Transformers Energon Starscream review

The sacrifice of Starscream in Armada may have been monumental, but sadly, the Energon series depicts him as a husk of his former self prior to being under Megatron's brainwashing entirely. Initially a ghost like in G1, Starscream would later show up with a half-complete body of sorts to represent his incomplete state in the midquel chapter of the Unicron Trilogy. No memory of his past self, no chance to reunite with Alexis Thi Dang, no ability to redeem himself; it all sets up his truly  evil nature in Cybertron. We already looked at his other designs in the Legacy line, so why not revisit his Energon form in the original line this time? You'll see why in a moment.

Here we have Energon Starscream in his jet mode. It is an unlicensed approximation of the F-22 Raptor jet more commonly associated with Movie Staracream, but it's always the best fighter jet of all time, so seeing it on a different version of the character always wins for me. Obviously, the sculpted details are more alien in comparison, from the zig zags and patterns in the middle that have this alien motif to them to the panel lines on the wings as well as the fuselage deviating from the actual jet, but the thing that is unique to this toy specifically has to be the left wing being cast in translucent plastic. This was done to represent that half-formed aspect of the character in the series; Aaron Archer may claim it didn't turn out as well but I'd argue he had more thought and effort put into this toy than the mainline designers do with their budgets for Earthspark and Cyberworld. The wheels don't roll but it is more forgivable on a toy this small than it is with a modern Leader Class toy that turns into a jet.

There is a hyper mode that can be accessed by opening the wings, revealing buttons for two missile launchers. That explains those protruding bits sticking out the back of the altmode, but you can snip the excess plastic if it bothers you that much.

His weapons can peg under the jet mode, and while they're oversized in some regard, they are an example of 5mm port versatility common to the Minicons from Armada and the MechTech weapons from Dark of the Moon.

For a size comparison with another Starscream with the actual alt mode, here is the Studio Series version! Kind of interesting.seeing how one dude has a very twisted deco that fits the alien/futuristic aesthetics of the Unicron Trilogy while the other is an actual robot in disguise (at least before getting Cyberglyph tattoos).

And here he is with the figure many believed to have been retooled from: G2 Smokescreen. Back in the day, many thought Starscream was either a heavy retool or at least borrowing the engineering of the smaller jet belonging to Dreadwing. The transformations are similar, but there are no reused parts, and Starscream is also a slightly larger toy than the older guy. It's similar to how we compare AOE Lockdown to DOTM Roadbuster or RID15 Bumblebee to PRID Vehicon.

Transformation may share Smokescreen's twisting fuselage, tailfin placement, and the assembly holding the arms, but more tabs are added, he has more tabs to keep his torso solid, and his lower legs have additional fins that rotate 180 degrees rather than have his lower legs bowlegged for transformation. The resulting robot mode is much bulkier and somewhat cluttered than G2 Smokescreen ever was. This bot mode is loosely meant to homage the G1 version of the character, though it is more subtle than the references we get nowadays. You have the shoulder pylons and vague palette, though it deviates immensely from the original design with its unique details and how it handles it's jet kibble in addition to the anime aesthetic that was big during the boom of the genre back in the 2000s. In the center of his chest is a port for an Energon Star, though I find the torso somewhat oversized due to how little the cockpit and nosecones area changes. That and how high the shoulders are compared to the head; it's the opposite from what Hasbro Marvel Legends suffer with their shoulders! He kind of comes across as a bit crowded due to the size of his jet mode front versus his limbs, making me wondering if a Voyager would help alleviate these issues. One cool thing is that his right shoulder and bicep are cast out of clear plastic, though longevity concerns will always be a factor.

His head sculpt is very tiny, but it appears to be visually similar to what he had in Armada, only less G1 in the cheek guards. He has good articulation, but there are a few issues worth bringing up: his head is on a swivel, and while the shoulders are able to move front and back without issue, they start bumping into the back wings due to lack of clearance. Likewise, the arms can go in and out without, but the bicep rotation, while fine if the arms are straight down or forward, cannot rotate while the arms move out once again due to spacing issues. Elbows are able to bend 180 degrees thanks to transformation, hips are on ball joints, and the knees are hinged. 

Starscream's weapons can each be held in his hand, consisting of a sword carrying over his pseudo-swordsman influence from Armada and a huge gun, both of which have minimal paint and clear plastic given the whole motif of the Energon series featuring clear plastic weapons (with some exceptions).

They can combine into a much larger sword that pushes that anime influence even further, though keep in mind the weight of it will either have his arm flop down or topple the figure entirely.

As far as his reuses are concerned, the Takara version, named Nightscream, used different shades for his grays and reds, yet his blues and darker grays appear to be closer to black. It's vaguely meant to help him better match his G1 version, but just barely.

For the G1 fanboy out there, this is Energon Starscream. Redundant naming aside, this represents Starscream as he was upgraded to be more opaque and fully restored than his original self. The G1 color scheme is all present and accounted for with some deviations, of course, and nearly all translucent plastic has been replaced altogether. That being said, the asymmetrical details have been kept intact likely due to the lack of budget needed for more involved retooling at the time. After all, Transformers fiction throughout the first half of the 2000s depended on repaints as upgrades within RID and the Unicron Trilogy, and it wasn't until the first movie that it was no longer a thing.

We have a more cartoon accurate version of the character in the Superlink line, that being Nightscream Reverse. He still has the translucent plastic, possibly even more than the original version, resulting in a more inconsistent deco layout and an arguably worse jet mode. But hey, he comes with a drill and Energon star. He's meant to look like this in the Energon series, but once again, stick with the Hasbro version.

This figure was repainted into Skyquake, who was not retooled to have any character-specific details but was instead just a straight redeco. Kind of funny how this is the next best thing towards getting a new version of the European G1 Decepticon, and even then, we have the TFP version from the Legacy Evolution line that has a much stronger influence from the old toy waiting to have a proper retool. Then again, TFP Skyquake is the more popular one even in spite of lasting one episode alive.

Finally, this is Leozack, best known for being on the Breastforce in the Victory line as a component for Liokaiser. He is probably no longer needed since we have the HasLab version, but there is one thing both of them and the original Japanese toy have in common: expensive aftermarket prices.

For a size comparison, here we have Energon Starscream next to G2 Smokescreen, just to remind people that there was no retooling in common, and that only the transformation and vague design elements are what make these two similar. Even then, absolutely nothing in common is borrowed between the two, especially given that Starscream does much more as an independent toy while Smokescreen is simpler to accomodate a larger toy like Dreadwing.

And for a sad reminder of how neglected Energon is, here we have him sandwiched and dwarfed between the two Legacy Starscream figures we got during the trilogy. With Armada being in the first chapter and Cybertron in United, it makes one wonder why Evolution never got the Energon version to begin with. It's not only a missed opportunity, but it makes the sole inclusion of the Energon Megatron Core Class figure all the more infuriating. Wouldn't it be cool if we had all three represented together? Sadly, much like his role in the eyes of Megatron, Starscream's Energon design is left in the shadows compared to his more noble Armada self and his more corrupt Cybertron self. Still, the Deluxe is a cool figure if you don't mind the issues I pointed out.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