Starscream's Ghost

« The Transformers ep 75 » « Transformers 2010 ep 7 »
"Ebenezer Ooooctaaaane! You must pick a mode and stick to it!"
"Starscream's Ghost"
Production code	700-95
Season	3
No. in season	10
Production company	Sunbow Productions
Airdate	October 2, 1986
Written by	Megeen McLaughlin
Animation studio	AKOM
Continuity	Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Watch this episode on YouTube

On the run from the Decepticons, Octane seeks asylum on Cybertron, where he encounters the ghost of Starscream, who is still scheming in death.

Synopsis

Clearly, Homeland Security is earning its budget.

Exiled from the Decepticons, the former Decepticon Octane now makes a living freighting scrap metal from planet Junkion for the Autobots. However, his past catches up to him when a vengeful Galvatron hires an alien bounty hunter, the Skuxxoid, to assassinate Octane. Just after he leaves Junk, Octane's cargo ship is destroyed by a bomb planted by his would-be assassin. Fortunately Octane is merely blown away from the explosion and is rescued by a passing transport ship.

Who would have thought Brawl could keep quiet?

Enraged by this failure, Galvatron dispatches the Combaticons to track and eliminate the exile. Fearing for his life, Octane takes refuge with the Autobots on Earth and seeks the advice of his friend Sandstorm, who at first doesn't believe him. When they are ambushed and the Combaticons concentrate on Octane while leaving Sandstorm alone, however, the Autobot is convinced and the pair escape Earth in an Autobot shuttle.

"Why'd you take me here, man? This bar has the ugliest hookers in space."

The two Triple Changers stop and refuel at a neutral alien space station and use the time to discuss the situation at the adjoining diner. The Skuxxoid, having either tracked them there or anticipated their arrival, poses as the host and ushers them into the diner. As they enter, some seated customers get in a fight, knocking their own table over. Octane and Sandstorm nonchalantly right the table and have a seat, and soon a waitress delivers a plate of energon appetizers. As they eat, Octane tells Sandstorm that Galvatron wants him dead because he had stolen Trypticon and tried to become the most powerful Decepticon. Meanwhile, the Skuxxoid tries several times to kill Octane but is thwarted by a farcical series of mishaps. In frustration, he finally charges at his target from behind and jumps onto his shoulders, pounding his head repeatedly to little effect. Octane grabs the alien and demands to know who hired him. When the Skuxxoid says he was hired by Galvatron, Octane decides to go deeper into hiding.

Octane's a leg man.

He is followed to Cybertron by Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps. When the attacking Decepticons pin him down, he seeks shelter in what appears to be a large drainage pipe, but turns out to be the secret entrance to a Decepticon Crypt. While there, he encounters the ghost of Starscream, who conspires with Octane to take control of Cyclonus. Successful, Starscream then proceeds to "capture" the runaway Octane. However, they are pursued by the Autobots, intent on protecting Octane. Rodimus confronts "Cyclonus", and when he hears his voice, he recognizes him as Starscream instantly. Starscream promises Rodimus a "bonus" if he lets them go, and Rodimus agrees, to the other Autobots' confusion.

When "Cyclonus" brings the cowering Octane back to Chaar, Galvatron is initially furious that the exile was not destroyed. But "Cyclonus" convinces Galvatron that the traitor should be interrogated for any information he might have learned amongst the Autobots. "Cyclonus" puts on a show of torturing Octane, who eventually relents and volunteers a "secret". The two conspirators take Galvatron to a location where Rodimus Prime appears to be alone and vulnerable. Galvatron attacks him and a short battle ensues, but he pauses when he realizes that several more Autobots have come out of hiding and all have their guns trained on him. Rodimus Prime waves to "Cyclonus" and Octane as they abandon Galvatron and fly away.

"DAMN YOU, TACO BELL!"

"Cyclonus" and Octane return to Chaar and lounge on Galvatron's throne, gloating about their successful ambush. But their mood is quickly spoiled by the appearance of a battered and vengeful Galvatron. Starscream reveals his identity to the Decepticon leader, who fires at him just as he exits Cyclonus's body. The gut-shot Cyclonus mumbles that the last thing he remembers is being in the Decepticon Crypt. Galvatron orders Cyclonus to be repaired, and Scourge acknowledges the command... then giggles with Starscream's voice as an image of the ghost becomes slightly visible over him.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Head on up and moooove 'em out! Come on down to Cybertron! A day without scrap metal is like a breakfast without sunshine!"

