General Information:
Release Date: June 2021
Price Point: $49.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: General Release (Amazon, BigBadToyStore, Entertainment Earth, Target, Walmart etc.)
Accessories: Particle Beam Cannon, Side Cannons x 2, Matrix of Leadership, Necklace
Official images and text below in italics are from Amazon.com:
- Iconic Transformers Crossover: Discover the epic collision of the Maximals, Predacons, Autobots, and Decepticons in an epic battle that alters their destinies forever.
- G1-Inspired Galactic Cannon Mode: This figure converts into a Galactic cannon mode in 33 steps, paying homage to the beloved G1 series.
- Authentic G1 Accessories: Comes with classic Particle Beam cannon, side cannons, and a Matrix of Leadership necklace, enhancing the nostalgic experience.
- Collectible Golden Disk Cards: Includes a Golden Disk card revealing a potential destiny for a key character, encouraging fans to collect more figures to uncover all destiny variants.
Beastify the battlefield! Worlds collide when the Maximals and Predacons join the fight, coming together with the Autobots and Decepticons in an epic battle that will alter their destiny forever. Behold, Galvatron! This G1-inspired toy converts into Galactic cannon mode in 33 steps and comes with Particle Beam cannon and 2 side cannon accessories that attach in both modes. The Matrix of Leadership accessory can hang around the Galvatron figure’s neck as it did in the 1986 film, The Transformers: The Movie. Includes a Golden Disk card that reveals a possible destiny of a key character. Collect other Kingdom figures to reveal all 3 alternate destiny variants for each character! (Each sold separately. Subject to availability.) Transformers and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro.
Background:
In the 1986 Transformers animated film, Optimus Prime and Megatron have a climactic battle where Megatron is left at death's door. When he encountered Unicron, the giant planet destroyer gave him a new body and identity as Galvatron. Galvatron would go on to continue leading the Decepticons in seasons three and four of the G1 cartoon as well as the Japanese Headmasters series. While the G1 character did not appear again in the Transformers toy line for many years, his appearance did inspire Energon Megatron's appearance. In time, Galvatron appeared in Universe 2.0 and more recently Titans Return.
This version of Galvatron came out during Kingdom but unfortunately the first run of this figure had a shoulder assembly issue. While Hasbro did correct the shoulder issue eventually, I never got a hold of that version so this review is covering the original release of this figure in Kingdom with the "incorrect" shoulders. I'll go into it in more detail below.
Packaging:
Galvatron is packaged in a large box, shaped like the same boxes from Earthrise. This means it has a rectangular shape with an angled section on the left. Unlike previous packaging, this one has a much smaller window revealing only the head and upper torso (and a bit of the shoulders). The right side has a vertical Transformers logo with the Generations logo above it. The beautiful part of the packaging is the artwork. In lieu of the larger window, the box has artwork of Galvatron in both modes. In front the art shows his Cannon mode and off on the angled side is the robot mode firing his weapon from the right arm. The Kingdom logo is placed right over the beast mode. The artwork is gorgeous and I love how we now have both modes featured on the package art. The name "Galvatron" is printed towards the top of the packaging in both English and Cybertronian text.
Accessories:
Galvatron is a little over 7 inches (about 17.78 centimeters) tall so he's more Voyager Class in size (though bulk is another matter). Since he is sold at a Leader Class, the designers decided to give him a bunch of accessories to help bolster the value of this set.
- Particle Cannon: When Megatron became Galvatron, he traded up his Fusion Cannon for a Particle Beam Cannon. One of his first acts was to use the cannon to destroy Starscream with one powerful blast, so this weapon was one to be feared! The cannon looks like a more streamlined, curved and futuristic version of Megatron's Fusion Cannon. The back has an "L" shaped section with a cylinder on the back and a vertical fin. The barrel is a long orange piece that is thicker in the back and narrows towards the front. This piece has a 5mm peg at the back and on the bottom. The end of the barrel has a port allowing you to attach Blast Effects. The cannon base is black plastic with silver paint. The barrel is made of translucent orange plastic with some orange paint on it to look like power charging up. The cannon barrel has some cool mechanical looking details inside of it, a detail paying homage to the G1 Galvatron action figure. This is a beautifully sculpted piece and a cool looking weapon.
