So here are my thoughts on the first two voyager class studio series figures, Starscream and Optimus Prime. Hope you enjoy!
First off, we will take a look at the packaging.
It is really quite sturdy, as well as good looking. By just holding the boxes, you can tell this line was made for collectors first, and not children. A nice and welcome change from the norm.
Then you get inside the boxes, and find not only the figure, but a nice little diorama display stand. The artwork on it depicts a seen from the movies that the figure appeared in. Starscream's is from the city battle at the end of the first movie. Prime's is from the forest fight towards the beginning of the second movie. Sure, many will find them a bit cheesy, and I myself will not use them for display, but it's still a really nice touch, and I like it.
Starscream is a hair large for his though.
Let's look at the Robot modes.
As you can see, Starscream is great. You can't tell in a picture, but this guy is super solid in n hand. All his joints are tight so he can hold a pose and stand just fine on his own. The same holds true for Prime, though he could use quite a bit more paint apps. The black hinge in the middle of his chest is honestly not as bad in hand as it looks in pictures. I also find his arms to front of semi transformation worth it.
They also have nice weapons storage on thier backs. Always a plus.
Here are a couple of comparison shots with previous versions.
In vehicle mode Starscream is, once again, the clear stand out. His design actually manages to hide his parts rather nicely for a jet mode transformer.
The underside is still a tad ugly, bit much better than the standard "legs pushed up and arms held at sides" take.
Prime turns out to be a fairly clean semi, but once again he needs more paint apps. For god's sake, Hasbro, paint the goddamm rims.
The weapons have storage points in alt mode as well.
Honestly, this whole line has knocked it out of the park for me. This is the first line of non masterpiece style figures I've been truly xcited about in several years, and I'm not even that huge of a movie fan.
