When I first saw pictures of U2.0 Galvatron, I thought he was going to be a Voyager Class figure. The detail of the sculpt and the complexity of the figure looked way too over the top to be a Deluxe. When he finally came out, I was kind of disappointed. If Optimus Prime and Megsy could get Voyager Class toys, why not Galvatron? Ah, but he was afterall in the same scale as Rodimus, so I tried to get over it. Unfortunately, I was still left with a Deluxe sized figure with Voyager sized complexity and a whole host of issues. The fact remains that this figure may be way too complex and fidgity for it’s own good. Let’s take a look…

Galvatron’s new alt form is a tank, and I LOVE it. Call it sacriledge, but I really liked the original G1 Galvatron’s alt mode, but then I was never a fan of that figure in any way, shape or form. Sure, the tank has been the go-to form for Megatron in the past, so there’s not a lot of originality at work here, but like Megatron, the alt form suits this guy very well. As I’ve already mentioned, the sculpt is highly detailed, with nice little touches like missiles on the sides, ventilation ports and even tiny molded gas tank hatches. There’s a little missile pod hanging off the back of the turret, and the cannon looks a lot like the G1 Galvy’s awesome translucent yellow gun. Yeah, baby, you know where that’s going when he’s all transformed! The tank is very solid, holds together quite well, and rolls along nicely on wheels concealed under the faux sculpted treads. The turret turns 360 degrees, but the gun doesn’t elevate. The coloring is mostly grey with silver accents, which is great. There are some unsightly neon orange bits, which are pretty unfortunate, but not enough to ruin the mode. Lastly, you get some cool military style stencils on the sides of the cannon that read, “GALV 25.” Yup, this figure may have its share of problems, but this alt mode ain’t one of them.

Um… sort of? I actually do like Galvatron’s robot mode a lot, so long as I’m just admiring him on the shelf and not touching him. But that’s not to say he doesn’t have some poor design elements working against him. The hinged backpack for example, which I’ve heard is packed with parts for a vistigial third mode that was never declared as official, doesn’t really lock into place. You can try to compact it down and get it out of the way, but it ultimately winds up flopping all over the place. His arm cannon looks great, but the way it’s postioned on his arm obscures the shoulder joint. The color scheme, mostly grey and purple with some pretty silver accents would be perfect if it weren’t for those ugly neon orange parts. Seriously, why is that color even in the mix, Hasbro? Now, with all that having been said, I still can’t bring myself to hate on it too badly. The head sculpt alone is victory.

Galvatron’s articulation is decent, but once again the design causes some problems. He has a ball jointed neck. His left arm has a ball jointed shoulder and a double hinged elbow. His gun arm rotates at the shoulder, but you can’t get much lateral movement out of it. There’s also a hinge on the elbow. His legs rotate at the hips, as well as move laterally and he has hinged knees. Galvatron can also pivot at the waist.

There’s no doubt about it, this figure is not for everyone. I know a lot of people that hate him. Hell, I think most collectors hate him. Even I was less than impressed with him when I first got him, but ultimately there’s enough for me to like here that I can look past the problems. He’s not a terribly fun figure to play with, he’s a chore to transform, and quite frankly an update to a character as important as Galvatron deserved so much better than what we got here. I wouldn’t recommend him if you’re easily frustrated or if any of the things I describe bother you, but I am really glad to have him in my collection. And yeah, I still wish he were a Voyager Class.