Beast Wars Megatron is my favorite version of the character, yessss. Between his voice, his motivations, and his design, I can't see any fault with this badass Predacon leader. Most normies would go "hur hur hur this Megatron knockoff is basically Barney hur hur hur gunn, not trecks", but the thing is that this Megatron knows how to make his plans unfold more than his ancestor, who's usually seen making STUPID devices in the cartoon and fail until the next episode. And sure, BW Megs tends to lose, yet he seems more fulfilling to win by comparison. I mean look at how he won during Beast Machines for most of the series! The dude turned every Cybertronian into Vehicons and ruled the planet until he died! And now I'm more than happy to own a version of him in the Kingdom line! As of now, we'll wait and see if he'll actually be as well-written in the Netflix show, but even if he doesn't sound glorious and is yet another Jason Marchonda slow-ass dude, at least his toy's awesome.
Here is Megatron in his Tyrannosaurus Rex mode, which is done up to look more like a realistic T-Rex rather than the more cartoon-accurate design from the cartoon. I don't mind it because the figure still has the spirit of the cartoon in this form and also looks awesome with the realistic proportions as well as the color scheme. This guy looks badass, and I have to give Hasbro credit for giving this guy the perfect balance between looking cartoon-accurate and realistic, something the Universe line's take of the Beast Wars characters didn't really strike. The beast mode pieces use a rubbery material for the texture, and while some parts are annoying to tab in place, it at least allows the materials to be better etched in place. I even like the deco that we have here, with the green on the back and the yellow in the bottom giving Megatron a little more color than he would normally have. And the articulation on him is pretty good! The jaw opens, the head turns left and right somewhat (the panels around the neck are spring-loaded so as to make his skin look less broken up), the little arms move around, the legs move front and back as well as in and out slightly (thanks to the shifting hip panels, the knees bend, and the ankles hinge as well as pivot. Even the tail can move, at two points no less! Pretty sweet!
For a size comparison, here is Megatron in-between Maximals Cheetor and Optimus Primal. These three are how we do the Beast mode scales right. Megatron should be the biggest of them all, especially as a Tyrannosaurus Rex is known to be the king of the Dinosaurs. If you feel like Primal is too short, then stand him upright!
One of the things I like about the Beast modes is the potential found from displaying them. You can have Primal and Cheetor harming him no problem while also having Megatron grab Cheetor and nearly kill him, requiring Optimus to grab him by the tail and try to stop him.
Transformation is undeniably Beast Wars Megatron's method of transformation, as while the leg's don't do as much beyond shifting in place, but the upper torso is quite involved; the way the panels fold up in the back as well as the way the torso swivels before tabbing in place. The back kibble and tail kibble are there, and it can be messy for the uninitiated, but let me say that it doesn't bother me since it's not as frustrating as on a shellformer. It's not as awful as some Beasties tend to have as he at least makes the most out of the parts into his outstanding robot mode! This design captures the feel of Beast Wars Megatron as well as he could, from the color scheme to the dino head and tail arms, and especially the kibble. It'd normally be weird to have that much junk on him, but it works so well that it doesn't bother me as much and instead works as Megatron's design. It also helps that the sculpted details of the robot parts are as intricate as the beast mode details, especially when it comes to the chest including the teeth collar and the four vents. Very nice touch!
Head sculpt is accurate to how Megatron looks in the series, and while he's not smirking, growling his teeth, or laughing, he has the proper shade of people, the red eyes, the frown, and the helmet design...if only they painted the back of it! At least his Predacon insignia is kept intact. His articulation is the same as with every WFC figure, though his arms work differently thanks to the dino head and the like. Interestingly, his left hand can hinge up, though it's not for any discernable reason I can think of. At least it has a 5mm post for anyone wanting to give him a gun.
There is apparently a variant head that has gritted teeth present, albeit unpainted. It lines up with the original toy's gritted teeth face, though it looks better here than it did with the original toy. If the teeth were painted properly, then it'd look more Megatron than the old toy's retro Ninja Turtle faces.
