Dave's PRiD Rant: Warrior Megatronus

[Dave Van Domelen]

Dave's Prime: Robots in Disguise Rant: TRU Exclusive Warriors Wave 2

Megatronus (Cybertronian Tank)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/PRiD/WMegatronus

Part of their "Clash of the Transformers" promo saw Toys R Us release a
bunch of exclusive redecos, many of which intended to evoke the power-up
appearance of characters in the final episode of Season 1. They also got
three different Megatronus molds, none of which to date have appeared
elsewhere in other color schemes. I already reviewed the Legion one, I don't
plan to pick up the $30 Hyperchanger, but the second wave of Warriors added
in the third Megatronus.


CAPSULE

$15 price point, TRU exclusive

Megatronus: A bit oddly colored due to the store exclusive theme, but
generally looks good in both modes, and has a good transformation.
Recommended.


RANT

Packaging: Same as the usual Warrior class card, but with the altered
Clash trade dress and TRU exclusive sticker. The card art shows the
character with exposed face, but the toy uses the battle mask.

DECEPTICON: MEGATRONUS
Assortment: TRU B4636/B3644
Altmode: Tank
Transformation Difficulty: 7 Steps
Previous Name Use: PRiD
Previous Mold Use: None
Weapon: Energized Assegai
Function: The Fallen
Motto: "I'm here to remind you that Earth is actually Unicron."

Packaging: Two ties secure the weapon, four hold the robot mode into the
blister.
Cosell on the bottom is for the exclusive Bumblebee redeco.

Robot Mode: In addition to having the battle mask closed, the overall
look of this is lighter-colored than seen in the show, as they gave this deco
more silvery gray plastic and bright blue paint in keeping with the decos of
the Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and Sideswipe seen in the first wave. While
there's clear signs that his legs become treads, it's more of a suggestion
than "folded over treads as legs". There's a few weird bits of tank kibble,
such as some spikes on the back or a pair of turbines on the butt (suitable
for Gundam Zero TransAm mode?). The undersides of the forearms are quite
hollow, but that's the main aesthetic issue.
5.5" (14cm) tall in a mix of silvery light gray, dark warm metalswirl
gray, and accents in dark metallic purple and bright blue. Dark warm gray
plastic is used for the faceplate (but not the main head), shoulderpads,
hands, pelvis (including butt-turbines), and every part of the legs below the
knees. The rest of the toy, including the melee weapon, is made of silvery
light gray plastic.
There's a dark gray paint that's a very good match for the plastic, used
on the pecs, down the center of the torso, and on armor panels on the
forearms. Bright blue accents are painted on those armor panels, and
(somewhat sloppily) on the vision slits of the battle mask. Dark metallic
purple paint picks out accents on the chest, and is used for the shinguards
and the wrist cuffs. Standing out a bit is the silver paint used for spats
on the boots. The code circle is on the center of the chest.
The neck is a restricted ball joint, the waist turns smoothly. The
shoulders are a bit odd, with a restricted ball joint where they connect to
the torso, a smooth hinge to lift the arms out to the sides, and a stiffly
ratcheting hinge on the shoulderpads to get them out of the way when needed.
There's smooth upper arm swivels, and stiffly ratcheting elbows. All of
those ratchets are there to keep the cannon from sagging, I presume. The
wrists bend inward for transformation. Ball joint hips, smooth upper thigh
swivels, smooth hinge knees. No ankles, but the big feet are well-shaped to
allow stability in dynamic poses.
While the Hyperchanger has a full dual-bladed spear-staff weapon as seen
on the show, this version gets only half of it, a stout blade on the end of a
medium-length haft, total length of 3.5" (9cm). Basically a variant on the
idea of the assegai. In addition to going into either hand with its standard
5mm diameter haft, it can clip into a spot on the right forearm (where it
needs to be for vehicle mode). It can point forwards or backwards in this
storage spot.

Transformation: The chest folds down to let the arms merge into the main
cannon barrel, the head just sort of folds back out of the way but is still
visible. You need to insert the assegai into the barrel before you snap it
shut. The legs perform a rather clever bit of unfolding to make reasonably
convincing treads without looking too tread-like when in leg form.
If you just transform the arms, you get a sort of walking cannon mode
similar to what the original live action movie Megatron toy tried to do.
The instructions are vague on the final step, but fortunately there's
nothing too tricky about finishing it.

Vehicle Mode: A cybertronian H-tank that's a bit front-heavy. It would
have a bit better visual balance if you turn the turret 180 degrees, but the
weapon pods on the treads define the front pretty clearly and look bad in
reverse. The assegai acting as a bayonet on the main barrel not only worsens
the front-heaviness, it also looks vaguely ludicrous. I can't find a decent
place to store it in vehicle mode other than the turret, though. The
turbines on the robot's butt become intakes, so I guess this is a jet-powered
tank.
Total length is 5.75" (14.5cm) without the bayonet, 7" (18cm) with the
bayonet, and the treads are 4.5" (11.5cm) long. The light gray is mostly
hidden in this mode, only being prominent on the barrel end and the turret
root. The blue accents from the forearm armor are now energy indicators
under the main barrel, and the purple wrist cuffs join to become the barrel
tip. There's also purple paint on the fronts of some rocket pods atop the
treads. The silver spats make the toes stand out a little too much on the
sides of the treads. The code circle is mostly hidden.
The turret can turn all the way around, but cannot elevate. The chassis
is reasonably solid thanks to wide tabs on the butt turbines attaching to
slots on the treads.

Overall: Suffers from some of the hollowness endemic to the line, but
otherwise a solid mold that I might be willing to re-buy if a more
show-accurate scheme shows up later on. (A head resculpt to have the mask
open might not really fit well with the transformation scheme, though.)

Dave Van Domelen, doesn't really see The Fallen in this design, although
replacing the blue paint with orange-red might help.