Figure Friday takes you to Cybertron this week as we look at one of the biggest chicken shit heels of all time, Starscream!
Growing up, I loved me some Gen 1 Transformers. I watched the cartoons every day. I would spend what felt like hours wandering the aisles of Toys R Us trying to decide just which Autobot or Decepticon I would bring home. Then, like many children at that time, I watched as they murdered Optimus Prime in what was supposed to be the greatest event ever: Transformers: The Movie. It was a tough pill to swallow. Unfortunately, most of my love for Transformers died alongside Prime that day. I stopped buying the toys for a long time. A few years back, I found a nice Optimus that pulled me back in, but I’m pretty selective with what I buy. I primarily stick with what I feel to be the perfect representation of my favorite Transformers. Which leads us to our guest of honor…
Studio Series 86 Transformers: The Movie Coronation Starscream
“Who disrupts my coronation?” Not us, we’re making this happen! This Studio Series 86-12 Leader Class The Transformers: The Movie-inspired Coronation Starscream figure converts from robot to jet mode in 29 steps. Comes with 2 null rays, 2 shoulder armor pieces, crown, cape, and throne accessories. Remove backdrop to showcase the Coronation Starscream figure in the All Hail Starscream scene. In the All Hail Starscream scene, Starscream holds a coronation asserting his rise as king of the Decepticons, until Galvatron disrupts the proceedings and ruins his big day. Pose the figure out and re-create this classic movie moment!
Straight out of the box Starscream impresses with the included accessories. The purple throne acts as the centerpiece and also includes onboard storage for the various other pack ins. The storage is a nice addition and something that gets overlooked by toy companies far too often. The set also includes an animated backdrop taken from the scene in the movie in which Starscream proclaims himself Ruler of The Decepticons. It provides a nice display option, but I didn’t find it easy to use for my figure photography.
The figure itself is a good well-built product. Its plastic body has a few die cast accents. I’d normally talk about articulation, but robots in disguise don’t offer much in the way of pose ability. Instead, let’s talk about the transformation process itself. Remember the joy you used to have transforming your Autobots and Decepticons for days? Yeah, to Hell with that. I’m gonna channel my inner Roger Murtaugh and simply say “I’m too old for this shit.” I planned on filming my attempted transformation, but I ran out of storage on my phone. Seriously. Was there an age where this stopped being easy? Are the instructions more difficult? Am I simply out of practice? Whatever the reason, I’m glad Starscream looks great in both modes, but he will never transform to Seeker mode again unless someone is paying me to do it. 29 steps to transform!?!? It really highlights the fact that the Transformers R.E.D. line could have been great, but my experience with those figures is that they feel cheap. Truly frustrating.
Regardless of the fact that I’m a 43-year-old man that can no longer transform my toys without detailed instructions and a “How To” video on YouTube, Starscream still gets high marks. His beady red eyes and metallic smirk capture his weaselly nature perfectly. He comes with a premium price, but the ample accessories make this a purchase I was happy to make. If you’re in the market for a Starscream with a Gen 1 aesthetic, you can’t do much better.
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