TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

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StyderK's review: Megatron's Parts Kit by JustItToys

Ok, I just came back from a recent trip to China and stumbled all over this kit in a local model shop in Shanghai and promptly bought it. The shop was trying to offload it somehow and charged me an equivalent of only $30 bucks for it! Hell of a deal considering that the normal kit on sale in the U.S. cost $55.00!

NOTE: obviously, this is not an official Takara/Tomy or Hasbro kit. But Justittoys from Hong Kong have been doing TF stuff of quite awhile now and their quality is top notch, as this kit proves!

Name: MP-05 Masterpiece Upgrade Accessory Kit
Function: Complete MP-05 Megatron in Gun mode by adding the long awaited silencer and shoulder stock. Also transforms into a Plasma Accelerator Cannon in alternate mode like the old G1 "Buckethead" Megatron.

The Packaging
The packaging is excellent and worthy of the Masterpiece name! It's heavy because of the die cast metal parts in it. There are six pieces (actually 6.5 if you count the fact that the rear end of the silencer comes off) in the kit and everything is well made out of tough polystyrene plastic or die cast metal. The parts included, from top to bottom:

1. Silencer/Plasma Cannon Barrel: This piece forms the silencer for Megs in gun mode. Also, the rear end piece detaches, becoming the ammo/battery drum for the plasma cannon.

2. Replacement Leg Covering: This piece, in my opinion, should be highly welcome by any Meg fan! These two pieces are the rear leg/gun butt covering that contains a slot to attach the shoulder stock. Most importantly, they are made out of die cast metal! This weights down Meg's legs when the fusion cannon is attached, making him stand up much more easily. Also, because they are die cast, in gun mode, it closes much tighter than the plastic pieces cause of course, part of Meg's legs are stored inside the butt itself, this tends to push them out a bit. Some assembly is required, but it's easy.

3. To the left of the replacement coverings, the attachment point for the shoulder stock/plasma cannon receiver: The only thing major about this piece is that there is a slot on top to fire the plastic slugs that comes with the kit in plasma cannon mode!

4. To the right of the replacement coverings. the middle piece of the shoulder stock/support arm for the plasma cannon

5. Finally, we have the shoulder pad/plasma cannon base: This part can be split apart to become a tri-pod to support the plasma cannon.

The kit also includes a small piece of instruction booklet along with 8 soft (actually, not that soft) polystyrene plastic slugs.

Assembly
Before you can begin, you need to replace the rear leg covering/gun butt covering with the kit's die-cast metal pieces. This is easy. This part comes off rather easily (It came off before during some of my transformations). You also need to remove the small silver plastic covering piece inside the covering itself and transfer them to the replacement parts. This should only take about 2 minutes at the most and makes Meg much more heavier. Which is good since being "Too light at the bottom" is one of the worst thing about the figure!

Primary Mode
The primary mode is of course, the long awaited silencer and shoulder stocks that complete Meg and make him look just like the cartoons! Overall, the silencer and shoulder stock looks extremely good! There's quite a bit of detail and both attach to Meg no problem! The only major problem of course, this is why I think Takara didn't include the silencer and shoulder stock in the first place, is the fact it makes Meg WAY too long! Overall, both the silencer and stock are well over 12 inches in lengths. One of my friend's wife held the fully assembled gun with the barrel at her chin and the end of the stock almost reaching her crotch! That's how long it is. You need one serious shelf or display case if you want to display Meg in gun mode like this. It's almost 3 feet in length when fully assembled!

It's also heavy because of the die cast metal parts that make up the shoulder pad/plasma cannon base. Heck, once assembled, you can actually use the shoulder stock as a weapon! It's quite heavy and the shoulder pad is made out of heavy, hard and thick plastic. You can easily crack someone's head open by swinging this thing around!

Overall- 92.3%. Great additions and I don't think Takara can do any better! The silencer and shoulder stock is full of detail and they fully complete Meg in gun mode. The only thing of course is the excruciating length of the entire thing when fully assembled!

