The TransFormers Prime toyline, being quite small due to the limited cast in the TV show, seemed like the ideal line to bolster with Starscream repaints, and yet the only ones we got were literally alternative Starscreams. Given that two versions of Starscream were created - the First Edition Deluxe and the mainline Voyager - it seems ridiculous in retrospect that Hasbro didn't turn either into Thundercracker or Skywarp...
...Thankfully, Takara Tomy wasted no time in producing the other two Seekers in their Arms Micron version of the line, repainting not only the Deluxe class figure, but also the Arms Micron mini-figure packaged with the toy.
Vehicle Mode:
So now we have the First Edition Deluxe class jet, but in blue... And it's a very odd blue that doesn't photograph well. I ended up retaking the photos today simply because the originals, taken about four years ago, looked so odd compared to the toy when I finally took it off the shelf to complete this writeup. Even playing around with the colour in Photoshop didn't fix it quite well enough, but the original photos were taking in my kitchen under artificial light during a period of experimentation, so I'll chalk that up as a failed experiment...
But the toy itself looks great - the blue plastic has a faint sparkle, but it's far lighter than the G1 toy, more cyan than the Masterpiece or the Dark of the Moon Deluxe, yet far more saturated than the version of the character made for the first live action movie. It's still very much in the ballpark for Thundercracker's blue, fairly close (I think) to his appearance in the G1 TV show. As is usually the case, his secondary colours are black and silver (represented largely by metallic grey plastic on his wing pods, but he does have a silver panel behind the cockpit), with stickers adding metallic red linework to his wings and fins. What's really interesting is that the cockpit canopy is painted over with two different colours - a warm gold for the main canopy, and a greyer version for the framework and the sides.
Sadly - and strangely - Thundercracker was packaged with essentially the same Arms Micron as Skywarp, the only difference being that this version of Balu is chromed... so he's just as useless to Thundercracker in vehicle mode. Given that he cannot sensibly interact with the pods added to the jet's wings, I don't quite understand why they were included in preference to the rubbery missile pods from Hasbro's versions.
Robot Mode:
With the FE Starscream mold being one of the best the TFPrime toyline has to offer, it's no surprise that the Thundercracker repaint looks fantastic. I particularly like the way the two different tones of gold on his belly look surrounded by the silver paint on his chest and groin. Weirdly, the central part of his groin is painted with a metallic cyan that closely matches the underlying plastic colour, but is far glossier. Black plastic breaks things up at the biceps, hips, hands and knees, while black stickers are applied to the chest and feet, with the only red parts from jet mode being the strips on the wings, visible over his shoulders - all the other stickers end up on his back.
Balu is just as awkward here as on Skywarp, working best as a star-shaped buckler, with one of Thundercracker's stabiliser wings folded out to free up the 5mm socket on either forearm. Given the variety of Arms Microns available, it's disappointing enough that Balu was used twice with a model that's really not set up to use mêlée weapons... and the additional bling doesn't really make up for that.
As with Skywarp, the head sculpt is the same as Starscream's, but this one borrows a style choice from the Alternity figure, having a blue helmet rather than his traditional black. It does work nicely, and the gunmetal strips over the top of his head - on either side and behind his central, rubbery crest - break things up a little... but I do find myself wondering if it'd have looked better in black... or at least with the 'eyebrows' painted in to give them a bit more definition. Other than that, it's just like Skywarp - red eyes, silver face... and the same smirk as Starscream.
Arms Micron: Silver Metal Balu
As mentioned above, Balu is exactly the same Arms Micron as was packaged with Skywarp, just chromed and with a slightly different set of stickers (nothing for the horns, for example, since they're already shiny). He looks great... but he's an utterly useless weapon for Thundercracker, barely useful as a shield (or massively oversized ninja star) and, frankly, the chrome just makes most of his joints tighter.
In most instances, I'd be all for tighter joints but, on a kit figure like this, it meant that some pieces were alarmingly difficult to clip together, some don't move to their fullest extent, and some are reluctant to move at all. The worst of these is Balu's tail which, once folded in for his weapon mode, has refused to come out again... and the only way to fix that appears to be trying to lever it out, which will inevitably damage some of the chrome. Much as I like chrome on weapons, etc - it's ever so G1, after all - I think it was foolish to apply it to a figure like this... so that, coupled with the fact that it's not a great Arms Micron to begin with, let alone appropriate for Thundercracker, mean this is not exactly one of Takara Tomy's finest hours.
Once again, I have to say I'm baffled by Hasbro's neglect of both the FE and mainline Voyager molds, when they could almost certainly have been raking in money from Seeker completists like me. The mold deserves to be used, and could probably have been adapted further for TFPrime versions of the Coneheads if they're really put their minds to it. As it stands, I'm happy with my fleet of FE Starscream variants... but only have one more to write about now...
The only disappointment with this set is the Arms Micron, and the fact that it's so unsuited to the robot. Bling is all well and good, but Balu wasn't great to begin with... Though either version would probably look great on the end of War Breakdown's arm in place of Zamu.
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