Death's Head
13-09-11, 08:58 PM
I’m never quite sure what I make of Transmetal Megatron. He ticks all the right boxes in terms of design, execution and overall appearance, but there’s something that just makes him fall short of being a great figure. One thing’s for sure, both he and Transmetal Optimus Primal are still probably the greatest commander figures rendered in this size class, having being specifically designed for it, unlike some of the horribly compromised scrunched down versions of other Optimus and Megatron figures that would pop up over the next 15 or so years.
Still a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Megatron benefited from a Transmetal upgrade courtesy of a quantum surge that devastated the planet the Maximals and Predacons found themselves marooned on. A smart way to sell new toys, whichever way you look at it! Largely a bronze, copper colour Megatron’s new beast mode is nicely detailed with various rivets, vents and panels. It looks quite steam punk. The huge purple head and feet dominate the rest of the beast mode. Whilst not a bad choice of colours both this and the blanket use of bronze do render the beast mode quite dull, particularly in comparison to his opposite number, Transmetal Optimus Primal. As with all the Transmetal figures, Megatron features an intermediate transport mode. Two VTOL turbine engines flip out from above the legs to give Megatron a flight mode (to call it a jet or anything else would just be laughable). Some cute ‘roller skates’ flip out f his heels to give him a form of landing gear.
A fun transformation switches the rather bland beast mode for a superbly detailed and sculpted robot. There’s a nice beastly looking chest design which almosts suggests that this is the beast mode head, compacted to form the chest. The arms are nice and beefy, and good use of the beast mode legs are made in the robot mode. The grimacing face adds a nice bit of intent to the figure – there’s no question of this figure being a good guy! I particularly like the toothed helmet that adorns the robot head. The tail weapon is a matter of taste. Whilst it looked good on screen, it doesn’t work so well on the figure. So that it can be held in the toy’s hand, a small handle folds out on an axle. It just looks a bit too long and cumbersome to look effective although the scissor blade end is fun. The connector peg to which the tail connects to the beast mode is also just left dangling down Megatron’s side. This does look a bit odd but the designers have gone to great lengths to make it look like a holster for weaponry or other odds and sods. As ever, the figure has enough points of articulation to strike some decent poses without toppling over and the way the beast form provides armour for the robot mode is a neat touch. The figure also has some structural weakness at the waist that’s probably worth noting as some owners have reported that the brown plastics are of a poor mix and Megatron ends up cleaved in two. In the thirteen years of repeated play my example has had, this has yet to happen but is probably something to watch out for.
If there were a bit more colour to the beast mode, Megatron would be just about perfect, despite the silly tail weapon. A good figure for his size class, he is an improvement over his earlier and larger Ultra size toy, but he’s just not as slick as the Deluxe Predacons or even Transmetal Scavenger.
708709710711
Still a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Megatron benefited from a Transmetal upgrade courtesy of a quantum surge that devastated the planet the Maximals and Predacons found themselves marooned on. A smart way to sell new toys, whichever way you look at it! Largely a bronze, copper colour Megatron’s new beast mode is nicely detailed with various rivets, vents and panels. It looks quite steam punk. The huge purple head and feet dominate the rest of the beast mode. Whilst not a bad choice of colours both this and the blanket use of bronze do render the beast mode quite dull, particularly in comparison to his opposite number, Transmetal Optimus Primal. As with all the Transmetal figures, Megatron features an intermediate transport mode. Two VTOL turbine engines flip out from above the legs to give Megatron a flight mode (to call it a jet or anything else would just be laughable). Some cute ‘roller skates’ flip out f his heels to give him a form of landing gear.
A fun transformation switches the rather bland beast mode for a superbly detailed and sculpted robot. There’s a nice beastly looking chest design which almosts suggests that this is the beast mode head, compacted to form the chest. The arms are nice and beefy, and good use of the beast mode legs are made in the robot mode. The grimacing face adds a nice bit of intent to the figure – there’s no question of this figure being a good guy! I particularly like the toothed helmet that adorns the robot head. The tail weapon is a matter of taste. Whilst it looked good on screen, it doesn’t work so well on the figure. So that it can be held in the toy’s hand, a small handle folds out on an axle. It just looks a bit too long and cumbersome to look effective although the scissor blade end is fun. The connector peg to which the tail connects to the beast mode is also just left dangling down Megatron’s side. This does look a bit odd but the designers have gone to great lengths to make it look like a holster for weaponry or other odds and sods. As ever, the figure has enough points of articulation to strike some decent poses without toppling over and the way the beast form provides armour for the robot mode is a neat touch. The figure also has some structural weakness at the waist that’s probably worth noting as some owners have reported that the brown plastics are of a poor mix and Megatron ends up cleaved in two. In the thirteen years of repeated play my example has had, this has yet to happen but is probably something to watch out for.
If there were a bit more colour to the beast mode, Megatron would be just about perfect, despite the silly tail weapon. A good figure for his size class, he is an improvement over his earlier and larger Ultra size toy, but he’s just not as slick as the Deluxe Predacons or even Transmetal Scavenger.
708709710711