Tag Archives: megatron

Apr 1 2024

Transformers: Megatron AMK Pro Series Model Kit by Yolopark

I don’t usually let social media influence what I buy, because I have more than enough lines to collect as it is, but today I’m looking at something I picked up because I simply could not escape it. Everywhere I went online Yolopark’s Megatron was getting shoved in my face and I finally broke down and bought him to see what he’s all about. It’s my first experience with anything from Yolopark, and to be honest I didn’t even know this was a licensed item when I bought it, but sure enough it’s legit. It’s branded a model kit, but that’s probably just for licensing purposes, as Megatron is really just an action figure that you have to assemble and there’s no paint, glue, or tools (well, just a screwdriver for the batteries) required. He’s also a non-transforming figure.

Megs comes in a great looking box with an outer sleeve that features really nice G1 animated art on the front. It has both the Hasbro and Transformers branding on the bottom and advertises the use of some diecast in the figure. I didn’t even notice at first, but the background is made up of very subtle comic panels. Nice touch! Lift off the sleeve and you get this gorgeous piece of foil line art on the inner box with Megatron holding the Earth in his grubby mitt. No doubt about it, they did a bang up job on the presentation here.

And here’s what you get when you open the box with a second tray underneath that houses his accessories. The pieces are all laid out to make assembly easy and putting him together just requires pegging the different parts into each other. The connections are all at articulation points, with the exception of the elbows and knees, which are already assembled. A few of these pegs took a bit of force to get in, but I wasn’t really worried about breaking anything. It’s also possible to strip him back down pretty easily if you want to store him in the box. As mentioned, there is some diecast here, and while most of the kit is plastic, it’s not the kind of flimsy plastic I usually associate with models. This is a sturdy and rugged figure and not at all fragile. There are two light up features that require two types of button batteries that are not provided. One goes in the head to light up the eyes and three go into the fusion cannon to light it up and both require a screwdriver to install.

Here he is all together, measuring roughly 8-inches tall and looking really good! The mix of G1 Sunbow design with the realistic metal finish and weathering makes for a great combination. The silver bits look like brushed steel and the darker black bits have some excellent dry brushing to make edges look worn down to the bare metal. You also get some brown spray here and there to denote rust, making Megatron look properly ancient. Despite not transforming, you still get all the key bits of gun kibble like the textured pistol grips on his outer legs and the gun barrel that rises up behind his right shoulder. There are some yellow and blue paint apps to the components in his abs and you get some bright red in the upper biceps and again in the abs. Finally, there’s a bold purple Decepticon emblem printed in the center of his chest.

There are three interchangeable face plates to choose from. The first is pretty straightforward, the second gives Megatron a manically open-mouthed smile, while the final adds some more detail, maybe going for a toy or comic look. I’m not sure about that one, but I doubt I’ll use it much. All three heads have lenses in the eyes to share the light up feature in the head. The lights are activated by a magnet switch and there’s a magnet in the bottom of the gun barrel on his back. You just touch it to the top of his head: Once for permanent eye illumination, again for flashing eyes, and one more time for a pulsing effect. Tap it again and the lights will go out.

The balance and articulation on the figure are both excellent, with most of the joints being on hinged swivel pegs, but you also get double hinges in the knees, rockers in the ankles, a wide range of movement in the hips and shoulders, and even some side to side rocking in the chest. The hands have individually articulated index fingers with hinges at the base and knuckle, the remaining three fingers articulate together, and there are single hinges in the thumbs. All the joints feel fine and he’s just a lot of fun to pose and play around with.

The fusion cannon has a simple button to light it, and while I’d rather it lit up purple instead of red, I still think it’s a cool effect like it’s powering up and about to fire. The arm cannon is part of the assembly, so it is easily removable.

In addition to the three swap out face plates, Megatron also comes with an optional damaged chest plate. The regular chest plate is diecast, while this one is plastic. It makes sense, as I can’t imagine sculpting the crumpling effect here would be possible otherwise. The damage is very well done, but the figure could have used a few more pieces like this to make it more convincing.

Megatron also comes with a number of weapons and accessories. First up you get a pistol, because when you turn into a gun and you have a cannon on your arm, you need a pistol too, right? Actually, I’m pretty sure this is supposed to be the pistol he used to deliver the killing blow to Optimus Prime in the animated film. The sculpt looks pretty close but here it’s black instead of purple. Still, a cool accessory and he can hold it really well with his articulated fingers.

Next up is an energy sword. The hilt is cast in dark translucent purple, while the blade is done in more of a pinkish purple. Again, he holds it great and I really dig how it turned out.

You want more energy weapons? How about the mace he used to fight Prime on the Dam in More Than Meets The Eye? This one simply swaps out with either one of the hands. It’s also cast in translucent purple plastic and you get multiple hinges in the chain to give it some added poseability.

The final accessory is The Key to Vector Sigma from titular episode of the cartoon. This piece is diecast and has a premium satin gold finish. I found it a bit tricky to get him to hold this, as it’s fairly heavy and it isn’t easy to find a place for him to grip it, but with a little patience I was able to make it work.

Megatron also comes with a stand, which includes a detailed base and a multi-hinged support arm with a grabbing claw. The only problem here is there’s no way to get the claw positioned to support Megatron while he’s standing on the base. The hinges in the arm just won’t allow the claw to be positioned down that low. To be fair, this is not a figure that requires any support to stand, but it does seem like a short-sighted design. It can, however, be used as a flight stand or for dynamic posing. There’s a little Decepticon emblem that plugs into the base of the support and there are clips on the outside of the hexagonal base so that it can be connected to others. I presume the other Yolopark Transformers come with the same stand.

The kit is readily available at a number of online toy retailers, but I got mine on Amazon for about $60 and I’m overall really happy with the purchase. Indeed, Megatron impressed me enough to make me pre-ordered their G1-style Optimus Prime to go with him. I definitely have a thing for cartoon accurate Megatron figures, which is no doubt the result of being a kid and having to play with a Megatron figure that looked nothing like the one on the cartoon. For a while Hasbro’s own RED version scratched that itch, but this one is a huge step up, granted with a significant price hike. The mix of cartoon design and realistic finish gels perfectly to me and despite him not transforming, this may be my favorite Megatron figure yet.

