General Information
Release Date: March 2021
Price Point: $11.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: General Release (Amazon, BigBadToyStore, Entertainment Earth, Target, Walmart etc.)
Accessories: Blaster
Official images and text in italics are from Amazon.com
Welcome to the incredible world of Transformers robots. It is a world of high technology, ancient history, and a battle that has spanned the entire galaxy and millions of years. Optimus Prime, leader of the heroic Autobots, battles the tyrant Megatron and his evil Decepticons for the fate of freedom across the universe. There's a Transformers figure for every kid or collector. From big converting action figures to miniature battling robots to figures that change between modes in 1 step, you can team up with Transformers toys to create your own incredible adventures. Whether you're defending Earth with the Autobots, or conquering space with the Decepticons, the action is up to you. Transformers is a world-famous entertainment brand with 30 years of history, blockbuster movies, hit television shows and countless novels and comic books. With Transformers robot toys, you can create your own chapters in this epic, ongoing story. Transformers and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro. This copy is intended as placeholder text only and is not representative of individual items in the line. Hasbro and all related terms are trademarks of Hasbro.
Background:
In 1992 Hasbro made an attempt to revive the then floundering Transformers toy line in the United States with a new line called Generation 2. While Transformers ruled toy store shelves in the 80s, by this time they had largely faded away (though they still sold rather well internationally). As part of this effort, a new Megatron was released. Instead of transforming into a gun, he now transformed into a tank. This helped start the long trend of Megatron transforming into a tank, something that continues to this day.
As part of the multi-universe spanning Legacy line, Hasbro took the Kingdom Core Class Megatron figure and gave it new colors as "G2 Megatron". This is hardly a new idea. As recently as 2020, Hasbro released a G2 Megatron as part of Selects. This review will focus on the changes made to the figure for this release, so check out my original review for my original thougths on this base sculpt.
Accessory:
If it is possible to be excited (or at the very least amused) by an accessory this one will do it. Megatron comes with a gun/blaster, but not just any gun. The design of this weapon is deliberately shaped to look like the Walther P-38 pistol that served as the alt-form of G1 Megatron! As most fans know, United States laws around toys make creating a Megatron figure that transforms into a gun difficult at best, hence Hasbro defaulting for years to a tank as his alt-mode. However, this weapon features all the distinctive parts of the Walther weapon including a sight on top, a short stock in the back and there is even a curved trigger on the bottom. The weapon has a 3mm peg allowing Megatron to essentially hold "himself" in weapon mode, something I find very amusing.
This weapon is made up of the same bright green plastic as Megatron himself with no paint applications.
Robot Mode:
There have been no tooling changes made to Megatron for this release. It is a straight up redeco. The redeco embraces the bright G2 theme very well. Its base colors are bright green and purple, both of which were the colors that served as the foundation of the first G2 Megatron figure (there were a few over a the course of G2). The green really dominates the figure, but purple helps break it up at the waist area and via the Fusion cannon attached to his right arm. Paint colors include silver, lavender, purple, orange and black. The silver is used on the head's "helmet" piece and on the mid-body area. The lavender is used for his face and his eyes are orange. This may seem like an odd combination of colors, but it is actually based on G2 Megatron's head deco. Orange is also used on the mid-body and knees. The pruple is mostly used for camo details found on the chest and legs. Unlike the Voyager Class figure, no deco was put on the arms. Look at the back of the figure and you'll see generous amounts of black paint the the treads from the vehicle mode. This offers some nice color breaks, especially with so much green on this figure.
In a fun bit of continuity, the camo patterns on the chest and legs actually roughly match those on the Voyager Class figure (but not the original one from 1992). I think the designers did a great job evoking the G2 era with this figure.
All twelve points of articulation in this mode are still nice and tight. No parts are falling off my copy of this figure so I'd say the tooling is holding up, at least for this release.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Detach the weapon and set them aside for now.
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Turn the robot head around.
- Swing the treads on the back up and over.
- Rotate the Fusion Cannon up.
- Swing the arms (and the panels they are attached to) together to form the tank turret. Use the peg on the left arm to connect to the port in the Fusion Cannon.
- Rotate the right wrist so the black panel sides over the forearm, making it look even with the other forearm.
- Push the front tank treads up.
- Rotate the lower robot body around.
- Swing each lower leg out, then swing it up and snap it into place to form the rear half of the tank treads.
- Attach the blaster accessory to the front of the Fusion Cannon barrel.
Vehicle Mode:
Megatron's tank mode sculpt remains unchanged from the previous release. The colors are very different however. Green once again serves as a canvas for other colors. Purple camo patterns start in the front going to the back around the lower half of the vehicle. In a fun touch, the designers added in a purple G2 Decepticon symbol set against orange on the left side. This is a direct callback to a sticker from the 1992 G2 Megatron figure.
The turret can still turn and the vehicle holds together fairly well. You can still attach the blaster to the end of the cannon barrel or in one of the small ports towards the back.
Final Thoughts:
As redecos go, this is a fairly simple and predictable one but it's fun. If you already have the Voyager Class version, I really don't see any great need to get this. If you just want a pocket sized Megatron, this is a great choice. Recommended but it's not a "must have".
Pros:
- Fantastic sculpt in robot mode.
- Fun meta accessory.
- Good articulation.
- Fun "pocket sized" Megatron figure with good play value.
- Nice homage to G2 Megatron.
Cons:
- The tank barrel is a bit too short and kind of goofy looking.
- I would have loved a way for the blaster to mount on his shoulder area.
