Starscream (Reissue, 2018)

Function: Air Commander
Motto: "Conquest is made of the ashes of one's enemies."
Seeks to replace Megatron as leader. Ruthless, cold-blooded, cruel...considers himself the most sophisticated and handsome of Decepticons. Believes Decepticons should rely more on guile and speed rather than brute force to defeat Autobots. Fastest flyer of group: can reach mach 2.8 and an altitude of 52 miles. Shoots cluster bombs and null-rays which disrupt the flow of electricity. Very good at what he does, but sometimes overrates himself.
STR:7; INT:8; SPD:9; END:7; RNK:5; CRG:8; FPR:10; SKL:7

After the initial release of Hot Rod, Starscream was amongst the next reissues announced as a Walmart exclusive and much like Hot Rod the selling point of Starscream is the box. When Starscream was reissued in 2002 under the Commemorative Series banner the price was $34.99 USD, on Walmarts website Starscream is retailing for $34.76 USD when you would certainly expect the price to have risen after 16 years.

Starscream 1984 (left) & Starscream 2018 (right)

The box is a very good representation of the original 1984 version complete with the old Hasbro logo and like the Hot Rod reissue the text is in both English and French. Both the bio and tech specs on the back of the box have been slightly altered from the original and the Commemorative Series version. Tech Spec rating wise on this reissue Starscream's intelligence has risen from 7 to 8 and his Firepower has risen from 7 to 10 yet his Rank has been left at 5?

With G1 missiles

Inside the box Starscream sits within a plastic tray which holds everything together very well and you can put everything back in the tray with ease unlike the 2003 Transformers Collection Starscream plastic tray. Unfortunately Starscream comes with the same lengthened missiles as the 2002 Commemorative Series version (but not connected to a sprue with this release) but Starscream does have the new moulded fists and Megatron accessory which came with Takara's Transformers Collection Starscream. Unlike the Transformers Collection Starscream which has been repainted to resemble Starscream's appearance in the cartoon. the 2018 version is in the G1 toy colours.

Packaged in jet mode, Starscream is based on a McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and in jet mode you can attach the Megatron gun accessory to one of the holes in Starscream's chest as seen in the episode S.O.S Dinobots from the original cartoon series.

Screenshot from Episode 8 S.O.S Dinobots which aired 27th October 1984

In robot mode Starscream new fists allow him to hold the Megatron gun. By splitting the gun in half, the top gun section fits into the fist hole while the black grip slots on the underside of the fist which itself does look strange give the grip would be held in the fist. But you can now recreate the many scenes where Starscream used Megatron as a weapon in the cartoon series and more memorably from the 1986 animated movie where Starscream fatally shot Brawn.

Screenshot from Transformers The Movie 1986

Another difference in robot mode are Starscream's eyes. On the sticker sheet there was a foil sticker for the eyes but with the 2018 reissue the stickers have completely been removed from the sticker sheet and the robots eyes have been painted gold. Due to the use of the mould the definition on the face has also lost a lot of its sharpness.

The larger missiles do look jarring in both robot and jet mode, the original missiles do fit but unfortunately do not lock into place.

Missiles aside this is a worthy purchase for the vintage box along and may be the only Megatron gun we will see Hasbro comfortably release.

Starscream 1984 (left) & Starscream 2018 (right)

With G1 missiles

View the full gallery here on Flickr; see the Transformers Collection reissue click the below image:-