Feb 21 2024

Super Cyborg (Transformers) Good Bye Megatron by Super7

By now we all know that Super7 has struck deals with Hasbro to make toys from their original properties. We’ve seen both Transformers and GI JOE released as Ultimates and ReAction figures. But Super7 has also crossed these franchises over to their rather unique, and kind of bizarre, Super Cyborg Series. According to Super7’s own write up, these “highly articulated” 12-inch figures are inspired by Takara’s Henshin Cyborg figures, which had transparent bodies to show off their inner workings. For the Transformers we got Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, as well as the Megatron I’m checking out today. Megsy here is supposed to be inspired by Takara’s re-release of the original toy as Good Bye Megatron, commemorating his death (and rebirth) in the movie. It all sounds pretty cool on paper, but a lot of these claims don’t really hold up in execution, and at least one is an outright fib, so let’s dig in and see what Super Cyborg Megatron is all about!

I do really love this packaging! Megatron comes in a beautiful window box. You get a G1-inspired grid pattern with the classic Decepticon purple and black deco. There’s a nice piece of art of the original toy on the bottom right, alongside the Super Cyborg logo and The X-Ray Action Figure! exclamation. The window has Good Bye Megatron printed across it and displays the figure really well. The box is sort of collector friendly, in that you can open it and remove the toy without damaging anything, but once you cut the ties, there’s no real easy way to display the chest panel the way it is before it’s taken out. I’m OK, with that, as the figure displays in the box really nicely with the panel on, but it’s something to consider before opening it. Oh, and what’s that up in the top? “7 Points of Articulation!” Really, Super7? Is that what you would call “Highly Articulated?” Because that’s what you call it on your website. Yeah, that’s the blatant fib I was talking about, and I really don’t know why they would put that in the product listing when it simply isn’t true. At least they are honest about it on the box. Anyway, Megatron comes out of his package nearly ready for display, you just have to attach his fusion cannon to his arm, and we’ll slap on that chest plate to start out with.

The figure presents a really crisp and clean animated looking Megatron and I dig that a lot. There’s definitely a bit of stylized design going on here, as the head seems like it’s intentionally oversized. The painted finish on this figure is extremely nicely done with satin silver sheen mated with some matte blue for the insides of the legs and arms, and some red, yellow, and blue on his ab panel. The fusion cannon is left as bare plastic and has a glossy sheen to it, while the bare plastic fists are matte finished. The sculpted detail is confined to some panel lines and vents in keeping with the simple animated look, but there’s lots of cool stuff going on in the back. I don’t really get much of a Henshin Cyborg feel off this toy, if anything it gives me more of an understated Shogun Warriors vibe. But hey, either way this is a beautiful looking figure!

The head looks good, but again is a bit too big, which I’m pretty sure was an intentional style choice. The face is a tad soft in the sculpt, but I still think works well for the figure. You get a pair of bright red eyes and the “helmet” is bang-on for the animated look. The Decepticon logo on the chest is a perfect print.

The seven points of articulation include a turning head, arms that rotate at the shoulders, fists that swivel at the wrists, and the legs swivel at the knees. The swivels in the fists are really only useful to turn the right hand sideways when he raises his fusion cannon to fire. And yeah, it’s not quite correct, because Megatron usually swivels his arm so that the cannon is on top rather than on the side. It would have been cool to sculpt that arm straight and give it a bicep rotation. The knee rotation is nice to angle the legs away from each other a bit so that he doesn’t look quite as rigid in his stance. But yeah, Highly Articulated this figure is not, and that goes a long way to undermine the Takara Henshin Cyborg inspiration, because those figures actually were highly articulated.

The gimmick here is the removable chest, which reveals the gorgeous sculpted interior of Megatron’s inner workings. I love how they executed the look of this with the clearly defined gears that would move his arms and legs and all sorts of other bits and bobs that make Megatron function. There’s a lot of purple and blue here, along with more of that sumptuous satin silver and some red and black paint hits thrown in for good measure. The whole thing is a cool balance between high detail and stylized animation. But again, does this really invoke the Cyborg Henshin line for me? Nah. Apart from letting you see inside the figure, it’s a tenuous connection at best.

For me, Super Cyborg Megatron doesn’t really live up to what its designers intended, but that’s not to say I don’t like the figure. I actually do! It’s a really unique display piece, and I’m always down for adding an animated style G1 Megatron to my collection. But I don’t think the Cyborg Henshin homage works and I don’t appreciate them calling this highly articulated on their website. Another sticking point for me is the retail price of $85, which is kind of steep. Thankfully, I picked up mine during the holidays off of Amazon when it was already discounted, had an additional $20 off coupon, and I had some points to throw at it. In the end, I brought him home at about $40 and I’m glad I did. Since then I’ve also been able to get Bumblebee for the same price, so I’ll have a look at him here at some point in the near future.

Oct 20 2023

Transformers X G. I. JOE: Megatron HISS Tank by Hasbro

I’ve been taking stock of some of the toys that have been sitting around for a while and waiting their turn in the spotlight here, so you may see some older stuff turning up now and then. One of those woefully delayed reviews is this crossover between Transformers and G. I. JOE that I picked up almost exactly a year ago. I must have had a lot going on because I shelved it and kind of forgot about it. So, let’s take a look at one of those 80’s kids fantasies where Transformers and G. I. JOE meet! Where knowing is more than meets the eye but only half the battle!

The box is interesting as it’s basically a two-part slipcase that slides off each side to reveal a plain brown box with the Hasbro logo on it. The slipcase is gorgeous with the vintage style package design from each franchise represented and some amazing artwork for the vehicle and characters. The Megatron robot mode really downplays the HISS kibble we’re going to see on the actual toy, but even in that regard it’s still very much in the spirit of the vintage TF package art. There’s a fake window showing that the figure includes a vintage-style 3 3/4-inch Baroness, who actually comes carded inside the box. I’ll be honest, as a kid I was never really jonesing for this kind of mash-up. The Cobra Commander cameo in the the Transformers episode Only Human was a cool enough tease for me. Nonetheless, how could I resist something like this?

Here’s Baroness. Yes, she’s still carded and I’m going to keep her that way. All of my 3 3/4-inch JOEs are from the 25th Anniversary line or later, so she really wouldn’t fit in anywhere. I love the card art on this, but the card itself is pretty flimsy and prone to warping. The figure overall looks good, except for where they painted the skin around here eyes inside the glasses so it doesn’t match the rest of her skin color. It may not be all that noticeable in the picture, but it’s really obvious with the figure in hand. She comes with a backpack and rifle. It would have been really cool to give her a scaled down Megatron gun to make her really special to this set, but at least the back of the card has some art specific to this crossover.

