Starscream [Cyberworld/Cyber Changers]

There are just certain things you accept in life, and Starscream being in a Transformers toy line is one of them. For Transformers Cyberworld he’s a standard Cyber Changer, which is a size class I’ve been enjoying very much. Interestingly enough, he shares a mold with Mirage, who I talked about a few weeks ago. With Starscream, it’s safe to assume other Seekers will come, so Mirage was a weird surprise. A welcome one — I liked that toy.

Starscream uses the same mold with the exception of a different head and, of course, different colors. Cyber Changers are neat little simple figures full of DNA from older robot toy lines. With Starscream I can’t help but mentally compare him to older G2 jets and GoBots like I did with Mirage. And thanks to his head sculpt, I’m also getting some Machine Wars energy. One of the fun things with cheaper toys like these is the variety of recolors they tend to get. Here’s hoping we get some fun ones in the future.

Seekers are easy enough to predict, but with this design I’d love to see some of the weird camo patterns toys like Machine Wars Thundercracker or Soundwave had. I also found myself imagining various jet bots from Robot Masters while typing this. A simple jet with a unique silhouette like this can be reworked into so many interesting characters.

As said above, Starscream uses the same toy mold as Mirage, so there’s nothing majorly different in how the toy works. Cyber Changers are such pleasant little figures that I don’t mind a mold reuse this early in the line. I will say my Starscream transforms a little rougher than Mirage. I doubt it’s mold degradation this early, so I’m thinking there’s some excess material left from the sprue somewhere. It’s in the compression mechanism in the torso that all Cyber Changers seem to use for transformation. It just kept sticking. I may try to clean that up a little — hopefully it’s just a QC quirk with mine and yours works better.

I really like the jet mode they’ve come up with for Cyberworld. It’s a mixture of jet alt modes we’ve seen in the past that somehow feels fresh thanks to the downward-bent wings. I do wish he had a weapon. In the cartoon, Starscream uses a spear that looks pretty similar to his Dark of the Moon Mech Tech weapon. Once again, the weapons in the show not being included makes me wonder if they were cut at some point in development. Same for the multiple ports on the figures’ bodies. One day I hope to find out there was some gimmick planned that used them. I also hope there’s still one coming.

I’ve probably said it before, but I hope Cyber Changers remain as a size class for the foreseeable future. I think it’s a good format for a mainline series intended for kids (despite my adult ass loving them) and would allow older figures to be compatible with future ones. The setting could change — they can’t stay trapped in the Cyberworld forever — but they can go on new adventures.

I’ve also seen these as something of a follow-up to the Beast Alliance toys from Rise of the Beasts. Considering their similar sizes and the use of an older movie toy already in Cyberworld, some of those molds would be a welcome addition here. Those Beast Alliance toys already had all those ports — let’s get some more Battle Masters! In the end, this is a fun little toy that makes my mind run through tons of possibilities. And that’s something I really enjoy.