All Hail Lord Starscream; Ruler of the Decepticons and Emperor of Cybertron.

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The first two figures released in the Six Inch Titanium Transformers line were met with mixed reviews by fans. The Megatron figure was considered especially disappointing and has since become a notorious shelf warmer. There was some hope that the second wave would be better; in a sense, Thundercracker exceeds the expectations.

Titanium Thundercracker is packaged in his robot form, so this review will start with this mode. He stands about five inches from head to foot, six when the tip of his "backpack" is included in the measurements. His primary color is a light shade of blue, what one would expect for a character named "Thundercracker", with bits of red, dark gray, silver, and yellow splashed on sections of his body; with the yellow located mostly on his chest. His head and hands are made out of a soft, dark gray rubber-like material with silver on the face. He has a large violet Decepticon insignia stamped on the center of his chest, just above the windows of his cockpit. This particular sculpt is based largely on the character's appearance in the popular Dreamwave "War Within" comic series.

Thundercracker has 15 points of articulation, mostly concentrated on his limbs. His head can turn 360 degrees, as do his fists, which appear to be set on a peg-like joint in his forearms. He can bend at the elbows, his arms can rotate 360 degrees vertically and they can be raised outward slightly; though not completely on the horizontal due to the kibble on his shoulders. His legs can bend at the knees, do "splits" at his hips, and even rotate completely around in the center. This last feature is due in large part to how Thundercracker transforms, but it does allow for a larger degree of posturing, stability allowing.

Those concerned about loose joints on Thundercracker need worry not - this is actually one of the more stable characters released thus far. His fists are a bit loose, but they hold their place fairly well, so this is a minor quibble. All of his leg joints are ratcheted so they hold whatever position they're placed in. The number of poses this figure can presume is only limited by one's imagination and the toy's overall stability in said poise.

In reviews past, I would attempt to describe the method of transforming a character from one mode to another. I will abstain for this and future reviews.

Titanium Thundercracker's transformation is actually fairly simple; the instructions may not even be needed the first time around. That's not atypical for a toy that's the size of the average basic figure and does little to detract from the overall appeal. It is still suggested that one keeps the instructions on hand for reference, just in case.

Titanium Thundercracker's alt mode is similar to that of the fan-dubbed "pyramid jets" first seen in the three part episode "More than Meets the Eye". Not surprising, considering that the artists for "War Within" used that design to base their concepts for the pre-Terran Seeker jet alts. Personally, I believe that Thundercracker's jet design has more in common with an early version of an Imperial Star Destroyer than the "tetrahedron" ships or Cybertron Starscream, but that's probably because I was watching the original Star Wars trilogy at the time I initially transformed this toy. He bears more light blue and less dark gray in this mode, but otherwise his color scheme has changed little and he's about as articulate as a brick. Then again, he's a jet, not a bird.

Thundercracker hold together rather solidly in this form, with most of his joints and attachments holding tight. My model does have an issue with staying on the peg on the left side of his nosecone, but that may be just my figure, basic wear from frequent transformations back and forth, or a combination of both. He has a set of double wheels located under each wing and a retractable landing gear under his nosecone; the wheels all roll fairly well. It's an interesting feature, though I question why an alien craft, which theoretically has VTOL capability, needs wheels, but this is a minor quibble. Another issue concerning this figure is that the back of the jet is open, exposing the robot head and fists. Considering that I display him in robot mode and assuming that most wouldn't display him in jet mode "butt first", it's not worth a fuss.

The display stand that comes with Thundercracker is the generic version all figures of his size, both Star Wars and Transformers, are packed with. The only real difference between his stand and the one that comes with Six Inch Titanium Megatron is the name on the tag. If Thundercracker has any major flaws, it's here; a more "personalized" stand might have been better for this figure, cost saving or not.

It strikes me as interesting that Galoob and Hasbro decided to release Thundercracker alongside Jetfire for this wave instead of his more infamous "cousin" Starscream. Considering both Starscream's popularity with the fans and that he has a closer relationship to Jetfire in canon, one would expect the releases to be reversed. I personally believe this is a good thing since it exposes the buying public to a comparatively obscure character in Transformers history. 'Screamer fans should not worry about their favorite backstabber being overlooked as a repaint of this figure into the infamous traitor is planned for a future release. In the meantime, I highly recommend picking up this figure if you can find him as he is easily the best figure in the series thus far. It is definitely a sign that the designers are slowly learning from past mistakes.

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