And here’s Megatron in his HISS mode, and he looks fantastic. There are some telltale signs that this tank is More Than Meets The Eye if you know where to look, but for a casual observer, this really does look like a regular 3 3/4-inch scale HISS tank and that’s awesome. There’s a seam running down the center of the nose that doesn’t close up all the way, you can see the off-white panels under the cockpit, which are Megatron’s arms, and the most obvious is Megatron’s chest piece fully exposed under the rear platform. None of these really bother me at all, in fact I think they all add to the charm of the toy.

The bulk of the toy is cast in matte black plastic and there are printed red Cobra emblems, as well as some identification numbers. The treads are sculpted just like the regular HISS toys, but there are wheels under it to roll it into battle. Most of the sculpted detail goes into the tread system, but there are still some bolt holes and panel lines, which help draw the eye from the actual transformation seams. The turret rotates as it should and the cannon barrels can be raised and lowered, and they actually move independently from one another.

Here are some comparisons of Megatron HISS with the 25th Anniversary release, and damn they look pretty close. When viewed from the side, and ignoring the color/style changes to the markings, it’s virtually impossible to tell which is the transforming toy.

If you don’t like having extra pieces, you can plug Megatron’s fusion cannon into the turret to give it some extra firepower. On the one hand it kind of looks silly, but then again I kind of like the personalized Megatron touch it gives to the toy.

And here’s the tank with some of Super7’s ReAction figures manning it. These make for a good fit, although this vehicle is really designed for the vintage-style O-Ring figures and the foot pegs on the tailgate are not compatible with the Super7 peg holes. Despite splitting apart down the middle for transformation, the interior of the cockpit is still fully realized with a ton of sculpted detail. The ReAction figures fit fine, but the O-Ring figures would fit even better. Let’s get Megatron transformed and check him out.

Transforming the toy into robot mode is pretty easy, but I found that getting it locked back down into HISS mode can be a pain, even when I know what I’m supposed to be doing. In robot mode, it’s clear that Hasbro’s focus here was the HISS mode, because the robot mode has a lot of kibble. It’s like Megatron is cosplaying as a HISS tank. I think the toy manages the HISS parts pretty well when viewed from the front, but there’s a lot of stuff going on the back… like, oh I don’t know… the fact that he’s basically wearing half a HISS tank as a backpack. I was not fond of this at all when I first saw the toy, but it’s grown on me a little bit. It’s kind of got a powerful battlemech vibe going on, and I’m not hating it. Either way, there’s enough G1 Megatron beats to the robot mode to make it work.

I really dig how the design added the rocket packs to the tread pieces that land on his hips. Being able to launch off six rockets from your hips ain’t a bad thing. The fusion cannon pegs in on the back of the hand, but at least he’s not actually holding it. He can definitely get into a good firing pose with it.

During transformation the back plate of the HISS is removed. You can incorporate this as a shield, but it looks like exactly what it is… Megatron holding the backplate of the HISS. I wish they had just designed this piece to peg into the back somewhere. Then again, maybe he’s already got enough going on back there. As it is, I’ll just set this piece aside when displaying him in robot mode.

The head sculpt is pure money. I’d say this is one of the best G1 Sunbow inspired Megatron heads Hasbro has ever given us. The HISS turret lands directly behind the head and this serves as a firing position for a figure while Megsy is in robot mode. It kind of justifies the extra bulk on his back, or at least gives it a purpose. It also gives the included Baroness figure something to do when Megatron is in robot mode. On the other hand, it’s hard for me to believe Megatron would be fine with human vermin riding on his back.

If you’re looking for an Optimus Prime to square up against this figure, the Power of the Primes Powermaster Prime isn’t too bad. He comes up a little short, but I think they look good facing off against each other.

Overall, I like this toy a lot, but I fall just short of really loving it. As a kid, it was kind of a dream of mine to have a Transformers figure that could hold action figures in its alt mode, and this definitely scratches that itch. The HISS mode is so incredibly well done and it’s fun to load it up with figures and display it alongside regular HISS tanks. The robot mode isn’t all that bad, but the HISS kibble is definitely rather excessive. At least Hasbro leaned into it by giving him the turret on back so he can interact with figures even in robot mode. This thing was released at $90, which I still think is pretty damn excessive, but I got it on sale for around $60 and it can be had these days for even less than that price. Hasbro followed this up with a Bumblebee AWE Striker, which was a pass for me, because it should have been Hound. A third release has been up for pre-order, mashing Soundwave and the Dreadnoks Thunder Machine, and I couldn’t resist that one.

Jan 8 2021

Transformers (Robot Enhanced Design Series): Megatron by Hasbro

A couple of weeks back I embarked on my first look at Hasbro’s series of non-transforming Transformers with Optimus Prime. Overall, I liked the figure well enough, but ultimately I felt that it didn’t really do anything better than the excellent Earthrise figure that could actually transform. Well, today I’m back to give this series a second look with the mighty Megatron!

Here’s a quick look at the packaging, which I like very much indeed. As a window box, it’s not too far off from the current Transformers Deluxe packages, but the deco is a lot brighter and red, which is an on-the-nose nod to the abbreviation of the series name. Whoever has been doing the artwork for Hasbro has been killing it lately, and that goes double for this series, as you get some lovely character art that wraps from the angled side panel to the front of the box. So, if you missed out last tine, these are roughly six-inch figures with some accessories that claim to emphasize articulation and style over the ability to convert. Well, let’s get Megsy out and see what we’ve got!

Straightaway, I like this figure a lot more than I did Prime. It should be said that Optimus Prime’s robot mode doesn’t lose a lot to his transformation. Hell, the original G1 toy was well-proportioned and looked close enough to his cartoon and comic counterparts. Megatron, on the other hand, isn’t so lucky. His G1 mode was an abomination and while subsequent tank modes have been made to work fairly closely with his G1 robot aesthetic, he stands to benefit a lot from this whole non transforming treatment. And benefit he does indeed! What we’ve got here is as  stylish a G1 Megatron figure as we’re likely to see and we owe that to kicking the need for all that transforming engineering. Megatron is one clean-looking robot, with no unsightly kibble, other than the gun barrel peaking up over his shoulder, which has since become an iconic part of his design even in the cartoons and comics. Everything about this bot is beautifully proportioned, and there are no hollow or unfinished areas to be seen from any angle. The figure mostly makes use of colored plastic for its rather limited eco of white, gray, and black. You do, however, get a little more color in the control box under his chest, some red in his elbow joints, and the Decepticon emblem on his chest.

