One of my favourite moments when I first saw Transformers One in the theatres with my wife was when the screen went black, a voice started talking, and she said “…..is that Steve Buschemi?” She’d had no idea he was in the movie, and when the scene faded in, and she saw that he was playing Starscream, she started cackling maniacally, because it was a really, really good casting choice.
90 percent of his screentime is in this one scene, though.
On one hand, maybe if Transformers One hadn’t spent a pile of money on expensive celebrity voices, it would have actually made money. On the other hand, what an unexpectedly great choice he turned out to be for the character. Granted, Starscream was a fairly small part of the film’s proceedings, but still had a bunch of interesting moments, including codifying his status as a perpetual traitor, and facilitating one of Megatron’s biggest scenes. It was really odd when he injured his throat so they could pitch his voice up, though, especially since it was already a great performance. Anyway, you know how it is with me by now. Good character, good media, means I get what is hopefully a good figure.
Robot Mode
I’m not going to pepper these captions with Stevie B. quotes, that’s the Transformers Wiki’s job.
You know, more than anything else, this Starscream design feels like a lost Unicron Trilogy body, or like his Titanium design revisited.
He’s a way better figure than his Titanium version, not that it’s hard to be.
I think it’s a combination of the pointy cockpit-abdomen, and the bulky folded-up wings. He’s like a half-step between Energon and Cybertron Starscream. Either way, I’m glad he’s a bit of a departure from his usual G1 self, even if all of the signifiers are still there. He’s also a bit leggy, like nearly every Transformers One design. It manages to be a decently screen-accurate look, too, with the big difference being that his torso is narrower than his bulkier onscreen design. Well, that, and his headsculpt.
Let’s talk about those lips.
Yep, for some reason, they really cocked up the head on this guy. The whole thing’s thinner and taller than the onscreen model, but the big thing is his face, which gives him a strange set of pursed, plump lips, like Sunbow Cartoon Silverbolt. It’s not what he looked like onscreen, and it’s just…an odd choice overall.
Exhibit A.
I think my weirdest opinion here, though, is that it doesn’t sink the figure. It’s a strange choice, but it’s not horrible on its own merits, just on “matching the screen design” merits.
Usually, it’s the older model that yellows.
For colors, there’s a very definite hue-shift going on here. You’d expect his base color to be white, but it’s actually a very light beige. His reds and blues are similarly a bit darker than Starscream normally has. I don’t know if it’s screen-accurate, but it matches the hues and tones of the movie, and feels of a kind with Studio Series Transformers One Optimus and Megatron.
He’d kind of like to replace Megatron.
As for the rest of him, he’s got bits of plastic and painted dark metallic gray, a bit of yellow-gold on his chest, and some silver for his face. He looks very complete, and like his wavemate, Elita-1, manages to hit nearly every detail of his onscreen model, minus some red stripes on his biceps, and some gray details in the towers behind his head.
Not that it’s a competition (it’s totally a competition).
One thing he doesn’t share with Elita-1 is her rickety handfeel. He’s not the most solid figure I’ve ever handled, but his joints and construction are a lot tighter than hers. Perhaps a little too tight, in the case of his bicep swivels, which I didn’t even notice were present at first because of how much force is required to move them.
Initially, I thought he couldn’t do this, due to the tightness of his biceps.
Around back, meanwhile, his wings don’t tab into anything, just hang on ball joints, which doesn’t feel great, even if it gets them out of the way for poses. One unique-to-me issue, though, is that he can’t pass the “can he stand on one foot and kick?” test that I tend to give all my figures (it’s a good test of stability, articulation, and joint strength).
Try to stand him one one foot, and this happens.
This is because he doesn’t have any ankle tilts, and feet are sculpted at a bit of an offset angle, to let him naturally settle into an a-stance at rest, and those offset angles make him instantly topple over the moment one of his feet leaves the ground.
Fortunately, he doesn’t have to be standing to replicate this moment.
He can stay standing fine when he’s got both feet planted, though.
Also, I feel like his neck pops out a bit too easily. Maybe it’s a threat display.
So, as mentioned, he doesn’t have any ankle tilts, because of his transformation. It turns out that he also doesn’t have a waist joint, for the same reasons. A modern figure lacking that’s always a bummer, even if it’s for engineering reasons. Oh, and he’s got no wrist swivels, either. Still, outside of that, he’s decently articulated.
He makes for a good drama queen.
Bottom to top, he’s got knee swivels, thigh swivels, balljointed hips, balljointed shoulders, swivels for his elbows and biceps, and a balljointed neck.
Importantly, he sits well on a throne.
Perfectly cromulent, even with his limitations.
“You call these null rays? They’re barely pea shooters!”
For accessories, Starscream’s got an unusually tiny pair of dark gray null rays that stay mounted on his shoulders. You can always pop them off, though, and turn them into handheld pistols, since they’re small enough. They’re on 5-millimeter pegs on his shoulders, and I’ve found that Studio Series 86 Coronation Starscream’s spare set of null rays can work on them quite nicely.
