*Waits patiently for e-hobby to announce anime-colored MP Starscream with coronation attire.*

drool ... drool ...

I read somewhere that this guy is an overpriced shelfwarmer in Japan ... hope that translates into clearance eBay listings soon!!

DL: Well... much like Autolooper he just "feels" cheap.

I only transformed him once and several joints are already showing stress fractures.

I can't get my head around it... Hybrid-Style Convoy is covered in die-cast where he doesn't need it, and has plastic for the vulnerable joints. MP Starscream costs damn near as much as MP Convoy, but no die. The sodding Titanium line could do with far less die-cast, a-la quadriplegic Joe-inspired Megatron.

Is it really that difficult to try and find the right balance; especially as the BT line got it right already?

I would love to be a fly on the wall at TakaraTomy, just to figure out what the hell goes on up there. "Fantastic idea! Beautiful design! Now let us make it out of the cheapest plastic we can find!" Crazy...

I keep forgetting, he totally has those inexplicable clips for where one might place a crown or cape, in much the same way many Hybrid-style Convoy owners were wondering why there were pegholes in the side of the jetpack.

Unless, you know, e-HOBBY do their usual thing and produce black 'n' purple NegaStarscream...

Masterpiece Starscream made completely of cheap plastic?
Shame ...

It feels cheap to me.

I just cant' explain why my various RID figures still have decent plastic after 7 years of transformering them but this brand new Starscream that cost $100 has stress fractures on some of the joints already after one transformation.

I had exactly the same thing with Hybrid-Style; he looks awesome, but the transformation itself is crazy and there's no way such small parts can realistically be intended to accept the pressures involved.

One has to wonder; are these new TFs actually *intended* to transform? Is there some sort of Japanese protocol involved that we are unaware of; are all the collectors on the other side of the Pacific carefully following each step of Starscream's instructions, tweezers in hand?