—Junkyard

"Ehh, I'd probably be a jerk too if I was made of junk."

—Octane, apparently having forgotten that he is a jerk.

[Taps Octane on the shoulder.] "It's your old buddy, Starscream! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Just a shadow of my former self. Don't you think?"
"STAAARRRRRSCCCRRREEEEAAAAAMMMM!"

—Ghost Starscream and Octane have a less than warm reunion.

[Autobots shoot at Decepticons in air.]
"They've spotted us!"
[muttering] "Whatever would we do without a powerful intellectual like you along?"

—Octane to Cyclonus/Starscream who is thrilled by the remark.

"Okay, that's it!"
"I'm still hungry!"
"Oh, this? I picked it up on Mars."
"Ahaha, you mean without a paddle?"
"Well, I thought the water was safe to drink."
"Is he with us? We gotta get movin'!"

—A group of diner patrons have the most nonsensical conversation ever while unintentionally thwarting one of the Skuxxoid's assassination attempts.

"Take THAT, you overgrown tin can, and that, and THAT, and—I didn't WANT this job, I HAD to take it! I've got a wife and kids! I HAVE to deactivate you! Look, a guy's got to make a living, don't you understand?!"

—‘Easy, Skuxxoid, we don't want to hear your life story!

"He must be hiding in the crypt."
"Good. Then we won't have to take him anywhere when we're done."

—Cyclonus and Scourge

Scourge: You! Go down that shaft!
Whining Sweep: How come I gotta do the dirty work?
Scourge: You! See if the traitor is hiding down there!
Cowardly Sweep: No way! If you're so fired up to know what's going on, you go down there!
Scourge: YOU LEAD!
Politely Declining Sweep: I wouldn't want anyone thinking that I question you as a leader, but sorry.
Cyclonus: I question your leadership skills, Scourge. The last one in there will face me!
[The Sweeps jump into the shaft.]
Cyclonus: You have much to learn.
Scourge: Yes, that is true.
Cyclonus: Now, DIVE!

—Scourge, the Sweeps and Cyclonus debate entering the Crypt.

"Come out and die like a warrior! How dare you disgrace your ancestors by cowering like a pocket computer! He's worse than the Sweeps! Come out and face your fate like the powerful Decepticon you once were, not like the miserable excuse for a Decepticon you have become!"

—Cyclonus, after spotting Octane hiding behind somebody's marker

"Yes... we will interrogate him. Even if it's not informative, it will be fun!"

—Galvatron

"I'll never tell! (Hey, you got pretty close that time.)"
[Snicker] "You'd better before they discover your bad acting!"

—Octane and Cyclonus/Starscream during their faux interrogation

Notes

Continuity notes

• This episode is the first appearance of Starscream's ghost. He'll reappear in the follow-up episode "Ghost in the Machine" (though the details don't quite line up).
  • Outside the original cartoon, ghost Starscream would also appear in the 4th issue of the 2010 manga and in the The Battle of the Star Gate manga, and a decade later in the Beast Wars episode "Possession". He's also put in more recent appearances in issues of the Information Administration Teletraan 15 Go! Go! comics, Kiss Players radio drama, the Transformers × Evangelion online story as the "Angel"-scream, and the Facebook blog "Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur".
  • The Beast Wars episode "Bad Spark" would explain Starscream's "ghost": the spark of Starscream possesses a mutation which has rendered it indestructible.
• The creature that eats the Skuxxoid's gun paraphrases an old favorite line of the Insecticons: "A little heavy on the photons."
• The Decepticons have a dark sense of humor. Starscream's marker in the Decepticon crypt consists of nothing but his boots, in apparent "homage" to his death in The Transformers: The Movie, wherein his legs were the only part of him not seen crumbling to ash.
  • Three markers in the crypt are recycled from the Decepticon Hall of Heroes where Starscream's coronation took place: Bloodron appears behind Octane, Floron is in the hallway Cyclonus walks down, and Murdron is is next to Bloodron when Cyclonus finds Octane. Although these characters were unnamed on-screen, their names were revealed years later on a piece of Floro Dery concept art for the Hall.
  • Other markers in the crypt include Thundercracker, Megatron, and, apparently, Dirge (or someone with similar mannerisms).
  • For some reason, the Decepticon Crypt is accessed via a drainage grate.
• The freighter Octane uses at the start of this episode is apparently a common Autobot design, as one is seen entering Cybertron as the Decepticons make their second attempt on Octane's life.

