I got this guy on the way to BotCon, and in many ways he was the last straw in a long line of things I hated about this line.  I've since come around, but in order to document the process I underwent to get to a point of acceptance with these toys, I should document this as if I still hated it.  Actually, I do still hate it some.

This was the first "Mega" I purchased, but in actually he's worth of a Beast Wars Ultra.  Flexibility, like many other toys in this line, is almost non-existent.  He has Silverbolt's problem, which is that I really wish the "backpack" area would fold down out of the way.  However, the way the missiles are designed this is pretty much impossible, though if the hinge were where the hinges for the missiles are, it could be feasible.  Anyway...  He has the opposite leg problem that Megatron does.  Where Megatron's legs can't swivel back and forth, Starscream's can't move laterally.  The arms look really strange because they are so long and skinny.  The show emulates this strangeness all too well.

The gimmicks are nice, however, and the sounds are neat, but limited.  Starscream's Mini-Con, Swindle, can store under the cockpit and can be ejected by pushing the canopy down (which also makes sounds).  Regardless, the things I don't like about this toy are the things I don't like about Ultra Jetstorm.  On a much smaller toy these features and transformation would be godly, but at this size it feels like a slap in the face compared to the cool big guys we've gotten before.

BUT, as is the case with many toys in this line, he looks really cool.  Detailing is superb.  There are a lot of physical features that remind me of Starscream, but many that don't remind me enough of Starscream.  There's no blue, for example, but it can be overlooked.  In fact, now that I realize it, he DOES remind me of *a* certain Starscream.  You know Pretender Starscream that was later released as part of the Legends thing?  Well, this guy's transformation is about as simple.  Guh.  Still, he is very detailed, and it's a shame that these details didn't carry over into the show better.

Ah, one more thing.  The holes in the hands are very large, and the hands themselves are very small.  The result is a section of plastic that is very thin that develops a pretty bad stress mark when you put his wing / sword into it.  As a result, I never use this feature.

My conclusion about the Autobots and Decepticons is this...  In this toy line the Mini-Cons are the actual toys being pushed.  Call it inspired by Pokémon or Digimon, or whatever.  It's true.  The larger robots are like very detailed backgrounds on a movie set.  At a distance they seem wonderful and great because you are being distracted by the smaller guys, but if you peer closely enough you discover what all of the very simply tricks are and you end up disappointed.  It's like when you see Superman: The Movie for the first time as a kid, and are disappointed to find out that Christopher Reeve didn't actually fly, but that he was being shown against a blue-screen.  Smoke and mirrors.  It's that the Autobots and Decepticons are slightly out of focus that we accept them at first glance.  This *could* be a fascinating aspect of the show, but the toys?  Eh...