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Generations Starscream
Words & Images By Gojitron
Megatron. The charismatic, malevolent, super-powerful leader of the Decepticons. Scourge of the galaxy. An evil force that would stop at nothing to achieve his goal of the subjugation of Cybertron, and the conquering of the universe. Who would have the will, the power and the unmitigated gall to try and overthrow such a powerful opponent?
STARSCREAM, that's who. Every...single...day!
We look at the toy history of everyone's favorite Decepticon leader wannabe, Starscream!
Generation 1
The original Starscream F-15 "Seeker" design was released in 1984. Two other F-15's with different color schemes were released as Skywarp and Thundercracker. In 1985, the basic Seeker body was recolored another 3 times while receiving new wings and accessories. These 3 jets would become the "Coneheads" Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet. The former Diaclone toy was well on his way to becoming a Transformers legend thanks to the fantastic characterization he was receiving in the Transformers cartoon, including a great performance by his voice actor, the late Chris Latta (who also voiced G.I. Joe's Cobra Commander). Starscream's schemings for takeover were a constant thorn in Megatron's side, plans which sometimes included allies like the Triple Changers and the Combaticons.
Pretender Starscream
Starscream would not receive his next toy incarnation until 1989, during the Pretenders era. The Pretenders concept was one in which the Transformer robots hid inside "shells" resembling humans, creatures and sometimes vehicles. Starscream's shell was an armored human form, while the inner robot was a scaled-down, simplified version of the original F-15. This toy was sold under the name "Classic Pretenders", the only Decepticon to get that treatment (the other 3 Classic Pretenders were the Autobots Bumblebee, Jazz and the Dinobot Grimlock). The inner robots, sans shells, were sold seperately as Transformers "Legends" exclusively at K-Mart stores.
Action Master Starscream
1990 would mark the end of the G1 era in America, with the Action Masters being the final incarnation of the Transformers in the US. The Action Master concept was one in which the Transformers had found a new source of fuel, Nucleon, which strengthened their powers, but, as a side effect, took away their transforming abilities. The Action Master toys were comprised of action figures similar in size to the 3.75" G.I. Joe's, coupled with transforming weapons or vehicles. Starscream, looking more like his animation model than any previous toy, was packaged with a small jet that he could ride on, or turn into a weapon platform. Action Masters failed to re-light the fire under the Transformers brand, and they faded away, until...
Generation 2
Hasbro revived the Transformers in 1992. Tacking the "Generation 2" onto the Transformers name, they re-released some G1 molds alongside brand new toys. Starscream made his appearance in the initial wave accompanied by Ramjet. The basic toy was the same, with his familiar red and grey being slightly recolored, and some new stickers on his wings. There was a slight remold on the toy to accomadate a new electronic attachment that simulated firing gun and jet take-off sounds. the biggest change to the G2 toys, however, were the weapons.
By the time G2 was released, Hasbro had to comply with the now infamous toy safety laws that had come to pass since G1. Now, firing weapons, such as missiles, had to meet a standard of being at least 2" in length. Therefore, G2 toys, including Starscream, received some brand new missiles and launchers. These toy safety laws have recently been the subject of much talk in the Transfan community regarding alterations to Hasbro's current wave of G1 commemorative re-issues.
Machine Wars Starscream
Starscream's next appearance was in 1997's Machine Wars line, in which he became an enormous stealth bomber, the biggest Starscream toy to date. For a profile of this, and the entire MW line, check out my article HERE.
During the Beast Wars era, Starscream made an appearance in the episode "Possession" when his immortal spark possessed Waspinator in a bid to take control of the Predacons. Then, in the episode "Bad Spark", it is revealed that an attempt to duplicate Starscream's mutant, immortal spark resulted in the creation of the deadly "Protoform X", a protoform that would later become the mad Predacon Rampage. Some interesting additions to Starscream's overall history.
Beast Wars 2 Starscream & BB
In 1998, Takara expanded the Beast Wars universe in Japan with the series "Beast Wars the Second" or "BW2". Part of the Destron force in the series was a repaint of the Generation 2 toy Attack Tactical Bomber (ATB), a large stealth bomber/robot that housed a smaller jet/robot. The Japanese repaint was named Starscream & BB (Starscream was actually spelled "Starscrem"). BB was the large bomber, and Starscream the jet. Quite interesting characters in the BW2 anime, Starscream, not unlike his G1 namesake, had ambitions of becoming the Destron leader. BB was his loyal soldier, who only spoke one word, "Roger", in response to all of Starscream's requests. An odd couple, indeed. The SS & BB toy has been very sought after for some time, but a recent surge of Sonokong/Korean versions of the toy has made it more widely available at a better price.
Soon, this toy will be making another appearance as the recolored Dreadwing & Smokejumper, part of the expanded RiD line of store exclusives.
BW2 Hellscream
During the course of the BW2 anime, Starscream was exposed to Angolmois energy (this energy was a major plotline in the story). This exposure evolved/reformatted him into the Cyber-Beast Hellscream. The toy was a repaint and heavy retool of the Beast Wars Cybershark (BB evolved into Max B, a repaint/retool of BW Wolfgang). As of this writing, the Cyber-Beast molds have yet to be released outside of Japan.
Armada Starscream
Starscream returned to the TF universe again in 2002 with the release of the Armada line. Once again, Starscream has visions of grandeur as he plots a way to dethrone Megatron as Decepticon leader. In this incarnation he is paired with a new partner, a Minicon F-1 racer named Swindle. Thus far, Starscream has been one of the more popular toys in the Armada line. A smaller version of the character was released as part of last year's Transformer Happy Meal promotion. The Happy Meal Starscream features a flip-change action similar to the G1 Jumpstarters.
It has recently been learned that, in the Armada show, Starscream will somehow evolve into the Armada version of Thundercracker. The Thundercracker toy is a straight repaint of the Starscream toy in colors similar to G1 Thundercracker. How and why this change takes place has yet to be revealed.
G1 Starscream has recently been re-issued several times, first from Takara as a regular re-issue with both black and clear (ghost) variations from e-hobby. Also, as a Hasbro G1 Commemorative Series re-issue (available now) which features missiles that have been safety law altered. In the near future, Takara will release yet another re-issue as part of its' Transformer Collection series, this time with some nice extra's. The animated model of G1 Starscream has also made many recent appearances, as a PVC in Takara's SFC line as well as Habro's HoC series; as a Takara Mega SFC figure complete with accessories from the ill-fated coronation ceremony from "Transformers:The Movie"; and as a bust from Hard Hero.
Starscream remains one of the true legends of the Transformers universe, and I'm sure his "immortal spark" will rise again in the future.
As always I can be reached at [email protected] Thanks!
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See more of Gojitrons TF articles at Tranfandom.net
Read the article in this link of Generations:Starscream here.
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