Grab your dipstick and double-click...

• The female robot Octane ogles on his internets looks surprisingly like Arcee... but with much larger... shoulder pads. Yes.
• This is the first and the last time Cyclonus is seen serving as Galvatron's personal transport after Transformers: The Movie.
• Powers and gadgets:
  • When Octane and Sandstorm transform and go off joyriding, for some reason Sandstorm constantly emits huge clouds of exhaust fumes. It's presumably a skewed interpretation of his bio ability to whip up "blinding sandstorms", which he actually uses correctly to evade the Combaticons.
  • Sandstorm's cockpit is evidently large enough for Octane to operate him in robot mode. (In animation terms, Octane basically shrinks to fit inside him.)
• In the year 2006, the Skuxxoid uses the high-tech explosive dynamite.

Real world references

• The unnamed Junkion offers up a few pop culture references:
  • "Head 'em up and move 'em out" is a common reference to cowboy culture; it was made particularly famous as part of the theme to Rawhide.
  • "A day without scrapmetal is like a breakfast without sunshine" plays on an old ad campaign for orange juice: "Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine."
  • "Best to you each morning" is likewise an old Kellogg's cereal ad slogan.
• Starscream gets in a bizarre one of his own after he takes over Cyclonus' body. When Octane asks "is that you in there?", Starscream replies "only my metal polisher knows for sure." This borrows from an old Clairol hair color ad which featured the tagline "only her hairdresser knows for sure."
• The famous Star Trek door slide sound can be heard as the hatch on Octane's ship closes behind him.
• Sandstorm borrows the same helicopter blade sound effect used for Cop-Tur in Challenge of the Go-Bots.
  • Likewise, Cyclonus and the Sweeps use the two most common Go-Bot laser sound effects as they first open fire on Octane.
• Star Wars sound effects:
  • When Cyclonus/Starscream fires on Sandstorm (and again when Galvatron blasts Cyclonus), the laser sound is sampled from The Empire Strikes Back, when C-3PO is shot to pieces by a Stormtrooper. The sample fails to cut out 3PO's cry of "No!", and his voice can heard in this episode and each time the sound effect is used again, in "Only Human" and "The Rebirth, Part 1".^[1]

Animation and technical errors

We could also criticize the all-over-the-map vocal performance of Roger Carmel, but he actually sounds pretty awesome.

This episode was assigned to and produced by AKOM,^[2] but was evidently subcontracted to an additional unidentified studio, as the quality of the animation is leagues ahead of the usual AKOM fare. However, it still features noticeable errors.

• When first seen, Junkyard is drawn in Scrapheap's colors.
• Rodimus Prime, Galvatron, and Cyclonus all appear pretty-much-consistently in their outdated character models and colour schemes. Only in a few rear-view shots does Cyclonus appear with his finalised design (such as in the scene where he "interrogates" Octane), suggesting this studio had the up-to-date rear view character model to hand, but not the front-facing one.
• Everybody gets big sexy lips - first Octane, then Sandstorm, then Cyclonus as the episode rolls on. While possible, whether or not that unidentified studio AKOM used was the same one that Toei used for "War Dawn" is anyone's guess.
• Cyclonus has huge eyebrows in the crypt scenes. His eyebrows and chin are also colored dark purple, rather than the normal pale purple.
• Cyclonus and Rodimus both have colored mouths, to match their helmets: purple and red, respectively.
• When Galvatron is shown giving orders to have Octane destroyed, he's missing from the shot - so the Skuxxoid is quaking in fear before an empty throne!

The scariest chair in the entire galaxy!

