Kids (and not-so-young kids) have the most original ideas and wildest imaginations. I, for one, am one of them; and being a Transformers aficionado, I have also cooked up some of the most unbelievable ideas with our favourite robots in disguise. One of them is the idea (a belief, perhaps?) revolving around Starscream and Axl Rose. And since we are currently featuring our favourite treacherous Decepticon as Cybertron Philippines Transformer of the Month – as well as the revitalized news surrounding Guns N’ Roses’ long-awaited album in years, Chinese Democracy believed to be due in early March – I guess now’s a best time as any to explore this idea I’ve had for quite some time now.

1985 was the year I was exposed to the Transformers. Like any 80’s kid, I got myself acquainted with memorable characters like Sideswipe (my personal fave), Optimus Prime, Megatron, and, of course, Starscream. We went along for the long ride from Season One to the animated movie to the final years of Generation One; and even during the last gasps of the Generation Two years. Unfortunately, all great things come to an end (but eventually comes back for nostalgia) and I went on from being a kid to a teenager.

I came of age in the early 90’s, and it was in 1992 when I was first heard of heavy, guitar-based rock and metal bands like Nirvana, Metallica and, of course, Guns N’ Roses. Like any high school kid back then, I embraced the raw, energetic sound the Gunners delivered – the great guitar parts, the attitude, and yes, the profanity – the rock (pronounced: RRHAHKK!) sound that Axl Rose and company put forth into their songs. And it was during this dark and confusing time in my life that some bits of my old romance with the Transformers was rekindled – thanks to Axl’s voice.

It was instantaneous: the moment I heard Axl Rose’s shrill, rasping and grating voice in the cassette player (yes, I still used cassette players back then), Starscream’s trademark voice came back to my mind. I used to joke with classmates and bandmates that Axl Rose was Starscream – and managed to convince a few of them, too. Never in both the histories of the Transformers franchise and of the rock world did the voices of Starscream and Axl Rose were duplicated by anyone else. Both voices were purely original productions of human (and Cybertronian?) vocal chords. Often imitated, but never duplicated.

Now before all of you go on your ways and claim my eccentricity, think about it. Really. And I have some solid evidence for it. Listen to Starscream’s menacing laughter in the Generation One episode “Starscream’s Ghost” (season 3), then expose your eardrums to the Guns N’ Roses song, “Get In The Ring,” and wait for the part where Axl is laughing maniacally. See, err, I mean, heard that? Notice the similarity? I knew you would.

For a little backgrounder on the personalities behind the voices, Generation One Starscream was voiced by Chris Latta. Along with Starscream, he is also best known for voicing Cobra Commander in the G.I. Joe animated series – both of whom carried the trademark shrill and raspy sound which made the characters always seem duplicitous and conniving regardless of what they were saying, as well as adding an element of comic relief. He also provided the voice for the Autobot mad scientist Wheeljack and the Autobot’s human ally Sparkplug. Chris also played a number of roles for television and films, as well as being a successful stand-up comedian. Unfortunately, Chris Latta died from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1994.

(A little bit for us Filipinos: we often refer to Starscream’s raspy voice as “tunog lata” to the point of creating a minor annoyance to our eardreams. It really is coincidental that the actor behind Starscream’s voice is named “Latta.”)

Axl Rose, on the other hand, is the lead singer for Guns N’ Roses. The only remaining original member of the band, Rose still places high in numerous polls as one of hard rock’s all-time greatest frontmen and is also infamous for his onstage antics and disputes with former bandmates. Rose lived – and still lives – a very troublesome life. He has been involved with a great number of violent incidents since childhood, and fame only pushed the Gunner to the edge. In spite of all the negative media, Rose is still remembered for his voice talents in Guns N’ Roses. Oh, and Axl Rose is still very much alive and actually promised to come out with the new GN’R album this year.

With the new Transformers live-action movie coming to theaters this year, here’s one Transfan rooting for Axl Rose to be Starscream. Even for just five minutes. Who knows? He might appear in the sequel, yes?

Guns N’ Roses album, Chinese Democracy, is scheduled to hit stores March 6. Unless Axl changes his mind again (for the nth time!).

The Transformers live-action movie will hit theaters 04 July 2007.

After 2004’s Landmark MP-1 Convoy and its less than stellar 2005 repaint MP-2 Ultra Magnus comes the first Masterpiece Decepticon, MP-3 Starscream.

