he already got a new figure in Siege, Starscream gets another one in Earthrise. I didn’t originally intend to get it, to be honest, but then it turned up at Smyth Toys as the first Earthrise figure I had seen on German toy shelves, so I couldn’t just leave him there. I don’t regret getting him, but I wouldn’t have been terribly upset had I missed him, either. Earthrise Starscream is nothing more and nothing less than a bigger version of Classics Starscream. Some things have been improved, a few things haven’t, and overall it’s really just the same figure in a different size class. So if you are a fan of Seekers and always considered the Classics mold great except for being slightly too small, well, you won’t go wrong with Earthrise Starscream. Just be aware that, unlike Siege Starscream, he won’t show you anything really new.

Rating: B-

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