As always, mods please merge if necessary.

It seems like the idea of including a smaller figure with bigger accessories is becoming the norm with the Transformers toy lines. In particular, the Leader price point seems to garner the most controversy, with the most egregious cases consisting of what is essentially a Voyager class figure with accessories that bump it up to the $50 price tag that the Leader Class demands. The most recent case is the SS86 Starscream, a minor repaint and remold of the previously released Earthrise Starscream with all-new coronation gear and the command chair from the Nemesis as seen in the first episode of the G1 cartoon. I'll try not to go into too much detail about the figure itself and just highlight the differences as I encounter them. I'll try to go into more detail about everything new that's included. The SS86 figure will be on the left in every photo that includes both Starscreams.

Being a remold of the ER Seeker mold, we have almost identical looking jet modes. There are some new paint apps on the fuselage, which is accurate to the animation model. The Decepticon insignia are also larger and noticeably more crisp, which I do appreciate. I also found that the SS86 figure tabs together better, though that may just be a tolerancing thing.


The SS86 figure is also missing the tailfin paint apps, which were present on the animation model. Then again, the new Masterpiece figure is also missing this detail, so I suppose we can conclude that this figure's deco was based on the Masterpiece. The tailfin, and by extension all the blue parts on the figure, are cast in a slightly lighter blue plastic.


Robot modes are also nearly identical. What I forgot to photograph is that the pins that were on the ER figure's legs are replaced with screws on the SS86 figure. Make of that what you will. The new hands make for pretty unconvincing fists.


The face on the SS86 is also darker, which is more screen-accurate.


Here's the major difference: the hands now have posable fingers. They're... okay I guess? They're clearly meant to look more natural opened, and I'd assume it's to make posing with the cape look more natural. As it stands though, it's not a mind-blowing improvement by any stretch of the imagination.


Here's everything Starscream comes with. We get the chair, two pairs of null rays (one is designed to go with the shoulder armor), the shoulder pads, and the crown. For anyone curious, the gear is NOT compatible with the Siege Seekers. The cape can peg on, but juts out too far and makes the figure too back heavy.


Here's the chair. It's a dense piece of plastic, which I found surprising. It definitely looks like how it's supposed to.


The back is a little hollow, which is a bit expected. At least there's some detail back there.


Everything does store on the chair, which is nice since Starscream can't actually sit on it with the cape on.


Here's pictures of Megatron and Galvatron sitting on it, since I'm sure a lot of you want to get the throne for your Decepticon leader of choice.



Of note is that the new null rays and the crown are molded in blue. They're probably gang-molded with the new hands, but that doesn't make it any less annoying. For what it's worth, the null rays are color matched pretty well to the gray plastic.


Here's the cape. It's very clearly based on the MP one, with an almost identical hinge system. It's on a 5 mm peg, making it compatible with most figures that feature a 5 mm post on their backs.


And here's Starscream with all the gear on. You can't use the old null rays with the coronation gear on since the shoulder pads peg onto the shoulder posts, so they're relegated to being on the back of the chair.


The cape pegs into the same 5mm hole that exists on the ER figure, which is about a centimeter lower than I'd want it to.


Naturally, any ER Seeker can rock the gear. But the coneheads obviously can't wear the crown.


Here's another picture with ER Starscream, this time with the cape fully splayed out. This is probably where the cape is at its most frustrating. The cape can only splay out to that one side. The peg is off-center, so it can't be rotated down to look even, and it collides with the nosecone strut if you try. So the spread-out look really only looks good for this one pose.


Here's one last picture of Starscream sitting on the chair.

And I think this brings me to the final verdict. Is this a good figure? Sure. The ER Seeker is a pretty inoffensive figure on its own, and if you don't have one and still want one and want all the accessories, I suppose you can get this and feel somewhat justified in your purchase. But for those that already have an ER Starscream, I don't think it's worth double dipping for this unless you absolutely need the coronation gear and the crown. Even then, I find the cape to be incredibly disappointing, and I think the shoulder pads could have been executed better. The Starscream itself is kinda just... there. I just want him to be more different. Maybe smooth out the panel lines. Add the flip-up missile arrays on the chest. Give him a smirking face. Give him a monochrome deco and the ER Skywarp head so he looks dead. Anything to make him just a little more interesting. As it stands, this might be the most disappointing release in the SS86 line so far, and I can see this being a potential shelfwarmer going forward.