First announced when THS-02 Hybrid G1 Convoy was released in early 2006, multitudes of fans eagerly anticipated this next new addition to the premium (and quite pricey) Masterpiece line, later that year. They then rejoiced when it was announced that Starscream would be designed by Macross co-creator and original pre-Transformers Diaclone designer, Shoji Kawamori. This new mold as everyone was predicting was ripe for repainting / retooling to create the other seekers and coneheads.

Later, when prototype pics began leaking over the internet, everyone was ecstatic, as Starscream’s robot mode looked exactly like he did in the old Generation 1 cartoons. Until a month later when the painted samples were revealed, everyone wondered why their favourite Decepticon Air Commander was painted blue, and his robot mode was only 9.5-10″ tall.

This led to some fans (including myself) deciding to skip MP-3 altogether and wait for a show accurate version, much like what they did to the G1 re-issue TF Collection Starscream who was repainted to match his anime incarnation.

As months went by, no news came about if a show accurate version would ever be released either from Hasbro or Takara, what was leaked however was Takara’s plans for MP-5 Megatron.

This was when it hit me, since Megs is coming and that a Starscream repaint has not yet been announced, I pondered to give the MP-3 a shot.

After picking up my unit, the first thing I noticed after seeing that the box was larger than those of the MP-1 and MP-2.

The box dimensions are exactly taller by an inch and wider by an inch and a half. The depth of the boxes on the other hand are the same as the previous TF Masterpieces.

The entire package is also considerably lighter, which fans had initially speculated that the entire thing would be made of plastic and no die-cast content.

Another thing worth noting is that after opening the box, Starscream is packaged in jet mode, which was in a way unexpected since Takara / Hasbro packaged their larger toys in robot mode.

The jet mode looks impressive and at the scale of 1/60 it is quite comparable to most Macross Valkyries.

I was however awed by the intricacy of the sculpt; they really paid good attention to the details of the F15 fighter plane, of which the alternate mode of Starscream and the seekers were based from.One other thing that sets him apart from the other Masterpieces are that his faction symbols and other details are decals, which for me is so 1980’s since computerized painting has evolved in leaps and bounds since then.

In this mode, you can detach the default “null ray” missiles to attach the more contemporary warheads included in the package.

Among his other jet mode accessories apart from the warheads and the base, is an attachment that could hold MP-1’s Megatron rifle in tow, now that’s continuity for the line if I ever saw one.
[

Rear viewAnother detail that was added is his hidden radar inside the jet’s nosecone that could be opened. He also comes with Dr. Archeville that could sit inside the cockpit.

Transforming him to robot mode is both challenging and scary at first. Mr. Kawamori is a genius when it comes to utilizing jet parts to form his robot mode. I would advise everyone to be extremely careful as some joints may have a tendency to break when using more than enough force. Thing to watch out for are his wing flaps which may be prone to breakage.

During the course of his transformation, it is then that you will note that he does have some die cast content in him, namely the brace base that holds all the plastic parts together, which is somewhat only around 8% of his total embodiment. It is also at this point that you will understand why Starscream had to be cast in plastic, since the multitude of moving parts would result in a severe case of paint chips, not to mention, it transforms a lot easier in plastic, like in the case of Alternators.

You will also understand the logic behind the paint scheme, Mr. Kawamori’s aim is to create a real life accurate F15 that could transform into Starscream, thus his red shoulders had to go, since this would impact the realism of his jet mode.

In robot mode, as in his alternate mode, he can also hold the Megatron rifle accessory
Other nifty details include a second face that contains his signature smirk, as well as hidden breast missiles that were first showcased in his Robot Masters figure incarnation.

One of the downsides is that he looks quite short beside Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus, but he is taller than Alternators / Binaltech bots.

.As I have said earlier, I was initially turned off by his size and colours, but after a while, he kind of grows on you, and he is now one of my favourites.

One bad thing to watch out for, is that this is actually my Second MP-3, the first one after transforming to robot mode actually had a factory defect in that his right fingers were missing / not attached. Good thing the retailer was able to replace my defective unit with a new one.

While a show accurate version with painted on decals as tall as MP-1 and 2 would have been grand, I somehow believe that Takara truly gave us a Masterpiece. I actually love it so much that I’m also willing to get this mold again if it gets repainted as Skywarp, Thundercracker and even Sunstorm.