Galaxy Force Starscream

Aaah, Galaxy Force.  Without a doubt this series is in my Top 3 of Transformers lines. Incidentally, my top 3 consists of Generation 1, Animated and Galaxy Force, but I can’t put one over the other, so there is no Number 1…



Old Starscream here is a bit of an odd one.  The Japanese release got a single release in show accurate colours, but despite being a major character in the show, the not Japanese release only got released in a two-pack with Vector Prime.  He was also painted vastly different too.  I don’t count that abominable Supreme Starscream which was a slightly modified version of this toy, but blown up to ridiculous size.  It was Horrid.  My main reason for getting this Starscream was because he appears to be based on the old ‘Tetra-jet’ as the fandom refers to them as.  Which is the triangle jet modes they had on Cybertron in the original cartoon. 



It also looks cool.

Robot mode is quite chunky.  This Starscream is a powerful Starscream.  Being in Galaxy Force he has a Force Chip gimmick which is the reason why he has the large wing bit hanging off his back.  It isn’t that bad to be honest and is a decent trade off as it doesn’t affect the toy too much.



Sculpting is very good.  There are details all over his body and his head has enough details to look like Starscreams head, including vents on the side and a nice scowl.  I love the way his mouth has been done.  This isn’t quite your whining, lurking Starscream, he is a Starscream who can actually get things done.  The wings on his shoulders can be folded back if you don’t like them, but I like them so  leave them as is.  The inclusion of the yellow missile pod ( ?) things is a nice addition as well, although I suspect they are there more to ‘hide’ his head in vehicle mode rather than a G1 homage.

Having a bit more of a look at his ambient sculpting, and you can see it’s in places where you wouldn’t think they’d put any.  What I do like though is under the Force Chip port he has a couple of holes which can have stands plugged into them giving you some great options for various display set ups.  Just make sure you have a strong stand.  The little one I used is too weak and so he was rather wobbly.

Even the back of his head has lots of sexy sculpting. Mmmmmmm! Yummy!



His legs have the ability to be posed in a wide variety of positions as they are relatively unhindered, but the same can’t be said for his shoulders.  He is also slightly let down by tiny little pudgy arms that bend in the middle of the fore-arm.  There is a hinge joint that is used for transforming that can become a pseudo elbow, but it looks very thin and cut off when you do bend with it.



His gun can also be mounted behind his back when in robot mode as well,  as a launcher though it’s not a very interesting weapon.  It is also his main gun for jet mode as well.  One thing that I was disappointed with was the little guns on either side of the cockpit/chest don’t move.  It would have been GREAT if they could swivel up and down and wouldn’t have taken that much effort.  They certainly LOOK like they want to move, but they area solid piece moulded with the chest.  This oversight was fixed with the supreme version, but that and an extra cannon were the only changes.

Oh and I think he is the first Starscream to have some pointy shoes if you so wish.  He is a Voyager size and if I remember correctly, Cybertron/Galaxy Force was the line that brought in the change to this size classing.  I do think that Voyagers have most certainly shrunk since then.

When you plug in his Force Chip, extra doodads happen.  Luckily they are pretty good on Starscream and don’t detract from they toy’s design much and they look great.



FORCE CHIP,   



IGNITION!







PLUG!



KACHING

Starscream gets these incredibly cool blades that flip out from his wings bits.  They are nicely sculpted, look very cool, but would be tricky to use in real life I think.  Both blades slip out at the same time.  There are no noise chips, which is a relief as I am sure a speaker and battery pack would have ruined the figure.

And now the cool action available to his legs comes in handy!

Stick him on a stand and see how we go hey?  You can see how some elbow blades might be a bit hard to wield.

The swords work with the vehicle mode as well.  Nifty.  Nothing quite like a plane with swords hey?   So speaking of planes with swords, let’s have a look at the vehicle mode.



Transformation is fun, easy and quick.  I think Galaxy Force got the balance right between complexity and enjoyment.  The hardest part for me is getting the knees past the arms, they feel like they need to click out just a tiny tiny bit more.

Whooosh!  I love the look of this jet mode.  Even after the snazzily designed War/Fall of Cybertron Starscream I still prefer the look of this dude.   My only real complaint would have to be the visible head syndrome with it sticking right up there a shame really, but I guess it does kind of ‘flow’ into the Force Chip port area in a way.

  Buut, not really.

Once again sculpting is lovely.  Oddly for a cybertronian mode he has a cockpit with a bit of translucent plastic.

Hm, I guess with the vents on the head, they kind of hide it a little bit.

Lovely.  You can split the tail wing for an X-fighter style if you like as well.  In jet mode the Force Chip doesn’t detract from the mode at all.

I love this toy.  It’s a great Transformer, good paintwork, easy to transform, neat gimmick that doesn’t ruin the toy and actually adds.  I have a friend who is always asking me if I sell it, to let him know first.  I think I am going to be sorry to say, I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of this one.  It’s just too nice.