Transformers Cloud Starscream

On the 17^th of January, I present my final Christmas present write up. Look, it’s been a busy time at Coffin Central: been on vacation, did some traveling, struggled to keep up with all the celebrity deaths, and am like 2/3 through a second playthrough of Bloodborne. Maybe later is better than never.

Anyway, the final gift from my wife was a second figure from the Transformers Cloud line of Japanese repaints, one which keeps the Christmas Starscream tradition going as well. Cloud Starscream is a repaint of the Generations Doubledealer figure, itself a repaint and new heading of the Generations Blitzwing figure. Wait, two flawed Generations toys made into exclusives in consecutive reviews? Yes. But, much like Hellwarp, Starscream here does some things that make up for some of the base molds’ issues.

Generations Blitzwing is a figure with a lot of problems. Revealed to an enormous amount of hype back in early 2012, it was almost certain Blitzwing would fail. Terrible shoulder assembly, which is apparently easily fixed despite my still not having done it, and a head that, because of it’s triple face gimmick to reference Animated, wouldn’t fit inside the nosecone of the jet mode doomed the figure right out of the package, and a return to live action movie toy levels of tab-together parts and 2011/2012/2013 level thin plastic really left it beyond redemption. I actually like the looks of all three modes, but having the toy in your hands is pretty frustrating. A Doubledealer do-over was released and I never picked it up, despite having seen it in stores once or twice, but according to stories a number of the Blitzwing issues were addressed on Doubledealer. Thus, Starscreams’ head fits inside the nose of the jet. The shoulders do work out better on this figure, as well. 

There are two things about this figure that really get Starscream right in my opinion, even though this is a Starscream that doesn’t make a lot of sense, being a triple changer with a tank mode, neither of which are your typical Starscream elements. The first of these two things would be the inclusion of the null rays from the Masterpiece Seeker figure. While they attach behind the shoulders on this toy, and as such end up being a bit too out of the way to be used, as in Starscream would have to lift his entire arm up in that way that you do when you’re checking to see if you remembered to put on deodorant today, in order to fire them in the fashion that a traditional, arm-mounted Seeker weapon is fired, they add to the overall profile of the figure and make it stand out as a Starscream instead of some other guy repainted into Starscream’s colors. The toy doesn’t come with the Blitzwing gun and sword, so these null rays are the only accessories/weapons. The second thing is that shade of blue on the gloves and nose of the jet. It’s that right Starscream blue, that baby/dark sky blue that he’s supposed to be. Similarly, the red is a metallic red, adding some real pop to the look of the toy, particularly on the chest and hips. Again, I’ve no experience with Doubledealer, but Blitzwing being two colors made the mold appear kind of dead, while this version looks sharp. 

Jet mode is nice albeit a bit blocky and chunky. Seekers generally are possessed of pretty sleek and slick looking jet modes, whereas this jet is something like a fighter with some pods on its back, a la the classic Jetfire model. Come to think of it, this might make for a fair Jetfire alt mode, although that’s not something I’d be interested in or am even advocating for. Anyway, the jet mode is the better of the two alt modes, but the tank mode is kind of endearing. A problem with triple changers is that in order to incorporate three modes, all of them tend to suffer a little. This is a universal truth, despite the fairly excellent Springer and Sandstorm that Generations also brought us. The tank mode for Starscream is actually helped by the addition of the large null rays. This is the kind of tank you’d find in a 90’s video game or something, the kind of cutesy, blocky tank that’s basically a barrel on treads. In what is most probably the biggest engineering triumph of this mold, the robot arms do fold around the barrel pretty smartly to form the turret, and jet mode totally disappears in tank mode; unlike the jet mode, with the noticeable tank barrel hanging underneath it. . . kind of like G1 Blitzwing.

The robot is not terribly poseable, due mostly to the shoulder joint issues, although again, this version is leagues better than my Generations Blitzwing in that department. The feet are pretty awful as well, and the robot is essentially a sequence of attached rectangles, so posing is an issue. 

I like this guy a lot, and for a number of reasons, his being a Starscream and an exclusive both included. Visually, this is something to look at, which I think is great for a mold that was pretty much universally dismissed when it was released. I’ve said it before, but where Blitzwing is like a two tone lump of dead plastic, Starscream is much more vibrant and striking, which is really something for a figure that is mostly grey. I like that they captured the idea of Starscream in a figure that is not in any way, shape or form Starscream. Things like the shade of blue and the null rays accomplish that. And I also like how strange this is as a concept: why would Starscream transform into a tank? Like at all? The pack in comic has a panel where an interdimensional Starscream interacts with Blitzwing, so maybe Starscream scanned Blitzwing and reformatted and. . . ah, who knows. I really like the fixes or improvements that were made to the mold, as once you handle this guy and his joints are tighter and things fit together better, it’s like a totally new toy for the first time. When I took him out of the box and started playing with him, I was filled with that trepidation that has kept me from messing around with my Blitzwing for like two years. But as I handled Starscream, everything felt good, and there is a satisfaction that comes with manipulating a figure of this degree of complexity with this level of quality: you actually can transform him, and you actually can experience the toy this time. With Blitzwing, it’s like a chore, or at least, not as pleasing of an activity. 

   

Overall, this is a great, great toy despite being a base mold that has a lot of issues. A better time than Hellwarp as well, because at least Starscream looks alright in all modes and from most angles. This is a toy that I’m really glad to have in my collection, and he fits in very well with other figures on the shelf. Weird, but not so weird that it hurts the final product.