Review: #286
Name: Megatron
Brand: Tranformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Animated
Year of Release: 2008
Size Class: Leader (Wave 1)
Mold Status: new
HELICOPTER MODE:
Megatron transforms into a dual-rotor helicopter with a gigantic cannon sticking out the front.
He lacks tail rotors. The batteries are also cleverly hidden within the two boosters on the back.
In terms of size, this was back before the shrinking so Megatron feels very hefty in your hands (especially with batteries inserted). He is big and chunky.
There is a gimmick here in that the rotors are geared. Turning one will also turn the other although it does not free spin so it's not as fun as it sounds.
He has some landing gear with plastic wheels. Theoretically he can roll but due to the small wheels and large weight, he doesn't really, he tends to slide more. Pressing an Decepticon symbol on the undercarriage causes lights to flash in the cockpit and a engine rising noise that keeps going as long as you hold the button, before dying down slowly when you release.
The giant cannon that sits on the underside of the nose houses a missile launcher. The button is trigger-happy, most likely, the missile will fly out whenever you just lightly touch the figure.
As this is an Animated figure, it is very stylized with heaps of curves. However, Megatron is one of the more realistic looking vehicles. The matte finish looks great.
A really nice helicopter mode, while it is an unusual alternate mode for Megatron and the gun pods are a bit kibbly, it's one of the best alternate modes a Megatron has had.
TRANSFORMATION:
Transformation is easy but once you see the robot mode, it feels ingenious. The cannon detaches, revealing the head (it feels like a cheat and lazy like this though), while the arms just unfold from the sides. The legs involve a little bit more work but sliding pieces down and rotating them before snapping it together to form the feet. Unhinging the cockpit causes a transformation sound to occur and lights to flash.
ROBOT MODE:
Megatron's robot mode is just as if it has stepped out of the show. It is crazy at how well the designer managed to translate such a stylized 2D character model into a 3D figure made of plastic.
Thanks to the electronics and rotor gimmick, he has a huge backpack, the batteries sit within the torso.
The headsculpt is absolutely amazing. It conveys so much character, looking suitably evil and cartoony looking at the same time. The unfortunately side effect is that the head is fixed, he cannot turn his head at all!
The lack of a head swivel is due to the electronics. Pressing and holding down the Decepticon button on his chest will slightly open his mouth and cause his eyes to flash red, as well as the chest. He will utter one of three phrases: "Crush the Autobots", "Where is the Allspark?" and an evil laugh.
From a side on view, you can see that his legs curve backwards naturally to offset the heavy weight of the upper torso.
He comes up shorter in robot mode, but he has a solid build and no obvious hollow pieces in sight.
Being so top heavy makes him naturally hard to pose. His relatively stiff legs also does not help. While he does have some ankle movement, it is not enough for dynamic poses.
The fixed head also eliminates many options. He has ratchet hips and knees which help stabilize the figure.
His first weapon is the giant cannon which originally was attached underneath the cockpit.
It can now snapped onto either arm for some classic cannon firing Megatron poses.
Once again you can fire the missiles.
His next piece of weaponry are swords. Where did these come from? By some stroke of genius, some bright spark thought of the idea to convert the rotors into blades. Very ingenious.
He can hold the blades in both arms, and the wrists have swivels which comes in very handy. You can even use the swivels to get rid of the "gorilla" elbows.
He lacks a waist swivel due to the electronics but otherwise Megatron has average articulation.
A fantastic robot mode that looks great and have heaps of play value in the vein of weaponry options.
OVERALL:
At the time of this figure's release, we've hadn't had a good Megatron toy in years. Animated Megatron was a breath of fresh air with two great modes and ingenious weaponry. The electronics are well done although it might not be worth the fixed head. Still, Megatron is a wonderful toy and worth to be in your collection.
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