Thanks to TFans Member Ultimum Prime who has been gracious enough to share a review and images of the Transformers Animated Starscream action figure. The Transformers are back with Cartoon Network behind the wheel driving a whole new look and feel that has been somewhat controversial. Get a good first look at the Starscream figure and judge for yourself in the topic going on at
TFans.com.
JET MODE
-Pretty cool with the new wing configuration...
-Deco : purple-ish blue, red, black, grey (behind the cockpit), bronze (faction symbols) and clear orange (missiles, cockpit)...
-Retractable landing gears (1x front, 2x rear)...
-Missile launchers can be flipped forward for action...
-Plastic feels thick and soft to the touch (it doesn't feel brittle but it doesn't feel like rubber either)...
TRANSFORMATION
-More or less the Fast Action Battlers concept applied to a main line toy with a semi-automatic transformation...
-Unlock the legs and as you swing them down, the nosecone will retract and the arms will move outward...
-The rest of the transformation is pretty much a matter of straightening the limbs and locking the chest to the waist and the backpack to the back...
-You also have to split the bottom half of the backpack in two and then swing up the halves; also swing the tailfins flat against the calves...
-Overall, the transformation is easy, which I guess is the goal of the line... some could say it's a huge step back in engineering compared to the movie toys, but transformation is effective and quick, which might be a plus for kids and fans who don't like to spend half an hour going from one mode to another...
-Reverting back to jet mode is a bit tricky as the legs are hard to lock in place (the various springs are working against you), but once it's done, it's very solid...
ROBOT MODE
-Very faithful to the show, down to the odd proportions and the cartoony face (he doesn't have teeth or lips, it's just a smirk with orange light piping showing through)...
-Very good poseability and very stable...
-Head is on a ball joint , shoulder rotates (click joints), upper bicep swivel, elbow swivel, elbow joint, thumb, fingers (all 4 together), no waist swivel, hip (click joint + swivel), upper thigh swivel, knee (click joint) and ankle (ball joint)...
-A little gimmick has been implemented in both forearms : slide the missile launcher forward and some armor is deployed (a bit like Movie Leader Megatron's fusion cannon)...