TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

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

Kamen's review: Magmatron

Name: Magmatron
Fuction: Emperor of Destruction/Destron leader
Subgroup: Beast Wars Neo Ultra Beasts
"Power is everything. I am power. Therefore, I am everything."

Magmatron's beast mode is comprised of three dinosaurs. An all around warrior more wildly evil than even Galvatron. On the one hand, he is violently enthusiastic, while on the other he can judge situations quite reasonably. He is also charismatic, enough so that the other Destrons acknowledge his superiority.

Magmatron is the leader of the Destrons in Beast Wars Neo; however, he has seen some recent action as the leader of a group of Predacons in the recent (as of 2007) IDW Beast Wars Comic series The Gathering. Although he was originally a Japanese exclusive, Magmatron, along with many of his Destron teammates, was re-released as a Target exclusive in the Beast Machines line. The Beast Machines Magmatron feature no sculpt or deco changes and the bio even hinted that he was the same character who appeared in Neo! Anyway, this is another figure that I’ve wanted for a long time; unfortunately I missed out on both versions. But now he is mine at last!

Alternate Mode:

Magmatron is one of only three transformers with three separate forms in his alternate mode, the other two being Sky-Lynx (G1) and Tidal Wave/Shockwave (Armada). I’ll go through each figure individually then in their combined beast form.

Skysaurus:

Skysaur (a queztalcoatlus) is the smallest of the three beasts. He is cast primarily in red and yellow plastic; red for the body, neck, and legs; yellow for the feet, claws and beak. The underside of his wings is a very light gold and his eyes are green. Skysaurous’ has mostly smooth sculpting with wrinkled skin on his neck. Ridges on his wings give them a folded appearance. His Destron spark crystal is located on the underside of his left wing.

His legs have three points of articulation each, with one ball joint at the hip. His neck has four points of articulation, including his mouth. By pulling his tail, you can cause his wings to extend out as if he where gliding.

Overall, a nice beast mode. I think it would have been nice if his wings could lock in place. Even so he looks good.

Seasaurus:

In my opinion, Seasaurous (an Elasmosaurus) is the best of the three beasts. Seasaurous is two colors, moss-green, used for the majority of the figure, and an almost metallic shade of blue that appears on his back and becomes progressively darker toward his tail. His eyes are a slightly different shade of green. Although his color scheme seems dull, Seasaurous makes up for it in sculpting. His neck and body have a beautiful crosshatch, making his skin appear leathery and worn.

He has thirteen points of articulation; most of which are naturally in his neck. His front flippers are on ball joints, and can be moved in a swimming motion by squeezing his rear flippers together.

This is a really unique beast, and the figure pulls it off extremely well.

Landsaurus:

Landsaurus (a Giganosaurus) is cast primarily in dark purple. A light blue color fills in the stripe on his back. Like the other two, Landsaurus has green eyes. To add a pinch of personality, Landsaurus’ claws and teeth have been treated with a light red was, as if he has just brought down a fresh kill. Curiously, the claws on his hands are the same purple color as the rest of his body. His skin his nicely molded with grooves and folds to emulate a leathery hide.

Eight points of articulation grace Landsaurus’ form; however, he is still really stuck in a single pose. His mouth can be opened, but doing so will activate his action feature...provide you have placed one of his five missiles in his throat. The missiles that fit inside Seasaurus are the only ones that can be inserted while still allowing the mouth to close. Even so, Landsaurus looks wicked with Skysaurus’ or Magmatron’s sword sticking out of his throat ( the latter of which doesn’t actually go down far enough to fire).

Ultimately, Landsaurus’ one great flaw is that he forms the main part of Magmatron’s robot mode. Thus he has quite a bit of robot kibble sticking out. The robot legs aren’t too bad. But the robot chest is the same green as Seasaurus, and the bright red claws don’t help matter. Even so, Landsaurus is still a decent figure.

Chimera:

Personally, I don’t like this mode. It looks okay, but doesn’t really add anything new. I guess you could use if you want to display Magmatron in beast mode and want to save shelf space or something.



Robot Mode:

By far my favorite mode. I’m still amazed at how well, the beast elements distribute and mix in the robot elements

The robot legs, nicely sculpted with hydraulic pumps, grooves, and (curiously) working wheels, merge with the lower half of Landsaurus’ legs. Panels that folded out during transformation on his thighs and his back have rivets and gears worked in. His upper arms are entirely mechanical, yet each is sculpted with a unique design. The lower half of his arms have a wrinkled skin pattern on the backs and outside, while the inside and bottom have armor plating and hydraulics. His robot head has a helmet design, but the face itself has a fierce expression. Seasaurous’ spark crystal appears on Magmatron’s left shoulder; Landsaurus’ is on Magmatron’s weapon.

Gun metal grey is the only new color to appear, and then only on the robot parts. More yellow shows up on his right shoulder and on his codpiece. His fingernails have the same light red wash as Landsaurus’ toes and teeth.

Magmatron has fairly standard articulation. His hips are on ratchet joints and can move to the side as well as back and forth. He can bend his knees, but loses Landsaurus’ ankle articulation. His shoulders are on ratchet joints similar to the legs; however, his right arm is somewhat limited due to the dinosaur head mounted over that arm. The arms can bend and swivel at the elbows, and he has a hinge joint on his wrist and thumbs. It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s actually pretty good when you consider his transformation. However, I would have like to have had a ball joint in the his wrist, or an additional swivel joint. As it is, his natural poses are somewhat limited.

The underside of Seasaurus becomes a shield in this mode. It can attach to Magmatron’s left arm via a clip system. His gun/sword can be held in his right hand. However, aiming the weapon as a gun is somewhat difficult since he can’t raise that arm completely, he ends up shooting at his enemies’ feet. Dance, fools! Dance! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

*ahem*

Overall, a very impressive robot mode.

Transformation: Not as difficult as you might imagine, but still fairly intricate. With practice, though, you can actually transform him pretty quickly. 7/10

Durability: I haven’t had any problems so far, and he’s pretty solid, even in robot mode. I wouldn’t recommend dropping him repeatedly from excessive heights though. 6/10

Fun: He looks great as a robot, and as a decent beast mode(s), and has decent articulation. 8/10

Price: $25-$40 Not bad for an import, especially since the Beast Machines version is selling for twice that. 7/10

Overall: Magmatron is a unique figure, but that’s really the only thing he offers that you can’t find done better in other figures. He’s definitely not a bad figure, just not a great figure. I whole-heartedly recommend him to fans of Beastformers, novelties, awesome display pieces, and evil despots. Everyone else should think on him a little bit more before buying. 7/10