Transformers Siege Starscream review

Starscream's G1 incarnation can only be seen by fans in the community as a rinse and repeat guy; he says he'll overthrow Megatron, gets his ass kicked or takes over for a little bit, messes things up, and then gets yelled at by his leader. The only interesting thing's he's ever done were creating the Combaticons, him becoming the leader for a few seconds in the 86 movie, and showing up as a ghost twice. Hell, I found his guest appearance in Beast Wars more recognizable than his coronation. So, it's best for Starscream to either have more ambition (Animated/Prime/Cyberverse), see things differently from Megatron (Armada), or not even question what his leader does (Movie). So what about the fabled Tetrajet altmode? It's a specific design that Hasbro never tapped into for toys beyond the similar homages from War Within and the Cybertron games. Now that the Siege figure mimics that altmode, will the base figure be as good as a Voyager Starscream needs to be, or will it be doomed to repeat the same mistakes that the 

Here is the first-ever official Tetrajet Starscream. This design has more of a modern look to the design from the cartoon, looking more like a space ship than it did in the cartoon. It almost belongs in Star Fox or Star Wars with its sharper angles. The color palette is also faithful to Starscream's colors, and I do like how the gray isn't too dark while not being a bright white (if that's what it's going for). In terms of robot mode kibble, the legs and forearms are visible, even if at least the legs are not seen from underneath. I should have posted a pic for the rear of the jet mode, but if you have the figure in-hand, then you'd see the questionable placement of the robot mode chest, which has a faux cockpit.

Despite some of the robot parts being visible, this makes for a better Tetrajet than the cartoon one. I'm sure it'd look better without the legs being exposed, though. As for the null-rays, while you can attach them onto the wings, I decided to leave them onto the arms because they'd look better overall with them attached.

Here is Siege Starscrean next to Classics Starscream. While I liked the jet mode of that figure, it always felt too small next to other jets made since. I had a feeling Hasbro didn't want to leave older fans too broke with Seeker repaints or using the more expensive Voyager price point to produce repaints, so this size class was respectable for its time, even though plenty of repaints were made for Starscream's older Movie and Animated Voyagers. Now that Siege made Seekers Voyagers, it's possible for older fans to get them in a better size.

I'm curious to see how Earthrise will combine the best of both worlds when I get it in-hand, as Classics Starscream has the traditional jet mode with inaccurate colors while Siege Starscream has the right colors but his jet mode is the briefly seen terra jet.

Transforming Starscream is pretty odd in this case. It's almost like the opposite of how the G1 Seeker design transforms, as it doesn't use its cockpit to be the chest. Certainly a departure from what was done in the past, though I do appreciate that it's easier to transform than the Impossible Toys version of Tetrajet Starscream. Fully enough, barely anything is done to the wings beyond a simple hinge, somewhat like with Starscreams done in the past.

The robot mode certainly looks amazing, what with the proportions remaining accurate when it's put next to the cartoon model. I wanted to bring up this comparison with POTP Starscream, GDO Starscream, and Cloud Starscream. Why? Because I've felt that many wanted to abandon this figure on store shelves right when Earthrise was announced. While its jet mode isn't the F-14 altmode and it has a bit of a shellformer essence, I feel it's still a better-done figure than the previous Voyager-scale offerings. I've always wanted a Starscream that didn't feel too small, and this guy manages to fit the bill in my book in terms of scale and accuracy. I'm sure the POTP version was a figure that fans don't need to own now, but despite it having an earth mode, the proportions looked too Playskool and the transformation was lazy. The worst part were the stickers, especially for the wings; needless to say, this figure's only saving grace was the torso mode. GDO Starscream was one that fans probably found at Walgreens in the US, but while it looked decent, the lack of knee joints put me off from buying it. That and the black legs don't match this character. The Cloud figure looked decent for a repaint of Doubledealer, but it's best seen as a one-off version of a character than a de facto Starscream in a Generations collection.

I will say that the side and back look oddly massive than they really need to, but compared to the clumsy clunkiness of the Impossible Toys take on the concept, this feels a bit more like a walk in the park, even if one side of the wings look like crap while the other looks like it's from a big chunk of a ship. You can remove the wings if you want, as they're not so hard to detach, but don't tell me that they'd improve the look of the robot mode.

The face sculpt is so good. Sure, it's got a more serious expression than a smirk, but it looks good, even if it's slightly smaller than I'd like. I also love the use of light piping for the eyes, which has been pretty absent in plenty of Transformers in recent years.

Articulation is also impressive for this Starscream. Head is on a ball-joint, shoulders swivel front and back, hinge in and out, swivel at the biceps, bend at the elbows at two points, and swivel at the wrists. The waist swivels, hips move front and back as well as in and out, swivel at the thighs, bend at the knees, and pivot at the ankles.