- Side Cannons: Galvatron includes two identical "side cannons" that act as extra weaponry. Their design is based on the Revenge, the ship given to Galvatron by Unicron. Like that ship it features a thick back section, curved pods on the sides, a flat, rectangular section in front that comes to two points in front and a curved piece on the bottom. These are scaled to the HasLab Unicron given them a dual purpose. Each Cannon has a 5mm port on the bottom, and you can connect the two together to form a "super cannon". Both of these pieces are silver plastic with no paint applications.
- Matrix of Leadership: In the animated movie, Galvatron manages to steal the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. This Matrix is a modified version of the one that came with Earthrise Optimus Prime. The back has been changed so it features a 5mm port. This allows you to attach it to the necklace/chain so you can simulate how he carried the Matrix in the film. This piece is mostly painted silver (on the handles) with orange and blue in the middle.
- Necklace/chain: Galvatron carried the Matrix on a chain. This is represented by a necklace/chain piece that goes over the head and sits around the figure's neck/head area and rests on the chest. This piece is grey plastic with a 5mm peg at the end that allows you to attach the Matrix.
Robot Mode:
Galvatron's robot mode is largely based on his animated appearance in the G1 film and cartoon. For anyone familiar with Galvatron's appearance you'll recognize a lot of the design elements including:
- Head: Galvatron's head features a "helmet" design that resembles a crown with three points curving upward from the top of the helmet. His face has very angled cheeks and a prominent chin piece.
- Torso: The torso features two pylon type pieces that stick up on either side of the head. The chest/mid-body section angles forward a bit and flattens out in the center. The "abdominal" area features four rectangles that look like robotic abs. Underneath that is a section that looks like a belt with a rectangular "belt buckle" design in the middle.
- Back: The back of the body features a triangular design that points upward and winds up behind the head. This was a prominent detail on the animation model.
- Arms: The arms feature sphere shaped shoulders that lead to cylindrical arms. On the back of the arms are the treads from the Galactic Cannon Mode.
- Hips: There are panels on the hips that can move in and out. These panels are flat and act as a visual callback to similar details on G1 Megatron.
- Legs: Galvatron's legs are a big contrast to Megatron's. Whereas Megatron was very angular in design, Galvatron's legs are mostly cylindrical, looking almost like a human wearing armor. The lower legs feature details that look like arrows in front that wrap around to the sides of the knee area.
I mentioned above that the shoulders are misassembled on this copy of the figure. This was a common problem when it first came out. Basically the round shoulder pieces are backwards, so his shoulders wind up looking slumped and lower than they should. Now, thanks to the articulation you can rotate the arms around, then swing the arms down and rotate them around so the shoulders are at the "proper" height, but then the back of the shoulders with the pins showing will be pointing forward. It's not ideal, but your alternative would be to purchase Legacy Galvatron or the more recently released Studio Series 86 Galvatron which both use the same sculpt with "fixed shoulders" and represent his animated appearance. There are "fixed" versions of this from Kingdom but years later that would be a bit more of a pain to find.
So one of the things that struck me as "off" about this figure are the proportions. It may just be a "me" thing, but when I look at this figure I cannot help but feel that the legs are just slightly too short and that his arms are slightly too long. This is partly because when you hang the arms down to the sides, the fists almost line up with the knees which feels a bit too low. For some fans this may not be a big deal or they may not even see the issue.
This figure is mostly purple, black and silver in color. Paint details include silver, red and black. Interestingly there are light purple "damage" marks on various parts including the chest and forearms. These look like they could be battle damage or animation cel shading (I leave that up to you, dear reader). The deco on this figure looks good and does evoke the animation in G1 but does not fully embrace it. That would not happen until this year's Studio Series 86 Galvatron.
