Gigatron (Botcon 2012 Exclusive)
Vehicle ModeRobot Mode
Allegiance: Decepticon
Size: Voyager (comes in a 6-pack with Metalhawk, Soundwave, Treadshot, Turbo Tracks, and Ultra Magnus)
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Moderately dark blue, purplish off-white, gray, and some black, purple, light orange, red, silver, and moderately light greenish blue
Rating: 9.5

(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Revenge of the Fallen Voyager class Bludgeon. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Revenge of the Fallen Voyager class Bludgeon here.)

    Gigatron is a definite homage to G1 Overlord, but he's named "Gigatron" for two reasons-- one, copyright issues; and two, because unlike G1 Overlord (who became a tank and a jet), this version only becomes a tank, and the name for his tank mode was Giga. Kinda clever, actually, given that the name was already in circulation. Anyways, in vehicle mode Gigatron represents Overlord's tank mode to a tee, and looks good doing it; the moderately dark blue and off-white play off each other very well as the main colors. There are numerous secondary colors-- light orange on the vents, purple on the weapons, silver on parts of the robot mode, aquamarine on the fronts of the tank mode and lower legs, red on the tips of his missle launchers-- but pretty much every one of them contrasts with the other colors well and really makes Gigatron's color scheme eye-catching. The only one that I would say doesn't so much are the gray on the treads, which would've looked a bit better as a solid black to stand against the off-white and aquamarine. In robot mode, however, his comparison to his G1 self falls completely flat-- simply put, although it was a great body for Bludgeon, beyond the two large silver chest bits, there's nothing that makes this robot mode look like his G1 version.
    Well, except for the head sculpt, which is the only mold change made to Gigatron. It's based off of how Overlord looks in the IDW comics as drawn by Nick Roche (which was largely responsible for his recent popularity surge), but unfortunately translating that look into 3D plastic made it lose how good it looked. First off, the head's a bit large proportionally; also, the lips are a bit TOO puffy, and his circular eyes have a rather blank stare on them that is just off-putting (and definitely not in the way intended).
    I'm rather conflicted when it comes to Botcon Gigatron. On one hand, it's a great mold with a fantastic, eye-catching color scheme and loads of paint apps. The vehicle mode is also a pretty good match to Overlord's "giga tank" mode. However, the robot mode simply evokes nothing regarding Overlord, and the headsculpt is pretty iffy. This toy in particular smells of getting a character into a boxset because he's popular, and NOT because an existing mold adequately evokes him.



Gigatron Bio:
FUNCTION: Overlord of Destruction
MOTTO: "I stand my ground. I accept any challenge."
Forfeiting his throne at Polyhex to his successor, Straxus, Gigatron turned to his inherent nomadic tendencies. Thirsting for ever more power, he drifted with the eddies and currents of the Dark Flow as he searched for that which would make him stronger. He found it in a small blue sphere glowing brightly in the black. This planet Earth was rich with resources and he could feel its potency, however, he could sense another energy waiting to be tapped. Gigatron's craving for power borders on the psychotic. He believes that he alone is befitting of greatness and often resorts to violent sprees to provide evidence of this. Although his body has been augmented several times as the result of battle, his infrastructure remains a functional munitions factory. It is capable of constructing a near endless variety of ordnance and launching it thorugh his M68A1 105mm tank gun. In robot mode, Gigatron carries an array of bladed melee weapons so that he may savor the damage he inflicts in a close-quarter brawl.
Strength: 10.0
Intelligence: 6.0
Speed: 4.0
Endurance: 10.0
Rank: 9.0
Courage: 9.0
Fireblast: 10.0
Skill: 5.0

Review by Beastbot

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