Firstly Starscream is *NOT* a remould of the Jet portion of the G2 Stealth Bomber (BWII BB & Starscream, RID DreadWing & Smokejumper et al)
It is remarkably similar in Transformation, part shape etc etc etc. Jet feels a tiny bit light and insubstantial for a deluxe. 4 main plastic colours to the jet: a dark grey, a light blue - which is doing very strange things to me as it reminds me of the euro Predator stealth jet (Talon ?), a darker blue and a transparent green - which is the cockpit, but mostly on the wings in this mode and hidden by some great looking black paint. Some red, gold and silver detailing, and 2 Decepticon symbols on the wings in purple. There's damage picked out in various colours including a brief shot of neon green on one wing, and a Decepticon spark behind the cockpit, which fits the Energon Stars carried by the basics. The rear fins are on the lower leg, and are sort of beneath the body instead of on the same level as it which looks odd. Hidden landing gear underneath, 2 at the back, one at the front. 2 minicon ports under each wing - why won't Hasbro put them on top of jets where they'd be useful ?????? Slightly restricted to which minicons you can use by their closeness to other bits of plastic, but they're good for attaching his 2 dark green Energon weapons - a sword/bayonet and a gun. Makes him look a tad uneven in jet mode. 2 missile launchers, one under each wing. They can't be fired until the wings are tilted down at a hinge near the body, transforming him into his hyper attack mode. Spring jobs these, probably looking at about 1m range.
To TF fold the waist down from under the cockpit which brings the legs out in front of the jet with it. The panels attached to the fins rotate the other way up, the feet unfold at the bottom of the legs, and the lower legs twist 90 degrees at the knees to face forwards. The tail fins & their mounting then have to be pushed through the jet - I swear it feels like these are going to break, need some force on mine ! - and then origami out to form the arms. Twist the cockpit round 180 degrees and fold the mid section of the jet down and back while pulling the rear up and forwards and it all come together to form the torso of the robot.
The grey almost goes - apart form the chest and back - in this mode and you get much more of the other colours including some black. Decent Starscream head sculpt, you know who this is, but if it were on another toy you might be mistaken..... He's got light pipe eyes - hold him up to the light and his eyes glow green - I love this gimmick ! The green under the wings is more obvious here, and it's also present on one shoulder - the toy's back story is that he's an Energon Ghost so I think we can assume he's a semi corporal form made of Energon ! Lots of posability: Feet, 2 swivels at each knee, ball at the hip, 2 swivels at each shoulder, bicep, swivel at the elbow - part of the TF (all on each side) and his head turns. Hyper mode guns are deployable here over the shoulders. Standard hand socket size, so he can hold any other Energon or Armada weapon. The combined weapons are a little too heavy for the elbow joints to bear. His own weapons combine into a huge long thin sword, which (like Strongarm's axe) is held by the barrel of the gun component - I suspect we'll see a few of these snapped off in years to come.
The right shoulder & upper arm, jet wings, canopy & weapons are clear dark green
The left shoulder is grey/blue
The left upper arm & body are darker blue
The lower arms & legs are grey/blue
The jet body is dark grey
The tail fins are dark grey
The Feet & upper legs are black The head are black
Overall..... well I like it better than I did last night, it's very posable, and the Energon weapons are nice. On the downside it seems too much like the G2 jet mentioned above, is a bit spindly and slight, I'm not sure about the blue, and the hyper mode gimmick isn't nearly as great as the Powerlinx one. He's good, but maybe not nearly as good as some US reviews have made him out to be. He'll be at the Manchester Hubday and London Pubmeet in early Feb for you to make your own minds up.
Starscream was available in Japan in the Superlink line as SD-01 Nightscream
Energon Starscream was good. But his SL repaint is possibly better.
OK paint map time: Take your Energon Starscream:
The right shoulder & upper arm, jet wings, canopy & weapons which were clear dark green are now clear blue
The left shoulder which were grey/blue are now blue
The left upper arm & body which were darker blue are now blue
The lower arms & legs which were grey/blue are now blue
The jet body which were dark grey are now grey
The tail fins which were dark grey are now grey
The Feet & upper legs which were black are now grey
The head which were black are now grey
All paint highlights are a brighter colour.
So Nightscream is now doing a very passable G1 Starscream colour impersonation - especially as a jet. The Energon is much more Decepticony looking - and it has got a more purpley tinge to it than the pictures suggest.
And as an added bonus you get an extra weapon - Insecticon's weapon and energon star done in a clear neon yellow. Hmmm, could have made it match a bit better - the colours on Galvatron's Dinobot weapon - a nice lavender purple - are more appropriate or even the same a Nightscream R's Energon would do.
Recommended. HLJ have sold out, which is why I went to Tripitaka toys for mine. Came the next day !