“That’s more like it!”
His other two accessories are a strange-looking pair of guns, formed out of different altmode parts.
The Worst Guns ™.
One is cast in beige, with a little bit of red paint, and it’s all handle, no barrel (what little is there is painted gray). The other one’s a big, misshapen blue mass, with multiple gray barrels. He can duel-wield them as another set of pistols, though the blue one’s odd handle makes it a bit tough to get it into his hand.
POV: You made fun of his guns.
The instructions also suggest combining them into a larger, equally misshapen gun thingie, which does sort of look better.
Deadlier, at least.
Honestly, I don’t even think he used this at all in the movie, I think they just invented it out of altmode parts for him.
Using every part of the Starscream.
Wait, hang on… (types in “Transformers One Starscream All Scenes” into Youtube) yep, they made them up for the toy.
They also stash right here, on his back.
So, kinda ugly weapons, but I can’t ding them too hard.
And you can always give him other people’s weapons, anyway.
Transformation
This is one of those transformations that seem simple in broad strokes, but the devil’s in the details, because there are *so many of them.* Basically, it’s the classic jetformer “flip up the cockpit, and fold in the arms and legs beneath the wings, as he does a belly flop.” Cyberworld Mirage has the same basic set of steps, even. The thing is, there’s like ten thousand little panels on him that need to be flipped, folded, and clipped together, sometimes in very unintuitive ways. I’ve got it now, but it was really difficult to figure out for a long time.
When you’re in the thick of it.
It feels like he needed to be a Voyager, and I don’t mean in terms of partscount and budget, I mean “he needed to be larger in size,” because then navigating all these tiny parts would be easier. Getting the weapons array underneath his cockpit in order is especially fiddly, since you’ve got to transform it while keeping his null-rays and blue gun popped into place.
This whole assembly here’s a miniature pain.
It’s doable, and it’s not as tough as, say, Studio Series Carformers like Last Knight Hot Rod, or Rise of the Beasts Mirage, but still feels way too complicated for what he is. One thing that tripped me up for some time is the fact that his folded-up robot legs don’t actually sit straight beneath him, but are actually on an angle, so it turns out I actually was folding them up enough.
Jet Mode
Not a Tetrajet ™.
Starscream’s alternate mode seemed familiar to me, and not because of the film, in which it barely appears. It’s not an F-15, it’s not a Tetrajet, it’s something else, with its long nose, and curved wings.
Nope!
Also nope!
I think he actually resembles Energon Megatron, of all things, which makes sense, given the whole “he feels like a Unicron Trilogy design” thing he’s got going on. Either way, it’s nice, and a little bit different for the character. Of course, there’s basically no attempt to hide his folded-up legs and arms underneath him, but that’s par for course for Cybertronian modes in general, and Transformers One’s alternate modes, specifically.
Just look at the vehicle mode.
See what I mean?
For colors, he’s largely the same as his robot mode, though I really like how the reds, grays and blues crisscross in little lines all over the jet mode’s body, all futuristic and stuff. Really, between the shape, and the color layout, it’s a little bit X-Wing-esque, or at least some kind of Star Wars Expanded Universe type vehicle.
I’d say these two are about even in this form.
For build quality, he’s stable in a macro sense, but unstable in a micro sense. I feel like I’m constantly squeezing flaps on him shut, because a bunch of them tend to be a millimeter or two out of whack, though it’s only really noticeable if you squint.
You’ll have to squint when he’s up in the air.
For features, his null rays, and the blue-handled gun all mount beneath the jet mode, and the null rays are a bit too snugly packed in for the 5-millimeter ports they’re on to be usable. On the other hand, you can pop the very top of the jet off (it’s where his other gun stashes, as a part of the jet body), and access the 5-millimeter port there, if you like.
What Decepticon Leadership looks like in altmode.
Overall
There’s nothing hugely wrong with Starscream, just a ton of little things. Fundamentally, he’s a fairly well-put-together figure, and there’s a lot of stuff here I like, but it’s a death of a thousand cuts situation.
As opposed to this situation, where he threatened Orion and company with death by a thousand cuts.
He’s got that weird-looking face, which, if that’s a dealbreaker for you, fair. He’s also got those weird weapon accessories, a bunch of missing robot mode articulation, a transformation that’s way too fiddly, and a jet mode that’s mostly just a folded-up guy. There’s plenty I like here, like his overall design in both modes, and generally, my feelings towards him are pretty positive, but I’ve got to admit that just kind of middling, overall. Not horrible, but with a ton of little flaws. I think I rate him about the same as Elita-1. He doesn’t have the same kind of big problem as her generally poor handfeel, it’s just a lot of little things. Ultimately, there’s way better Starscreams, and way better Deluxes out there, so this is strictly a “if you’re trying to complete the movie cast” type of mild recommendation, and everyone else can probably just skip him.
“At least I’m less irritating than the yellow one, right?”
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