Secondary Mode: Plasma Cannon
The secondary mode is the plasma cannon. This is done by pulling the rear end of the silencer off, pulling off the first part of the shoulder stock (The attachment point that attaches to the gun butt). This becomes the plasma cannon's receiver and attaches to the silencer, which becomes the barrel. The small rear end of the silencer is attached to the bottom of the receiver to become the ammo/battery drum. You then swing out the control levers and then attach the whole entire assembly to the shoulder stock (the bottom of which can be split to offer three points of contact with any surface). Overall, this looks extremely good when you attach the fusion cannon/sniper scope to its place! With Meg on the control bars, he looks like ready to blast any hapless autobots to pieces with this serious piece of equipment, which is over a foot in length when fully assembled!

There is one major gimmick in this mode. If you look closely at the plasma cannon's receiver, there is a small slot on top. The kit comes with eight small plastic slugs. You can take a slug, insert it gently down this slot until you hear a "Click", meaning the slot is now holding the slug in place. Notice the small "Cocking Hammer" beside it. Pull this back and you will activate the spring loaded "Firing Pin". Pulling it completely backwards will release it with a rather loud "Clank" and the slug is then hurled with great speed outward! I've tested it out and recommend this should only be introduced to kids 8 years or older! The slug is launched at great speeds and can travel a good 8 feet or so! (I laid back in my hotel room when I first bought this thing and the slug had no problem striking the t.v. which is about 7 feet away!). Kids can easily poke someone's eye out or break something because the thing is a little too powerful for its own good!

Overall- 97.6% An excellent rendition of the G1 Megatron's plasma cannon. It's overall size is extremely impressive, especially with Meg at the controls. It's extremely well thought out. The only major weakness, like the silencer and shoulder stock attachments, it's quite lengthy and requires some serious display spaces. Also, its plastic slug launching gimmick is too powerful and is not recommended for kids.

NOTE: There is also a third transformation that is not in the G1 toy (At least I don't think so. Correct me if wrong since I never had the G1 Megatron toy), a "Telescopic Laser Sniper Cannon". This is done by first removing the plasma cannon part from the base, reversing the direction of the ammo/battery drum so it can attach to the P38 barrel on Meg's back (this is done by swinging it downward). The fusion cannon/sniper scope is then attached to the front end of the barrel with Meg looking through it. He does look good but I don't recommend it since one, it adds a lot of weight to the rear and front of Meg, meaning he doesn't stands up properly. Two, everyone know how much trouble Meg stands when the fusion cannon is attached. Now imagine that problem compounded by several order of magnitude and you understand why I don't recommend it!

Overall: 82.3% Highly imaginative but practically useless because of the weight issue involved! It does look good but good luck trying to make Meg stand properly in this mode!

Transformation: 1 Nothing to say here. All three modes are quite easy to figure out, especially if you have the old G1 "Buckethead" Megatron figure!
Durability: 10 This can get over 10! Everything is made out of tough plastics and die-cast metal. Good luck breaking them. As I have said, you can actually use the shoulder stock as a self-defense weapon if the need arises!
Fun: 9 The only thing preventing it from getting a full 10 is the length of both modes, which means you need some serious shelf space to display them
Price: 8 A little too expensive at $55 (Unless you can find it on the net for cheaper). But still, well worth it if just for the die-cast replacement leg pieces that holds Meg down more!
Overal: 9.5 An extremely nice rendition of the Silencer, Shoulder Stock and Plasma Cannon (which look just like the G1 toy version)! This kit is highly recommended to any Meg fans who bought the MP-05 Megatron Masterpiece and look forward to complete it in gun mode. If Takara ever decide to make a "Complete" version of Meg, then they just might as well put their official license on this kit since I just don't see how they can do better!

Clay's note: have included several more pictures than normal since this isn't the kind of the thing you can look over while in a retail store. My own mini-review is: if you have Megatron, get this kit. It's an amazing augmentation!