TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

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

Osku's review of: Galvatron

Name: Galvatron
Allegiance: Destron (Predacon)
Function: New Emperor of Destruction
Sub-Group: NA

An evil emperor who plots to rule the universe, Galvatron is ambitious, yet shows unexpected affection for his underlings. He is often put to sleep by the Cybertrons' activities or . schemes, but when he wakes, he is the mightiest being of all. Of his three forms, his dragon mode's power far surpasses that of Lioconvoy. He has a habit of talking in his sleep.

Galvatron (or Garbatron as it says on my Korean box) is the leader of the Destrons in the battle against the Cybertrons on Planet Gaea. The theme of this battle was nature/Cybertrons vs. destructive technology/Destrons. In other words, the Cybertrons transformed into animals, and the Destrons transformed into machines. Galvatron was an amalgamation of the mightiest machine and animal found on the planet, so he became both a machine and a cyber dragon. Those familiar with the series know that the other Destrons later got their upgrades to cybermodes.

Dragon Mode:
Galvatron's dragon mode is a mixed package. I absolutely love some of the details, but, as a combination, it's missing something.

I like the wings that can become blades. It helps that the colours are strong violet and black with a little bit of silver. Clearly, the best sculpting in this figure is the oriental looking dragon head with a long movable neck. Very nice. Wing blades, machine guns in the legs, and missile launchers in the tail give this a mode an overall look of a being with strength and firepower.

On the negative side, I don't hate the thin dragon feet "below the knee", but I think they don't fit well with the rest of the body. Feet add a bit to the posing possibilities, but not much. I actually prefer to think that the dragon feet are meant for lifting into the air and battle in the air, and, while on the ground, Galvatron uses it's tank treads. About hands, I just don't like the small, useless hands/paws that are common to dragon molds (TM2 Megatron for example). Posing is mostly left on the expressions of the head, which, fortunately, is excellent (as mentioned before).

The shoulder pads, that dedicon hates so much, make sense to me as they can protect the vulnerable neck. I think it was supposed to work similarly to Galvatron's counterpart Lio Convoy's spinning lion mane, but couldn't be designed to work in this mode as well. Pity. The biggest failure of the figure is the overuse of light purple, or lavender as dedicon told me, which really makes the mold look worse than it is. Still, this is the best mode of this toy, in my opinion.

Drill Mode:
I don't like or have much to say about this mode. I admit that it fits the tradition of powerful looking Decepticons such as Shockwave, Galvatron (duh), Straxus ("flying tank"), and Thunderwing, but, as a toy, it's not much. I can appreciate the ability to move effectively on the ground and that it has a nice action feature like a spinning drill (which reminds me of the original Galvatron's cannon), but the lavender colour and out of place tail make it look too... odd, or, if you prefer, futuristic.

Robot Mode:
Galvatron's robot mode is bulky, but not too much so, and it has quite a good posability. The body sculpt is fine, and the clearly robotic legs fit well. I also like the hands that can be turned into missile launchers by flipping the tail half over the fist. The missiles can be used as swords, as well. His wing blades can be detached and used as a weapon, but I prefer to keep them in the back as shown in the picture.

I have serious problems with the head because it is too big and suffers from "kettle as a head" syndrome. Also, the drill and dragon hands hang clearly visible on the back. I like the idea of using a marble as a symbol, but it really should have the actual symbol in it to look good. Too high production costs or a design "flaw"? Again, it's the lavender colour that makes the toy look worse than it is. Fortunately, this mode doesn't suffer as much as the dragon mode, as there is more red and gold added to the mix.

Transformation: 7 - Nothing spectacular, but, as a triple changer, nice. When done once, easy. Some odd design decisions on the dragon and drill modes made me check twice to see if I had transformed it correctly.
Durability: 7 - Haven't had it for a long time, and haven't dropped it yet, so can't say much. Seems sturdy, but the drill halves had a few stress marks.
Fun: 9 - I like to transform it from time to time. The snapping dragon mouth, wing blades, and missile launchers add few points.
Price: 9 - I got this as a part of a bigger MISB lot, approximately $17 with overseas shipping. In my opinion, well worth the price. But if you should decide between Lio Convoy, Galvatron and Big Convoy (don't have Magmatron yet), go first for Big Convoy. After that, Galvatron.
Summary: 8.5 - The toy has one good, one almost good, and one not so good mode. Some very nice gimmicks and design details. Colour scheme ruins a lot, and I'd like to see this mold re-released with better colours.