Shipping case number is G1848TT00 (945918-HK) with 6 copies per box. Released in HK retail alongside ROTB Nemesis, the grey Decepticon chair and Missing Link Sentinel Prime.

Packaging is superb. Loosely based on the original Micron Legend box, with the accessories replacing the the current faction allegiance of the cast (which was updated as the show was aired). No ugly Legacy logo ruining it like Haslab Star Saber, no new modern art with an hideous LSD filter like Legacy boxes, and the use of physical samples are a nice touch which was how they did the back of the box back in 2003. Only big inaccuracy is the lack of reusing art at the front of the box. I threw out my Starscream Super Mode S box ages ago, but I’m sure that the use of Starscream’s shooting his cannon on the side of the box isn’t accurate to the OG box, but if it isn’t it’s a nice welcome change.


Starscream is packaged in alt mode and is positioned like how the original clam shell. Wish it had a proper clam shell instead of ties as it would be a nice way to display TC without the box. The 7000th use of Jetfire’s blast effects are packaged separately to the Star Saber and his Wingsword.
The instructions are in reverse, and is improved to include Japanese annotations and legalese. Whilst it takes slight inspiration to how Micorn Legend instructions were formatted, the lack of telling what the set contains (render of the toy + accessories) at the top doesn't make it a full “experience”.


Robot mode is very nice, as whoever was working on it wasn’t drunk, blind (or both) and didn’t reference the wrong material like the original Legacy release. This is the first Super Mode Starscream to have a pink face (thus making it accurate to the anime instead of the toy). Unlike the normal release, the mold layout isn’t an atrocity with 90% of the paint budget just dumped into fixing it.

Even the accessories are more well painted.
the blast effects are obviously there to allow the buyer to replicate Starscream’s death.

The tolerances are much much better and didn’t require everyone to floor polish the living shit out of every moving joint. However, the thighs still has a chance of popping out when rotating it, which is really weird (the only time that has happened on me is my two copies of FE Bulkhead).
Comparisons with other previous versions of Starscream Super Mode. Only version not included is the Hasbro Thundercracker. The ML release still has the darkest blue, whilst LG and TL share a very similar brighter blue (and potentially the same shade). The red on LG is much sharper, akin to blood, whilst said color on TL is a lot more desaturated and is brighter than ML. Overall, it is an excellent set and proof that a good paint job and box really goes a long way in elevating a very OK mold. The ¥7000/ HKD $420/ alleged USD $55 price tag is definitely a hard ask, but considering how much less copies are probably produced than a Hasbro exclusive (for reference Hasbro makes a minimum of 10,000 copies of any toy just to break even on production costs), this may be understandable. If you’re a Micron Legend fan like me or @YellowCorvette , it’s definitely worth copping.

 

Looks fantastic!

C'monnnnn Pulse!

 

Already secured my copy. Now time to get old toy one day.

 

I am hoping the same.

 

Hmm. Will they make the Skywarp one? And include the new head? It'll be interesting to see what comes of it.

 

If they will go with Primes-Unicron-Something idea for this trillogy then Ramjet and Skywarp might come later.

 

Why is his sword pink? Isn’t it supposed to be his blue wing?

 

Because in the anime when Starscream uses his sword it lights up like a lightsaber, and in the case of Starscream S it’s pink. The original Legacy release originally had Starscream with a red sword, but because that would require Hasbro to paint something properly for him it was dropped in the last minute. The version with the painted sword is present in the stock photo.

 

Oh ok, right on thanks. Had the original toys, but never watched enough of the toon!

 

Yeah in the show the sword is energized with a pinkish red lightsaber glow, it's only the wing color when it's being unsheathed or when chopped in half. Also what's where the Legacy toy gets the straight edge shape (the OG toy has it in a zigzag shape on the blade edge due to the folding).

The Star Saber is the same being in a whole blue instead of the minicon's color but is even more extreme as the blade get's an energy aura that's more extreme in shape (although sometimes it is animated to have the jet silhouette on close-ups).

 

“… and I see your Schwartz is as big as mine! Now let’s see how well you handle it!”