• As the Skuxxoid approaches the scrap conveyor, robots colored like Ultra Magnus, Kup and Sandstorm are shown where Octane and the Junkion should be.
• The thruster-glows on Octane's ship disappear after takeoff. Technically correct, since the ship shouldn't need to keep thrusting once it's in space, but not consistent with the way ships usually operate in the cartoon.
• Octane's robot pinup girl appears on a small monitor that wasn't there when we saw the full console a couple of shots earlier.
• While Octane is walking with Sandstorm outside Autobot City, he trips and falls over a rock. The rock actually jumps in front of Octane's foot causing him to fall down. Can't this guy catch a break?
• Coloring errors:
  • Blast Off's forehead is colored as though it were an optic visor.
  • Brawl's mouthplate is colored gray instead of brown as the smoke engulfs him.
  • Starscream's back cowling is colored cockpit yellow as he walks up behind Cyclonus.
  • Silverbolt has a red cockpit as he dives to attack.
  • Rodimus's helmet rims are orange instead of red as he orders the Decepticons to be encircled.
  • The center of Rodimus's spoiler is yellow instead of orange during and after the fight with Galvatron.
• Sudden starry night:
  • After Octane gets up and the pair begin to walk again, the background is of deep space, even though they are on Earth.
• After Onslaught and Blast Off observe Octane and Sandstorm fly off, Onslaught (who should be in command) begs Blast Off (the one who can fly) for permission to pursue... in Blast Off's voice. It seems somebody accidentally switched who was speaking which line at the storyboard or animation stage.
• Wrong lasers:
  • The standard Autobot and Decepticon lasers sound effects are MIA for this episode. The Combaticon lasers use one sound effect; Cyclonus and the Sweeps - and later the Autobots - use a variety of old science fiction stock sound effects for their weapons, some of which were standard sound effects on Challenge of the Go-Bots. (See also Real World References, above.)
• Autobot City's wall is very, very low—low enough for Octane and Sandstorm merely to jump over when the Combaticons fire upon them.
• The commercial bumpers have a few extra seconds' worth of music in this episode.
• The Skuxxoid's laser pistol has a sight as he arms it, but is sightless when he aims it at Octane. The sight reappears in subsequent shots.
• Octane reacts to the attacking Decepticons long before they actually emerge from the smoke cloud.
• When the Decepticons attack Octane on Cybertron, some of the laser fire coming towards Octane is coloured gold, like Autobot lasers.
• After smacking Scourge, Cyclonus returns to jet mode with no transformation sound.
• The back of Starscream's legs are colored light blue as he creeps up behind Cyclonus in the Crypt.
• Cyclonus destroys the bars in the grate, causing Octane to fall down the chute. Later, as Cyclonus and the Sweeps approach the damaged grate, its bars are fully intact.
• The fleeing Decepticons simply appear out of thin air on the monitor, while the background behind them remains unchanged.
• A layering error has the Aerialbots shooting at Sandstorm!

"Kup, there's something wrong with your optics!"
"They're fine, Magnus; Ratchet fixed 'em yesterday."
"...Ratchet's dead, Kup."

• Silverbolt is drawn with four engines when the Aerialbots go after Cyclonus/Starscream's group.
• When the Autobots counter-attack in an attempt to rescue Octane, Kup is shown arriving at the battle driving backwards.
• One of the Sweeps just hangs around behind Rodimus while Starscream and Octane take off.
• During Octane's "interrogation," Octane mouths Starscream's laugh.
• When Octane and the possessed Cyclonus are sitting around Decepticon headquarters discussing Galvatron's fate, Octane is shown mouthing Starscream's question, and Cyclonus is drawn mouthing Octane's response.

