Transformers: Generations Armada Starscream

 

 Ah, Generations. The continuation of the ever changing to meet the needs of the brand Universe line. 

At several points in the history of the moniker new toys have been released, figures designed and produced as 100% originals, rather than the straight up repaints of old figures which were the hallmark of the line from its origins until 2008. Between about 2011 and 2014 the Generations line took up the mantle of being the ‘collector focused’ line, and a slew of G1 updates were released in its packaging. With the success of Transformers comics on the upswing in the 2012-2013 cycle, Generations also became the toy line attached, either in part or in whole, to releasing figure versions of characters featuring in the comics. But here is a sort of grey area for some: was Generations the umbrella under which comic characters got new toys, or were comic characters getting more comic attention because they were getting new toys in the Generations line? The dreaded ‘to sell toys’ argument was reborn again, as it is with every Transformers fictional iteration. 

While this entry is not specifically intended to examine that argument, Generations Armada Starscream is a product of it, so it is at times unavoidable. The figure is a “Classics” style update of the early 2000s Starscream from the Armada series, and it is a very strong update. The original Voyager class figure was often maligned for its lack of poseability, and this 2014 version addresses that issue exceptionally well. The new figure retains practically all of the originals’ trademark elements, minus the one Armada-centric gimmick of the Minicon. Minicons were smaller, simpler Transformers that attached to a larger toy to unlock some kind of feature, be it a weapon or what have you, and in-fiction provided a power boost to the larger robot. A symbiotic augmentation, in the spirit of the current Titans Return line. Generations Armada Starscream does not retain that Minicon enhancement gimmick, but is otherwise a generally perfect upgrade.

A pretty large segment of the fandom came onboard with Armada in the early 2000s, and so for them, this is one of their “Classics” figures. And there are not many to be had. A very common complaint with updated, modern figures is that they focus far too much on the 1984 cast, and that there are plenty of other characters out there to be updated, and they are largely ignored. While this is totally true, I feel that it comes with a caveat that is ignored too often, and that is that the Armada/Energon/Cybertron cycle of toys and characters are mostly based on original G1 characters, and while they differ in appearances, they are not entirely different characters. Armada Starscream here is still a Starscream, whereas characters like Demolisher and Hot Shot or Sideways are new people. Those new characters should totally get updates, while entries like this Starscream are pretty much exclusively newer versions of newer versions of the character. The figure is a terrifically faithful update of the Armada toy. The jet mode is very sleek, a futuristic/Cybertronian jet with a long fuselage. The transformation is very clean and flat, as the robot basically folds up underneath the jet body and manages to largely avoid the typical jetformer syndrome of being a robot compacted beneath an airplane body. Some more recent jet mode toys have been doing a much better job or addressing this issue, and this is certainly one of them. Primarily red, black and grey, Armada Starscream is a real eye-catching toy, and has a nicely rendered face sculpt as well. 

The original figure featured twin shoulder mounted missile launchers that would flip out when activated by a Minicon figure; this new version features said launchers but requires no additional figure to unlock them. They can flip up onto the robot shoulders or be left hanging behind the robot, and each houses a pressure missile. The back section of each launcher is molded in translucent orange plastic, and gives a nice kind of jet engine look to the jet mode. The launchers themselves are nice and colorful and there’s a very nice separation of parts, so the overall look is pretty detailed and eye catching. Each of the launchers, which move as one single piece except are able to be fired independently, has a Minicon port on the top, but no Minicon is needed to deploy or activate them. The weapons are useable in both modes.

Armada Starscream also featured a wing sword, where one of his wings could be detached and extended into a melee weapon that was, in-fiction, a sword but in toy form required a lot of imagination to be a sword. Armada Starscream does not feature a converting wing, but rather two translucent folding swords that store underneath the wings, and are vastly more sword-like than the original. Because this figure is infinitely more poseable that the original you can get some really sharp sword wielding poses out of it. The swords are hinged in the center so they fold over on themselves, and then peg onto the underside of the wings, and are very nicely hidden. 

 

In the Robots in Disguise comic, which had been primarily focused on events on Cybertron following the defeat of the Decepticons, Starscream adopts this form as his new body, thus justifying the release of the toy. There wasn’t really a story reason as to why this happened, other than Starscream decides he wants a new, more regal body following his ascension to ruler of Cybertron. Here is where the ‘which came first’ argument surfaces: what is the reason for this figure? Does the figure represent a characters’ new appearance in the fiction; or does the new appearance of the character in the fiction come from the appearance of the new toy? This time frame for the Generations line is rife with characters that are fairly puzzling choices in either toy or comic form: Rattrap appears in the comic as a sort of advisor to Starscream, and 1987 Autobot Double Targetmaster Scoop appears as a religious zealot. Both soon received “Classics” styled toys in the line. Rattrap makes sense in toy form, as, at the time, the 20^th anniversary of Beast Wars was approaching, and a “Classics” update of Waspinator (who also makes some strange comic appearances) was out and a Rhinox (who does not show up in the comics) was coming out. But while Waspinator was essentially shoehorned in as an Insecticon, which, honestly, makes sense kinda, Rattrap just appeared, and wasn’t really accounted for ever in the comic, origin-wise: he was just there, written in his characteristic accent and all. In the comic, he’s very out of place. Scoop on the other hand is more out of place as a toy, because who was every clamoring for a “Classics” Scoop? He’s the kind of Cybertronian that would appear in a comic as an Easter egg or something, and you’d pick him out and think, “hey, Scoop, yeah” and then be on your way. Armada Starscream is one of two Starscream figures that would be tied to his on-page look, the other being the Leader class entry from Combiner Wars, a form which he took up during the comic ark of the same name, marking his second body change in two years. I don’t follow the comics that closely, but it looks like post-Combiner Wars Starscream is an artistic license-taking version of that Leader class toy. So which came first? We may honestly never know. I’d imagine that the toys, due to a longer cycle of development and production, predate the fiction appearance, and not that an artist designed a new look for Starscream and then Hasbro decided to enshrine it in plastic. 

This is a very good figure, and whether you’re an Armada fan, or a “Classics” line fan, or a collector of comic characters, or a Starscream fan, or just like transforming robots, Armada Starscream should be a good addition to your shelves. It’s one of those toys that will fill a number of needs and look good in a variety of display settings, even though it is anomalous in that there are not more of these “Classics” upgrades of Armada toys. The mold was reused and modified for Jihaxus, but that is a real step down from this original version.