Fidget spinner.

All the reviews I read and watched said to steer clear of this guy.

You can’t tell me what to do.

I got him. Now the question is, is this particular Lord Starscream really as bad as people say?

Packaging

Vehicle mode

Starting off, his jet mode is not good. But it’s not terrible either. It’s definitely not the worst jet mode ever.

His only glaring faults are the weird position of the tailfins and his main wings being floppy.

Aside from that, he’s a passable jet… until you look at his undercarriage. Yeah, I’m gonna say it’s pretty obvious this guy turns into a robot. But this problem isn’t so glaring because a lot of other jet-formers have an undercarriage problem as well.*cough* Silverbolt *cough*

Surprisingly he has front landing gear… So there’s that?

Transformation

He stands up straight and then he’s a robot. I’m impressed by how brazen the transformation is with it’s simplicity.

Robot mode

He actually looks really good. The toon aesthetic is great. He’s a bit underpainted though, which is to be expected at this point.

What wasn’t expected was his back view. The hollow legs look bad. He’s never being displayed with a pose where his back is facing you.

From the crotch up he’s got okay posability. His head spins 360°. His shoulders go up and down as well as in and out. He has hinged elbows. He has waist swivel that is restriced by his gimmick.

Then you go below the crotch.

Dear Primus.

His legs are fused together and can’t be posed individually. He’s either sitting down, or standing up. The legs go in and out to the side individually though, so he can do kicks?

He also has no knees.

Crotch down, he’s terrible.

From the ass down he’s a clown.

Gimmicks

You twist him at the waist and he springs back into place. His wings then spin around as well and hot pink “blades” with Decepticon symbols come out for a “Wing Slice” attack.

I admit that when it works, it’s pretty cool.

But his “blades” almost never deploy, so it just looks like he’s flapping his wings while violently twisting at the waist.

A bit more design work would have gone a long way here.

Toy or collectible?

Toy, toy all the way. He’s simple, fun and gimmicky. Kids can switch between modes in seconds and slap each other with Lord Starscream’s wings. Wait, sorry. I meant “Wing Slice” each other.

Adult collectors… yeah. Unless you’re a Starscream addict like me, you probably don’t need him.

Closing

Not the worst figure of Lord Starscream.

But it’s pretty close.

Nevertheless, he is Lord Starscream so you must buy him anyway.

6/5 stars!

PS: Gerwalk mode.