As with Prime, the plastic here has a very dense and chunky feel to it, which makes for an overall soft sculpt. Given that these are simpler animated style figures, that isn’t a problem when it comes to the detail. On the other hand, this plastic does show a few blemishes, which I’m not used to seeing on official Hasbro product. Either way, the plastic makes for a hefty figure that’s fun to pick up and play with and seems like it would be pretty durable under rough play. Prime’s deco felt a little wanting, missing a few key paint hits, but it’s admittedly more complex than what was required for Megatron’s, which looks fantastic.

If there’s one place that the softer plastic detracts from the figure it’s in the head sculpt. Make no mistake, what we got here isn’t at all bad. The portrait captures the Megatron I know and love from the Sunbow cartoon quite well. You get his iconic “helmet” and his smug, slightly downturned mouth. The red eyes are outlined in black, and those triangular “eyebrows” can be seen peaking out from under that “helmet.” No, my one nitpick here is that I wish the facial details were a little sharper.

The fusion cannon often suffers from transformation engineering, sometimes being too small or too big, or just weirdly shaped. Here, it looks great in terms of size and shape. Alas, some of those weird imperfections in the plastic are evident on the barrel of mine. It mostly looks bad when it catches the studio light and in hand under regular lighting it isn’t nearly as bad. Still, it’s bizarre to see a brand new toy with this kind of blemish.

Moving on to articulation, I have to say that while Megatron here is definitely well articulated and lots of fun to pose and play with, it isn’t that great a leap over what we saw in the Siege figure. Indeed, one vexing thing about this figure is the way the shoulder joints don’t work all that well with the fusion cannon. He can aim it well straight in front of him, but it’s difficult to make him aim it off to the side and have it on top of his arm like he often does in the cartoon. Indeed, the Siege figure can actually strike that aiming pose a little better than this one can.

Megatron comes with a number of extra hands, mostly left ones. You get a fist, a relaxed hand, a pointing finger hand, and even a hand holding an Energon Cube, which is a great little extra.

And finally, Megatron comes with his purple Energon Mace, so you can recreate his battle with Prime on the Hoover Dam. Like Prime’s Energon Axe, this plugs into the wrist, replacing his hand. It’s got a pretty long chain to it and looks great.

Ultimately, I like this figure a lot, even if it is far from perfect. I’ve long been on the look out for a Megatron figure that’s faithful to his stylized G1 look and this one fits the bill. I don’t think this figure offers enough improvements in articulation over the transforming Siege figure, it does deliver a cleaner and more traditional looking version of the character and that fits the bill quite nicely. As a result, I think this one succeeds a bit more than the Prime figure, but in the end I like them both well enough to be happy to have them in my collection. We’ve got one more to look at in this initial assortment, and that’s Soundwave. Hopefully I’ll have a review of him ready in the near future!

Mar 1 2019

Transformers Siege: Megatron by Hasbro

I’m hanging on by a thread this week and I really didn’t think I was going to make it here today. But talking toys is like a soothing balm for all that ails me and so here I am, not at my best, but here nonetheless! Because the show must go on! Anywho… It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been back to look at the Transformers Siege line, and that just won’t do! So let’s go ahead and wrap up this week by opening Voyager Class Megatron! I think this is going to be an interesting ride!

I’ve said my piece about this packaging when I looked at Optimus Prime, so I won’t go on about it all again now. Suffice it to say, I dig it a lot. It’s evolved quite nicely since this style was introduced way back when for The Last Knight figures. Megatron comes in a collector friendly window box with some absolutely bitchin’ character art on the angled side panel, so what’s not to like? The imperious leader of the Decepticons comes packaged in his robot mode, but we’re going to start with his alt mode!

It’s probably not a surprise to anyone that the alt mode is a futuristic tank. Let me go off the rails for a moment and say that while the G1 version of Megatron’s robot mode will likely always be my favorite, I’ve never been a fan of the gun mode. Even as a kid, I thought it made for a crummy toy, and as for the cartoon, it always seemed a little emasculating for the mighty Decepticon leader to shrink down and be wielded by his subordinates like a common implement. The idea of Megs turning into a tank just works better on so many levels. So naturally, one of my favorite things Hasbro has ever done was find a way to make the G1 Megs robot mode work with a tank mode. And that’s probably why the Combiner Wars Leader Class Megatron (along with the help of DX9) remains my favorite version of the character to this day. Of course, I was happy to see them trying it again, this time at the more versatile Voyager Class size. OK, enough of that, on to the tank!

The Transformers designers sure love their H-type tank designs and this alt mode continues to prove that. As a result this tank looks like a bit like a cousin of Hardhead’s alt mode. This mobile gun platform is propelled by four sets of treaded pylons with wheels concealed beneath them to help it roll into the heat of battle. The body of the tank itself is pretty small, taking up slightly less volume than the copula, which is bisected by the massive cannon barrel. The gun itself cannot elevate, but the copula is capable of rotating left and right, adding a little bit of play and display value.

But make no mistake, this is not a sexy tank. It’s not even a photogenic tank. It is an ugly machine of war and that fits Megatron just fine. The surfaces are littered with seams and joints and hinges. There are some panel lines and sculpted hatches, vents, and compartments, but to me it all gets lost in a sort of jumbled mess, and surprisingly I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way. As for the deco, it’s mostly comprised of gray and black plastic, with a little red, silver and yellow here and there. The cannon itself is easily the best aspect of this mode. It’s intricately detailed with silver and red paint hits to make it stand out. And surprisingly, the business end of the gun itself is not formed by Megs’ familiar fusion blaster, which makes for a nice surprise and a more distinctive design. Instead, it’s a combination of the fusion cannon in the back and a weird sword-gun weapon in the front, which is detached for transformation. All in all, this mode isn’t going to win any awards for aesthetics or ingenuity of design, but it works as a purely functional killing machine. And that’s a totally appropriate alt mode for Megatron. So how about that robot mode?

