When someone asks if you’re a god, you say yes if you’re Sunstorm
on September 1, 2012 at 9:24 pm
Who’s got two thumbs and loves things that are horribly orange? This guy!
Sunstorm‘s a little less orange than I’d prefer. The original e-Hobby toy was orange creamsicle, a gloriously obnoxious shade not entirely possible in RGB photography, but Masterpiece Sunstorm runs a range from yellow to a yellowy orange. The jet mode gradients between those two colors from nose to tail, and so when it transforms, you end up with a robot that’s sort of yellow-orange with yellow boots. The e-Hobby toy had a limited plastic breakdown, too, and so this more-complex toy tries to more accurately match the generic who appeared briefly in the cartoon, with white shoulder intakes, thighs, biceps, and fists.
As I said, not quite the orange I was hoping for. However, it’s still a friggin’ stark-bright day-glow Playskool fighter jet, and that still touches me in all the right places.
Which is why I was happy to sell my MP Starscream to better afford buying this guy. Yes, I liked Starscream because he was a more realistic desaturated hue, skewing towards realism, and the many alterations to the mold emphasizes animation-model accuracy over jet mode realism, but orange always trumps realism for me. Now you know my hierarchy.
Included in the cosmetic mold alterations is a new head. The old one was kind of narrow, partly because it had to fit through a narrow gap in the fuselage during transformation, but the new one is wider. The vents on the side of his head compress into the sides of his helmet so you can still squeeze the head through. I like the new head better, so that works out for me.
Since the retooled version of this toy was released as a “Coronation Starscream,” Sunstorm comes with those parts as well, even though Sunstorm hasn’t ever worn a crown, shoulder pads, and a cape. Maybe it’s his formal wear. He does think he’s a god, after all, what with the accident-of-birth radiation powers, so I guess it’s not a stretch that he’d dress the part.
Though the Masterpiece toy’s orange is inferior to the original toy’s, the articulation helps fill the gap for me. Because of Sunstorm’s well-articulated hands and arms and his balljointed neck, he can assume poses that aren’t limited to “raise arms.” He can stretch out his arms and open his palms, as if he believes he’s controlling the cosmos. He can look up into the heavens. In short, he can have personality.
One real disappointment is that he doesn’t have the stand that the first MP Starscream did. I kinda wanna do floating-in-the-air poses. I guess maybe I could buy a MP Thundercracker at Toys”R”Us to get one? Though that’d be a $70 stand with somebody else’s name tampographed on it. Gnngh.
(Hey, during which iteration of this mold was the Dr. Arkeville pilot figurine replaced with the pilot pilot figurine?)
Finally, this toy came with a limited Sunstorm collectible coin.
Not sure what I’m gonna do with that, but I ain’t gonna turn it down.
You don’t even make mention of the flames?
There’s flames.
Yay, that alone make s him better than Starscream!
Coronation starscream was the first to have an actual pilot.
Random practical suggestion – try some of those Gundam model figure stands, maybe? While Sunstorm might be a little more massive/dense than a Master Grade Gundam, the stands have some bracing on them, so it might work.
(Plus, the stands tend to be cheap enough to try it and kitbash them a little if they don’t work straight out of the bag.)
Now all we need is an MP acid storm.
The mold lost those idiotic hip plane-slabs and got the ability to stand up on its own? They went all-out!
I’m not sure why that kibble is any more idiotic on his hips rather than his legs. They’re the same plane parts.
Because it’s not GeeWon.
Since you asked, there are basically (in my world-renowned opinion) two basic types of kibble: kibble that adheres closely to existing body parts, and kibble that sticks out on its own. Examples of the former are the large hood-chests of Jazz and the Datsun brothers and, yes, the vertical tailfins of Starscream; examples of the latter are the door-wings on Jazz and the Datsun brothers, and the wing-wings on starscream. One of the notable differences between the two types of kibble is that the former is usually looked upon neutrally or even favorably for using alt-mode parts well (unless it’s fake kibble) unless it restricts articulation, and the latter is quickly subject to criticism unless it looks good from some sort of stylistic point of view (making wings a popular choice).
So: storing tailfins and a bit of plane side on the side of the legs is cleanly and efficiently storing the required alt-mode bits; hanging large slabs of plane with fins sticking awkwardly out of them in a failed attempt to sort of imply misshapen oversize scabbards is a sad design failure, that happens to look like ass. Which is made worse by the fact that it had already been shown that the failure was unnecessary by the prototype.
Oh, and also, it wasn’t GeeWon. Which would be less of a problem if the Masterpiece line wasn’t explicitly about creating versions of G1 characters with a much higher standard of design and engineering, and of improved cartoon and/or vehicle mode accuracy. So yeah – this was supposed to be G1 Starscream, so pointlessly deviating from the show models kind of is a minus.
If this wasn’t supposed to be G1 Starscream, then sure, hang big ungainly plane slabs off his hips. Or have them sticking out of his eye sockets, whatever. But that’s not the situation here.
He got the pilot figurine when the mold was remolded into Coronation Starscream.
I really like what they did with this mold. The new Starscream is WAY better than the old, and now I’m on the hunt for the TRU Exclusive Thundercracker. If Hasbro has a brain, they’ll do Skywarp too.
..Unfortunately, the only SunStorm I have is the War Within Titanium version, but its not like he’s terrible or anything.
Hasbro already did Skywarp. I don’t remember it being a big seller either so since Hasbro DOES have a brain, I seriously doubt they’ll release him again.
They gave Walmart MP Skywarp a few years ago. Eventually he clogged the clearance aisles, marked down to $30. $15 in some places. Not a great seller.
I’m talking about the new mold, not the old one.
“Hey, Wal-Mart! Here’s the same toy you couldn’t sell before, only this time he has a slightly different kibble arrangement. You want this, right?”
Do you really think Wal-Mart is going to take a chance on the same toy that didn’t sell before with only a few changes?
Jesus you guys, I’m just saying we have an MP11 Starscream and now an MP11 Thundercracker and Sunstorm, it just seems Skywarp is a natural follow up.
Jesus, you jump all over me like I just said something about Obama.
Haha… This comment is funny to me.
Did you ever get the Target exclusive Animated Sunstorm?
Yes. I have many, many Sunstorms. All of them except the Japanese Legends Animated one, I believe.
That is some glorious orange. Clearly you are a man of fine tastes, good sir. *Tips hat, takes a sip of tea and wanders off*