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.
Strength: 10.0
Intelligence: 10.0
Speed: 10.0
Endurance: 10.0
Rank: 10.0
Courage: 10.0
Fireblast: 10.0
Skill: 10.0
Review by Beastbot
(NOTE: Megatron has been noted on Walmart.com's website as being a "Wal-Mart Exclusive", but a brand new TF mold has never been a store exclusive before. However, he has been out for nearly four months as of this writing (6/04), and no other stores have gotten him in, so there may be some truth to this claim, although it is as yet unconfirmed.)