Studio Series 86 Coronation Starscream

Series: Studio Series 86
Year: 2021
Allegiance: Decepticon
Class: Leader

Prelude: Remember that one short scene in the 1986 Transformers Movie where Starscream became Decepticon leader and wore a crown and cape before being blasted into dust by Galvatron? Yeah, that one scene has spawned a thousand figures, it seems. Such as the Studio Series 86 Coronation Starscream, which is basically the Earthrise Starscream with extra bling. So, all hail Lord Starscream and let’s give him a hint!

Many thanks to my buddy Reyjin, who loaned me this set for this review.

Starscream: As mentioned above, Coronation Starscream is really Earthrise Starscream (whom I have previously reviewed), who has gotten a (very minor) makeover. He received new hands, which can now open and close, as well as some slight modifications to his paintjob to make him a bit more movie accurate. And that’s it, really. Apart from that he is the same figure I’ve reviewed before, really a scaled-up version of Classics Starscream with a few extras. So should you already own Earthrise Starscream, this figure here is definitely not the reason you bought this set.

Accessories: The main attraction of this set – to me at least – isn’t really the figure itself, but the stuff it comes with. The Studio Series 86 recreates figures as they appeared in the 1986 animation movie and in Starscream’s case, it’s mostly about that short scene where he was crowned Decepticon leader before being blown apart. So here is what he comes with in order to recreate that scene:

Let’s start with the crown. We’ve had several Starscreams with crowns before, but this one here is probably the closest we’ve yet come to faithfully recreating the one we (briefly) saw in the movie. It fits well onto Starscream’s head, but cannot remain there for the transformation.

The same goes for Starscream’s extra shoulder pieces. They clip onto his existing shoulders and feature 5mm ports to attach the second set of Null-Ray cannons Starscream comes with, so they can attach there instead of to his arms. Finally, there is the cape, which is made of solid plastic, but contains two hinges so it can “flare out”, so to speak.

Finally, there is the Decepticon throne aka the Nemesis command chair. It looks pretty cool and half the fun of this set is to see how many different characters you can seat in it and look cool. The back of the throne offers storage space for the Null-Rays and the cape, if you wish. Too bad that old Screamer never really got to enjoy his throne much in the movie.

And that’s really it. Take a Voyager-Class figure you’ve seen before, add some articulated hands and a bunch of accessories, and you get a Leader Class figure for the Studio Series 86.

Remarks: Starscream’s coronation and subsequent demise at the hands of Galvatron remains one of the most iconic scenes of a movie filled with iconic scenes. Of course Starscream did not remain dead, returning as a ghost later in the series and in Beast Wars, too, but this was the only time (in G1 continuity) where we saw him crowned. I kept waiting for IDW Starscream to crown himself at some point when he was elected leader of Cybertron, but it never happened (that I can recall, at least). We did get a crown on Cybertron Starscream, though.

Final verdict: as mentioned above, it’s a figure we saw before. The fun lies in the accessories and whether or not they are enough fun to justify the price uptick to Leader class is entirely subjective, of course. If you’ve read my previous reviews of this mold, you know I’m not its biggest fan, so I was never going to buy this set for myself. I have to admit, though, it was fun seating all sorts of guys on that throne for pictures. So bottom line: if you’re a Screamer fan, don’t already own the Earthrise version, and find the various accessories worth your time, this set could very well be for you. If not, your money is better spent elsewhere.

Rating: C+