 

Just got mine, and the first impressions are... man, this release really is an example of how having a good color layout, better paint apps, QC and joint tolerances are all ot takes to make a mold shine:

Comparison with the OG version of this mold (On the left, which I heavily customized with more anime-accurate color apps):




As someone who really likes this character, I'm not too happy with how the original Starscream turns out, with the lacklustre color apps OOB, atrocious mold layout resulting in wasted paint apps used to color-correcting parts, with joint tolerances and build quality so all over the place, that it can give those early Real Grade Gundam kits a run of their money.

This one on the other hand, is so much nicer in hand. Unlike the original, this one actually feels good to mess with, the joints are all nice and tight, and doesn't have paint apps so bland that require me to bust out my hobby paint to make it look even presentable.

 

Hopefully they do make Skywarp and Ramjet, and do the extra retooling needed, and not just throw a new head on there and call it good.

Hell, give me other Seeker recolors as well please Hasbro, I don't care if they're all new characters.

I'd love to see all the colors of the rainbow between this mold and the Cybertron mold.

 

Man that ML Super Starscream is a beauty. They still haven’t made a better jet mode than that.

This figure’s damn good, too. Love that the deco is properly laid out. If only they made the lower torso black as well. (At least it’s not his primary colour again)

 

I received mine a few days ago, and he is leagues ahead of the Legacy Armada Starscream! The joints on this figure are so tight and durable unlike Legacy who was a floppy mess, and yes, I don't mind tightening the odd joint on a figure, no issues there, but almost every joint was loose on that release. The Legacy's deco left something to be desired, it wasn't toy or show accurate, it was just bland, which was disappointing for such a fan favourite character.

Anyways, enough bashing the other version, and on to this more stable, better painted and more accurate (to the Superlink version he represents) he is such a pleasure to mess with, I love the vibrant pink sword, and I keep picking him up to mess with him. He makes me excited to get Galvatron so I can recreate their epic fight! I still wish this mold had wrist swivels though...











I did colour in the light blue joints on his shoulders and wings though to help blend them in, that's just a fault of the mold layout as I think those parts are Hasbro's unpaintable plastic. I took the pins out on his shoulders and sanded the inside to prevent rubbing, then simply used a blue sharpie I had to hand to "paint" the piece. It's a little shiny so I used a matt varnish to dull it. Not the closest match, but good enough for me. The wing pieces was the same method, except no pins, just friction joint.



I hope Takara release Skywarp and Ramjet retools in due time, as I'm not sure Hasbro's offering of them would do those characters justice!

 

If anyone needed a domestic link, until we find out whether Pulse carries it or not:

https://tfsource.com/hasbro-transformers/tl-ex-starscream-super-mode-transformers-40th-selection/

 

TBF, the mold also compensate for that with this kind of downward wrist tilt (due to the way this figure transforms) that can allows "sword pointing forward" poses like this:



Granted, you had to slightly mis-transform the figure and it's not the prettiest to look at, but as EmGo says it "It's a thing you can do..." .

This is an articulation point that a lot of TF people here overlooked (Which I can see why, wrist joints like that were incredibly rare on TFs even to this day, with only a few notable examples I could think of being SS86 Wreck-Gar, TLK Cogman and the old WFC deluxe Soundwave):




But honestly if you asked me, I find this articulation point of having the wrist being able to tilt downward more useful for sword-related poses than wrist swivels IMO in some ways, especially for fencing and stabbing related poses.

 

Spent some time trying to fix the more egregious warps from the blast effects with a heat gun set to 270-280F.

Legacy Armada Galvatron x TL-EX Starscream Super Mode

 

This is my favorite figure of the week and I've got some goodies in! So much better than the original Legacy Armada Starscream. Starscream Super has perfect joint tolerances, excellent paint apps and is just an all around amazing figure to handle.

 

Holding the CD Limited Edition Air Defense Micron version of the Star Saber:


Edit: Comparison with the OG Armada 'Thundercracker' figure.


Zapmaster is not compatible with LG-EX Starscream. Used a tube adapter in this pic.


Used removable adhesive putty for this pic.