Got my hands on this figure recently, the latest in the Knight Morpher series from Mastermind Creations, Screecher. In my inability to put this figure down I've decided I'd let him shine in the spotlight on our site a little bit and write up a review on him. Lets start with the piece at a glance...I know it, you know it. It's Starscream. Specifically from the Hearts of Steel "era" from the parallel universe story from IDW, and based off of Guido Guidi's design. Now on the meta end of things KM-05 (like the previous Knight Morphers) includes a comic which appears to take place in the years following the years the death of US President Abraham Lincoln.
I won't get into the comic much (
you can read it here) but I will say its a nice addition to the Hearts of Steel storyline and as a stand alone universe. The art is pretty and stunning, really capturing the complex HoS designs on every page. The story is pretty interesting too and I like how it sets up the Cons like puppet masters of all the atrocities that happened in Earth's past. But enough with the paperwork talk, lets look at what we're going to put on display, shall we?
Vehicle Mode
From all angles this plane looks menacing. Does it look flight worthy? Not really...but it's just awesome to imagine it could. He does seem to have what may be jet engines molded onto his back portion which would lead me to believe some propulsion is required to get this off the ground...but I digress. It kinda reminds me of some of those wonky plane designs people made and failed with before the Wright brothers actually got something to glide. Regardless, it still looks bad ass, and definitely not something you'd want to see chasing you in a corn field, props at full throttle and those Gatling guns rolling. I'd like to mention that this design does take some liberties from Guido's design and gives the design a new cockpit above the center prop.
The wingspan is pretty wide and the wing tips and prop tips are quite sharp at the points. I think it's cool but something I could see those with younglings taking concern with. He does have wheels on the underside which is hard to see in the photos I took but they work with the tracks made for the train Knight Morphers that were previously released. Should you get the eventual Stormer and Warper, all three can connect and form their own little "train" while landed. It's really amazing how much extra gimmicks are thrown into this figure, but more on that later...
Transformation
The transformation is fairly simple but it's solid. Everything locks into place somewhere prior to transformation and during transformation there's some engineering genius thrown into this figure. There's "auto-morph" in the top wings, when you fold them back the head pops up, the shoulder points fold up, and the gears spin making it feel organically mechanical. Simplified after that step, the arms swing down, the legs spin round, move down and we're more or less there.
Robot Mode
Here you can see the figure in its full glory. The posability is amazing, and even includes some "mech-alive" movement of parts spinning in the legs when you bend them at the knee. This figure is riddled with lovely clicking ratchet joints all around that allow him hold some incredible poses. The plastic is sturdy and even thin portions can take a good amount of flexing without fear of snapping. The red plastic specifically I want to mention how stunning the shimmer it has to it and I really don't think pictures capture it well enough.
This figure captures Guido's robot mode design almost frighteningly. When you look at this figure next to an image of the source material is amazing how well it was replicated. This figure features Gatling guns on his forearms, his seeker brothers on the other hand will be bearing different arms which is cool as it gives them all a little something special each. Screecher's head also features the trademark smirk and some really nice light piping when you can get to to work (as is usually the case with light piping). Roughly the size of a small voyager you really get a cool figure for what you pay for and in addition you can give him variety of different weapons and layouts.
Dual armaments on one arm. Double your damage on a single target! Pretty cool if that tickles your fancy. There are pins in the middle of the weapons that extend and you can clip the two guns together for an underhand or overhand holding of a separate single unit weapon (not pictured).
Melee weapons! The second set of wings, or "hip kibble", can be removed if you don't care for the kibble look and want a more streamlined robot mode or be used as a single or dual wielded blades. But that's not all! The genius who engineered this made it so they could clip together for a bat'leth like weapon (I'm ashamed to know that...I don't even like Star Trek...).
But that's not all! Like I said earlier, this figure really does a great job of making something from nothing. This, what I've lamely dubbed the giant shuriken of doom, happens when you detach the main wings and cleverly combine them with the second wings. It's just that extra step that gives something else to the collectors this was made for. I'm not gonna lie, it's not really for me who loves the huge wings on Screecher's back, but I'm sure there's someone out there that appreciates it and gets some enjoyment out of the extra mile effort that was put into this figure.
Conclusion
This is a fantastic figure that looks amazing in any collection. I could understand it not being everyone's cup of tea because of the design being very specific to that "steampunk" look, but if you're a Starscream fan, a seeker fan, or a fan of some great engineering and fun toys with out of the norm designs/alt modes, I think this is the figure for you.
I could see there being some apprehension due to the third party price tag it beckons, but if you can, try to obtain at least one out of the four versions that have been announced for release to fiddle with as it would be a shame to not appreciate this figure to some degree. I'll also be getting Stormer and Warper, but I really like my seekers. Overall I think this figure shouldn't be overlooked and think most people who get one will also enjoy it as much as I have.
Grand knowledge of all things Transformers
[{o}] Till all are One
