In bot mode, as I mentioned earlier, Hasbro relies less on paint ($$) to get the job done and it does give Starscream a slightly translucent look thanks to the grey plastic and how much light is showing through. I don’t mind it too much, but one thing that does bug me is the metallic painted forearms and non-painted hands. The hands can’t really be painted, but it’s the one visual nitpick I have. The same thing happens at the crotch where the unpainted red “codpiece” doesn’t really match the painted red “undies”. Keep in mind that I have to get down to the subtle color differences in key areas to get critical though.
As a figure, Starscream is also a great toy. His articulation includes either full ball-jointed or essentially ball-jointed points at the neck, shoulders, wrists, hips; swivels at the biceps & thighs, double-hinge elbows, single-hinge knees, individually articulated fingers, and then some ankle articulation with various movements on the component pieces. This is really the only place I had trouble with the figure. Some of the joints were a little harder to move around than normal, including the transformation bits and were either really stuck or a little loose. The fingers also popped off a time or two and that’s the first time on four versions of this mold that I had that happen (though my MP Rodimus has always been without a thumb). It’s annoying to be looking for fingers on the ground.
Starscream included a few accessories that are pretty standard with this mold. His cannons are attached, but can be removed and swapped out for included missile racks. A small pilot is included for his jet mode along with a clip that plugs under the nosecone to hold Megatron. There is also a specific stand, labeled Starscream. It’s a cool design and can be configured to hold Starscream as a jet or hovering in bot mode. It’s pretty cool. The coronation gear is not included with this release (but I have spares from Sunstorm if I want, so it’s not a big deal for me).
Overall, I’m just happy to finally have Starscream. I’ve wanted this figure for years and to finally get it for just $60 in the most G1 colors yet? It’s awesome. This is a great mold, though the reuse might be starting to show with those figures, and it looks great in Starscream’s iconic colors. My shelf would finally be more caught up… if I could just fit all these guys on the same shelf. Damn wings!
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Ah, great to see you reviewing again! Bloody good review, and fun comics, as always!
I love this MP-11 mould. Seeing as how it was pretty much the original prototype before it got inexplicably changed to the MP-3 version, I wish they’d been doing them like this all along, instead of those weird kibble-riffic Seekers they started off with. Just need a US release for Skywarp in this mould (I splurged on the Takara version this time last year), and then we can get into Ramjet, Thrust, and Dirge.
HINT, HINT, HasTak!
Great-looking figure. Starscream is still probably my favourite TF, though I would love a Skywarp…
wait, you’re WALMART carries MPs?
I don’t think I’ve ever seen ANY up here? maybe a random Prime, but nary a single other MP. :/
How do these compare to the newer versions of TC and Sky/Jetfire? they’re the $46 price point, not sure what level that’s called, anymore? I hear they’re still doing Skywarp and SS deco’s, which is 90% of the reason I even bought TC.
also just found the new Ultra Magnus last week.
also, the yellow cockpit sells it for me more than the nosecone, altho I an’t imagine what color the previous MP would be?
The original versions of the Starscream and Skywarp Masterpiece figures were Walmart exclusives in the U.S. That was a number of years ago, though. Masterpiece has been mostly a TRU exclusive since at least Grimlock.