TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Additional Image:

Box Art:

Detective Barricade's review: Megatron (leader class)

Name: Megatron
Function: Ultimate Intergalactic Tyrant
Sub-Group: Animated Leader class
"Crush the Autobots!"

Now that he has finally been able to build a body for himself, Megatron is more powerful than ever, and no force on Earth can stand against him. He is a fighter equal anywhere in the universe. Backed up by his Decepticon soldiers, he is also an expert battle leader, without peer. He is as ruthless as he is ambitious. Megatron will stop at nothing to gain the Allspark, and destroy Optimus Prime and his Autobots.

Galactic Powers and Abilities:
- Expert two-sword fighter.
- Genius-level engineer and programmer.
- Armor can deflect even focused anti-proton lasers.

In “Megatron Rising - Part 1", Megatron used the power of Sari’s key to rebuild his body, and then some, into this form. First thing he did after that was call his Decepticons to him and set an example out of Starscream. Now to the review!

Alternate Mode:

In alt. mode, Megatron turns into a futuristic dual-rotor attack helicopter with a huge cannon mounted underneath the cockpit. The overall design is quite menacing! His torso is still quite visible as the underside of the vehicle. There’s four landing gear total: two in the back, one on the back of the cannon, and one under the cockpit. The last one is fairly useless, as one needs to have the cannon on to secure the cockpit. The cannon can also rotate to some degree.

Megatron isn’t very colorful. But what colors he does have work for him. He’s mostly gray with some black. He also has some touches of red. His rotor/sword blades are silver, along with his face. And he has translucent red for his eyes, canopy, and his Decepticon symbol. Though odd, it makes sense not to paint it because of the figure’s gimmick.

Megatron is packed with gimmicks! In both modes, he has his signature cannon. To load, insert the missile and pull the back of the cannon back to “cock” it. Then push the trigger to fire. The rotors are spin-linked, meaning that when one blade is spun, the other blade spins with it. He also has electronic lights and sounds, which is included in every Leader class figure. In vehicle mode, Megatron makes a helicopter sound when the Decepticon symbol is pressed, which will keep going as long as the button is pressed. When the cockpit is moved during transformation, the oh-so-lovable G1 transformation sound is played. In robot mode, pushing the symbol will have him either laugh, say “Where is the Allspark?”, or say “Crush the Autobots!”. His face also moves when the symbol is pushed to make it seem like he’s actually talking. The lights are in his chest, cockpit, and eyes. He’s also compatible with the Headmaster unit included with the Leader Bulkhead figure, but it doesn’t trigger any extras.

Robot Mode:

In robot mode, Megatron looks almost exactly like his cartoon counterpart! He has several similar physical traits of G1 Megatron: the “bucket head”, the fusion cannon, the black legs, and the Decepticon symbol in the middle of his chest. He suffers a little bit from having almost all of the vehicle mode on his back, but he isn’t back heavy in the slightest! His fusion cannon seems to be just the right size for him. It’s large enough to be intimidating, but not to the point of hindering his balance. He can of course hold his swords or store them where they go for vehicle. One little thing worth noting is that his shoulders don't lock in to his torso. They just simply sit there. Not a big problem as long as one doesn't hit the "wings" in.

Megatron has some decent articulation. His head can turn nearly 90 degrees left or right. The shoulders can rotate a full 360. Just below the shoulder guards, his arms can rotate in and out a fair distance, as well as swivel. The elbows are on two joints due to transformation, and the wrists can also swivel, but not a full 360 without opening his arm panels. The waist has three ratchet points. The hips can ratchet forward and back, in and out. The knees can swivel and ratchet back and forward. The ankles can move out a bit as well.

Marks out of ten for the following:
Transformation: 4 Transforms just like the stock footage on the cartoon shows. Simple, but very effective!
Durability: 9 Very sturdy. The cockpit sometimes needs a bit of force, though
Fun: 10 With so many features thrown in, he won’t be sitting around collecting dust for very long!
Price: 7 $40 USD is a bit much, but a steal compared to some earlier auction prices.
Overall: 9 If one has the money for a Leader class figure, grab him!