Why would it be joking? I don't have that figure but it looks on par with, and arguably better than, MP-52 Starscream and seems just as articulated. The only real downsides are that the transformation can be a pain and it doesn't have as many accessories, which may be a good thing for some so that might not even be a negative. From what I've seen it is a totally valid alternative to the official MP. Hell, I've been tempted to get it, especially with the current discounted price but I'm afraid to get tempted to start collecting another set of MP Seekers lmao.

 

Also, as with the MakeToys ones, the split of the sculpt isn't great when the waist turns

 

OH I am the guy with the cracked toy?  

 

We’re seriously defending DS? The figure that’s too tall and too devoid of TT personality? I don’t usually go out of my way to say this, but that figure could only serve to me, at most, as the Starscream clone from A Prime Problem. He just doesn’t have the same curves or charm as TT’s, and he’s out of scale. I fail to see how he’s a superior option.

 

Different strokes for different folks 
Which is perfectly fine, people are perfectly fine buying what they think is better, its just funny how people can't even fathom there opinion is just their opinion that works only for them.

 

As cute as the meme is, it’s ignoring the scale chart.

 

Oh, good. Another DS versus MP-52 debate.

 

I found TFTM to be more fun to watch than the scale chart, personally.

 

I do wonder what they are going to do, to make the coneheads, half an inch taller

 

Now THAT is an insane break, one which I've never even heard of happening before on either the official MP52 mold or either of the MP52 KO molds!! Worst I got with my Starscream KO (Eagle EG01 version) were: the long landing gear door in the right foot is slightly stressed and doesn't stay closed anymore...the long landing gear door in the left foot is stressed, bent, and close to snapping off (but actually stays closed)...a stressed and slightly cracked side panel that wanted to fight me to no end the first time I transformed it to jet mode...and a small crack in the port for the null ray on the left arm. I've only transformed it into jet mode and back ONCE since then, and that was after learning that the instructions missed a step in transforming the feet. (Not that it matters, nothing sits flush in jet mode anyway). And when bad luck strikes, I tend to get nailed hard no matter what figures I by - CHUG, MP, or KO. (Ex.: My copy of Combiner Wars Blades has a bizarre molding mishap that makes it impossible for him to go into helicopter mode. Can't go into leg mode, either. Also, my MP40 Targetmaster Hot Rod has an oddity in vehicle mode where one of the two spring-loaded panels you can stick the guns in on the roof doesn't work - it won't pop back up when the gun is removed. Also, the gun of my MP18 Streak: the handle can't fold to reveal the vehicle mode post at all. It's stressed a bit from trying to make it fold. It completely ignores that rotation point.)

And nothing for me - not even my Starscream KO - has been a worse experience than Hasbro's Year of the Goat Soundwave and his Minions. No idea who thought predominantly CLEAR PLASTIC was any sort of a good idea for a Masterpiece figure. Soundwave is almost a junker, but still serviceable. The birds, one was decapitated (but the head will still stay in place somewhat) and the other has stressed wings. Ravage...is oddly fine, considering THAT'S the mold everyone seems to have had the most breakage issues with. Rumble and Frenzy have kinda stressed forearms (and one had a bad torso slider straight out the box so it doesn't stay extended in robot mode), but are otherwise fine.

 

Don't spout your almighty preference in a TAKARA TOMY MP thread and expect to be taken seriously. I don't want that soulless bootleg, end of discussion on DS for me.

 

MPs don't really have clear plastic problems historically. MP38+, ghost starscream etc are all fully clear and are fine. Hound and starscream problem areas are all in non clear plastic areas. Hell recently we got the getsuei situation which was the same sorta matte plastic hound and starscream used, compared to the all clear getsuei who is solid as hell.

I can't speak for that soundwave though. I believe it's a hasbro Asia production? I know mainline has more clear plastic problems these days (Earthrise mainly right?)

 

Here's what happened to mine.

 

I wonder if they prime the diecast before they paint it... But in your case, they may not have.

 

they definitely need to prime the diecast somehow, yes. Tried painting the crotch on the clear KO and the paint just flaked right off like pastry. Good theory

 

@rendsora Yikes.

They probably made those parts die cast because that's how it was on the G1 toy, but I think it was a mistake. Not just because of the paint chipping, but also because of the balance. The upper body is already heavier due to the wings, the tailfins and the folded panels, but the die cast only makes it heavier. And that taxes the ankles.

I think a better design would've been to keep that plastic. If any parts should be metal, I think it should've been the inside of the legs. That way the risk of the ankle connection breaking/stressing would've been reduced and there would be more weight near the floor countering the top weight and thus improving the balance. This is interestingly sort of the same design error they made with MP-3: connecting the tailfins/wings to the hips as 'scabbards' put a lot of weight in the torso seriously unbalanced that figure, making it very difficult to pose or even stand, while the iGear KO's changed this shifting that weight to the lower legs, and those were rock solid.

 

I thought the paint on Starscream diecast was too thin, especially when compared to TC and SW. Seems like it could have used another pass or two.
Wouldn't have minded ratchets in the ankle design versus the tepin.