Now I’m curious whether the Japanese release is properly assembled. Usually these kind of issues are identified and fixed by the time the factory gets to the production run for the Japanese market.

 

Honestly, without a redesign I don't see the error rate for this one getting reduced. Normally, something like Starscream's shoulder joint is either symmetrical or designed so it can't be put in the wrong way, but there's no visible markings to indicate which way around the shoulder joint should go and the difference between the slightly shorter and slightly longer side of the joint is so hard to see with the naked eye that we've gone half a year without even realising there was a difference. It'd be nigh-impossible to catch the mistake on the assembly line without retooling to make the proper orientation clearer.

 

Fair point. Such a shame.

 

Hi just got him i think i was lucky with qc issues i think he is better than thrilling 30 much better articulation, colors the null ray cannons i didnt think i will enjoy so much more than the thrilling 30 if you are lucky with qc highly recomended

 

Me and the boys on our way to commit some crimes™.

(Yes, I know he should have one wing. Wouldn't be an animation cell without a few errors.)

So I finally got my hands on this fellow after passing on him once for Inferno. Part of me wishes I would have waited, because there was a whole stack of them at a Target I visited one week later, versus the two I chose between. One with obvious paint gobs on the plane nose, shoulders, etc., and the one I took. Judging by the thread reception, I'd guess I hit somewhere in the middle for QC? He's not the floppiest, but he's looser than I'd like, and unfortunately it's all in places I have no conventional way of tightening. The hips are the worst; they rattle when I pick him up. What is with all the pins? I noticed them on Tarn too, but in most major points, if he'd had a floppy joint, it would have been a floor polish fix. Not so with ol' Screamer. The feelings on him are... mixed.

Now I had the original once. As a toy he was a delight to hold. Very chunky, the thick, weighty plastic of the Unicron Trilogy era, and all in all not too screen-inaccurate. However I'm going nitpick the glowing reviews he's received here, and say that as a jet he was awesome with the sound effects and special features, but as a robot he had all the posability of a brick. While it was still better than Demolisher, he wasn't exactly photoshoot material, and to boot his gimmicks made him backheavy and taller enough than the others that placing them together was awkward. I could never bring myself to buy the T30 version due to its small size, lack of wrists and open hands, and not-quite-accurate facial mold. If you are looking for something that both scales right and is aesthetically closest to the cartoon, this is the one to get. In fact if you're going to stand him up on the shelf with your other Armada 'cons, I recommend him; you can't do better. But if you like a toy you can actually handle and play with, you are running the QC gambit. No question. Were he cheaper I would say it was worth a shot, but at $30 - $33 it's incredibly frustrating to think that I could drop potential hundreds and then make constant returns trying to find one with both good paint and tight posablity. To a Target multiple hours away. No thank you.

At least posability is strong. You can get some good action poses out of him, and outside of a wrist swivel (Open hands when, Hasrbo?), he wants for little. He is the second bot I've acquired this year who can do the 'Squirrel!' headtilt all the way up, which is an excellent feature for your dramatic anime angles. They even allowed for some limited waist swivel. It it weren't for the loose pins, I'd probably be raving, because he both looks and handles well. He is noticeably shinier and more hollow than Tarn, although the plastics feel about the same. However, most of that hollowness can be attributed to transformation, so I will give him a pass. He looks nothing like Skids or the other worst examples of the cheapened limbs, and they bothered to put sculpted detail on the inside of the thighs to blend the transition to the hip peg better. Good show, Hasbro.

The wing sword is good. The Starsaber... looks like a piece of chewing gum on the bottom of my shoe. No exaggeration; the texture and broad slap of paint on this thing resembles wads I've cleaned off the shop floor. It's laughable at best, and while I'm not too bothered considering that a third-party addon kit was almost guaranteed, it still sucks to think I paid good money for this afterthought, when I would have rather saved a little on the price of the toy without it. Or better yet, how about spending it on the much-desired Micron port instead? Bruh.

...It's not surprising that the figure lacks Micron ports given that the Unicron Trilogy is always an afterthought with Hasrbo. They release the same characters twice, neglect the rest (Except Thrust, kinda), and the results are all over the board. I would love to see us get a Demolisher with an actual neck, knees, ankles, and wrists, a proportionate Red Alert, an updated Cyclonus... can you imagine how neat Scavenger and Tidal Wave would be? How about the Minicons? They have a better grasp on micro figures now than ever. But nah. Maybe in another ten to twenty years when it becomes 'venerable' instead of 'nostalgic', but as long as they're unwilling to step outside the box, we'll have to continue to settle for compromises like this.

And it sucks to rule 'compromise' on a figure that should have been a solid tribute. For those who get a good one, he will be. For those who get anything less, he'll be frustratingly close, close, but no cigar. However I still consider him 'good enough', and hoping for another, better take seems futile at this point. These were a surprise as-is. There isn't too much to improve on visually in robot mode, and while the jetmode canons could stand to be bigger, he's all around decent. I still recommend him; I just can't give him the same level of praise as Tarn and Inferno.

