JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Stargrave wrote:Seems to me like if they could give Siege Starscream a waist swivel, and Jetfire a waist swivel, ER Starscream should have a waist swivel.
I mean they overcame the cockpit paradox they’ve mastered waist swivel technology for Primus’s sake there’s no excuses.
*takes a close look, then watches a video of the transformation*
Ahhhh, that's what they meant with eliminating it for the sake of transformation! For some reason, the cockpit piece has an extension in the back. The slot it leaves behind is for the hinge of the nosecone when it's lowered in robot mode position (unlike the Classics mold, it's attached to the cockpit, not the head, so it sits lower), that extension then ends up sliding into the waist area, effectively blocking it (even more with the skirt in front and the flap in the back).
Well, there's more to it than that. There's also the fact that the chest needs to be able to open up for the arms to tuck into the torso. Between accommodating that joint, and accommodating the cockpit, there's just no room for a waist swivel.
Stargrave, Skyfire A. is a Commander-class toy and thus has room for more complex engineering than a Voyager-class toy and B. uses the entirety of the chest to form the front of the jet mode (whereas the G1 Seeker design uses only the cockpit), so he doesn't have leftover sections of chest that need to open up for the arms to tuck in.
SIEGE Starscream is able to work in the waist swivel because of faux-parts and not having to care about altmode integration