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.