 Galvatron
Studio Series 86 #31 (also Kingdom/Legacy/Selects Galvatron Redux)
Transformers Studio Series Leader Class Toy
Item No.: E0703 No. G0481
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Includes: Matrix, chain, "Revenge" blasters, orange cannon, backdrop
Action Feature: Transforms from Robot to Cannon
Retail: $55.99
Availability: January 2025
Other: It's an improvement, I'll give it that
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If you want movie colors Galvatron, this it. Hasbro has sold this mold quite a few times. In 2021, Kingdom Galvatron [FOTD #2,417] had "battle damage" and reversed shoulders. Later, we got a clear purple reformatting one that looks like old Tomy TRON figures, Toy Colors Galvatron [FOTD #2,427], and a "clean" version of that first one in Legacy. And now we've got it again, with no clear plastic and in The Transformers: The Movie colors. Is it better? Generally, yes. Is it perfect? Well, no.
If you don't yet have this mold, this is a very good version to pick up. Until Hasbro comes up with a better one, and I assume that's probably five or ten years away unless Takara-Tomy finally does a Masterpiece edition of some sort.
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Galvatron's a hard one to get right because the animation model looks like an action figure with detail all over, and that makes it hard to cram mass somewhere. This toy has a very good silhouette, particularly since it was designed for Kingdom. Vestiges of this include 5mm sockets on the arms, and a little more bulk. It makes total sense that Hasbro would want to recolor a good mold in Studio Series 86, but that line is pretty persnickety and fans want something a bit more cartoony. As colors go, this is a great redo, but not perfect. The red decoration from his shoulder pylons are missing, and his "beard" or soul patch or whatever is on his chin isn't painted a different shade of gray. Aside from that, the colorist did a great job with the mold as is. No, the helmet's not quite right. No, the fingers aren't jointed like this year's Megatron. Yeah, there are extra accessories which probably took away from making the core robot just a smidgen better - but it's still pretty nice.
The articulation features swivel wrists, tilting ankles, and double-jointed elbows. It's great. From the front it looks like a very close interpretation of the movie design, sturdy and purple. The opaque cannon looks great, and the illusion fades a bit as you turn the figure and see the treads on his arms that get in the way of some movement as well as the kibble packed away in his legs. It has to go somewhere.
Transforming him is pretty much the same as before. I noticed some gaps in the upper arms, but that may just mold use and abuse over a ew years. It wasn't as much of a pain as I remembered, but I did have to consult my old photos to see if I was doing it right. He was more back-heavy than I remembered.
The cannon mode looks fine. It's a bit kibbly, but the robot got more of the love here and you can't usually have two perfect modes. I think it turned out extremely well given the mold they had to work with, but it lacks things like painted wheels in the treads. Will you even miss them? Probably not. There are also places to connect the Matrix and the big blaster accessories. For a toy with less paint at a higher price, it still looks very nice.
Hasbro delivers a decent upgrade, but it's also the third take of "basic Galvatron" and that's a little exhausting if you're buying most of these. I skipped "Clean" and "Clear" figures because I assumed more would be coming and indeed I was right. If I had any notion of a new version coming, I'd skip this one too - but I don't, and I really like the movie and season 3 characters. As such, I got it, and while it stayed boxed for about 11 months I eventually popped it open. And yeah, I really like the robot figure.
I assume Hasbro and Takara-Tomy will try a new transforming Galvatron again, but I could also see a day when we get non-transforming collector figures made out of this kind of plastic. RED (a 6-inch figure line of robots for Walmart) didn't do it right, but if you can use these materials, and these sculptors, I wouldn't be surprised if fans would be willing to give up the ability to transform to transfer these powers to their sculpts and deco. If fans really want a perfect silhouette and something to stand on their shelves and look even better, that's probably the next phase. For now, this is the one to get.
--Adam Pawlus
Additional Images
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