Well, there’s no doubt about it, this is G1 Megatron! Hasbro clearly designed this figure with the robot mode as a priority and then worked backwards. Sure, there are some bits of telltale kibble, and I’ll get to that in a bit, but so much of the homage is preserved that I’m fine overlooking the compromises that had to be made. Indeed, there are actually two pieces on the tops of his shoulders designed to fold back solely to mimic the hammer kibble from the original toy’s Walther PPK alt mode. Particular attention has been spent in designing the torso to resemble the Sunbow animation model and I absolutely love it. It’s basically the original toy torso, only boxier, beefier, and better proportioned. A few nitpicks? I wish the forearms filled in and the wrists would pivot, but those are some pretty small quibbles.

From the back, he looks nothing like Megatron, and that’s all because of his tank treads. Two of them fold up onto his back to form a fairly neat and tidy, albeit large, backpack. The lower legs, which aren’t too dissimilar from the G1 design when viewed from the front, really break down when viewed from the back, and those heel spurs don’t help either. So, yeah, the nearly pitch perfect homage does fall apart when the figure isn’t viewed from the front. And none of that really bothers me. What does bother me a lot is the choice to leave so much of the figure as just bare gray plastic. I thought it looked terrible when I first saw it, and while it’s growing on me a little, I still think it’s the deco, or lack thereof, is the figure’s biggest drawback. I can’t help but think how good this guy would have looked with the same sumptuous silver paint that Hasbro gave Combiner Wars Megatron. I also think that there’s a criminal lack of paint on his lower torso. It just looks terribly unfinished.

While the homage breaks down from the back, and the coloring is a sticking point with me, the portrait wins back plenty of points. I have to say, old bucket head never looked better. The “helmet” is perfect, the scowl on his face and red down-turned narrow eyes make him look tougher than a week-old Energon Cube. The face is painted silver, making it look superb in contrast to all that dull gray plastic. Megsy has a smattering of silver paint weathering splashed across his chest and arms, and a Decepticon logo printed on his chest.

Also winning back a lot of points is the nearly perfect fusion cannon. So many modern Megatron figures can’t seem to get this right, and yet I consider it crucial to any G1 homage. It was one of those “close, but no cigar” failings of the Combiner Wars Megatron that had to be fixed by a third-party company, and even that wasn’t a perfect fix. This one looks great and it’s positioned on the outer arm, to allow for really good poses and aiming. Hell, you can even peg it onto either arm, but we all know that the right arm is where it belongs, eh?

Megatron also comes with the previously mentioned combination rifle-sword weapon, which forms the front half of the tank mode’s main cannon. This piece can be discarded after transformation, or it can be retained as a weapon. I honestly didn’t think I’d have any use for it, as it’s not really something that I would expect Megatron to carry around. It is, however, surprisingly fun and versatile. I doubt I’ll display Megatron with it in robot mode, but it may wind up going to one of my other Decepticons.

In the end, this review has been quite the roller-coaster of opinion. I want to love this figure more than I do, and when I really dig deep, I realize that the only real sticking point for me is the coloring. I don’t mind the slab of tank kibble on his back, and I love just about everything else about the way the robot mode looks. This figure just feels like a great design with a piss-poor paint job. If Hasbro or Takara released this figure with a premium paint job like Combiner Wars Megsy had, I’d happily fork over the money to buy him again. As it is, the previous Leader Class Megatron with DX9 enhancements will remain my favorite. Nonetheless, I can’t deny this Megatron has everything else going for him, and the Siege versions of Megatron and Optimus Prime are easily the best pairing of these two mortal foes that we’ve had in a long time, if not ever.

Aug 14 2014

Transformers Classics: Megatron by Hasbro

It’s Thursday and around these parts that means Transformers! As much as I’ve enjoyed my tour of the Generations Legends Class line for the past month and a half, I’ve sadly run out of figures. I am, however, still on the hunt, so I’ll be circling back around to it eventually. For the time being, I’ll be turning my optical receptors back to some unfinished business in the Classics and Universe 2.0 lineup. I was surprised to find that the figure I’m looking at today has escaped my feature spotlight these last four years and now that I’m doing it, I think that might have been an intentional oversight. Nonetheless, I’d say it’s long past time to dust off Classics Megatron and give him his due. Naturally, the packaging for this guy is long gone, so we’re going to jump straight in and look at his alt mode.

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At the time, I don’t think anyone could have predicted that Megsy would be appearing in the Classics line as a gun and yet here he is. Sort of. He’s definitely a pistol, but Hasbro had to use their creative license to give us a design far from anything realistic. And so we wound up with what is often the bane of most nerds and fanboys… the dreaded compromise! Yes, Megatron is a gun again, and no he’s not a Walther P38 or even anything resembling any kind of real world firearm. Instead, what we got is something that resembles, more than anything else, some kind of Nerf blaster. Now, I can appreciate going for a sci-fi style weapon and I think the concept could have worked, if only the end result looked better than what we got.

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About the only thing here vaguely reminiscent of Megsy’s old gun mode is the scope and the trigger. There’s a chamber, which vaguely resembles some kind of revolver and I’ll never understand the ridiculousness of having to put an orange plug on the end of a barrel of a toy gun with a design like this. Thank god for that plug in the barrel or kids would be holding up 7-11’s with old Megatron left and right. Yeah, it only adds to everything else that is unfortunate and wrong about this gun mode. I’ll also throw in the fact that the handle grip is way too small, not only for an adult hand but to look proportionally correct with the rest of the gun. It’s perhaps worth noting that you can pull the trigger and it clicks and you can actually look through the scope, but none of those “features” help to sell this alt mode to me. In fact, Classics Megatron would have to have one hell of an amazing robot mode to make up for this.

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And sadly that he does not. What he does have is a fascinating transformation that at least has me respecting and admiring what Hasbro tried to do here. I’ll even go so far as to say that there are a number of things that I do like about this robot mode. The contours of the legs are nice and while only one of them form the grip for the gun, they are symmetrical to look like they might have split apart during transformation like the G1 toy. The way the scope becomes his fusion cannon is also spot on fabulous, even if it does have a hideous orange plug on the end. Wait… why does the toy need an orange plug on the end of the SCOPE?

