The Mini Directory
Home     News
Reviews     The List
NYTS     Links
Dictionary   Gallery
Roy's Toys Shelf
The Greatest Hits
Starscream- Transformers; Machine Wars
Meat and Potatoes; 4.0
Perks; 4.0
Homer Factor; 4.0
Description;  ah, a very cool, mod, nasty looking version of Starscream, 11" high, no less.  Woohoo.

Take an SR-71 and give it some SERIOUS bulk, and give it a nice scram-jet engine on it's back to boot.  In robot mod, the front and nose of the plane becomes Starscreams legs and feet, the back engine portions becomes the torso.  Rotating bomb-bays are in the engines of Starscream. 

The piece comes with some missiles/bombs to drop, but no side-arm. :-(

Ah, Starscream... HE WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOO ANNOYING!!!!!!  Ok, ok, so he's SUPPOSED to be annoying; that grating voice, the way he's always busting on Megatron.  Jeez.  It was actually rather fun to see him get his butt blown to pieces in 'Transformers-The Movie.'  Ah, revenge is sweet.  The toy was always just 'ok' with me.  Granted, being an F-15 is pretty cool, but considering the arsenal o' stuff Jetfire, it seemed rather unfair.  Until this piece came out. 

This was from a little knows series called 'Machine Wars.'  Don't ask how this fits in continuity, we probably DON'T want to know.  Anyway, in the early '90s, Hasbro half-hearted released new toys based upon the original Transformers characters.  Some of the pieces were pretty cool, some rather 'eh.'  Fortunately, the re-incarnation of Starscream was a pretty neat piece of work. 

The meat and potatoes of this piece are pretty standard for the period, in some ways pretty cool, other ways very nasty.  The sculpting and detail on the piece are solid.  Panel lines, vents, intakes, even the vanes on the turbine in the 'scram-jet' on top of Starscream are all well done, creating a nice sense of realism.  Not quite Gundam level, but good enough.  The articulation, though.... well, VERY eh.  The arms in 'bot mode do move reasonably well at the shoulders.  Past that, though, forget; no elbows, no waist, no hips.  Forget about super-dynamic poses, folks.

Perks are pretty solid, as to be expected from a Transformer.  The transformation from mega-bomber/fighter to robot is very dramatic but doesn't take a Ph.D in mechanical engineering to figure out.  The rotating bomb-bays that drop missiles are also a nice touch.  The only problem I have is the lack of a hand-weapon for Starscream.  No laser rifle, no hand-held missile-launcher, nada.  Bummer.

Homer factor is decent on this one.  Hey, it's Starscream, 2nd in command and general pain in the butt to Megatron.  AND it's a large, butt-kicking version of Starscream.  No little fighter that can be gangsta-slapped by Jetfire.  This one can hold it's own, even against anyone. 

All in all, it's a solid piece of work.  Finally, a fair-fight in the skies over Cybertron.  Coooooooooooooooooooooooooool.