Transformers Animated The Battle Begins 2-Pack review

I haven't covered this series yet, and it's making me feel like a fool for not doing so. Transformers Animated is a GREAT show with an equally impressive toyline! While I was able to see the show at the best of my ability and love just about everything that we got as far as quality is concerned. It's just a shame that I didn't get any of the figures since they were generally complete as far as part count and accessories are concerned. I'm kicking myself for not getting ANY Animated toys, but I'm killing two birds with one stone as I review The Battle Begins 2-pack featuring both Leaders in Deluxe form!

Let's first go over their vehicle modes as far as scale is concerned. It's not that great, especially with Megatron being bigger than Prime in the show. Plus, these two alt modes were never next to each other in the show, nor was Optimus in an Earth mode when Megatron was in his Cybertronian form. 

Let's zoom in on Optimus in his vehicle mode. It's a very different take on the traditional G1 design, but with firetruck elements added like the lightbars and the more futuristic design. The sculpted details are kept at a minimum but the paint apps keep the figure from feeling incomplete. You have the silver for the bumper and the trim around the windows, though the grille is missing paint and the bumper looks incomplete in the middle. The translucent windows and sirenbar are nice touches, though the toy has battle damaged paint apps added to make the figure feel more "special" as part of the battle between him and Megatron. Battle-damaged Transformers were a thing for the toyline since 2007, and while they were kind of not really special considering how unappealing some of them can be as far as execution is concerned. Some look fine, but they're not really spectacular in terms of appearance, and this is no exception.

The axe stores in-between the legs, though it looks pretty ridiculous it at least has the legs together better. It's worth mentioning that my copy is missing the smokestacks, but that's honestly fine since the character doesn't have them. It's also worth noting that the black on the bottom is actually red and it's inaccurate to the cartoon.

Transformation for Optimus is different from the way it works in the show. Instead of the waist swiveling in position, Optimus's lower legs extend and swivel. Instead of the arms transforming the same way they normally do on a G1 Optimus, the sides of the trucks are used as the shoulders, arms, and forearms. The grille abs are faux this time around since the real one is shifted away due to transformation. The resulting robot mode, however, still captured the same look that he has in the show. While the color layout for the forearms and the way the chest is designed are different, he still looks very accurate to the show. I'm not a fan of how the battle damage is still there, but it at least has that Animated feel to him overall, right down tho the legs and the siren on the back. His proportions are also accurate but they're not that cartoony to me; he still has that strong look to him without looking to babyish as Animated haters would see him as.

Head sculpt is nicely done for the character, and I like that he has a baby blue face underneath the mouthplate (not a fan of how dark the eyes are). I can feel David Kaye's spirit from the face alone with this version of Optimus. As for his articulation, it's very good though it has some things worth mentioning: his head can look up and down, though swiveling the neck can only be done with lowering it down. The shoulders are on ball joints, and thanks to the transformation, he has double-jointed elbows (though one part of the joint is a ball joint). The hands can curl inwards if you want, the hips move freely on ball joints, the bend at the knees as well as swivel below the knees. If you're asking, no, he does not have a proper waist swivel; what you see is him using the spring-loaded punching gimmick while carefully placing it in a spot where it won't spring back. If you have the guts, you can ratchet the joining to leave it in a proper spot with no issue...or remove the gimmick entirely if you can. He has his axe, which is more accurate than the Voyager one but is given a longer handle than it was in the show. I painted the booster myself.

Now let's go over the different reuses of the mold. This is the Lucky Draw version of Optimus. He's in gold chrome and looks shiny. That's pretty much it.

This is the Sons of Cybertron version of Optimus, given clear plastic all throughout the toy as well as proper Autobot insignias (two of which are on his left arm). He was included with a clear Rodimus Minor, but they didn't have much significance together in the show as far as I'm aware.

And here is the one fans would more than likely want. It's a TakaraTomy version of the mold given no shiny deco like the rest of their Animated line did yet it removes a lot of the battle damage that the Hasbro version has.

For a more canceled release, this is the Wingblade version of Optimus that we would have had if the Animated line wasn't canceled. It trades in the ax and silver rims in favor of the armor that Takara's later Voyager figure came with. It's too big for him, as seen evidently with the shoulders and the gauntlets, proving that Hasbro's version likely didn't foresee the size discrepancy.

Next up, we have Megatron! He turns into a Cybertronian VTOL jet, with tiny wings and proportions that look bad. For all the complaints people have about the Cybertronian forms in the movies, I think it's even worse with the Cybertronian altmodes outside of the movies when you don't have a proper vehicle mode implemented. For example, the fusion cannon looks like it doesn't really belong on there, IDC how many attempts at making it look like a cockpit are attempted. The wings look small, the rest of the vehicle looks poor, and it's just an afterthought of an altmode when you have robot parts not even concealed properly at all.

And here he is from the bottom: You have his head, chest, feet, hands, and gaps that do nothing to make him feel like a Transformer. Sure, you have the tail of the altmode, but it makes him look like some shitty mermaid than a Transformer! Movie Megatron's parts were able to shift around in the 2007 toys decently, so why not here?

Transformation is very much just a case of shifting parts into a humanoid shape and removing the cannon. I do like the way the tailfins and the knees are folded in position for the legs, but they're the only aspects of the transformation that I like. The resulting robot mode is pretty much a cartoony take of G1 Megatron's design with some spiky Movie influences here and there. It's got a very powerful look to him and would be nice if it weren't for how loose the joints are on the toy. I was able to tighten them, but I can't help but feel bad for kids that'd get frustrated with the tolerances of this toy. He also has battle damage paint apps, though instead of black, they're painted in pink. Very odd. At least he has some translucent plastic on parts of him, though I fear they might be fragile.

Head sculpt is very nice as far as accuracy is concerned, though it's a more aggressive version of the Earth mode that he later obtains. His articulation is the same as with Optimus Prime, right down to the waist swivel gimmick being spring-loaded. He has a similar gimmick of sorts for combating Prime's axe, as he has a double-bladed weapon that can be made by hinging the cannon from the back and swiveling the blade around. It's about as successful as it gets.

Let's go over Megatron's reuses now. It's a Lucky Draw version of himself! No guess as to him being shiny and chrome.

Overall, this two-pack is flawed but is a nice encouragement for delving into the Animated line. It made me want to get Voyager Optimus and Leader Megatron as well as the likes of the many other Autobots and Decepticons from the show. It'll be a great time to seek out this series, and I honestly don't think the current form of Hasbro engineering will do the Animated line as much justice as the original toys do. As for these two, they're nice to own but Optimus certainly feels the better thought out of the two. That being said, they're both more satisfying than the Classics Ultimate Battle 2-pack (though G2 Megatron's tank mode looks nicer as far as alt modes are concerned).

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