There are twenty four points of articulation on this figure. This includes six in each arm and five in each leg. On the arms, the tread pieces can clip in but that interferes with the articulation so I would not clip them in. There are nine p5mm ports in this mode. This figure came out during the era of Weaponizers and Fossilizers so it makes sense it would have many attachment points for accessories. Of course, the one many fans will care about are the ones on his arms. You can attach his Particle Beam Cannon to a peg on his upper arm or forearm depending on the look you're going for. The Side Cannons can be tabbed onto the back for storage.
Transformation to Galactic Cannon Mode:
- Detach any accessories and set them aside for now.
- Swing each fist into the forearms.
- Swing each forearm up, tabbing them up against the slot on the shoulders.
- Swing the treads over the elbow joints on each arm.
- On each leg swing the hinged pieces on the back to the sides.
- Swing each heel piece up against the bottom of the feet.
- Rotate each lower leg outward, then push the lower legs together.
- Swing the hip panels forward.
- Pull each arm down to the sides (along with the sides of the torso and the pylons that flank the head).
- Swing the top of the triangular section on the back down.
- Swing the back panel down.
- Swing the silver panel on the back out, then swing the head into the torso cavity.
- Swing the front chest/torso panel down.
- Swing the silver back panel forward to cover the head.
- Push the entire upper body section formed in the last few steps forward.
- Swing the back piece forward.
- Swing the purple piece from the back of the robot mode up.
- Swing the legs back.
- Swing the robot arms down, forming the treads on the sides of the cannon mode.
- Move the hip plates so they attach to the front of the pylons from the robot mode.
- Swing the feet in the back down, then swing out the back support piece in the middle.
- Disconnect the cannon barrel and attach it to the front.
- The base of the cannon attaches to the top of the cannon towards the back.
- The Side Cannons can be attached to the sides using the tabs on the cylindrical section that forms the front of the cannon.
Galactic Cannon Mode:
Galvatron's Galactic Cannon Mode takes a lot of design cues from both the G1 toy and animation model but it also has some details that do not appear on either. The general shape is the same as the other two, complete with the cannon barrel in the front connected to a cylindrical section behind it. The tread/arms angle out to the sides and the middle of the weapon has the triangular section sticking up in the middle. The legs form the rear of the cannon including a "support leg" in the middle. There are a lot of extra bits and details in this mode that you will not see in the cartoon. These include three cylinders on the top of the sections above the tread arms and the back of the cannon forming part of the cannon's top section are unique to this figure and not found on the animation model. Overall the sculpt looks great and the transformation to get it here is really fantastic.
All the colors from the robot mode carry over here, but in the front of the cannon (right before the barrel) you get to see some silver and gunmetal grey details. Also, the sculpted wheels on the sides of the treads are painted silver. The silver paint is strategically placed which helps keep this mode from looking dull.
In this mode you can fit a Blast Effect into the front of the cannon barrel. The "tread arms" each have two 5mm ports facing out to the sides. There are also two on the back on the vertical section in the back (formed from the robot legs/feet). My only beef with this mode is the way the chest panel is supposed to connect to the tread arms. It fits but it does not hold in place very well.
Final Thoughts:
Galvatron is a fun figure and the best representation of the character in the line thus far. In retrospect there are many variants of this figure and anyone looking for more animation accuracy may want to spring for the Studio Series 86 version. That said, I still find the proportions on this figure "off" a bit, but it's not so much that I do not like the figure. Recommended!
Pros:
- Excellent details in this sculpt.
- Good deco.
- Cool accessories.
- Fun and unique transformation.
- Good articulation.
- Lots of attachment points for accessories.
Cons:
- The proportions look off to me.
- Some fans may not like the "battle damage" paint details.
- The tread arms and chest piece do not hold together well in Cannon mode.
