I think it looks excellent! Very happy with all the paint apps, and the face looks PERFECT. Can't wait to get him.
As much as I think the other 3rd party option also looks good, I have to say Takara's effort has more charm/personality.

 

Could just be perspective/distortion/illusion, but his head side vent thingies look decidedly not parallel - like the bottom of his left one is pushed in. Wonder if they transform a la MP-11?

 

Yes, I think they may be spring-loaded again and the left one's got a little stuck out of alignment. After all, they're perfectly flush here:




(*Quietly prays eargate is not the new buttflap/Leno chin/backpack-gate ...*)  

 

You just described all of the TT MPs in my opinion! Some of the third party options look pretty great but TT are the masters of sculpt and personality in their figures. They look a lot more alive somehow.

I'm really annoyed that I ended up with an AE preorder instead of AJ this time. I'm expecting to pay a lot for shipping and get it way later than you lucky AJ people. My jealousy will know no bounds!!  

 

well at least he is starscream again and not StarCream for life. the close up pics kinda show the limitations of takara's current molding and paint applications. not horrible but yeah i don't need to seem them that up close i guess. haha. they aren't in the same realm as some other japanese collectible companies in that respect but thats by far not my number one concern with these figures. anyway, excited we'll have it in hand soon enough. greenscream, walscream, ghostscream, mp-11, MT meteor, now mp-52. i've bought almost as many versions of starscream in MPish form as Op. and there will be one more after 52 i need to get to compare too.

 

He definitely has enough attitude to kick MP38 in the balls.




".... 35, 36, 37, 38!"

 

I went with Anime-Export...shipping to Canada. Paid 192.77 USD. Hopefully the shipping isn't crazy. I see some people saying they paid like 210ish shipping included (to the states). Hopefully that will be what we end up with as a total. That amount seems fair.

 

That’s what she said

 

What did Optimus Primal ever do to him?  

 

1

Looks like the paint is really thin on the bottom. Strap on the canopy

 

He was a damn dirty ape... DUUH!

 

I hope I'm wrong but for some reason Japan Post is still not shipping to Canada (No SAL or EMS options) so we will most likely have to use DHL or FedEx which are both fast but also tend to charge lots of extra fees after you pay shipping to the store. As an example I recently paid $95 CAD for the $36 CAD Generations 2021 book from HLJ shipped with DHL. I paid $35 shipping to HLJ and then DHL billed me the rest when the package hit North America. I'm expecting something similar with this.

 

Thank you for all the positive feedback. It’s good to know I am not alone  

 

Yup. Always has.

Something about TT is that they know how to put a soul into their figures. I have no idea how they do it, but they always do.

 

Anyone know if any of the MP-11 coronation gear can fit on this Starscream?

 

I think all of it is supposed to IIRC

 

I’ve always come close to getting a 3rd party SS, but I couldn’t never bring myself to do it. So glad I didn’t! Takara has had some hiccups (or straight up epic failures like Hound), but they still exude a refinement in how their products feel and look. Mostly.

 

I think they're shipping Small Parcel Air (or whatever it's called), but this package may be too large for that. Eek. I hate using couriers/private delivery firms. If they try to send it to me that way I will likely cancel and re-order elsewhere. Is Amazon Japan shipping non-courier, does anyone know?

 

I think it's just the shoulder bits. The cape needs an additional part and the crown is different too. I think.

The set that you get for all three in Japan looks very similar, but also different.

 

Amazon Japan always ships DHL but you pay the taxes up front (zero surprise charges later) and their shipping prices are very reasonable, although they just went up because of Covid. I normally use AJ but back when I ordered this AJ was sold out so I went with AE. I would like to switch now as well but AE (as you know) took payment up front so they would have to issue a refund. If they are like NY they will offer store credit instead of a refund. And they may also ban you for canceling because Japanese stores really don't like cancelled orders. So because of all that I'm planning to stick with AE and pray that the shipping fees aren't ridiculous.

Edit: AE tends to mark down the price so even if they use a courier, the shipping will be high but there may not be taxes owed later. Just the usual border fee of around $10. Apparently with FedEx I've heard that if you sign up on their site you can waive the $10 fee but I have not tried that.

Edit 2: Another thing to consider is that Canada Post is beyond backed up with all the packages coming from Asia. So a courier would get you your package much faster. CP has been having Christmas levels of parcel volume since Covid began and they just can't keep up. On top of that the CBSA agents that do customs are going on strike soon. So yeah just use a courier for now.