Name: Starscream
Series: Universe
Allegiance: Decepticon
Alternate Mode: Sukhoi Su-37 Fighter
JET MODE
Height: 2.5cm Length: 9.5cm Width: 7cm
A small silver fighter with some mid blue undercarriage kibble, Starscream has orange paint on his canopy, some red on either side of the cockpit and on his wingtips. In a reversal of the usual pattern, he's a repaint of Thundercracker. The colours are more Tornado/Windzaror than Starscream, thanks to the silver and while that would make for a very obscure tribute, the colours most work - aside from the needlessly bright orange paint on his canopy. There's a Decepticon logo stamped on top of the fuselage.
Small and simple, Starscream doesn't do much but he looks nice. There is a vestigial key slot on the back and the central spine of the toy lifts up (although it lacks the stupid key gimmick of the larger, original Cybertron, toy). There are moulded, non functional wheels underneath, including one on a gunpod tucked away under the fuselage, which is visible if not prominent.
While the simplification robs Starscream of any play value, I can deal with that on this scale. This is naturally a low detail jet with a fairly careless paint job. While the switch to silver manages to work well enough, the orange holds back a repaint of one of the stronger Legends moulds that Cybertron gave us.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Swing the gunpod out to the left side, fold the legs out to the front. Fold the cockpit, nose and legs underneath to form the torso and legs of the robot (this also reveals the head), fold down his feet and stand Starscream up. Lastly, pivot the gunpod into position as a handgun.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 9cm Width: 7cm
A silver robot with blue feet and arms, with a black head, silver face and red eyes. While the silver still resembles Tornado, the head is all Starscream - meaning the tribute is much closer to its intended mark here. The colour layout is very much Starscream, too. The bulk of the jet sits on his back as a plate, with the wings sitting on either side of his arms. The top of this plate sits behind and above the head, adding about 1cm of height (the top of the head is only 8cm tall). There is no allegiance symbol visible here.
The gunpod is meant to be permanently attached, but can detach giving Starscream an unobstructed right arm. The gunpod attaches via a ball joint, on the inside of his mid forearm, and as a result can be "posed", along with the arms themselves which are ball jointed at the shoulders. The legs are also on (restricted) ball joints, which don't really offer any poseability. The poseability is limited, but he can aim the gun which is enough at this size.
A good robot mode with a strong tribute and fun little gunpod. The silver is still around of course but the colour of the head - black instead of gold - really makes the tribute work.
VARIATIONS
None that I'm aware of. As mentioned he is a repaint of Cybertron Legends Thundercracker.
OVERALL
Using one of the stronger Legends moulds from Cybertron, and while there are enough Starscream toys out there this is a decent repaint - despite the silly use of bright orange. The gunpod is his only real play value. If you like small, simple, "cute", Transformers, this is a nice mini Starscream - 6/10
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