TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:
Alternate Mode:
Box Art:
Technical Specifications:
STR
INT
SPD
END
RNK
CRG
FPR
SKL

Kamen's review: Megatron (voyager)

Name: Megatron
Fuction: Decepticon Tyrant
Subgroup: TFA Voyager Vehicles


“The Allspark will be mine, and Cybertron will tremble at my feet.”

Back on Cybertron, when it is late at night, and very dark, robots tell each other stories of the war. They spin stories about the deeds of Megatron, and though robots don’t fel cold, the listeners shiver. The only ones who don’t enjoy a scary Megatron story are the old ones, the ones who were there. Those old Auto bots remember the real Megatron. Many of them beat scars sustained in the heat of his fusion cannon, or dents delivered by his powerful swords. To those old robots, Megatron is no monster; he is a warrior so vicious and terrible that monsters pale in comparison.

And now a character who needs no introduction...

Alternate Mode:

Meg’s alt mode is a Cybertron Fusion Fighter, as described on the box. I’ve heard a lot of people complain that this mode is a load of crap, a Frankensteinian hodgepodge of parts, that can’t tell it’s back from its front. I disagree.

The craft is lain out in a diamond shape; the ovular shape flanked by translucent blood red panels is the cockpit. A the rear of the diamond are two fins also of blood red plastic. At the outer edges of the craft are what appear to be VTOL engines or turbines of some sort and two stubby wings. Directly behind the cockpit is the craft’s main thruster. Like the other Animated figures the craft has very little in the way of detail. Aside for the red plastic, light and dark grey, and black make up the rest of the color scheme. No kibble is apparent on the figure, though there are a few gaps in the forward part of the figure that look out of place.

The thruster, actually the robot’s gun, can fire the missile included with the figure, though it looks very odd in this mode. Landing gear also features on the bottom of the figure, and rolls along nicely.

This mode give me mixed feelings. I don’t think that its terrible; I can definitely look at it and see a spacecraft. However, I don’t remember the Animated version of Megatron’s cybertronian mode looking like this, and, in any case, he only uses it briefly.

Robot Mode:

Whatever your view of his alt mode, in robot mode the figure is immediately recognizable as Megatron, albeit more similar in appearance to Movie Megatron than his G1 incarnation. Simplified, however, to give him an overall cartoonish appearance.

His colors carry over from his alt mode, and the only new detail is his face, which has an appropriately fierce expression.

Articulation is great. Combinations of ratchet, swivel, and hinge joints at major joints plus waist and head articulation give him a wide range of poseability. The only thing holding him back, in fact, his the size of his cannon. It’s HUGE; roughly the same size as the figure itself. As one might imagine this beast over-balances him on his left side, and, at least on mine, is too heavy for his shoulder joint to keep steady if the arm is straight.

There are a few problems I found in this mode. His left leg keeps falling off at the swivel joint, and his cannon pops of its peg at the slightest provocation. Both problems can be fixed with a light application of nail-polish. He also has a slight problem with the way his cannon deploys, although this problem is dependent on your aesthetic taste. Deploying the cannon on the provided hinge has the cannon hanging a good distance from his arm, looking awkward to my eye, and over balancing him something fierce. This can be corrected by shaving off a bit of the plastic (see here for more details), thusly allowing the cannon to fold up against the arm. Obviously, though this fix depends on your confidence in your kit-bashing skills.

Gimmick-wise, Megatron has a missile that can be fired from his cannon. He also has a “fearsome fusion blade”. You make this by pushing the cockpit out of the way then swinging one side of the red plastic down; the other side will automatically flip into position. It looks at best like a bat’leth style weapon, but since he has no way to hold it aside from the same pin that keeps the cannon attached to his arm, it ends up looking rather daft.

Overall, though, robot mode is a quite solid.

Transformation: About average. You shouldn’t need instructions. 3/10

Durability: I’ve mentioned some trouble spots in the review. Otherwise, I haven’t had any problems. 7/10

Fun: This is where personal taste takes over. His robot mode is great fun, but his alt mode, well, isn’t everyone’s cup’o tea. However, I enjoy it. 7/10

Price: $20 USD. Not bad, but if you’re not sure wait a bit I’m sure they’ll be plenty life at the end of the run. 5/10

Overall: As a figure, I like him well enough. As a Megatron, his robot mode hits all the right vibes. However, this version of Megatron only show up in the first episode, but if you want a Megatron and can’t afford the Leader Class (the only Earth-mode Megs in the line so far, curse you Hasbro!) then I think this one is preferable over the deluxe figure. 7/10