As far are repaints are concerned, this is T-Wrecks, based on a Dinobots/Beast Machines repaint of the original Megatron toy. Deco-wise, the dino mode definitely reminds me of the Red Ranger Tyrannozords from over the years, while the robot mode looks kind of plain with the bare gray; some added paint apps or silver would make it look nicer. A bigger offense is that he doesn't have the intended snarling head that would make this release so much cooler, and it'd also be a nice alternate head for the original figure while this can be the default head and be swapped with the mutant head. COME ON, HASBRO! #RestoreTheSnarlingHead
And for another take of the mold, this is Tyrannocon! A Jurassic Park-themed repaint of the mold, she turns from a realistically-colored Tyrannosaurus into a robot with a few G1 Dinobot color influence. Her head looks like a mix between Grimlock's and the mutant head of the original Megatron. Rexy came in a 2-pack with JP93, a new mold that not only turns into an officially licensed Ford Explorer from the movie, but it also looks like a Unicron Trilogy design. In fact, I bet JP93's engineering would be PERFECT for Armada Red Alert.
Finally using the alternate snarling face, Megatron gas a much more a screen-accurate deco.with a bit of a paint pattern on the skin to have it be purple and lavender. He is in the Beast Wars Again subline and comes with Optimus Primal, only renamed as the less-cool-sounding Convoy.
For a comparison with prior versions of Megatron, here he is next to the original toy, the Robotmasters version, and the Masterpiece version of the character. The old toy certainly holds up more than nearly every G1/2 toy made before it, but it's even clunkier than the Kingdom figure is. Also, the color scheme isn't exactly accurate despite being the 10th-anniversary version of it. The gimmicks are cool but it was a thing that makes it feel a little dated. I also think the head looks a little bad, what with the wrong colors and incorrect color scheme. The face even looks wrong! The Robotmasters version, seen here as the Telemocha version of the guy, is a simplified and shrunken-down version of the toy and lacks some of the finesse the original toy had to some extent. Looked more like a budget toy despite being twice as expensive as the original toy was thanks to the import prices. The masterpiece figure certainly is the best of them all, what with the design looking exactly making him look like he stepped out of the cartoon and into the real world, but that's what the line is about, which is why I can't be upset about the Kingdom version being less cartoon accurate and focusing on being the perfect mix of cartoon and realism.
For another comparison with some Beast Wars characters this time, here is Megatron sandwiched in-between two of his Maximals. It's so amusing to see this more monstrous Megatron contrast the macho beef of Primal and the normal design Cheetor has as a Transformer, though Megatron is monstrous in appearance as his character is more charismatic. I can't wait to get the rest of the Season 1 Predacons!
This guy is so outstanding to display in fight poses, as he can be seen giving Primal a big challenge in fighting him, capturing Cheetor in his possession, and leaving Rattrap in fear of not being chased by the big Predacon! Also, what's Blackarachnia doing in the background?
Here he is now sandwiched in-between Siege and Earthrise Megatron. Both versions of his ancestor are good toys (the Siege one better than the Earthrise one, admittedly), but I prefer the Beast Wars character much more due to his design being a lot cooler and his character being badass by comparison. Also interesting that he's taller than them! He's not as tall as Leaders were in the past, but he at least has a bit more weight to him thanks to the rubber.
This is something I always wanted to do when I got Kingdom Megatron: the Virgeewun Saturday Morning Cartoon Bad Guy vs the Chad Dinosaur Yes Man!
And now, it's time to add a bit of a backstory on how I got this guy...you see that Optimus Primal he's threatening? I used a link at Walmart.com to get me Leader Class Megatron, I waited for it to pop up, and while the package was quick, the figure I got was the wrong one! I got pretty upset that I told Walmart to give me a replacement! Surprisingly, they gave me a free replacement AND is indeed Megatron! So now I have a spare Leader Prime and the best version of Megatron yet!
Overall, this guy stands out as my favorite figure in the line so-far. Both modes look badass, the rubber pieces on him give him a great feel in terms of mimicking the organic skin without making it weird, the transformation is nice and involved, and the articulation in both modes, especially the dino mode, make him feel like a mini-triumph like the Masterpiece figure! And here he is with Optimus Prime's Core Class figure! I can almost hear him say "Muhahahaha! Say goodbye to the universe, Maximals! The future has changed, yessssss. The Autobots lose! Evil triumphs! And you...YOU NO LONGER EXIST!"
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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