Legacy United Cybertron Starscream

Prelude: Remember when Starscream freed a bunch of imprisoned monsters from under the polar ice? No? How about the time he stood on top of a zeppelin for an entire episodes, just looking cool? No? But you certainly remember when he grew to giant proportions and started wearing a crown, right? No, not the crown from the G1 movie, the other crown. Yeah, Cybertron Starscream, the blade-wielding badass who fought his way through the entire Autobot line-up solo. That’s the one. Now Legacy has brought us a new version of this particular Screamer. Let’s say go!

Robot Mode: Quick reminder before we get into this figure: the Hasbro Cybertron toyline never released the “normal” Voyager-Class Starscream, only a store-exclusive repaint. Thus the original figure we are comparing this new guy here to is, of course Takara’s Galaxy Force Starscream. Now you know and knowing is half the battle!

First impression: this is Galaxy Force Starscream right here, no doubt about it. The look is spot on. The new figure might be a bit slimmer (and, naturally, smaller) than the original was, but overall the character recognition value is 100 percent, right down to the slight smirk they have given him. Very nicely done. From the wide shoulders with the arm pods, the cockpit on the chest, the grey, black, and red paintjob, everything fits together very nicely and gives us a new version of a toy that was already pretty close to being perfect.

Starscream’s articulation is top notch, having everything from a hip swivel, to ankle tilt, to twisting wrists. You can also somewhat modify his silhouette if you want, because the shoulder pieces can either remain close to the torso or be pulled out a bit, giving him a broader look. Personally I like him broader, but that’s entirely subjective, of course. The pods on Starscream’s shoulders can detach and be reattached to the forearms. The pods also contain this Starscream’s primary weapons, two purple blades that flip out, and having them either on the upper or lower arms gives you plenty of options for cool sword fighting poses.

Starscream also comes with the purple blaster the original toy had (though it was black there and fired a purple missile), which he can hold in hand, attach to the forearm, or store on his back. Starscream also has sculpted guns on his arm pods and on his chest. Sadly, just like with the original toy, the guns on Starscream’s chest are sculpted solid and cannot point forward. That only worked on Supreme Starscream and the third party MakeToys Galaxy Meteor. Would have been nice, but not a deal breaker.

We also have a Cyberkey for this Starscream here, though not only is it much, much smaller than the original (see 22^nd picture), but inserting it into the slot on Starscream’s back does not activate any gimmicks. Well, at least they included the key this time, not like with Legacy Cybertron Metroplex.

So bottom line for this robot mode: excellent. A great homage to an already great toy with nearly all the necessary bells and whistles and I like the option of moving the blade pods to the forearms. Adjustable chest guns would have been the icing on the cake.

Alternate Mode: Just like his predecessor, Starscream transforms into a science fiction style space jet, somewhat loosely patterned after the G1 Tetrajets. The transformation is mostly identical with the old figure, though on this new one the head is hidden better instead of just sticking out in the middle. The actual head flips inside, leaving a black “hump” that somewhat resembles the look of the head, but without a visible face or anything. Overall the design is not quite as sleek and aerodynamic as the old one, but it’s still recognizably the same vehicle.

Like most current jet Transformers Starscream, too, leaves out anything even remotely resembling a landing gear (the original had tiny wheels on the underside) and has a bit more of an underbelly than the Galaxy Force version, but otherwise it looks pretty good. There is a 5mm port on the back of the jet where you can plug in a blast effect to give Starscream an afterburner flame if you want. You can, of course, still deploy the blades in this mode, and Starscream’s blaster can be mounted either on the back between the two tail rudders or on the bottom underneath the thigh plates.

Overall the jet mode is good, though given it’s somewhat less aerodynamic look, the lack of a landing gear, and the somewhat larger underbelly, I have to say that the original figure did it a bit better here.

Remarks: During the Unicron Trilogy, Starscream went through quite a few changes. From the courageous, honorable warrior who died in Armada, to the vengeful ghost in Energon, he was more or less back to his old G1 roots in Cybertron. Briefly pretending to be loyal to Megatron, he soon went his own way, though in a much more competent manner than G1 Starscream ever did. He even fought his way through the entire Autobot line-up in order to get his hands on the Omega Lock, which gave him the power of Primus and enlarged him tremendously. Of course Starscream never again won so much as a single battle after becoming god-like, but that is another story. Suffice to say, Starscream had quite the journey in the trilogy. And yes, Cybertron/Galaxy Force does not really fit together with the first two, seeing as it was originally conceived as a stand-alone series. So, to me, Cybertron Starscream has always been his own character, separate from his Armada/Energon version.

In a way Legacy United Cybertron Universe Starscream (as the full name goes) epitomizes both the strengths and the weaknesses of the current line of homage toys. The robot mode is excellent, both in terms of looks and articulation, but when it comes to the gimmicks that made the Unicron Trilogy toys so special, it only half-heartedly recreates them. The blades are cool, but we have a Cyberkey that does nothing and a blaster that fires no missile. The jet mode is good, but clearly secondary when it comes to the robot mode and the current trend of leaving out landing gears really bugs me for some reason. So bottom line: an excellent homage figure, but I do have to attach a minus at the end for some of the missed opportunities.

Rating: A-

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