Armada Starscream seems to be a well-liked version of Starscream in the general fandom, of course I wouldn't know since I have not seen Transformers Armada beyond like... the first 6 episodes.

Armada Starscream was so beloved it seems that he got a figure in Generations "Thrilling 30" which is not a great name.

The figure itself however, is not the best. I like it, but it's not particularly show-stopping.

The figure looks alright when it's standing there but whenever I pick it up I struggle to make it look cool since the posability is defiantly not modern, with a head that's too low down into the chest that it can barely move with strangely selective Light Piping (I miss that) and shoulders that can't move out normally, they hoist above his actual chest, his elbows are normal and he has no wrist swivel (and that's fine, figures of a much higher caliber than this one don' t have that) the arms are serviceable, they'd probably be able to hold his swords if I had them. (Sorry, got it loose, weren't in there, neither were the missiles)

He's got ball jointed hips which are one of my figure pet peeves, they are often loose and are one of the places I don't think should have ball joints on most occasions, on this figure however all the joints are pretty tight. nothing I feel the need to fix. he does have some crazy knees due to his transformation. however his feet are extremely annoying, the are sculpted at an angle to simulate a pivot, which is a good idea but the angle they are sculpted at is so extreme that it's difficult to stand him up.

Transformation is actually really nice if a bit basic. it's just one of those transformations that I want to do again after doing it once.
Jet mode is sleek and nice-looking with all the features it needs, it's got landing gear, it's got missiles (or it would IF I HAD THE MISSILES) the colouration is nice (it's actually pretty nice on the rest of the figure)
and it's very swooshable. which is in my opinion one of the most important features of a jet mode.

Overall the figure is just alright, most definitely a product of his time, but even then we had some very posable figures.

3/5

Swivelbot (it is possible to put him in Gerwalk mode)

On Thursday, December 28, 2023 at 3:53:48 PM UTC-7, Swivelbot wrote:

> Armada Starscream seems to be a well-liked version of Starscream in the general fandom, of course I wouldn't know since I have not seen Transformers Armada beyond like... the first 6 episodes.

I watched like 30 episodes before I gave up, and then I was told that the show actually gets REALLY good beginning with episode 31. I doubt that very much.

We received some cases of Voyagers at work that had been stepped on by a herd of elephants or something (they're always letting safari animals into the Walmart distribution centers for some reason) and so they got marked down at the store level. I have Inferno already, of course, but I'm on the fence about Starscream. Is he worth getting for $20ish?

Zob (I don't know why I keep buying versions of Armada Starscream, but I totally keep buying versions of Armada Starscream)

Zobovor wrote:

> On Thursday, December 28, 2023 at 3:53:48 PM UTC-7, Swivelbot wrote:

>> Armada Starscream seems to be a well-liked version of Starscream in the general fandom, of course I wouldn't know since I have not seen Transformers Armada beyond like... the first 6 episodes.

I picked up the Thrilling 30 toys during the pandemic, so my viewpoint is somewhat affected by the superior quality toys coming out around that time. The T30 toys seemed to me to be largely made of cheap plastic, lacking in poseability, and with some noticeable flaws, like parts not tabbing in properly. Scoop was on sale for the longest time, and the only thing I enjoy about him is the two Targetmasters. Tankor is a jumped-up McDonald's toy.

As for Starscream, he's smaller, flimsier, and lacking in gimmicks compared to the original release. But, he is poseable, which is a huge improvement from the Armada years, which redefined "brick."

Other than poseability, I can't think of anything to recommend him unless you're a huge fan of the character, which I've come to understand is perceived as one of the best in the history of the franchise, a conflicted soul a la Dinobot who ultimately engages in a supreme act of self-sacrifice to save the universe (in this case, taking on Unicron by himself in hopes that his self-immolation will convince Megatron/Galvatron to ally with the Autobots for the greater good).

Side note: Karyuudo Fansubs did an amazing job making the series as watchable as possible, sourcing the HD video from the Japanese release with the finished animation, and matching it with the English audio (plus optional Japanese audio, English subs with American names, and English subs with Japanese names). They've also uploaded the Japanese version to Youtube.

https://karyuudofansubs.blogspot.com/2014/12/transformers-legends-of-microns.html

https://youtu.be/mnQehghkgZE?si=D4Ka4D5c3n_HpZnU

> I watched like 30 episodes before I gave up, and then I was told that the show actually gets REALLY good beginning with episode 31. I doubt that very much.