Continuity errors

• For some reason Autobot City appears to be deserted, as nobody comes out to investigate the battle with the Combaticons.
• Sandstorm and Octane are shown to be friends, when Sandstorm's only prior appearance was when we met him on the planet Paradron, far removed from the war for millions of years. It is possible they met between episodes, but it is strange nonetheless.
• The "energon" served on board the alien space station/space trucker rest stop is drawn and coloured as small orange wedges, rather than the traditional glowing purple cubes.
• Humanizing:
  • The Combaticons cough when they're surrounded by Sandstorm's dust clouds... even though none of them have mouths!
  • As Octane stuffs his face with "energon", he makes repeated "gulping" sound effects.
• The Autobot freighter leaves a cloud of smoke... in space. (It suddenly appears when the Decepticons need to use it for cover.)
• As Octane wanders through the crypt, he looks at the statue of a generic robot and paraphrases Dirge's catchphrase about "Death comes to he who crosses me" (a cut line from The Transformers: The Movie, actually used in "Five Faces of Darkness"). Only problem is, Dirge isn't dead! Despite being eaten by Unicron in the movie, and blowing up in "Five Faces", he shows up in several subsequent episodes. Even if he were killed in one or the other of these instances, when would the Decepticons have had a chance to build a memorial to him, as they didn't control Cybertron after the Unicron battle? And why doesn't the statue look like him in the first place?
• A Sweep comments that Cyclonus "sounds like Starscream", to which Scourge replies "No need to be insulting." Starscream mutters "You will suffer for that!" in response... but it's several shots and lines of dialog afterwards, breaking the flow and making it seem like he's addressing Sandstorm, who he just shot down. It's even more unfortunate since this one line seems to be setting up Starscream's later possession of Scourge - at the end of this episode and again in its sequel.
• A script glitch has Galvatron asking "You mean WHAT, old friend?" and Starscream replying "Who do you think I mean?" In keeping with the previous lines, Galvatron should have asked who.

Trivia

Hey, remember that episode where Blitzwing fought Starscream's ghost? That was awesome.

• Several clues indicate that this episode was originally scripted to feature Blitzwing in Octane's role, following on from the conclusion of "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5", in which Blitzwing was banished from the Decepticons and offered a place among the Autobots by Rodimus Prime (though he declined):
  • An internal Sunbow cast document for this episode lists Blitzwing, not Octane.^[3]
  • When Octane relates the reasons for his banishment, he quotes verbatim Galvatron's words to Blitzwing, that he would "never be welcome in the ranks of the Decepticons again".
  • The events of "Thief in the Night" are used to provide a reason for Octane's banishment, but that episode was produced and aired after this episode, suggesting this episode was re-written during production, taking inspiration from the later episode (Beau Weaver's delivery of Octane's lines as he recounts the events of "Thief" sound notably rushed, as if being squeezed into a space in the audio where they did not originally exist). The fit is notably not a perfect one: "Thief" did not end with Octane on bad terms with Galvatron, and neither episode offers any explanation for why Octane is on friendly terms with the Autobots, whereas Blitzwing going to them for protection would've been following up on Rodimus' offer from "Five Faces of Darkness."
  • A piece of artwork in Japan's TV Magazine shows Blitzwing being accosted by the specter of Starscream.
  • When Octane first sees Starscream, he is paralyzed in terror halfway between truck and robot mode. Starscream even remarks that he needs to be "straightened up". This reflects Blitzwing's on-package bio, which states that he "often gets stuck in mid-transformation."^[4]
  • In slightly more circumstantial territory, Starscream calls Octane "old friend," Octane displays familiarity with Thundercracker, and Sandstorm refers to Octane as an 'older model'—comments that are not necessarily incongruous, but which do all fit better with Blitzwing, who was part of the show's cast back when Starscream and Thundercracker were alive, and whose toy is a year older than Octane and Sandstorm's, than they do with Octane.
  • So, why was Octane swapped out for Blitzwing? Simply put, it's almost certainly because his toy was new. Though Blitzwing was still on shelves in 1986, he'd had plenty of promotion in season 2, and Octane's only other advertisment in the show was "Thief in the Night," indicating the older toy got bumped for the newer one.
• This episode's dialogue script ascribes all of Sandstorm's dialogue to Springer. While it's tempting to think that, like Octane, his character was consciously switched (to feature a toy promoted by only one other episode in the series), this script was evidently written up using the finished episode, rather than the actual recording script, so it's probably just a transcription error; the aforementioned early cast list that includes Blitzwing instead of Octane has the role filled by Sandstorm.^[5]
• Two of the alien patrons of the diner were originally for the episode "Chaos", though due to script changes, they were not used until "Starscream's Ghost".
• This was one of twelve episodes of the original cartoon released as audio adventures by the German company Karussell Musik und Video.
• This episode has an especially humorous tone, with quippy dialogue and wacky events such as Octane tuning into robo-porn and the Skuxxoid clumsily failing to kill him multiple times.

Foreign localization

French

• Title (European French broadcast): "Le fantôme de Starscream" ("Starscream's Ghost")
• Title (Canadian French broadcast): "Le fantôme d'Égo" ("Starscream's Ghost")
• Original airdate: ?

