One of my favorite figures in the Transformers Prime line is the First Edition Starscream. His cocky expression and ability to formulate dramatic gestures make him extremely fun. When Takara announced they were doing a Skywarp repaint based on the FE, I had to have it.
Takara did something interesting things with the release of their main wave of Prime figures. Instead of phasing out the First Edition molds, they decided to keep using some of them. I consider most of those FE figures as nearly perfect Transformers figures, so I’m entirely for this. The second thing they did was add a Minicon to each of the figures, which I’m also entirely for. More robots are a good thing, right?
Instead of the more traditional card with a bubble, Skywarp came in a box. There’s new CGI display art, which I’m assuming is a Photoshop of Starscream. Inside, Skywarp comes in vehicle mode and covered in a plastic baggy to protect his paint. In another separate bag is all of the figure’s paperwork, and in another is a sprue plate containing the pieces of his Micron.
The first thing that struck me about Skywarp was how brilliant his color scheme is. The majority of his body is molded in black and makes him look extremely sleek, especially with the metallic copper and silver accents. But what really makes this guy stand out is the neon purple. You would think adding bright purple to a jet would look silly, but somehow it way more dangerous than Starscream’s comparatively plain gray colors.
Skywarp’s sculpt is almost the same as Starscream’s. The biggest difference is that Takara didn’t give him Starscream’s missiles. Instead, they mounted two large bombs to his wings. I’m actually really glad they did this. It was a really simple way to give Skywarp his own unique feel. And in case you were wondering, the bombs are glued on. Although I’m sure they can be removed with enough force.
Robot mode is similar to jet mode, and aside from the bombs the two Seekers have identical sculpts. I don’t mind so much here, but I’m hoping Takara will make a couple of new head sculpts for future colorways. Starscream has a great creepy smile going on, and I don’t really want all of my jets to be leering at me from the shelf. They also need to figure out a way to do a cone head. A Slipstream would be cool too… Continue to page 2…
Thanks for the reminder that I don’t own FE cliffjumper.
Nice looking guy that skywarp though. Love that minicon.
Nice review! Skywarp looks great! Makes me wish they’d do Starscream in G1 colors.
Excellent review and great pics. But then, I expect nothing else from this site.
Still, I just can’t get that excited about these new TransFormers. Most likely because I haven’t seen a single episode of Prime yet (and probably won’t until the DVDs come out, if ever). Could be because the robots look a bit spindly and not “machiney” enough, if you get my drift. I’ve got three of them so far, but only because of my character (Soundwave & Wheeljack) and muscle car (Cliffjumper) foci.
Besides, I had enough hassle and unnecessary expense collecting the “Classics” and “Masterpiece” versions of all the Seekers so far. I ain’t going through that again with a new line and a new look.
Still, doesn’t keep me from enjoying a darned good review.
Season one came out on DVD/Blu Ray a month ago. I highly recommend it. It’s one of the best Transformers shows in the last decade, if not ever. Great voice acting, writing, and animation.
Yes, some of the designs (especially Decepticons) are a bit on the spindly side (Starscream’s honestly one of my least favorite designs on the show), but they look tons better than the models from the live action movie.
Well, it hasn’t come out on DVD here in England yet, mate. But if it is going to get released over here, it shouldn’t be too far behind the States. Thanks for the heads-up.
With you on the live-action movie models, also. I once did a feature called “Action Figures Separated at Birth,” comparing action figures who look ridiculously similar to each other (such as Grizzlor and Chewbacca). My partner-in-crime, Tresob Yr, made an excellent suggestion for the last chapter: Revenge of the Fallen Megatron and a crumpled wad of aluminium foil in a vaguely humanoid shape. Except that the wad of foil can turn into loads more things.
Wow, he looks sharp! I really dig the FE Starscream, enought that I’m skipping the “Powerizer” version. I hope Hasbro eventually releases Skywarp & TC using that mold in the U.S.
With the exception of the Masterpiece version, Skywarp has always been very difficult to obtain in the last 6 years or so. Kinda wish I picked a different favorite Seeker…
Could’ve been worse, mate. You could’ve picked Thundercracker or Sunstorm. };D