The Combiner Wars toy line is in full swing, and has given us some of the best Transformers toys in a long time. One of the gems of this line is the somewhat recently release leader class Megatron figure, who is a lovely mixture of his Generation One and comic book selves. And who better to talk about for the site's reboot?
Megatron is meant to be a formidable and imposing character, and this figure definitely captures that aspect of the Decepticon tyrant. He's a near perfect adaptation of his G1 cartoon model, with the only thing not being accurate to the original is his alternate mode. Understandably, Megatron never really turns into a gun anywhere, and this toy carries on the long term trend of him turning into a tank
And Megatron's tank mode - to quote Animated Lugnut - GLORIOUS. I love this tank mode. It's definitely one of the better tank modes that we've gotten in a while, at least from the one's that I've sampled. One thing he has that I don't think we've seen in a long time is rubber treads. Which is great. But they'd be better if they actually worked in tank mode. It's hard to get that sweet spot where you're putting enough pressure on them, just between not enough pressure to make them roll and too much pressure to allow them to roll. But, the mechanism is there, so it can be done
As well as treads, in classic tank fashion, he has a turret which can rotate 360 degrees on a nice clicky ratchet joint. And, on top of that, he has two smaller guns which can peg in on top of the turret, for that extra tanky goodness
As well as treads, in classic tank fashion, he has a turret which can rotate 360 degrees on a nice clicky ratchet joint. And, on top of that, he has two smaller guns which can peg in on top of the turret, for that extra tanky goodness
The only other issue that I have with the tank mode, besides his treads that don't really roll all that well, is that the back of the tank feels very open. It's usually covered (mostly) by the turret, but when you rotate that, you an see what are clearly his thighs and crotch piece. It's not that big a deal, but it is there
In robot mode, this figure continues to shine. Much like the tank mode, it is glorious, and as I mentioned earlier, it is a near perfect rendition of Megatron's G1 cartoon model in toy form, with the added bonus of some tank kibble
The head-sculpt on this figure is just absolute perfection. It captures Megatron exactly as he should be. It has this simplicity about it, but at the same time looks incredibly menacing. You don't want this guy looking in your direction. He's also got some killer light-piping, although I neglected to take a photo to show that off
His chest and stomach also have some nice sculpting, once again taking directly from the G1 cartoon model with the grid on his abs and the grill pieces along the side. With this figure you also got some stickers for his chest (and one for his cannon, which you can see applied in the above photo). You get two Autobot symbols, for that MTMTE goodness, two Decepticon symbols, and his squiggly chest hairs. I would have applied the chest-hair stickers, but they have white backgrounds rather than clear, and so don't look great when applied
His chest and stomach also have some nice sculpting, once again taking directly from the G1 cartoon model with the grid on his abs and the grill pieces along the side. With this figure you also got some stickers for his chest (and one for his cannon, which you can see applied in the above photo). You get two Autobot symbols, for that MTMTE goodness, two Decepticon symbols, and his squiggly chest hairs. I would have applied the chest-hair stickers, but they have white backgrounds rather than clear, and so don't look great when applied
As far as weapons go, Megatron is of course equiped with his giant fusion cannon, which in this case, also forms the barrel of his tank-mode's turret. The barrel then collapses when transforming into robot mode, which is pretty clever. Officially, the barrel end of his cannon should face forwards, but, like a lot of people, I like to have the wider end facing forward, as it looks more like his usual fusion cannon to me
He's also got the two smaller guns that I mentioned could peg in atop the turret earlier in the review. These can also combine to form one larger gun - which is about all the combining this Combiner Wars figure does - although I can't see why Megatron would really need them when he already has his cannon. I'll probably end up giving them to another figure who needs them more
He's also got the two smaller guns that I mentioned could peg in atop the turret earlier in the review. These can also combine to form one larger gun - which is about all the combining this Combiner Wars figure does - although I can't see why Megatron would really need them when he already has his cannon. I'll probably end up giving them to another figure who needs them more
As far as pose-ability goes, this guy isn't short of it. His head is on a swivel and a hinge, giving it the same range of motion as a ball joint. His shoulders, hips, knees, and elbows are all on ratcheted joints. He's also got an elbow and a mid-thigh swivel, and swivels in his wrist as well. He's got ratcheted joints in his ankles too, but those are there more so for transformation. Although they do help with some poses
However, he does have some issues relating to pose-ability. The way his elbows are designed and positioned means they sit a little lower than they should in robot mode. It's not really a design flaw, as it's there to allow for the turret to rotate in vehicle mode, and it's only really noticeable when you point his arm forward, as it becomes obvious that the shoulder joint is more in line with his chest than his collar.
As well as that, there aren't enough ratchets in his hips to allow him to stand in a position between straight-legged and splay-legged. With a bit of fiddling, you can get him in poses where the splayed legs don't look too bad, but this is an issue that could've been avoided with a few more ratchets in his hips
However, he does have some issues relating to pose-ability. The way his elbows are designed and positioned means they sit a little lower than they should in robot mode. It's not really a design flaw, as it's there to allow for the turret to rotate in vehicle mode, and it's only really noticeable when you point his arm forward, as it becomes obvious that the shoulder joint is more in line with his chest than his collar.
As well as that, there aren't enough ratchets in his hips to allow him to stand in a position between straight-legged and splay-legged. With a bit of fiddling, you can get him in poses where the splayed legs don't look too bad, but this is an issue that could've been avoided with a few more ratchets in his hips
To summarize, Combiner Wars leader Megatron is another great addition to a great toy line. He's definitely my favourite Megatron figure in recent memory, easily surpassing the 2010 War For Cybertron deluxe figure, and is a great rendition of his G1 cartoon model in toy form. However, there are just those few little things that keep him from being perfect
9/10
Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out some comparison photos in the gallery below
9/10
Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out some comparison photos in the gallery below