• This episode is one of those that has never been released on DVD in French.
• Concerning the European French dub:

• Despite Albert Augier being present to dub other characters, Starscream is dubbed by Georges Atlas. He gives him a "ghost" voice, delivering all his lines in a monotonous tone.
• Sandstorm's line "You ate it that time" and Octane's answer "Oh yeah?" are dubbed by "So, does that make you happy?" and Octane laughing.
• Octane's line "Eat my dust!" and Sandstorm's answer are simply dubbed by Octane saying "What do you think of that?".
• The crowd sounds of the space station are missing, it is very calm.
• Octane states that he eliminated Trypticon. That would make him a rather formidable opponent.
• When telling Octane that he will be safe on Cybertron, Sandstorm uses "vous" instead of "tu", making it sound like he talks to both Octane and the Skuxxoid. Indeed, he used "tu" with Octane in all previous scenes.
• In order to not pronounce Thundercracker's name, Octane simply says "I should hide somewhere else".
• When Octane hears the sounds, he says "I hope it's Sweep", like if Sweep was a character's name.
• The scene in which Starscream/Cyclonus pretends to torture Octane has not been dubbed correctly, they removed the "fake" effect. Between two "I won't talk", Octane says "He was great!" for some reason, and Cyclonus' line about Octane's bad acting is even replaced with "This is going to end badly for you if you continue".
• Before transforming, Galvatron tells Rodimus Prime "Enough, Optimus!". However, he says Rodimus a few seconds later after being kicked.

German

• Title: "Der Geist von Starscream" ("The Ghost of Starscream")
• Original airdate: ?

Italian

• Title (first dub): "Caccia al traditore" ("Traitor Hunt")
• Original airdate: ?

• Octane's line: «Uh, how's the food here?» becomes: «Come here, let's look at the menu». Saying "come here" doesn't make a lot of sense here.
• In this episode, Aerialbots are called "Arialbot".

• Title (second dub): "Il fantasma di Starscream" ("Starscream's Ghost")
• Original airdate: ?

Japanese

• Title: スタースクリームの幽霊 (Starscream no Yūrei, "Starscream's Ghost")
• Original airdate: December 26, 1986

Mandarin

• Title: "Sǐbùgānxīn de Hóngzhīzhū " (死不甘心的红蜘蛛, "Unresigned Starscream's Ghost")
• Original airdate: ?

Russian

• Title: "Prizrak Skandalista" (Призрак Скандалиста, "Starscream's Ghost")
• Original airdate: ?

Toys inspired by this episode

Wait a minute. Since when do ghosts have painted metal chests?

• Starscream Ghost Version (e-Hobby Exclusive, 2001)
  • ID number: 22
  • Accessories: Left & right fists, 2 missile launchers, 2 null rays, 2 cluster bombs, left & right wings, left & right tail fins, left & right tail wings, landing gear

Available concurrently with the 2001 reissue of the original Generation 1 Starscream figure, "Starscream Ghost Version" is an e-HOBBY exclusive Collector's Edition redeco of the 2001 Starscream reissue, cast almost entirely in translucent plastics (except for those parts made of die-cast metal) in homage to Starscream's tenure as a ghost in the third season of the original The Transformers cartoon. To make the toy further match Starscream's cartoon appearance, it features a notably lighter shade of blue, and a translucent orange cockpit as opposed to the traditional smoky grey. The toy came in unique monochrome-blue window box packaging featuring CGI artwork of Starscream.

Oh sure. Make a Transformer from the line that has some of the most complex figures ever cast ENTIRELY out of translucent plastic. Great idea.

• Starscream Ghost Version (2010)
  • ID number: MP-3G
  • Accessories: 2 null rays, 2 missile racks, Doctor Arkeville pilot figurine, gun clip, two-piece display stand

Cast almost entirely in translucent plastic, this "Ghost Version" Masterpiece figure is yet another callback to Starscream's spectral tenure from the Generation 1 cartoon. When purchased from e-HOBBY, buyers will receive an exclusive comic packaged with the figure.

Like Gentei Ghost Starscream, Masterpiece Ghost Starscream is cast in light purple translucent plastic instead of just colorless clear plastic like the G1 Ghost Starscream figure.