 

Legacy Armada Starscream has the unfortunate task of being Has/Tak's third attempt at this fan-favorite character. Does he do enough to soar above his fellow treacherous brethren?

Right out of the box, his joints are a mess. I had to apply floor polish to his legs because they kept popping off at the slightest rotation. Chest tab and waist joints barely had any friction too. Floppy arms were also present on my copy.



Aesthetic-wise, I much prefer the angles of his predecessors. The jet cockpit has a habit of making his body look long and narrow, probably because it hangs too low. (Jesus…). But it’s like they just gave up on him from the waist down. His waist joint is hindered by the aforementioned cockpit and the lack of geometry in his legs/feet rob him of those sweet dynamic super robot proportions.



It’s not all bad news, though. To be fair, his dimensions are the most balanced of the three iterations. The voyager class suits him perfectly and it’s great to see the modern articulation suite on an Armada design. His transformation does enough to feel engaging while also hitting those silly nostalgic beats. As a side note, the fully articulated null laser cannons are a JOY to see on this release.


Mini-Con not included.

The alt mode has appropriate swoosh factor and succeeds at looking like an Armada Starscream jet. Due to the lack of electronics, he’s a lot sleeker than his OG counterpart. Tolerances are also a little iffy in this mode as well.



Not super mad at the lack of landing gear, but the absence of a single Mini-Con port has me scratching my head. Especially since other figures in the line, including non-Armada universe characters, feature them.


“Sorry, Swindle! I fly solo!”

Oh, and his accessories are also… present. They are a very specific kind of bland. You can store them in alt mode... if you really must…



I would’ve happily traded them in for a foldable wing sword or maybe Swindle?

Weird word of caution. A surprising number of his parts are mismatched colored plastic that have been painted over (hands, cockpit, the sides of his null laser cannons, and arm panels). For the life of me, I can’t figure out why? Be mindful when messing with him as to not scuff the paint.



Overall, Legacy Armada Starscream is a mixed bag. He checks the box for looking like an Armada Starscream for the most part, but struggles to bring anything exciting to the table. Puzzling design choices and inconsistent QC bring the experience down.



It’s just a shame that, unlike his character in the show, Legacy’s take on Armada Screamer didn’t come out swinging in the end.

 

Did the reversal of the inner shoulder piece, dont need to actually exchange beetwen the two shoulder, just reverse it on each one.
Its indeed better, i also hammered a bit.more some pins like on the waist, it helped a lot with the looseness here

 

Yeah, I should have worded it better; The inner pieces are reversed, the biceps (on mine at least) are swapped so the heads of the pins are on the wrong side, so my assumption was that the inner shoulder pieces were correctly attached to the biceps, only for those to be swapped. That's very good to know about those waist pins, I'd been wondering if tapping those further in would tighten up the hips.

 

Yes, that's right.

 

It goes out from the armpit side

 

If I have to DIY some pin removal straight out of the box well, that’s another $35 saved. Guess I’ll wait for the Ramjet retool to see if that issue is fixed otherwise this is just gonna be a straight pass. Just gotta appreciate all these deal breaking QC issues during the annual price increase per usual.

 

Love a lot mine, i have a quite heartwarming memories of armada as the show (and game) got me back into TFs at a time when i was a bit bored of everything and not so happy in general.
i had the same issue as almost everyone, but i dont care, the fig looks stunning and apart transforming him and just enjoying to look at him on my desk shelve, he wont be played with.
I'm just a bit disapointed he didnt come with the minicon port and swindle as it was an important part for the character. I hope some third party will do something to correct that.

 

Could one of you please show me what pieces need to be swapped?

 

This is the back of the shoulder. The part highlighted in green is asymmetrical, but it's very hard to see with the naked eye. The raised side is supposed to catch on the blue-highlighted block when slid into robot mode position to lock the bicep to the shoulder, but due to being installed the wrong way around it catches only in vehicle mode instead, where it does nothing but wear itself down since you now have to force the hinge past the block to push the bicep up against the wing.

Edit: Hopefully this closeup shows the slight asymmetry.

 

Thank you!

 

Got him today and I apparently won the QC lottery. No major loose joints, everything works properly, paint is all great. I can see the issue with the upper arms, but don't really see a reason to flip them? It all seems to function OK for the most part with them installed incorrectly, and I've transformed the arms several times looking at it all to do the fix and no issues or stress marks anywhere so I'm bagging out on that. I can always punch the pins and flip the pieces later if I want, but I can understand the desire to make it all work the way it's supposed to.

EDIT: Some pics...

 

now that i look closely at his alt mode on my desk, i noticed that the arm panel could have included something to cover up the wrist in plane mode, maybe something like an air intake. a bit in the same way cyclonus kingdom has his rear trusters deploying from the leg panels.

 

And that's the fix done on mine. It really is night and day. He can hold up his sword without the bicep trying to fold itself back into the shoulder now.

 

I'd love for a 3P to make a foldable wing sword for this guy