Starscream
(Deluxe) [Universe 2.0]
(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Classics Starscream. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Classics Starscream here.)
This mold gets done up
again in Starscream's colors, but they're (for the most part) even MORE
traditional than on his Classics toy. Gone are his dynamic multiple red
red stripes along his wings and blue stripe down his middle, and instead
they're replaced with very close replicas of his G1
toy's silver/red stripe on each wing. More G1-accurate it may be, but
frankly the old G1 stripes are boooorrring compared to his Classics flashier
deco. The red is also a noticeably lighter color, so light it's almost
pinkish. This... really doesn't look all that hot, though it doesn't look
BAD. The base plastic color of gray is now more of an off-white, which
not only is less G1-accurate, but just looks bland. Granted, the previous
gray wasn't the epitome of flashy, but it still looks better than this
flat chalky shade. His dark blue is also a shade or too lighter, but that
color change is negligible. His paint apps generally seem less varied and
more sparse, particularly in jet mode where he just look boring-- though
again, this is partially due to the more G1-slavish lines on his wings.
His robot mode is also has a painted head AND face now, whereas the Classics
version didn't have a painted face-- needless to say, this looks MUCH better
and is the only area where I think this deco outdoes the Classics version.
No mold changes have
been made to Universe 2.0 Starscream.
There's homaging a toy's
deco, and there's slavishly recreating it even when changing things up
a bit would be better. The Classics toy of Starscream is the latter; the
deluxe class version of Universe 2.0 Starscream is the former. If you can't
find the Classics toy, I'd recommend this toy as it's still a great mold
and the best "cheap" version of this top-tier Transformers character, but
if you can at all get the Classics version go for that instead, as that
toy is looks much more dynamic and interesting compared to this rather
flat, boring deco.
Review by Beastbot