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The head sculpt is also pretty damn good. The shape of the helmet is very reminiscent of the G1 Sunbow look and while Hasbro has taken some liberties here with the face, I still like it a lot. The lightpiping effect in the eyes is also excellent, even if green was a strange choice to go with.

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Unfortunately, just about everything else about this guy feels wrong to me. There’s nothing in the chest that nods back to the old days. Remember, this is the Classics line, Hasbro, give me something else to work with here. Also the asymmetry of the shoulders really bugs me, especially since the left one displays that ugly orange plug. And I’ve obviously saved the biggest gripe for last because those giant wings that form the two half shells of the gun mode are just a shame.

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The coloring here is also really inappropriate. I’m normally a big fan of purple in my Decepticon decos, but when you mix it with the neon green and orange, it just doesn’t work for a Classics style Megatron. The coloring on the Japanese Henkei version goes a long way to save this toy and I’d dare say that had Hasbro used that deco I would have been a lot more forgiving about the rest of this figure. For a while I considered picking up that version, but then I didn’t really want to invest more money in this mold.

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And so I’m left with a real love-hate relationship toward this figure. I appreciate what Hasbro tried to do here and I understand that they had some unreasonable limitations working against them vis-a-vis the alt mode. Plus, I can’t deny that I’m able to pick up this figure and have some fun with him. He can still strike some pretty cool poses. On the other hand, there are just so many unfortunate design elements here that make him fail as a Classics style Megatron. And the fact that it is a character as important as Megatron makes that fail all the more epic. Ever since this guy was released, I’ve been on the hunt for another version of the character to stand in for my Classics Megatron, and the search still goes on. My War For Cybertron Megsy comes close, but then he doesn’t scale with Classics Prime. I’m anxious to see how Hasbro’s upcoming Generations Megatron turns out. Even if he isn’t a gun, I think the robot mode on that big guy has a lot of potential. Of course, I’ll still have that scale problem.

Oct 17 2013

Transformers Energon: Megatron by Hasbro

Last time on Transformers Thursday, I slagged Cybertron Soundwave something fierce. I don’t like picking on Transformers, so this week I thought I’d feature one that is among the favorites in my collection. Energon was a very hit-or-miss collection of figures and nothing shows that off better than the leaders of the Autobots and Decepticons themselves. Energon Prime was probably one of the most questionable toy versions of Prime to ever come out, while his rival, Megatron is 100% bad-ass wrapped in awesome. Now, I personally don’t hate Energon Prime as much as most people, but that’s a feature for another day. Today is Megsy’s turn.

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Megatron’s alt mode is a glorious gunship that looks like it would be just as much at home cruising through space as it would be hovering over a Fleshling city and laying waste to it. This is arguably one of my favorite original alt mode designs to come out of Transformers in quite some time. Granted, I do believe that when he’s not a gun, Megs usually works best as a tank, but Hasbro decided to roll the dice on creativity here and I think they won big.

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I get a bit of a Klingon Bird of Prey vibe off this ship, probably because of the crooked wings and the forward extended bridge, but it’s still a wonderfully original design. He’s got two massive engine pylons slung under the wings and guns all over the place. The base plastic is a mix of grey and pearlescent grey and I really dig the large sculpted and painted Decepticon insignia on the wings. The deco is rounded out with some black, blue and gold, and a lot of translucent teal plastic. The Gunship can rest proudly on three rather large sets of landing gear. I love the look of this toy so much, even if this thing wasn’t a transformer, I’d still want this beauty in my collection.

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You also get an extra attack mode which is executed simply by lifting the top plates of the wings up. It’s an auto-transform that extends the wing guns out a little more and reveals additional front and aft guns on each wing.

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Megatron also comes with a tank drone, which can attach to the back of the gunship mode. I like the idea, but the execution is only so-so. I think it would have been much cooler to have the tank attach to the bottom so he could deploy it like a drop ship, but I can’t deny that it ups the ante on Megatron’s wow factor when mounted on his back, not to mention adding a big ass cannon to his armaments.

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The tank itself is designed to look like Armada Megatron’s alt mode and it’s a nicely sculpted piece. Neither the turret or the gun can move, but it does roll along on wheels, features a flip up targeting screen and can fire a missile from the cannon. And considering it’s about the size of a Deluxe Transformer, it’s a rather nice bonus.

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Considering how great Megatron’s alt mode is, his transformation is extremely simple and when you’re done you get an equally impressive robot mode. This guy is like a love letter to the G1 days. He’s big and boxy and while he has a good amount of articulation on paper, in reality he’s at his best when he’s just standing there looking impressive. The two giant cannons that raise up from his shoulders can be angled forward to blast at his enemies, and you can do a lot of adjustments to the wings to make them to your liking. They can fold all the way back to give him a cleaner front profile, you can deploy the wing weapons if you want, heck you can even rotate the entire wing assembly 180 degrees if it suits your fancy. Some may argue that his lower legs are too bulky, but I think that’s just part of his retro charm for me.

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The head sculpt on this guy is pure love, but if you’re thinking it looks like someone other than Megatron, you’d be right. From the portrait to the design of the chest and even the legs, this is clearly intended to be Galvatron and was subsequently repainted in purple and released as such. The coloring here is designed to match the G1 Galvatron toy, while the repaint matches the animated version of the character.

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The biggest issue with Megatron’s articulation is that all of his joints are strong ratchets, so they will lock at certain intervals and don’t provide any subtlety in their movement. Nonetheless, his arms will still rotate at the shoulders and bend at the elbows. His legs have universal movement at the hips and his knees will also bend. There’s no torso articulation, but Megatron can turn his head.

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Megatron’s tank drone can clip to his arm to form a sort of fusion cannon. It’s a nice idea, it definitely adds play value to the toy, but aesthetically, I don’t think it works too well at all. I should note that he also came with a sword that could attach to the drone, but it wasn’t in the drawer with my other Cybertron toys, so I’m not sure where it’s gotten to.

