Dave's Target-Exclusive Transformers Rant:

     Starscream (G1 redeco)

     Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Movie/VoyagerT2

     Strictly speaking, this is not an exclusive repaint of movie
Starscream.  It's an exclusive repaint of movie Thundercracker, who is a
remold of movie Starscream.  :)  And since I got this, I won't be getting
Thundercracker (who doesn't look as good anyway, IMO).  Nor will I be getting
the Ratchet recolor that ships with Thundercracker.

     Original mold: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Movie/Voyager1

CAPSULE

     Starscream (G1 redeco): A nice recolor, good head remold, and a nagging
issue with my original is not a problem here.  Mildly recommended if you have
the original, recommended otherwise...this is hte more vibrant recolor I was
suggesting you wait for.  $19.99 at Target.


RANT

     This is part of an endcap display along with the G1 Jazz redeco,
Ultimate Bumblebee, and a few other things that Target set up on August 26,
2007.  That's the official date, anyway...unofficially, a lot of stores
slipped on the street date and let these out early.

     Packaging: Standard Voyager box, but with the "ONLY AT (o)" sticker
applied.  Ironhide is the cosell, not because any Ironhides are shipping with
this (the caselot is 100% Starscream), but maybe because they shipped
together in the original street date surge.  Anyway, no special RoboVision
stuff this time out.  Has the Ultimate Bumblebee catalog.  Same annoying
twist-tie combination as regular Starscream, where you have to undo a bunch
of tray tabs to get at all the ties.


DECEPTICON: STARSCREAM
Function: Prince of Devastation
Altmode: F-22 Raptor
Licensor: Lockheed Martin
Previous Name Use: G1, G2, MW, Armada, Energon, Cybertron, Classic
Previous Name Use: Movie (Thundercracker)
Package Call-Outs: "Exclusive G1 deco!"  "Missile launchers attach to arms!"
     "6 firing missiles!"
Motto: "I shall return!"

     Sole survivor of the catastrophic battle that destroyed the other
DECEPTICONS, STARSCREAM fled into the vast and cloudy skies of Earth, away
from the searching eyes of the AUTOBOTS.  His alien skin totally transparent
to the primitive sensing technologies of humanity's armies, it was easy for
him to find a place to hide.  Altering his exterior was a simple matter, and
made it even easier to hide from his enemies.  With MEGATRON gone, and the
AllSpark lost, he waits, and plots, and plans for a future in which he rises
at the head of a mighty DECEPTICON army to reclaim all that his former leader
lost. 

STR 8  INT 4  SPD 10  END 7  RNK 9  COUR 5  FRB 8  SKL 8  Avg 7.7375

     Same inappropriately low intelligence copied over from the previous
one.  You'd think his Rank would get a boost, at least, given how he's
supposed to be the only one left (not that you can really trust the Target
exclusives' timeline to even be internally consistent, much less consistent
with the movie).

     Color Swaps: Black becomes dark blue, rubbery taupe becomes rubbery dark
blue, clear yellow becomes clear orange.  The missiles become very light
gray, and most of the rigid taupe plastic becomes very light gray, but the
shoulders, kneecaps and the legs below the knees become dark blue.  The head
looks to be totally painted over, so it might be dark blue plastic too.

     Paint Apps: Light gray paint on the shoulders and lower legs, decent
match.  Some dark blue paint on the shoulder connectors (which are light
gray) to make things match up.  The helmet is gloss black with light gray
faceplate paint.  Plenty of UV-reactive red paint on the leading edges of the
wings, and his pecs (painted brass with orange on the original) are just
solid red.  He has black Decepticon symbols with Air Force style wings
printed on his wings.

     Remolds: As mentioned, this is really a recolor of a remold, and that
remold was made for Thundercracker but gotten out first as this toy (much as
RoboVision Prime came out before regular Voyager Prime).
     As far as I can tell, the only molding change is the head, which
resembles the Armada Starscream head a bit, but with a more angular shape on
the sides and an overall "oni mask" look to it.  The demonic snarl is left
open to the lightpiping, a nice touch.

     Other Notes: At least on mine, the missiles stay in the triangular
missile holders better here than on the original.
     While the transformation is officially the same, I've seen a few tweaks
used to further distinguish this from the original, such as holding the
vertical stabilizeds under the LERXes like lapels, or straightening the legs
and swinging the hips back a little to bring the legs together.  The taller
stance puts him at 8" (20cm) tall at the head.

     Overall: A good recolor, certainly more visually interesting than the
"realistic" color scheme on the original, and one of the minor problems I had
with the mold is fixed (although it might just be quality control variance).
The new head is nice, although it's not necessarily "more Starscreamy" than
the original pseudo-Waspinator mug.

     Dave Van Domelen, wonders if Sole Survivor Starscream will re-kill
Zombie Jazz?