His only accessories are the null-rays that he's known to keep on his arms. They have some nice sculpting added onto both sides, though I'd honestly trade the Siege battle damage for some paint to make them stand out more. Especially when his legs have more damage than needed.

Like every Starscream mold, repaints are bound to happen. Thundercracker here looks pretty decent, though he has Starscream's smirk. You can easily swap it if you please unless you want to pretend it's Starscream saying he looks like Thundercracker.

Next up, here is the Target RedCard-exclusive Red Wing. He also has Starscream's face but in white. It thankfully has some black to break it up, though don't be surprised if you'd have a hard time getting it because of the RedCard exclusivity. I'd say to wait for it to get on clearance...if it's possible for it to be on clearance, that is.

This is the Amazon-exclusive Skywarp, coming in a set with three Battlemasters named Fracas, Shrute, and Terror-Daxtyl. This set's now hard to find thanks to the fans eating it up because it's Skywarp. Now fans will have to scour across the other sites for help.

Last, but certainly least. this is the Target-exclusive Rainmaker 3-pack, consisting of Acid Storm, Ion Storm, and Nova Storm. These guys are thankfully not missing any deco, but man do these show how desperate Hasbro is with making a repaint out of almost every Seeker mold. These almost look like knockoffs, in a way. Also, your eyes don't deceive you, Ion Storm is indeed using Thundercracker's alt mode for his stock image.

And here we finally have Hotlink, who is a repaint of Skywarp and has purple with black scorches here and there to further help make this guy as a Skywarp for those that don't want to spend too much money on Siegewarp on eBay. He's 10 dollars more than a normal Voyager because he comes with two sand blue repaints of Blowpipe called Heartburn and Heatstroke (thanks for reminding me of ways humans feel pain, Hasbro). This is the guy you can get duplicates of if you didn't get Skywarp and are willing to repaint one into Skywarp.

And here he is the Sparkless Seeker, who is a heavily murky green with fade and rust around. Weirdly looks less like a Zombie and more like a war-torn Skyquake homage. He came with Sparkless versions of Caliburst and Singe, who may be used for any other Targetmasters or Double Targetmasters. He'd make another neat inclusion of a Seeker, whether you want him to be dead or call him Skyquake like I would.

And for a "good guy" version of this mold, this is Shattered Glass Starscream! The figure is given a paint job that mimics the look of Jetfire, as the original Shattered Glass toy did. New to this figure are the swords that the Cybertron Starscream mold was known for, but they're handheld rather than integrated with the forearms. It's probably more fitting for a good guy than the original version, but it's higher in price once again and I think I'm done with the mold after Sparkless Seeker.

And here we are back in full circle with Premium Finish Starscream, which is an even dirtier version of the Siege release. Meh.

The mold still sticks around in 2023, only now with a much heavier retool as Senator Shockwave! Retooled fairly heavily with a new head, chest, and winglets, he ends up feeling like a different toy in robot mode and even in vehicle mode to an extent. And yes, this is Shockwave before he received his more familiar design, and it's not Ultra Magnus as part of a bait-&-switch idea. He came with an Orion Pax figure as part of the Humble Origins set.

Here is another comparison next to Classics Starscream. While the original Classics Deluxe figure had its nostalgic charm, the new figure looks a lot less restricted thanks to the proportions that it has.

You can also tell just how each figure approaches the character design. To give credit to the older Deluxe, it's not so massive from the back, though it has the nosecone left behind.

Classics Starscream was good for its time, though it aged pretty fast with how basic it feels. It can't do that well of a null-ray pose compared to Siege Starscream.

Here is Starscream next to the other Siege Decepticons I have, consisting of Megatron and Shockwave. While Starscream is shorter than either one of the two (so long as Shockwave has the armor). It's nice to have the G1 Cons feel like they belong in the same line compared to older lines where some characters were missing or looked odd.

Those that love the cartoon so much will love recreating Megatron abusing his fanfiction-only lover. Example below!

Here are the Classics versions of Megatron and Starscream next to each other. You can definitely tell how time has changed (my Classics Megatron is custom-painted), with the mid-2000s charm of old Transformers from the Classics line to the more accurate and articulated yet more expensive figures (at least compared to the unaltered 2006 prices).

Finally, here is a long image of Siege Megatron and Starscream next to the Studio Series versions of Megatron and Starscream as well as the TFP's Powerizer Megatron and First Edition Starscream. Nice to have different incarnations of both characters! As for Siege Starscream himself, while not perfect, I feel he makes for a nicely done Voyager-scale figure with more articulation and better proportions compared to other figures. I feel the backpack could be less chunky, but I'd take that over the Impossible Toys clunkiness anyday. I'd get this figure off the shelves even if Earthrise Starscream is coming soon. It's something I hope fans do because it's currently shelfwarming.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