If you can spot any dust on this figure in the pictures, it’s because he is always on display. While the bulk of my Transformers collection have been cleaned and put away into my carefully sorted filing cabinets, you will always find this figure on one of my shelves, somewhere. Sometimes he’s in Gunship mode, sometimes he’s in robot mode, but he’ll never get put away because I do indeed love him that much. He’s also far too great looking a rival for Energon Prime, so I will usually pair him up with the powered up Cybertron version of Optimus Prime. One of my biggest regrets of my last Great Toy Purge was selling off the Galvatron repaint of this guy. While still awesome as Megatron, he was obviously designed with Galvatron in mind and he looks fantastic in the purple. I think at the time, I was keeping originals and selling off repaints, which would explain the lunacy of that decision. Either way, this toy is a must-have mold for any modern Transformers collector, or if space is a concern for you, he was also available in a smaller Deluxe Class 2-pack with a similarly scaled down Optimus Prime.

Aug 27 2013

Transformers Generations: Megatron (IDW Comic Pack) by Hasbro

The IDW comic packs have arrived and I am a happy camper! If you’ve been kicking around FFZ for the past three years you may know that I absolutely adore the idea of packaging action figures with comics. The presentation can’t be beat and hey… free comic! I got the first wave of these in last week and I thought I’d start things rolling with Megatron. He’s the one figure in this assortment that I was probably least excited for, mainly because War for Cybertron Megs is still my go-to Megs for my TF display. I didn’t think there was much chance of this one knocking him out of the spotlight, but let’s find out if I was wrong…

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Yup… That’s what I call awesome packaging! Megs comes carded in his robot form with an issue of the IDW comic behind him sporting an exclusive cover. Honestly, I’m not terribly keen on the cover. The art is nice, but the coloring is rather bland. I think it would have worked better had they left it alone, but I can understand why they wanted something more focused on Megatron. The card points out that this is one of Hasbro’s “Thrilling Thirty” as part of the 30th Anniversary line. As usual, I’m going to start out with Megs’ alt mode, but first let’s look at the comic!

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I did not come back to Transformers comics until the debut of More Than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise, so this ish is a new one by me. This was a great issue to include with the figure because it involves Megatron returning to lead the Decepticons in his new stealth bomber alt mode. It’s a good stand-alone read and it focuses on the familiar Megatron and Starscream trope in what plays out like some kind of bizarre sado-masochistic passion play.

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Ok, so as mentioned, Megatron is a stealth bomber, and a mighty nice looking one at that. He pegs together very well and he’s sized about right for a Deluxe. There aren’t a lot of paint apps going on here. He’s molded in black plastic and has a little red for the windows and some grey accents. I would have loved to see purple panel lining from Len O’Grady’s coloring, but I can understand why it didn’t cost out for the figure. If you flip him over you’ll see a lot of purple as well as a good portion of his robot mode peeking out at you.  Megatron has a single landing gear near the nose that folds down. It’s a nice touch, especially since it’s not really needed for the aircraft to balance on a surface. Apart from looking good, Megatron’s alt mode has no play features or gimmicks or anything like that. He does have a pair of ports on his back, which can be used to mount weapons from just about any recent Deluxe Transformer. I suspect the weapons from Fall of Cybertron Skywarp would look rather bitchin on him.

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I found transforming Megatron into jet mode was rather fidgety at first, but I was eventually able to do it without instructions. Getting him into robot mode, on the other hand, is pretty simple and intuitive. The only unusual thing is that you have to pull off his wings to form his fusion cannon, but more on that in a bit. When you’re done you get a robot that is a pretty damn fine approximation of the artwork in the comic. It’s not perfect, but it’s an extremely respectable attempt on Hasbro’s part. He’s very well proportioned and I really dig the triangular torso with the engine intakes on his shoulders. The head sculpt is spot-on, and while I tend to prefer the more angular and robotic faces of old, the organic Nick Roche style really shines through quite nicely on this figure.

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In robot mode, Megatron’s deco gets a little more interesting. Sure, there’s still plenty of black from the bomber mode, but now you’ve got two shades of purple, as well as the bits of grey and red. It’s a very Skywarpy look, and that compounds my main issue with this figure: It just doesn’t feel like Megatron to me.

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As mentioned, the wing tips pull off and get pegged together and then placed on either of his arms to form his fusion cannon. It’s not very traditional, but it does have a certain alien energy weapon look to it, and it does fit the artwork. You can pull out the front of it to reveal some translucent purple, which looks fantastic.

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By every account, this is an excellent figure. Hasbro took the comic book art, worked out the engineering and did so brilliantly. He’s not really my Megatron, but if you’re a fan of this comic run, chances are you’ll really dig this guy. But even if this guy isn’t going to replace FoC Megatron on my display shelf, I can still appreciate him as a great Transformer and a cool stand-alone figure in my collection.

Sep 27 2012

Transformers Prime: Megatron by Hasbro

Just like with Optimus Prime, it’s hard to have a good Transformers series without a good Megatron. And if anything, Megsy can be the bigger risk, since there really isn’t any standard rule for what the Megster should turn into. We’ve seen everything from gun to tank to truck to misshapen Cybertronian crab thing. A good Megatron is important to me, so I was really happy to see that the Transformers Prime figure really nailed him… at least most of him.

There’s Megsy in package. I don’t have a lot more to say about the Voyager window boxes. They look good, they are collector friendly, and there’s a butt load of little strings tying the figure into his tray. Megatron actually has two extra weapons mounted beside him in his tray. One is his Mech Tech Fusion Cannon and the other is some kind of battle spike thing. We’ll get to those in a little bit, but first let’s get him out of the package and look at his alt mode.

I’ve been converting Transformers ever since I got Thundercracker and Prowl back in 1984. I’m pretty good at it. I don’t usually need to look at instructions, and a big part of the fun for me is trying to figure them out on my own. That having been said transforming Megatron was a real pain in the ass. Part of the problem is that his alt mode is a completely abstract Cybertron vehicle and even with the picture in front of me, it was hard to figure out where everything was supposed to wind up. The other problem is that there are some real fidgety maneuvers that need to be just right, particularly with the arms and shoulders. Is it all worth it? Let’s look at his alt mode.

So, it’s some kind of Cybertronian space cruiser. It looks ok. At least it doesn’t look like the unholy offspring of a horseshoe crab and an erector set like Revenge of the Fallen Megatron did. Point is, I’ve seen worse. And hey, a big part of the alt mode makes good use of Megatron’s Mech Tech-style Fusion Cannon weapon, which is more than I could say for Prime and Starscream. You actually combine his two weapons and plug it onto the top of the vehicle. They’re more part of the vehicles actual design than something just stuck onto it, and I appreciate that. If you transform him properly, this mode holds together pretty well. The bottom line, though is that I didn’t find it fun to transform him, and the space cruiser still feels like a token alt mode, so I doubt I’ll be doing it a lot.

