Well, what a twist this has become … Thanks to a reader’s comment on my most recent post about Starscream – the treacherous leader of the Redecos I’ve discovered that my “vintage 1984 G1 Starscream” is not what I thought it was. After asking several collectors for advice and insight I was able to come to the conclusion that my Starscream is actually an early 1980’s Diaclone knock off by Kingdam company pictured below.
There is not a ton of information about this figure on the web so researching was a bit difficult. I’ve handled plenty of Transfomers KOs before and I can honestly say this figure stumped me. Not for one second did it cross my mind that this figure might be a KO because 1) it was purchased from a very reliable vendor that I’ve dealt with before and 2) many of my collecting friends didn’t take notice to this either.
The give away sign is the orange canopy. Although other G1 Seekers as well as reissues have this orange canopy, a reader of the blog pointed out that the orange canopy does not appear on G1 Starscreams. From there I started my research trying to identify other suggesting signs to determine if this was a case of a swapped canopy, reissue, or KO. The Diaclone KO is pictured just below, the follow picture is of my figure.
From what I can tell, all of Starscream’s parts (blasters, fins, wings) are vintage. I didn’t find anything to suggest otherwise, but I could easily be wrong. The body of Starscream though seems to be a very well done KO. Although I cannot be certain, I couldn’t find any relevant information to debunk this figure not being a KO. There is no date or copyright stamp on the figure and there are no signs suggesting there were modifications done to the cockpit area. Unfortunately, this one’s going in the books as a knock off.
As some of my collecting friends have pointed out, acquiring this figure actually isn’t the worst thing to happen. I’m very disappointed in myself for not being able to identify this figure as a Diaclone KO, but in a strange way this figure does hold a little bit of historic value. My research suggests this is pre-Transformers as it has no copyright stamp on the legs, so although it’s tainted a bit by it’s KO nature this is a little taste of what came before Transformers was officially established. This has now easily become the oldest figure in my collection and it’s very cool to think about just how many different owners this figure may have had. Someone originally bought this figure in the early 80’s as a KO and from there it’s undergone drastic changes: lost accessories, new cartoon accurate wings, fins, etc. and then a complete new set of stickers from me. This figure has come a long way to where it is now and it truly has my touch on it.
Regardless, this is a lesson learned in collecting and it probably won’t be the last time I’ll buy a KO unknowingly. My goal though is to have a collection void of KOs. Although it’s cool to have this figure in the collection, it’s back to Ebay, e-retailers, and sales threads to find a G1 Starscream again. Thank you to the reader who sparked this investigation; it really is appreciated.
I think its a cool piece. Can’t say I object to Starscream having an orange canopy, as he should have in G1!
Do be careful when getting vintage G1, a lot of the 1984-1986 figures have been KO-ed. I find that this is a good resource – http://highendtfs.com/
I usually do quite a bit of research when buying vintage G1 figures, but for whatever reason this Starscream figure stumped me. It’s a lesson learned though and I know a little bit more about the hobby now! Thank you for providing the website. It’s always good to have more resources.
The TF Collection #09 reissue of Starscream does have a orange canopy, but some of the stickers were replaced with tampographs. Yours very well may be the Kingdam KO.
Really interesting detective work. I confess that when I pointed out the canopy on your original post, it did not even occur to me that it might be a Diaclone KO body mixed with authentic parts, but that does make a lot of sense now that you mention it, especially in light of the lack of a date stamp. Well, in any case, there are a lot worse things that could happen than ending up with a vintage Diaclone KO. I think it’s pretty cool actually, as a kid I always wished my Starscream toy had an orange cockpit like the show and comic.
I’m enjoying following this collecting journey on your blog, keep up the great work!
LOL yeah your comment really just sparked my interest and I started asking around while doing my own research. It was really interesting to find out the stuff I did regarding this figure. Even though I got duped and it is a KO, it’s still very neat to have an early Diaclone representation in the collection!
Thank you though for pointing it out and thank you even more for reading my blog. It really is appreciated as it’s always cool connecting with fellow collectors.
So are you going to keep this one as your Starscream or are you going after another one?
I say keep it! Between your blog and mine, this thing is attaining legendary status…..
Legendary status is never a bad thing! LOL 😉
Well I’m definitely going to keep it because I’ve grown quite fond of it’s historic value. It’s cool to have a pre-transformers figure even though it’s a KO. However, I will be pursuing another Starscream figure. I want a collection void of KOs 🙂
Holy cow! You’ve stumbled across the first transforming robot I ever got! My mom got if for me at my local mall at a store called Coach House Gifts, and I was too young to tell the difference between bona fide Transformers and others. I was just so psyched to have one of those Transforming robots I was seeing all over the TV. Thanks for blogging about your experience, and for the trip down memory lane. Keep on blogging, I’m enjoying it so far!
Thanks for reading the blog J! It’s cool that you were able to read this and kind of reconnect to your childhood. That was one of my goals of doing this: recreate those nostalgic feelings. I hope you continue to enjoy reading the journey; thanks for the support!
Very cool blog! My third G1 Transformer was this http://www.toyarchive.com/Diaclone/Diakron/DK1.html. Easy to tell that that wasn’t Sunstreaker, but I always loved him in red! My favorite part was the little guys that came with Diaclones, they had magnetic feet!
The Red Sunstreaker looks awesome! I would love to track a representation of that down. Thanks for reading the blog and please continue to drop a comment every now and then!
What’s crazy about this, is just how well the alt. mode of G1 Seekers hold up to today’s TFs. Looks fantastic.