Megatron
(Energon)
Vehicle mode is a kind
of futuristic spacecraft. This mode can't get much cooler, I'll tell you
what. It's looks verry evil, and is definitely fitting for a Decepticon
leader. The cockpit, especially- the windows into it, combined with the
black paint apps surrounding it, almost make it look like a scowling face.
The robot feet may very nice intake engines, and they even have thrusters
in the back. Megatron's certainly got enough guns to go around, especially
if you enable his "hyper" mode by folding the top part of his wings in
to reveal even MORE guns and placing his little drone (non-transformable)
Armada Megatron tank on top of him. Granted,
this isn't so much a mode as it is a slightly different configuration of
his weapons, but it still looks pretty cool. (Worthy of note is that his
front cannons look almost identical in shape to the main cannon in G1 Galvatron's
alternate mode- a nice nod, to be sure.) Megatron's paint and mold detailing
are also great, with excellent jobs done in almost every area. You won't
find any monotonous parts on this toy. The overall color scheme, although
pretty good, doesn't seem to fit the Armada/Energon character very well,
however. Granted, it is very similar to the G1 Galvatron toy's color scheme,
which is a nice nod, but sometimes you need to ignore the past if you can
do something better in the present. I would have preferred it it stuck
with the slightly lighter colors of Armada Galvatron, or even went back
to the more military deco of Armada Megatron. Energon
Galvatron, the inevitable repaint of this toy that's coming down the
line, will no doubt paint the toy in a color scheme that's close to the
G1 show counterpart's, but that scheme, if it was done at all, should have
been done on the FIRST try of this mold, not the second. It's still not
that big of a problem, though. I don't know if I'd even call it a problem,
just a "well, it could be BETTER" comment. The major problem I DO have
with this mode, however, is that Megatron's robot head sticks out rather
obviously from the bottom. It forms a rather huge, abrupt bump on the underside-
so large, in fact, that it almost touches the ground even WITH the landing
gear extended. And with the landing gear retracted, there's no way to keep
him level. I really don't understand why they couldn't have come up with
a better way of hiding the head, especially on this large of a toy. Megatron's
Decepticon spark crystal, by the way, is on the side of his left cannon
in this mode.
In robot mode, Megatron
is VERY reminiscent of G1 Galvatron, and this no doubt was the designer's
intent. Especially when you consider that both were reformatted by their
Generation's Unicron. Energon Megatron has the
same head design as G1 Galvatron (although the antennae are notched a bit,
as a throwback to Armada Megatron), as well as the same chest and leg designs.
It all looks very nice, though, and not at all forced. In fact, the molding
job done on the face is very decidedly the character of Armada/Energon
Megatron- the slightly slitted eyes, the stern, no-nonsense expression
on his face. He definitely looks like a Decepticon leader to me. Megatron
also has pretty decent articulation- he can move at the head, the shoulders
(at two points), the elbows (at two points), the hips (at two points),
and the knees. His large wings on his back limit slightly his poses, though,
not to mention that they are obviously just extras. Especially when you
consider how large they are in comparison to the rest of his body. His
tank drone can attach to his arm in this mode, and can form either a sword
or a gun, depending on which way you turn it. The drone is the electronic
component of Megatron, and when you plug in the sword piece (stored in
the nosecone) into the back of it, it makes a "powering up" sound. Also,
when you fire the missile on the front, it makes a machine gun-like firing
sound (although it is a bit overly long). The tank drone, however, is really
oversized when you consider it being a handheld weapon. It will pretty
much collide with some part of Megatron's structure no matter what, and
it gets pretty annoying, especially since it interferes with his articulation.
His shoulder cannons make pretty good guns on their own, though.
Megatron would have
been a top-notch toy if he was smaller. As a Super, he just seems big for
the sake of being big. He's too simplistic for this large of a toy, and
his transformation is TOO easy. This also shows from his downsizing to
an Ultra-class toy for the Japanese version of him. (And he still didn't
lose anything!) In fact, if you lose the tank drone, you could probably
even make him a DELUXE without taking away anything else. He also suffers
from some problems with his drone tank, and a few extras in either mode.
But he's still a pretty fun and cool-looking toy. However, if you only
want to get one version of this toy, I'd hold off until Energon Galvatron
hits stores, as the color scheme will probably be better on him.
Review by Beastbot