Post by machsabre on Apr 8, 2018 21:28:42 GMT -5
So the wife and I were out of town this weekend. (For Orthodox Easter.) And I had to stop in Family Dollar to grab a lint roller, because the new dog… Well, he sheds and we had a lot of black clothes. So, while there, I saw Authentics Starscream. You know, those cheap $5 that Transformers fans think are the end of the franchise or something. These guys are basically small, inexpensive toys for lower income families. And I’m sure you’ve might have seen video reviews of them, where they review the entire line in one fell swoop and they don’t sound too enthused or something. Well… Look, here’s their mistake. They’re reviewing the entire line. Hell, if I reviewed the entire line of Combiner Wars, it would have been a whole lot of “meh” with a few sprinkles of “Oh, this guy is cool!” But yeah. I picked this guy up for about $6. I’m gonna review him.
There are three thing to take into consideration when it comes to reviewing any toy.
Is it worth the price?
Does it look any good?
Is it fun?
Anything else is sprinkles.
And I’m gonna got be bluntly honest here. Starscream is the best of them. Bumblebee looks awful, and so does Prime. Megatron is decent, but he suffers from what I like to call “He turns into a thing” syndrome. It’s SUPPOSED to be a tank, but it looks more like a block. Titans Returns Rewind and Rumble made more convincing tanks. So yeah, Starscream is the prize of these. I’m reviewing Starscream. If you wanna hate on the others, thats fine. I’m ONLY reviewing Starscream. Let’s begin.
I’ve heard people say the toy is made of cheap and flimsy plastic. That’s… Comparable. If you’re ever ventured out into the toys beyond Generations or the mainline NuRiD (soon to be Cyberverse) toys, and bought yourself any 1-Step Changers… Then you know the plastic that’s used. This is basically a 1-Step changer in plastic quality. Now if you have any of them, and you’re not the type to foam at the mouth at their mere mentions… You know that they tend to run the range of “Pretty fun little toy!” (Usually those with a car backpack) to “Well, that’s $10 I won’t get back.” (Usually anything that’s springloaded). This is no different and I’m happy to say Starscream falls into the former category of being kinda fun.
To be fair, he IS about $4 cheaper than the 1-Steps and a ton more posable. He’s got the standard 8 in posing. Knees, hips, shoulders, elbows and a head on a swivel. He actually reminds me a lot of the early era of Beast Wars Basics. He comes with two null rays (on 3mm posts) and hands for 5mm posts. (Though mine are a touch tight.) You’ve heard about the “hollow joints” with these guys. Well, guess what? Starscream barley has any. I’ve gotten Deluxe class toys with more hollow joints than this guy. He’s not revolutionary in any capacity, except to see that they CAN do decent toys at a rather inexpensive price tag. His robot mode is pretty cool. His Jet mode? Well…
He does a faceplant. Yeah, it’s not exactly the greatest jet modes, especially in a franchise not known for great jet modes. But… It at least approximates a jet, so I can begrudgingly forgive that.
Height wise, like I said, he’s the same height at the 1-step changers and the Minicon 2-Pack guys. Visually he fits right in, as you can see. By holding him, you CAN tell a difference in plastics and weight… But as someone who grew up in a lower income home? It wouldn’t have bothered me in the slightest. I’m actually kinda happy kids have this option.
Bottom line. Is he worth is? He’s $6. If you’ve been in this fandom longer than a few years, I GUARANTEE that you have spent far more for far less. Does it look good? Well, robot mode does. Jet mode… Not so much. He IS lacking in paint apps, but I’m just surprised he’s got the ones he’s got. Is he fun? Yeah. He’s $6 worth of fun. I like him a lot. That said…
Don’t pay much more than retail for this guy. If you see people online selling him for more than $7… Keep looking. He’s worth the retail, and the retail ONLY. These toys are not going away. There’s going to be no shortage of them. Don’t spend more than $7 for him.
That said, if you’re a toy customizer? This guy is going to be your dream come true. He’s mostly unpainted in all light gray colors, making him AWESOME repainting fodder. I’m pretty much planning on buying a few more of these guys and making some of the Fun Publications guys like Nacelle, Red Wing or one of the purple Air Warriors from the Dreamwave series.
There are three thing to take into consideration when it comes to reviewing any toy.
Is it worth the price?
Does it look any good?
Is it fun?
Anything else is sprinkles.
And I’m gonna got be bluntly honest here. Starscream is the best of them. Bumblebee looks awful, and so does Prime. Megatron is decent, but he suffers from what I like to call “He turns into a thing” syndrome. It’s SUPPOSED to be a tank, but it looks more like a block. Titans Returns Rewind and Rumble made more convincing tanks. So yeah, Starscream is the prize of these. I’m reviewing Starscream. If you wanna hate on the others, thats fine. I’m ONLY reviewing Starscream. Let’s begin.
I’ve heard people say the toy is made of cheap and flimsy plastic. That’s… Comparable. If you’re ever ventured out into the toys beyond Generations or the mainline NuRiD (soon to be Cyberverse) toys, and bought yourself any 1-Step Changers… Then you know the plastic that’s used. This is basically a 1-Step changer in plastic quality. Now if you have any of them, and you’re not the type to foam at the mouth at their mere mentions… You know that they tend to run the range of “Pretty fun little toy!” (Usually those with a car backpack) to “Well, that’s $10 I won’t get back.” (Usually anything that’s springloaded). This is no different and I’m happy to say Starscream falls into the former category of being kinda fun.
To be fair, he IS about $4 cheaper than the 1-Steps and a ton more posable. He’s got the standard 8 in posing. Knees, hips, shoulders, elbows and a head on a swivel. He actually reminds me a lot of the early era of Beast Wars Basics. He comes with two null rays (on 3mm posts) and hands for 5mm posts. (Though mine are a touch tight.) You’ve heard about the “hollow joints” with these guys. Well, guess what? Starscream barley has any. I’ve gotten Deluxe class toys with more hollow joints than this guy. He’s not revolutionary in any capacity, except to see that they CAN do decent toys at a rather inexpensive price tag. His robot mode is pretty cool. His Jet mode? Well…
He does a faceplant. Yeah, it’s not exactly the greatest jet modes, especially in a franchise not known for great jet modes. But… It at least approximates a jet, so I can begrudgingly forgive that.
Height wise, like I said, he’s the same height at the 1-step changers and the Minicon 2-Pack guys. Visually he fits right in, as you can see. By holding him, you CAN tell a difference in plastics and weight… But as someone who grew up in a lower income home? It wouldn’t have bothered me in the slightest. I’m actually kinda happy kids have this option.
Bottom line. Is he worth is? He’s $6. If you’ve been in this fandom longer than a few years, I GUARANTEE that you have spent far more for far less. Does it look good? Well, robot mode does. Jet mode… Not so much. He IS lacking in paint apps, but I’m just surprised he’s got the ones he’s got. Is he fun? Yeah. He’s $6 worth of fun. I like him a lot. That said…
Don’t pay much more than retail for this guy. If you see people online selling him for more than $7… Keep looking. He’s worth the retail, and the retail ONLY. These toys are not going away. There’s going to be no shortage of them. Don’t spend more than $7 for him.
That said, if you’re a toy customizer? This guy is going to be your dream come true. He’s mostly unpainted in all light gray colors, making him AWESOME repainting fodder. I’m pretty much planning on buying a few more of these guys and making some of the Fun Publications guys like Nacelle, Red Wing or one of the purple Air Warriors from the Dreamwave series.