Megatron's mode is a
tank, and a pretty solid-looking one at that. THe proportions are quite
realistic between the turret and the main body of said tank, and other
than the cannon section extending too far into the middle of his turret
due to his transformation, by and large it's hard to find anything wrong
design-wise with this mode. The only real issue I can come up with here
is that Megatron's back end is a bit hollow between the tread sections,
with only the back (hollow) side of his pelvis making up the top of the
rear, with no real "bulk" to it. Megatron's mold detailing in this mode
is nothing short of stellar, and has all the mold detailing you'd expect
from a tank and then some; the diagonally-oriented armor panels on the
sides, ladders, little molded-in ports for an imaginary pilot to "look
out of" on the side of the turret... it all looks fantastic. What makes
him look even more fantastic is that pretty much all of Megatron's light
milky gray plastic has been painted over with silver in this mode-- that's
right, this mode is almost completely covered in paint! That's certainly
a rarity in a 2015 toy, Leader-class or not. There's also a fair amount
of black plastic in this mode to give a dark color to contrast against
the silver, and there's some red accents here and there to keep him from
looking too monochrome, too-- all very much in line with his G1 color scheme.
What's more, Megatron has rubber treads, and they actually roll! This hasn't
been used effectively on a tank TF in a LONG time, and is very much appreciated.
By pressing down on the red section in the middle of Megatron's cannon,
you'll fire a spring-loaded red projectile out of it-- though he also has
removable (non-firing) weapons mounted on the rear area of his turret,
a gun and missile launcher pack. Sadly, although the turret can rotate,
the cannon can't move up and down-- a noticeable oversight on a toy this
large. Due to the other usage of this mold, Megatron also has four Armada
Mini-Con ports-- one on each side on top near the front, one on top of
his turret, and one at the back end, at the top of his pelvis piece. Another
fun extra Megatron has is that he comes with a sticker sheet, giving the
buyer optional additional details to put on-- namely, swirly lines on his
chest to mimic an aspect of his G1 gun form, and two Autobot symbols, one
for each mode to cover up his Decepticon symbols (this is to pay homage
to the IDW comics, where at this period in time Megatron had become an
Autobot-- a cool feature, especially since they're optional).
Megatron's transformation
is a bit inventive, involving the turret becoming his arms, the sides of
the tank folding around and becoming his feet, the front tread sections
becoming a backpack, and the underside of his mode flipping around a bit
to become his chest and waist. In general, this mode is remarkably accurate
to G1 Megatron's cartoon appearance, with only the treads on the back of
his lower legs and his backpack making it obvious he's a tank. The way
his feet fold out to closely mimic his G1 version's "gun handle-feet" is
particularly well-done. By and large Megatron's proportions are good in
this mode-- he arms are nice and thick, he's got a broad (but not too broad)
chest, and his legs are proportionate at least from a side view, though
from a front-on view they're a bit skinny. The tank treads on his back
also stay out of the way of articulation and only stick out a little, so
they're a minor downside at best. No, the real issue here are the placement
of Megatron's arms. As I mentioned earlier, by themselves they LOOK alright,
but due to his transformation they come out too low from his body-- only
a little bit above the center of his chest. This looks very awkward in
almost any pose, and is by far this mold's biggest downside. On the plus
side, Megatron's mold detailing is just about as good in this mode as it
was in his tank mode, with the necessary cartoon-esque details on his chest,
arms, and legs all there. His head is also remarkably well-sculpted, complete
with the G1 triangular "eyebrows". Using red plastic for his eye light
piping was a good decision, though the treads behind his upper back can
make it a bit more difficult for his eyes to "glow". I also love how his
tank cannon retracts into itself a bit to become a more proportional arm-cannon,
though the front is still a bit skinny for Megs. The main colors are still
the same as they were in the tank mode, but they're broken up a bit more
effectively by the black and red, and Megatron has an impressive number
of colors on his chest that are only used there-- the dull orange, the
somewhat brighter red paint (as opposed to the duller red plastic), the
dark blue circular button on his stomach, the purple triangles.. it really
all pops against the silver and black. For articulation Megatron can move
at the neck (at two points), shoulders (at three points), elbows (at two
points), rotation at the wrists and waist, and movement at the hips (at
two points, though side rotation is restricted some), the knees, and the
feet. His arm-cannon can also rotate where it meets the arm, but only a
little. Thus, except for some issues with his lower legs, he's quite poseable.
Megatron's two weapons from tank modes can be held separately in his fists,
or they can be combined into a longer rifle, which is a neat little extra.
Combiner Wars "G1-esque"
Megatron is a great toy, though not flawless. His color scheme is excellent--
particularly all the silver paint when it easily could've been a dull,
boring milky gray. His tank mode is remarkably solid. He's got cool weapons
working treads, and his robot mode looks amazingly close to his G1 robot
mode. The stickers are also a nice little extra. That all said, although
it's just one thing, his arms are VERY awkward in robot mode, coming out
from too far down on his chest, and it nearly ruins what is otherwise a
great mode. Still highly recommended (and recommended over the Armada Megatron
remold), but keep in mind that big caveat with his arms.
Review by Beastbot