Megatron’s robot mode, on the other hand, is pure love. He’s the spitting image of his on screen model and I absolutely adore him. Like Optimus, there’s a little bit of Bayformer mixed in with is design, particularly the head sculpt, but I think the end result is a really cool compromise. There’s not a lot of paintwork on this figure, but the grey and purple deco looks perfect. While I could take or leave the translucent plastic used on Prime, I think it really works well on Megatron. The way the way his armor wraps around it makes it appear more like part of his inner workings rather than Hasbro just using translucent plastic for the sake of it. The curvy designs in his torso look great, and his flared up shoulders look appropriately menacing. The plastic used for his chest even has a slight texturing to simulate that brushed steel look of the TV show model. The proportions on this figure are also really good. His forearms are bulky, but not too much, and his lower legs really give me an animated G1 Megatron kind of vibe.

There’s one thing I cannot compromise on where Megatron is concerned, and that’s his Fusion Cannon. Alas, while Megatron’s Fusion Cannon works well on his alt mode, it doesn’t fare so well when used with his robot mode. Part of the problem is the Mech Tech feature, which converts it into a battle blade. It feels completely unnecessary and the light up gimmick doesn’t really work. But worst of all, in order to accommodate the conversion, the Fusion Cannon only pegs in at one spot and not very well. The result is it’s always falling off. I’ve crammed a little blue tack into the hole, which seems to have helped, but I resent having to do that. As for the cannon itself, it just doesn’t look all that good. I’m thankful that it’s there, but here’s one instance where if a third-party were to make a better looking replacement, I would jump on it.

As much as I still prefer my boxy, animated G1 Megsy, there is a certain appeal to this version’s rounded edges and perfect proportions. There’s a ton of different influences at work in this figure, but they’re all collected from Megatron designs through the ages and so the end result really works incredibly well. I’ve actually gone so far as to move him onto my desk, just so I can glance over at him while I’m working and smile admiringly at his sheer awesomeness. I could complain about the messy transformation and the ho-hum alt mode, but alas, I’ve come to expect very little out of my Megatron alt modes. Honestly, I’d rather just have a great looking robot mode, and that is exactly what we got here. He’s a near perfect looking figure, only marred by his unfortunate Fusion Cannon.

Feb 17 2012

Kre-O Transformers: Megatron by Hasbro, Part 2

Last time, after a brief interlude to gush over Ninja Turtles, we checked out the Megatron Kre-O set in his vehicle mode. It turned out to be a pretty amazing set, so surely Megsy’s robot mode can’t be any good, can it? Well, I’m here to tell you it ain’t too shabby. Let’s have a looksy…

Once again, keep in mind that these sets do not transform. You basically build either the vehicle or the robot and then tear it all apart and build the other. Some may take issue with this approach, but I rather like it a lot. Hasbro’s last experiments with transforming building sets (see Built to Rule… on second thought, don’t) were pretty shitty. Besides, who hasn’t finished building a Lego set and lamented that it was all done? With Kre-O’s it really is like getting two sets in one, and I found building Megatron’s robot mode, just as fun and challenging as building his truck cab mode. The only downside was ripping apart the cab. I’ve built my fair share of Lego sets, but apart from taking a few parts off of the finished toys for storage, I’ve never broken one down completely until I had to do so with this Kre-O set. It was handy to have a razorblade handy to separate some of the more stubborn bricks. It was also handy to have the briefcase style box so that when pieces went flying, they usually wound up trapped in the box and not somewhere under the desk.
And there’s Megatron’s robot mode. First off, he’s huge, measuring in at about ten inches tall. Secondly, I really like the way the designers made him look like he could transform, even though he doesn’t. His obvious truck parts are positioned in a pretty logical manner. I will point out that some of his car parts weren’t included in the building instructions, so rather than leave them off, which felt like a cheat, I incorporated as many of them as I could into the robot, and I think it worked out rather well. There are, however, a few rather conspicuous pieces that I couldn’t find a good place for, like the windshields.
From a design standpoint, Megatron is a somewhat fresh take on the character. He definitely sports some of Dark of the Moon’s characteristics, but at the same time, he has a more G1 feel to me as well. I really like the head sculpt, the way the gas tanks sit on top of his backpack. and the way the front bumper sits on his chest. He also wears the prison from his cab mode as a backpack so he can still carry around prisoners. Megatron features a shoulder mounted missile launcher, with clips on his back to hold the spare missile. The missiles are the pieces used for the exhaust pipes in the truck mode and they flick-fire just like in Lego sets. The only thing I’m really missing here is the lack of some kind of arm cannon. To me, Megs just isn’t Megs without a giant fusion cannon on his right arm. I like to compensate by taking the missile launcher off his shoulder and attaching it to his right arm. I don’t tend to stray far from the instructions when building my Lego sets, but I’ve had a lot of fun tinkering with customizing this Kre-O set.
As an action figure, Megatron is fairly solid, although fiddle about with him enough and bits are bound to fall off. He has excellent articulation, with ball joints in the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and ankles. He also swivels at the wrists and each of his eight fingers are articulated at the base. He stands very well and can hold a lot of poses, although if you give him too wide a stance, his hip joints tend to buckle under the weight and he’ll wind up doing the splits. Still, all in all he’s fun to play around with and he works really well if you want to have him fighting the Earth Defense Forces from Lego’s Alien Conquest series or attacking one of the many buildings from Lego City. I’m actually tempted to start collecting a lot more Lego City sets just to give my Kre-O Transformers a place to fight with collateral damage.
So, let’s talk value. The Megatron set comes with four Kreon minifigs, 310 pieces, and I got him at regular retail price at Walmart for $29.99. To compare, the last Lego set I featured here, UFO Abduction from the Alien Conquest series, was also $29.99 but only had 225 pieces. That makes Megatron a pretty good value considering you’re getting almost 100 more bricks and one extra minifig. And that’s not even considering the fact that this set gives you two toys to build. The quality is just as good as Lego and whle the instructions may frustrate every now and then, it makes for a good challenge. I’m so sold on these Kre-O’s I’ve already ordered two more sets, so expect to see more featured here in the next week or so.