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Voyager-class Decepticon Starscream

Comments

13 comments posted
Brilliant

Brilliant review EVA Unit 4A. I was very skeptical about this whole line of toys due to the new look basen on the new animation style. I also think the show is great and the best since G1, G1 is still #1. Yesterday I purchased Voyager Bulkhead, Prowl and Lockdown, and they are all great quality. Deffinently going to get Starscream, I would have got him yesterday but there was none left. Another good thing going for this toy is the slight resemblance to the YF-19. In fact the whole line of Animated toysare far stronger than the movie toys as they all have character, something the movie toys and the bots in the movie lacked.

Mark M's picture
Posted by Mark M on 9 July, 2008 - 05:29
As soon as I saw this it

As soon as I saw this it just screamed MACROSS PLUS, which gave me some hope for this show, and toy line... This looks very interesting, it's also the only toy from the line i haven't seen at stores.

Sadly, I really wasn't into the show at all, and this is honestly the only design i have an interest in. While I am very, very happy that they stayed away from the Movie designs, and the designs do have personality, it just seems to me, from a design standpoint, that they were trying to fuse the movie and G1 designs together, and instead of making something new, the toys and series on a whole feels very derivative. It's so obvious that they wanted to cut costs on the show with easy to animate designs, and make it fit well with the other Cartoon Network shows (Teen Titans, Foster's Home)- it seems surgically designed to appeal to kids, and g1 fans who hated the movie.

I still think Hasbro and CN could have saved a bundle of cash, and just re-used the excellent Transformers Classic series designs for the new toys and for the show. Every one of those figures combines the classic G1 character, with a sci-fi modern edge- exactly what is attempted in the show. And instead of re-hashing movie points (allspark etc) it would have been great to bring something new to the table plot wise- maybe the gas-guzzling cars teach humans how to be a little kinder to the environment, how interesting would something double-sided like that be?

I guess this old-timer just feels like the G1 fans are used and the goal is that they are placated enough to keep liking the Transformers "brand" with G1 nods, and buy stuff for their kids again, but are never truely satisfied (with a modern G1 design style cartoon.)- and kids keep getting the same old characters over and over again, with nothing truely new added to the mix.

I would have rather see the designer Derrick Wyatt do something completely different. He is very talented, and can be amazingly creative, but this whole line has the vibe of "rip-off" to me, complete with the Energon style prime, the art vinyl asthetic, Macross Plus reference, G1... it just has a vibe of "we need to cash in on the movie, but the designs from the film are too hard to draw. Let's do something new, but not." Maybe you guys feel different.

EDIT: And EVA, excellent review as always... thanks for sharing this!

The Big R's picture
Posted by The Big R on 9 July, 2008 - 10:59
"Teen Titans" and the

"Teen Titans" and the earlier "Kim Possible" are obvious influences, and that is probably the most striking thing about this series. I will certainly say that "Transformers Animated" is more palatable design-wise than the film's was. (Ex: I like this ver of Bumblebee's face much more compared to the live-action ver's!) All those curves and round shapes gave the robots a very organic look to them. But I quickly got used to it the more I watched the show (which, BTW, just had an awesome season-2 finale).
But, honestly, I can't really see the film's influence here. I see some familiar names, and the use of the All Spark, but that's it. The series was originally going to be called "Transformers Heroes", but to prevent confusion with the movie- as The Big R implies- they renamed it. I think that while the movie was being worked on before "...Animated", they were two completely separate projects that have relatively little influence on each other; how Cartoon Network got the show as opposed to, say, CBS or The CW, I can't cay. I see this more as a tribute to G1 while not actually being G1- that, I think, is where the strongest influences come from. I mean, when you have G1-only characters like Blurr and Wreck-Gar in the series, then you can't really say it came from anywhere else. But, of course, you get other tributes as well, like Wasp[inator] and Blackarachnia from "Beast Wars".

But I'm not wise enough, I suppose, to the marketing strategies of Hasbro and Cartoon Network. "Transformers Animated" may very well be a nicely-packaged rip-off of the past series. Or perhaps I'm not as [up-tight] and loyal to the saga as some Trans-fans are. But I don't really care. They made something that appeals to me, and makes me want to spend money on it.
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EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 9 July, 2008 - 11:05
I really like this toy a

I really like this toy a lot, and find i play with it more often at my desk then i do the other "animated" toys. I have a few things to mention though.

The black panels on the sides of the arms actually "pop out" for some reason. They are hinged in 2 places - does anyone know why?

My starscream has a few QC issues. Firstly, when in ship mode, the arms don't line up right, so the missile launchers don't both point straight. The hand has popped out a few times when trying to position it, and now the plastic has become worn so the hand pops off easily now. In addition, the paint on the nosecone has issues on mine as well. All that aside, I still dig it. I'll probably shoot a video for it soon to supplement this review.