Thanks for reading, and I'll do my best to answer any questions or take additional photos.

 

The cape, crown and throne accessories are essentially a pretty well executed 3P add on set. I just wish the cape could hinge back or something for more poseability. A hard plastic cape is always going to be limited, but I haven’t seen anyone do a high quality soft goods one yet.

throne’s pretty good, but a more creative take on it would be to make it transform into a flight stand.

 

Out of curiosity, what do the accessories look like on the Siege Seeker mold?

 

I mentioned that they're incompatible. The shoulder pads and crown don't fit on the Siege mold. The cape is the only thing that can attach onto the Siege Seeker, but it sticks out so far back that they can't stand, nor does it look particularly good.

 

so his hands can either be open or italian?

 

No wrist swivels = no Italian.

 

oh... mama mia....

 

He looks okay for what you're getting, but it is ultimately just a pretty good version of ER Starscream with a bunch of accessories to push him up to leader class. The cape being molded in such a way that it only looks natural in the one pose is a stupid design decision, though, I hate it when figures do that. The darker face may be more accurate to the animation, but I wish it was the same silver as the other Seekers so it'd fit a bit better. Starscream's the leader of the Seekers, so give him a slightly darker face to mark him out, if you want to spin it that way? And the crown being blue plastic painted gold is pretty lame, I gotta say. Molding it in another color, like the light purple of the epaulets and the cape would have looked a bit less weird.

He's very whelming, but I think I'm still in on him. Give the throne to Megatron, the head on Coronation Starscream to ER Starscream, the head on ER Starscream to Skywarp, and the head on Skywarp to Coronation Starscream. A Decepticon leader with his Decepticon throne, a full set of stoic Seekers, and Coronation Starscream even more accurately reenacting his death.

 

I think my frustrations are mainly rooted in the figure being *only* okay. Like you said, he's very whelming, but I think it just had the potential to be so much more interesting. Giving the figure a grayscale deco not only homages the scene from the movie, but could also be repurposed into a new seeker. Maybe even a cel-shaded deco would've helped. Since I'm sure a lot of us have an ER Starscream, I just wanted to see something that would differentiate it more from that figure to better justify double dipping.

 

Beautiful. Thanks for the pictures. I cannot wait to get this guy.

 

Really just want the throne. Can't justify double dipping for it. Unless I can sell my ER Starscream.

 

Thanks for the review. Now, I’m pretty sure I don’t need this.

 

Starscream's face was always darker than the other two.

 

I don't believe I'll be bothering with this one myself. This would appear to depend on if one already owns Earthrise Starscream or not, as well as exactly how important the included 'accessory pack' is to ya.

 

God I only really want the head just so I can swap one from ER Skywarp. I do think the way the shoulder pads and the new null rays work is pretty cool though.

 

I was going back and forth, but I’m just going to get rid of my ER Starscream for cheap/pretend I don’t have it/give it away/cut my loss and get this set because it’s the latest/greatest.

Sure, I feel bamboozled, but in the long run it will bug me I that don’t have those sweet accessories.

  

 

I don’t have ER Scream so I think I’ll pick it up. The throne is growing on me.

 

Definitely agree with you that they should've given him a smirk face, and not a shitty "slash mark" like on SIEGE Thundercracker, a decent upper lip curled kind of dickish face that Starscream always has. They have the sculpt data from the MPs, they could've just shrunken it down for this. That piece, could've also fit in the blue parts mold as a new cover for the existing rear head, so yeah... lacking in effort here.

I am kind of in favor of the lack of stripes on the tailfins though, I think this melds better visually in robot mode.
Something about that splash of red down there made it look too "toyetic" as opposed to being more cartoon like.

 

@ACMagnus Thank you for sharing pictures and your opinion! Gladly appreciated! I still want him, cause I am a sucker for Seekers, but now knowing about his "flaws"/weaknesses I will wait and get him on sale... or perhaps at a reduced price.

 

I never managed to find ER starscream so I'm definitely going for this one if I can find it in a store.