Megatron's vehicle mode is, obviously, a Cybertronian vehicle-- some sort of futurisitic VTOL... thing. Compared to the deluxe-sized "Battle Begins" version of him, it's mostly an improvement in that it looks a little less like a robot taking yoga. It's still hard to tell which way is the darned front (it's facing towards the camera, but there's no real way to tell this from the toy), and there still are a few telltale signs like the obvious feet and the arms under the rear end, but they're covered up SLIGHTLY better this time around. Parts peg into each other a bit better this time around as well (with the exception of the front... fin... things, which still just don't want to stay together for long). His wings are slightly more obvious, but still horribly undersized. The overall color scheme of black, light gray, and translucent red still works roughly as well, though the gray itself can be a bit dull (though it's no prominent in this mode, so that's for later). As expected from an Animated toy, there's not much mold detailing, but there still are some cool details, like the translucent red "turbines" and the rear of the gun, which has a nice mix of black and silver paint with some translucent red lines showing through. One advantage the smaller "Battle Begins" toy has over this mold, though, is that it doesn't have a really large unsightly plastic hinge reaching around one side of the gun-- that's a bit of an eyesore.
    Megatron's robot mode is a bit of an improvement over his vehicle, but disappointingly it still has some major flaws, even give the questionable vehicle mode. The biggest and most annoying one is that his fusion cannon, as enormous as it is, is attached to his right arm THE WRONG WAY. And it's molded this way, so it's not just some assembly error. It would take some serious modding to correct this-- as it is, it hangs down below his arm in a rather awkward manner. Oh, yeah, and the peg that holds it to the main body is weak, so the cannon falls off almost constantly. GROAN. The cannon can fire your standard spring-loaded missile, however, and the translucent red parts on both sides can be folded over onto one side to serve as a sort of cannon-blade. Megatron also has a rather major proportion problem when it comes to his legs, Animated aesthetic or not-- his upper legs are ridiculously small compared to his relatively huge lower legs-- his kneecaps practically cover them up from a head-up view, which means it sort of looks like Megatron has no upper legs at all from some angles. On the plus side, he's quite stable (his feet are molded at a slight angle so he can take a normal stance without his legs sliding out from under him), and his upper body proportions are spot-on. There's also no vehicle mode kibble, though the kneecaps are a tad large and awkward. Megatron's head sculpt is also very well-done, though for some odd reason it's darker than the light gray used for the rest of his upper body-- it's the other way around on the show model, with his face being a lighter gray. He has a fair amount of black "line" detailing, though he still could use more, particularly on his upper chest and arms. The translucent red is used to really nice effect in this mode, particularly on the blade and lower waist. Another detail I like about the toy is the "samurai"-like "skirt" he has on-- it gives him a bit more character, methinks. Megatron's articulation is pretty good-- he can move at the neck, shoulders (at three points), elbows (at two points), wrists, waist, hips (at two points), and knees (at two points). All of the joints are nice and tight, as well. However, his legs can't be posed as much as you'd think, due to the aforementioned HUGE lower legs.
    Overall, if you want one Animated Megatron mold, go for the Leader class toy. If you want one Animated Cybertron Mode Megatron, go for "The Battle Begins" 2-pack. Not only does the Megatron in that 2-pack cheaper, but he has a more accurate color scheme and a better robot mode with a FAR less annoying fusion cannon, even if the vehicle mode is a TAD less impressive. Unless you're a completist, there's no reason to go for this rather flawed Voyager class toy.

Review by Beastbot

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