Generations 30th Deluxe Armada Starscream (Takara TG-33)

Transformers Armada is one of the...least liked series to date. But it wasn't all bad, and Hasbro has deemed it fit to receive a couple of updated toys that aren't stiff as bricks. One was Hot Shot for the 2008/2009 Universe line. The other just this most recent line of Generations: Starscream. Though this also represents Starscream's new body during the Dark Cybertron saga of the IDW comics to some extent. At any rate, let's review our fly boy here and see if he's worth tracking down.



Starscream's alt mode is, what else, a jet. This time a rather futuristic jet with huge boosters, not unlike the original. However, the proportions here are far better than that clunky old thing. The Takara version, which is what I'm reviewing, has mostly white and red plastic, with some black and orange as well as translucent orange. Many of his white parts get some red and black paint, and a bit of orange to pick out the vents. Of course the Decepticon insignias on the wings are done in purple. Overall, this color scheme is quite striking, though I'm not terribly sure how accurate this is to the Armada cartoon or his appearance in the IDW comics. The Hasbro US version includes a comic from the Dark Cybertron saga, but versions outside of the US are out of luck. Takara's version is no exception...though I can't read Japanese anyway. For features, you can push the boosters forward to launch a pressure missile from each, and you can deploy landing gear. Also, there's a few Mini-Con pegs that any Mini-Con can attach to, albeit they don't activate anything. Good thing the Mini-Con Assault Team is the Hasbro version's wave-mate.

Now, I know you're all eager for a size comparison, so let's use...another Starscream released some time prior to this one.



Longer from nose to rear than FOC Starscream, and with a slightly wider wingspan. But the FOC Starscream is much bulkier overall. Now for robot mode.



The transformation is pretty similar to the old toy, but there's several little touches added. For example, there's a panel underneath that hides his face from below, and the tail wing...things (I'm not a plane expert) collapse into his leg to clean things up a bit. One little odd thing however is that while it appears as though the front of his pelvis should join with the bottom of the jet nose to solidify his torso...they don't. Not that it's really needed, mind you, and the repaint/remold Jhiaxus utilizes a much shorter nose assembly that doesn't even reach that far down.

The robot mode looks incredible. The only new color introduced is silver on his face. His forearms are a tad longer than I'd like, but overall the proportions are a nice balance of power and sleekness...unlike the original toy that was clunky as heck. For features, the launchers still work in this mode. Now, they end up sticking really far off his back like this, but there's a solution in that the launchers swing up off his shoulders to rest against his back like the previous picture shows. Unfortunately, now the thrusters aren't on his shoulders like his show counterpart has, BUT this IS accurate to his Dark Cybertron appearance for a few issues. Can't win them all, I guess. His other feature is a pair of translucent orange swords that fold up and store under/behind the wings. It's not the show or original toy's signature wing sword made from his left wing, but it didn't really work that well in the first place. And the wings are on ball joints, so you could just fold the left one down behind him and only use one of the swords if you really wanted to.

As for articulation, he's got about 17 points not counting the wings, but there's a couple bits that kind of drag it down. The first is the shoulders. The outward joint comes before the forward/back one. To their credit, I'm not sure how else it could have been done, and the outward joint has a molded filler piece on the inside to keep his arm appearing connected to his body to an extent. The other point is there's no wrist swivels. They swing into his forearms for transformation, but so do Orion Pax's and his can swivel, so clearly it is possible. Ah well... Size comparison, for those wanting it.



Ever so slightly shorter than FOC Starscream, though the wingspan remains mostly unchanged. Nor has the overall bulk.

So Do I recommend Generations Armada Starscream? Oh heck yes I do. Now, the Takara version I think is prettier than the Hasbro version, which I have seen in stores, but it's also at least twice as expensive depending on where you buy it from. It's a fun toy, so it's definitely worth getting somehow. IDW fans will certainly want to consider him as well. Now if only Canada would actually include the blasted comics with the figures... Stupid bilingual laws.

I'll pass on this one, I prefer the look of the FOC SS over Armada SS, granted that I got the ordinal Armada toy, but I lost interest in that one, for various reasons some of which I'm not sure about myself!

Yeah, not a big fan of this one. Seen it in stores several times..

Hasbro's deco really doesn't do the toy any favors. But my next review may end up being even less liked here.

Perhaps next week I'll get up a review or so of stuff that may actually bring some positive vibes to you people. 

Detective Barricade wrote:Hasbro's deco really doesn't do the toy any favors. But my next review may end up being even less liked here.

Perhaps next week I'll get up a review or so of stuff that may actually bring some positive vibes to you people. 

Do as you please but beware the dark side of collecting, once you start down the dark side, forever will it dominate your destiny! 

SuperOmegaPrime wrote:Do as you please but beware the dark side of collecting, once you start down the dark side, forever will it dominate your destiny! 

And I get dental.