This figure was also released in Australia, as an exclusive through Toys"R"Us, in late 2010.

Surprisingly Ghost Starscream comes with the same sticker sheet as the original MP-3 Starscream, only with the numbering designation changed.

Starscream's transparency; sometimes it isn't just figurative.

• Starscream Ghost Version (Deluxe, 2009)
  • Accessories: 2 missile launchers (left and right), 2 missiles

Available only as a mail-away exclusive offered through Transformers Generations 2009 Volume 2 that was released in November 2009, this redeco of Starscream is the second in the character's history to pay homage to his time as a ghost in the third season of the Generation 1 cartoon by casting him almost entirely in traslucent colored plastic. Parts of the figure made in softer plastic, like his thighs, remain opaque.

Starscream Ghost Version uses the altered version of the Classics Starscream mold that originated with Classics Skywarp and was last seen with Acid Storm (down to the 2006 copyright date stamped on it), rather than the modified version first used on Universe Starscream and the iterations that followed (see below). He has the date K0409 (11/04/2009) etched into the inside of his leg.

• Clear Starscream (January 30, 2016)

Clear Starscream is a clear plastic redeco of the original Q-Transformers mold given away at Toys"R"Us stores with purchases of 5 or more Q-Transformers toys, and was limited to 3000 pieces. In the announcement for the toy, Starscream himself points out its resemblance to the "ghost mode" he's always getting toys of.

So if he gets shot in limb mode, does the combiner get phantom pain?

• Grand Galvatron (Multi-pack, April 30 2016)
  • ID number: UW-06
  • Accessories: Double-barreled blaster, hand/foot/gun

Unite Warriors "Ghost Starscream" is a new-head retooling of Combiner Wars Skydive, transforming into a made-up fighter jet that looks like a cross between an F-16 and an F-18. Like so many other "ghost" Starscream figures, he is cast almost completely in translucent plastics.

As a Deluxe-sized Unite Warriors figure, he can form the leg or arm of any Combiner Wars-style Combiner or into one of Legends Godbomber's legs, but is normally associated with Grand Galvatron. As such, his large (non-firing) double-missile-launcher accessory can convert into either a hand or foot for combiner forms.

He was sold in an TakaraTomy Mall exclusive giftset of Grand Galvatron along with Tactician Cyclonus, Curse Armada Thrust, Zombie War Breakdown, and Wandering Roller.

I'm still ahead of the game Megatron!

• Octone (Octane) (December 30, 2017)
  • ID number: LG57

Legends Ghost Starscream is a semi transparent redeco/retool of Titans Return Titan Master Nightbeat, featuring a new faceplate. His Headmaster form is designed to invoke the look of his ghost form. He comes as an accessory with Octone, homaging this episode with the aforementioned transparency. The stock photography shows that, in order to differentiate him in control of the body from Octone, the shoulder and head pylons should both be moved up instead of leaving them down. This might be an attempt to replicate Starscream's iconic shoulder pylons and head embellishments.

Home video releases

VHS

1987 — Transformers — Starscream's Ghost / The Nightmare Planet / The Ghost in the Machine (St. Michael Video Library)
1991 — Transformers — Starscream's Ghost / Fight or Flee (Tempo Video)

LaserDisc

1999 — The Transformers: 2010 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.

DVD

2001 — The Transformers: 2010 — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 3 Part 1 (Rhino Entertainment)
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 3 Part 1: Vol. 2 (Rhino Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 3 and Season 4 (Metrodome)
2004 — Transformers — Collection 4: Series 3.1 (Madman Entertainment)
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — Transformers — Season's Three & Four [sic] (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2010 — The Transformers — Seasons Three & Four: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2011 — The Transformers — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — The Transformers — Seasons Three & Four: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

References

1. ↑ Starscream's Ghost bloopers on Zobovor's site.
2. ↑ "The Transformers" status update document identifying "Starscream's Ghost" as an AKOM episode, photograph by the Roboplastic Apocalypse on Facebook
3. ↑ Sunbow cast list, at the Sunbow and Marvel Productions script/storyboard archive.
4. ↑ Blitzwing's on-package bio, scan at botchthecrab.com
5. ↑ Alt.toys.transformers post about script errors

External links

• Episode Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle