Transformers Henkei! / Gentei!: Ghost Starscream

QUICK INFO:
Name: Ghost Starscream
Line: Transformers Henkei! (Japan)
Company: Takara Tomy
Year: November 2009
Price: $79.00 USD & up
Info: Transformers Generations 2009, Vol. 2 mail-away exclusive

Today we have the latest mail-away exclusive from the 2nd volume of the Transformers Generations book. In order to obtain this toy in Japan you had to buy the book and fill out an included order form to send away. If you didn't live in Japan you had to go through a 2nd party re-seller and it wasn't cheap as I've seen it being offer for as much as $120.00 USD! Is it worth your hard earned money? Hard for me to say, but let's take a look at one of the most iconic Generation One characters, Starscream.

Starscream comes packaged in the standard Henkei! style blister card, however as you can see the package is done in blue monochrome. I was a little surprised to see that the image used of Starscream is actually the translucent version and not simply a monochromed shot of the regular toy. The included tech spec trading card features the same product shot as the front packaging, only a full body shot with the power ratings on the reverse side.

I normally don't care for translucent toys, Transformers or not. The use of the translucent plastic this time around makes sense though and it works really, really well. Ever since Megatron returned as Galvatron and obliterated Starscream in the classic cartoon fans have wanted a ghost version of Starscream in toy form. Granted this is not the first version of Starscream in his ghost form (e-Hobby did a translucent version of the original G1 toy a few years back), this is argubaly the best version to date. I don't have many complaints about the toy in jet mode. I was a little disappointed that the Decepticon emblem is not tampographed on the underside of the wings. Small gripe granted, but it doesn't really take anything away from the rest of the toy.

The toy looks great under regular lighting, but it really shines (no pun intended) when exposed to natural light. I used a little sunlight in these pictures to show just how ghostly the figure can look. The only solid plastic used are the thighs and the silver chrome around the tips of his missile launchers. The rest of the body is fully translucent, even his head!

Here is good comparison shot of the toy in natural light (sunlight) and regular lighting (florescent).

This toy is wonderfully done and would make a great addition to any Transformers Henkei! or Classics collection. Because of it's exclusive nature and price it isn't for everybody. If the price tag scares you away then I highly recommend you track down the regular Henkei! version of Starscream as you see in this last comparison picture. It is much more G1 accurate than Hasbro versions. A fellow collector friend of mine brought to my attention that this mold surprisingly doesn't appear to be suffering any mold degradation. Seeing how Takara Tomy has used this mold approx. 11 times (Classics, Henkei!, Botcon uses) prior to this release one would think the mold would start to show some signs of where. All the joints are very tight which is really nice since there are a lot of points of articulation in the figure. Of the 4 Gentei! figures released thus far (the other 3 being Mirage, Wildrider, Strafe) I have to say Starscream is tied for being my favorite. Takara Tomy hit a home run with this release and I can see it being very popular with the fandom for years to come.

Transformers Gentei! / Henkei! Strafe

Behold! The latest Gentei! / Henkei! release from Japan. Strafe is simply a repaint of the Henkei! Cyclonus figure, but is supposed to be the Generation One version of the character. Regardless of of who he really is, let's get right to the review!

Like past Gentai! exclusives, Strafe comes packaged in a monochrome black/white packaging of the toy it was repainted from...in this case Cyclonus. Not much else to say.

When I first saw the solicited pictures back in February/March I wasn't sure what to think...other than I liked him. Some people have referred to him as the "candy cane" Transformer. I just think he's so oddly different he's cool. As you may be able to tell the wings have remained chromed, now sporting a shiny red deco. Strafe's Targetmaster companion is Rocketbot, a repainted Nightstick that was also included w/ Cyclonus. I am happy to report that the gold on Rocketbot is a metallic gold and NOT chromed gold. When used right I'm OK w/ chrome plating, but I'm glad Takara Tomy decided to tone down the Targetmaster and go with a metallic paint instead.

I hate when jets don't have landing gear so I'm happy they were included on this toy. I also hate it when you've got a robot basically hanging underneath the alt mode. Glad to see they were able to engineer this toy to hide most of the robot bits.

Strafe and Rocketbot ready for combat!

I'm glad Takara Tomy decided to make the feet, legs, elbows and fists orange because it helps break up the Christmas themed red & white. The orange really pops and makes the figure stand out even more. Some would say that is a bad thing, but alas I disagree. His eyes feature translucent blue lightpiping to allow light to enter from the rear of the head and give his eyes a glowing appearance. A bright red Cybertron/Autobot symbol appears right in the middle of his chest.

One of the best features of the toy however is the articulation. I count 17 points of articulation. His feet have 2 toe tabs each that are independent of each other that combined w/ articulated knees, thighs and waist joints let you pull off some really good action poses.

So a lot of people will be wondering if they should plop down their hard earned money for a simple repaint. That's always a hard question for me to answer. I find myself buying less and less repaints now days thanks to a number of reasons, but I just couldn't pass this one up. I love the overall color scheme, mold and character so it made the decision rather easy for me. If you have the Hasbro Universe or Takara Tomy Henkei! version of Cyclonus then you essentially know what you're getting. All in all I think this is a great toy with a great color scheme (just screams Fire Guts in my opinion), but due to his price tag and limited nature he's not a Transformer for everybody.