When I first saw these figures, I was kind of excited and kind of bummed out. I didn't need another Megatron - since 2006, Hasbro has given us several "classic" versions. Some are guns, some are tanks, but we've had Voyagers and Legion/Legends and Leaders over the years - so why would I possibly want another 6 1/2-inch tall tank Megatron with a purple Decepticon face on its chest? Hasbro added in battle damage and a pretty spectacular sculpt with better than average articulation. The robot mode is far better than the tank mode, but it's clear this is a line where the robot action figure takes precedent.
The robot has a good silhouette with minimal kibble, mostly just tank treads shoved in the back. It's kind of amazing that 30 years ago, we'd have a car or a gun where they tried to build a robot out of a real-world object. Now we've got new objects being crafted out of those oddball robots. Megatron sports about 19 points of articulation, including some great arm and leg joints. Megatron can actually sit - this is kind of amazing. We rarely get figures designed to pop a squat, so this shows some thinking on Hasbro's part. Maybe we'll get a throne or some playsets in the future?
Color is not entirely unlike the vintage toy. The legs lack the inner red, and the pinstriping is absent, but most of the elements corresponding to the original toy remain. The gun grip's black is similar to the current lower legs. The cartoon's dots on the chest are mostly replicated, but the red box to the left of the dots on the belly is left unpainted. You'll see bits of red to recall the original toy and character models, plus the black eyebrows under the helmet are there. It feels like a pretty good pastiche of Megatrons of old, including a swell 5mm fusion cannon. I'd go as far as to say this is my favorite classic one so far, although it does lack compatibility with the Siege 3mm blast effects or any sort of rocket firing mechanism. At least the toy has a lot of unnecessary silver damage deco all over. Depending on the lighting it's acceptable, but if and when Hasbro removes it for budget reasons I doubt you'll notice it is gone. It's like the foil stickers. You won't even realize they're gone.
The Megatron tank has a decent transformation, but I needed instructions. The sword turns into the cannon in a non-intuitive way, and the backpack is a little strange converting to the tank. There are rolling wheels and a jointed turret, plus the tank is significantly bigger than Optimus' truck mode. It's not unimpressive by comparison, but it does look like a conglomeration of Megatron parts in a tank shape.
A few years ago Hasbro mentioned a desire to make Transformers a bit more like Marvel Legends - I think they succeeded. The boxes have slowly phased out a lot of carded figures, and the articulation has improved significantly. This is a collector product with a satisfying and unexpected transformation plus a bonus sword accessory for no good reason. The damage deco undoubtedly just exists to appeal to the older, crankier fan in the short-term as it's a minimal value-add. I like this Megatron a bunch and I assume Hasbro will want to keep it in circulation for a while - a G1 robot with a vaguely Cybertronian tank mode works for me. I'm having fun with it, and I could see this being the last Megatron I'd ever need. But who am I kidding?
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