Toy Review - HFTD Leader Starscream

[griffin]

Toy Review - Starscream

Series - Transformers
Sub-line - Hunt for the Decepticons
Size - Leader
New/remould/redeco - new
Wave - 1
Released here - June 2010
Approximate Retail Price - $80-100
Approximate Size - 20-25cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - Raptor fighter jet
Main Features/Gimmicks - Electronics?
Main Colours - Silver grey, black
Main Accessories - Missile, launcher

[PascTF]

Finally got him earlier this week after a crazy long wait because of an unreliable seller, but I can finally enjoy him. What a great figure! I don't care much for the detachable gun and missiles, but otherwise, it's a fantastic mold. By far the best representation of the character. Love the jet mode, love the transformation, love the bot mode, love the integrated arm weapons. He may look thick when viewed from the side in jet mode, but if you look closely, you will see that every bit of plastic has on a purpose on the this thing and that the overall shape isn't that out of place. Great details, down to the sliding thingies on the shoulders, the 2 bars that sorta complete the upper torso (the ones that aren't connected) or the fake Mechalive on the lower legs. Definitely up there with ROTF Leader Prime and Movie 1 Leader Brawl.

[SharkyMcShark]

Definitely worth a purchase.

The fold out weapons on the arms are very very good. The shoulder articulation is nice too - he's able to hunch/roll his shoulders forward, and there's a lot of movement there. It looks very nice. I'm use the word very a lot. That's because it's very awesome.

Jet mode is a bit chunky and looks slightly chibi compared to the ROTF voyager (the cockpit on the leader looks flatter and the bottom has more kibble). That said it's not that big a deal and we've certainly had worse before.

[langzixinxin]

One of the bes I have.

Really really good.

[RagingBull]

HANDS DOWN ONE OF THE BEST TFS EVER!

[BigPenney]

Picked him up today and I absolutely love it (even more than leader Prime )
This an definite buy for anyone who likes the movie style Transformers.

[Stompy]

Picked it up from the Big dubya. My thoughts...

Robot mode is simply gorgeous. Well proportioned and just enough detail. Great sculpt for the head and along the torso. No fake kibble and the only real downside is the folded up plane chassis up back. The articulation for the arms and legs are superb, allowing for some decent poses but the thin chicken walker legs can be limiting. The back can be a bit back heavy and limit the poses even more but with some clever posing and the help of the heel spurs you can still get some pretty good poses. The chest looks great with the entire shoulder able to move forwards a bit with corresponding parts able to be manually moved to position. The cockpit can be pulled outwards to trigger the light and sound effect with some chest parts and the head open up. The arms look great and while the fingers aren't articulated as much as I'd like to (its still just 3 long claws stuck straight) the small thumbs can be moved a little. The weapons on the forearms are hidden and can be revealed via a little lever which is a nice feature. A bit dissapointing to see that the arm doesn't actually convert into that super canon rather you peg on the canon piece over the folded up hand. You can then attach the missile into the spring loaded slot. My one had a loose wrist and cannot hold the canon support the weight of the canon and flops down. Dissapointing there was no peg to lock the hands to the forearm. Otherwise I'm extremely pleased with the robot mode. Truly as close to movie accurate as it will get.

Conversion was, according to the box, Level 4 out 5 in difficulty and I agree. It's not too complex to the level of Leader Prime or Jetfire. The conversion is just right with no real mysterious folds to stump you. There's a little bit of Leader Jetfires conversion tricks here, specifically for the jet chassis alignment, but this time round they are much easier to align with thicker panels. I think Hasbro have done a great job engineering it so that its harder to break. Most moving parts are ratcheted too for satisfying/scarifying clicks. Overall though there's no real surprises here and you can pretty much guess how it will convert. I have noticed with the recent figures that pegs and slots for parts to stay in place. Definately a plus.

Jet mode is where I found it to be a mixed bag. From the top it looks great, but side on it looks like a pregnant jet with a fat underbelly housing the arms and legs. It's 2-3 times fatter than what it should be and brings me to my biggest gripe with Leader class figures... The stupid light and sound gimmicks! The light and sound + battery box just compromises a lot of potential in a more accurate figure, especially alt modes. As with Leader Jetfire, it bulks up the proportions. Compare this to Masterpiece figures where there are no light and sound boxes (well not major ones). Think MP Starscream. The Jet mode is perfect in its proportions (if a little messy at the belly showing robot parts and colours) because it allowed room for arms and legs to tuck in tighter. Instead we get a whopping big box for the battery and light n sound to work around. It was ok for Prime as the alt mode is not sleek. Jets on the other hand are. There are fold out landing wheels (that spin!) and slots to peg the missiles and canon to. Overall dissapointing. Like Jetfire, it looks great from the top only. Side and bottom view is where it falls apart. Although it is much better hidden and arranged than Jetfires ridiculous underside kibble.

The lights are great in robot mode, lighting up the cockpit, chest and head. In jet mode it lights up the cockpit and turbines. The sound is lame. Not fond of the voice actorthey got and has 3 lines. 2 in bot mode and one in jet mode. A 4th jet sound also when in jet mode. Plus the transformation noise when the cockpit is folded into place.

Overall, Starscream is the second best movieverse Leader behind RotF Leader Prime. Mainly for its spectacularly handsome bot mode and easy but still complex conversion. Let down by a disproportioned jet mode. If Hasbro would forgo the light and sound gimmicks, I believe we can have an even better Leader class figure. I'd reccomend it if you are a fan of movie Starscreams bot mode. If you like your jets, keep away. This is one that won't swoosh.

[Paulbot]

This toy clearly wins compared to fellow movie leader class Jetfire (who had a great jet mode but I have no desire to attempt transforming back to robot mode).

I think the jet mode handles undercarriage junk really well, even if it's a bit bulkier than a real jet would be.

The sound gimmicks are nicely implemented. I like the extra buttons hidden as Decepticon symbols much better than the traditional pull down lever on the chest.

The hidden weapons on his arms are nice (if a little small) and I like the way the missle launcher is styled to look like a reconfiguration of Starscream's forearm and hand rather than an add on weapon.

I'm keen to dig out the ROTF Voyager Starscream to compare. I thought the Voyager one was great but haven't played with it since May last year so at the moment I'm very happy with this as the best Movie Starscream toy.

[SharkyMcShark]

The voyager has the nicest jet mode out of all the incarnations (well probably the nicest F22 we've had) but the leader wins at everything else.

[Autocon]

The sound gimmicks are nicely implemented. I like the extra buttons hidden as Decepticon symbols much better than the traditional pull down lever on the chest.

but there was?