It's all a matter of comparison. Unless you watched it as a small child, I doubt you'd get very much out of the series. For me, the chief thrill is hearing the voices of the Beast Wars cast again. Still maintaining my position that bringing back Chalk would have made the otherwise forgettable RotB film much better...

CodigoPostal wrote:

> Zobovor wrote:

>> On Thursday, December 28, 2023 at 3:53:48 PM UTC-7, Swivelbot wrote:

>>> Armada Starscream seems to be a well-liked version of Starscream in the general fandom, of course I wouldn't know since I have not seen Transformers Armada beyond like... the first 6 episodes.

> I picked up the Thrilling 30 toys during the pandemic, so my viewpoint is somewhat affected by the superior quality toys coming out around that time. The T30 toys seemed to me to be largely made of cheap plastic, lacking in poseability, and with some noticeable flaws, like parts not tabbing in properly. Scoop was on sale for the longest time, and the only thing I enjoy about him is the two Targetmasters. Tankor is a jumped-up McDonald's toy.

This was about a year and a half after the Fall Of Cybertron toys, where there were things like that terrible Jazz. Hasbro/Takara was still trying to figure out how to do things with a smaller budget, but just beginning to get the hang of it.

Starscream suffers a little in the body, with a main strut of softer plastic, but is one of the best deluxes from that era.

I've also not had any limbs fall off during transformation, which is more than I can say for the Legacy toy. Not sure if I got a bad one, or if the plastics used now don't do the mushroom pegs as well, or whether it is something about the humidity in Seattle, but I've had a lot of bad mushroom pegs on Transformers for the past few years.

> As for Starscream, he's smaller, flimsier, and lacking in gimmicks compared to the original release. But, he is poseable, which is a huge improvement from the Armada years, which redefined "brick."

I really like that the engine cannon things can fold down flat along his back, and then swing up when he wants to shoot things. That's a big, good change from the Armada toy, which just had an enormous backpack sticking straight out. The recent Legacy toy tries to do something similar, but just doesn't make it as smooth and you're slightly detransforming him as you do it.

Thrilling 30's pressure launch missiles were fun too.

Legacy also keeps the "engines flip forward to become cannons", while Thrilling 30 just had cannons on the front of the engines. I think it's a simplification to the design that just makes the toy better. Also, while flying, he can launch missiles without swinging his engines forward and presumably reversing direction.

Both T30 and Legacy take a lot of liberties with the color scheme and paint apps to make the toy cheaper to produce. T30 looks like a more streamlined color design, while Legacy just looks unfinished. T30 is also a much brighter, warmer, more tomatoey red. And he is a lot more red than gray in plane mode (the Japanese version has a lot of paint to get him closer to animation model)

I greatly prefer the fold away swords in T30 to the spare wing-slab and Star Saber of Legacy.

> Other than poseability, I can't think of anything to recommend him unless you're a huge fan of the character,

Oh, he's totally skippable. One of the best toys of a weak period, but not so good that I would hunt him down if I didn't care about the character.

I think he is better than the recent Legacy toy, but I'm a stickler for not having parts fall off. If it wasn't for that, it would be a toss up based on which set of compromises and choices fit better with you.

> which I've come to understand is perceived as one of the best in the history of the franchise, a conflicted soul a la Dinobot who ultimately engages in a supreme act of self-sacrifice to save the universe (in this case, taking on Unicron by himself in hopes that his self-immolation will convince Megatron/Galvatron to ally with the Autobots for the greater good).

> Side note: Karyuudo Fansubs did an amazing job making the series as watchable as possible, sourcing the HD video from the Japanese release with the finished animation, and matching it with the English audio (plus optional Japanese audio, English subs with American names, and English subs with Japanese names). They've also uploaded the Japanese version to Youtube.

> https://karyuudofansubs.blogspot.com/2014/12/transformers-legends-of-microns.html

> https://youtu.be/mnQehghkgZE?si=D4Ka4D5c3n_HpZnU

I may have to do a rewatch. as I've only experienced the English dub where Optimus keeps referring to his minicon by the wrong name. I assume he just didn't care, or thought Leader-1 was a title, or something.