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JoshB's picture
Posted by JoshB on 9 July, 2008 - 07:52
Yeah- I saw separation

Yeah- I saw separation lines on his forearms, but I was too afraid to try and pry them off for fear of putting scratch marks into something that didn't move. Well, perhaps, like Prowl, Starscream is due for an upgrade later, and rather than make new molds, they just covered the connection points?
I am sorry, too, about the hands being so loose. It's a really nice thing to have even though he can't grip anything, but when you can't pose them, it becomes more irritating than likable.
I wouldn't worry too much about the alignment of the arms in vehicle mode; that's probably just a result of very minor misalignments in the shoulders from the Automor-- uh, "Auto-conversion" feature. I think we all have to deal with that one. It may not have been intentional, but I don't think anyone noticed it when they approved the final design.

My biggest beef with transforming him, however, is those panels on his back. They stick together so strongly that almost every time I try to separate them, one of them pops off. Same with the back wheels in vehicle mode- as I said above, I popped both of them off on the first try, they were in there so tight!
And then, there's the Revenge of the Undercarriage Kibble, which pissed me off to no end after seeing the awesome work on Lugnut...

You're gonna make a supplemental vid for this guy, Josh...? Hey- it's my review-! ;-)
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EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 9 July, 2008 - 11:18
Up next for "Transformers

Up next for "Transformers Animated" from me:

Voyager-class Grimlock

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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 9 July, 2008 - 11:20
repeating

That will be great EVA Unit 4A. A friend of mine has had QC issues with both his Starscreams (the second being the replacement for the first). I understand what The Big R means and I feel the same in a lot of ways. As much as I love the storyline of the show I am not to big on the animation, but then it reminds me of some of the more abstract and dynamic art from the G2 comics, and to be honest the Japanese animation for the Transformers brand the past few years has not been great and has been quit cheap looking compared to other animes like Gundam, Macross etc. The Classics line would deffinently have been great for a cartoon series and is an excellent line. It is like a natural progession from G1, G2, Beast Wars and R.I.D. toys (hated most of the Armada, Energon and Cybertron toys except a few) and are making them very close to the original designs. To me the best marketing strategy for Hasbro/ Takara Tomy would be instead of the odd re-issue, to just re-release all the original toys and be done with it. Maybe it is time they did start to make some new characters instead of all these incarnations of old characters and re using of names.
The way Bandai are producing Soul Of Chogokin toys is how it should be done 100% to the original design but far improved.
It is unarguable though that these new Animated toys are great fun, and are faithfull to the cartoon, so I am happy with them.

Mark M's picture
Posted by Mark M on 9 July, 2008 - 11:47
Nice review, I'm tempted

Nice review, I'm tempted to buy animated toys now more than ever. It seems like "automorph technology" has been around a long while. I seem to recall my G1 Hound having some automatic transformation going on.

"Dinobots, destroy Devestator!"-Optimus Prime TFTM

Goldenage's picture
Posted by Goldenage on 9 July, 2008 - 12:38
The black panels on the arms

The black panels on the arms move outward when you lift the missile launchers on the arms up and slide it towards the wrist. It's supposed to be like some laser guns, or something.

Mike's picture
Posted by Mike on 9 July, 2008 - 14:34
Holy S-bombs, Batman-

Holy S-bombs, Batman- you're right! I didn't know that! He never did that in the series, so I had no clue.

...And, it was never mentioned in the instructions either. :-(

I believe this warrants an edit-or-two in the review with some new pictures to go with.
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EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 10 July, 2008 - 13:37
Updated Screamer review... and a shout-out

There. How's that for a shout-out, Mike? ;-)

Seriously, thanks for pointing that out. That might have gone unnoticed for several years.
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 10 July, 2008 - 17:24
Hehe. I appreciate it. I'm

Hehe. I appreciate it. I'm just glad that I was able to point out such a (good?) feature to you.

Mike's picture
Posted by Mike on 10 July, 2008 - 22:42
Two things:

Two things:

1) I just picked-up 2nd-wave Dlx. Jazz and Soundwave, so they'll be up next after I finish off Grimlock [which I'm working on now].

2) New unauthorized photographs have appeared online of a Voyager-class repaint for Skywarp. If you watched the second season finale, Skywarp (personifying Starscream's cowardly side) appears as a clone of Starscream along with other notable [yet unnamed] G1 Seeker(s): Thundercracker (egomaniac), Sunstorm (suck-up), Ramjet (pathological liar), and... the unidentified female clone. Now, whether-or-not the other four clones will become real Voyager-class repaints is undetermined at this point; only Skywarp has been confirmed.
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EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 8 August, 2008 - 15:26