Transformers Earthrise Megatron review

The Siege version of Megatron was considered by many (myself included) to be one of the best versions of the character in modern lines. The Classics Voyager was fine for what it was, and the Titans Return version was nearly perfect, but the Siege version did everything I wanted it to do, and it made for a sweet take on the G1 guy overall. That being said, how do we make Megatron go from Siege to Earthrise when he can't turn into a Walter P-38? Well, Hasbro made him an Earth tank mode, but let's see how striking the differences are.

Here is Megatron in his vehicle mode, which is now an Earth tank rather than a Cybertronian tank. As a heavy retool of the Siege figure, I have to commend Hasbro for at least making the figure feel distinct from the Siege version in terms of design cues; the tank treads are brand new, the front of the tank is more fitting of an Earth tank design, the turret has a new barrel piece that completes the Earth tank mode, and for the most part, it works well. Some may find that the need for an Earth tank mode is kind of unnecessary, but I don't mind it so much for G1 Megatron since he's not so upset about taking an Earth disguise like Movie and TFP Megs are.

The proportions to the tank mode are quite good, though the feet sticking out does hurt the appearance somewhat thanks to the fact that they are not implemented in any way. On a side note, there's a new piece that is made specifically to make this less of an H-tank, which is kind of a nice idea yet it does end up feeling like a piece that you'd forget about considering how nondescript it is as well as how annoying it'd be to attach it.

Here he is next to the Siege version on the right. I know some will say that Hasbro didn't need to make this figure since the Siege one was already good for fans, but while the Siege one does look cooler, I don't mind the Earthrise figure given how, as previously mentioned, G1 Megatron isn't someone who doesn't object to using an Earth mode. One thing I do want to mention is that maybe the turret looks a little undersized, but beyond that, I appreciate Hasbro making the new figure look different enough from the older figure, though the battle damage paint apps being even more present here than on the Siege one is kind of ironic.

The bottom part of each figure is also slightly different from one another; I already covered the H-tank aspect on the Siege version being present while Earthrise uses a new piece to make it less like one, but the front of the tank that attaches to the front treads is different on both, with the new version better making it look less like an H-tank.Both of their heads are slightly exposed along with their chests.

Transformation into the robot mode is also the same as the Siege version, though while the hands feel tighter, the ankles are a little looser in comparison; it allows for smoother posing yet makes them unable to stay in one place while in tank mode. Also, we now have an added bit of partsforming with the piece that went between the legs. With all that said, the robot mode is similar to the Siege one, but with a bit of an Earth-influence to it. Things get more noticeably different if you were to take a look at the backpack, which strikes me the most because it's chunkier than Siege's version! I'll get into more comparisons with the Siege figure, though this guy's got some things I do like, such as the midriff not being as small and therefore looks fine on the chest, and the Fusion Cannon, as well as the head, look more classic in terms of design.

Speaking of, the head does have even more of a traditional G1 look than the ER version in terms of the shape of the helmet, though the face does look a little more grumpy than the Siege version's squinting anger. Still, he looks like he's not impressed with Autobot righteousness. The articulation is the same as the Siege version, with a waist swivel that doesn't dislodge the back kibble as badly and ankles that are a little looser. I still wish his wrists swiveled. And of course, you can give him the epic Fusion Cannon on him as always. It's something that was not in need of big change, but at least the new version looks just as good as the old one, which is something I can't say with the Ion Blasters Prime had from Siege to Earthrise.

So yeah, the fusion cannon itself looks pretty cool, but what about this other accessory? It's supposed to resemble the sword he had in the G1 toy, but it doesn't really look that convincing when the entire barrel and part of the turret are left on there. The thing can't even be removed from there, and even if it was arm-mounted, it doesn't look that good. Part of me wondered that it was supposed to be removable, yet the budget on the toy was not even enough to cover making it a separate piece despite it being a retool, so Hasbro just made this section look like a clump of plastic that can't be removed to reduce the part count.

Megatron received at least one reuse with this tooling, that being a G2 deco. While this version looks quite nice, I'm not really sure I'd want to have too many versions of this mold since I want to have the Netflix version be my Cybertronian Megatron, ER Megs as his Earth form, regular Siege as his miner form, and the Combat version as a Megaplex of some kind. And yeah I already got him.

Now it's comparison time! Here he is on the right next to the Siege version. While the ER version has most of the tooling changed to make it more Earth-like, the arms are mostly the same from one another in terms of tooling; it's the deco that's the same though the backs of the ER shoulders don't have the little flaps. In terms of what is different, the lower legs, waist, torso, head, and fusion cannon are different. While the proportions are slightly different, with the ER version having a slightly less wide upper torso and an extended midriff, the two figures actually share the same height despite the new figure not looking as tall thanks to the slight difference in position for the torsos and shoulders. What makes the height work is the face being extended downwards slightly. While the Siege one is the better head, the Earthrise one is more accurate to the G1 media in terms of shape.

I appreciate that the fusion cannons are different from one another, even if they didn't need to do that. As previously mentioned, better than how Optimus's weapons were changed between sublines.

That being said, the sword of the Earthrise version sucks compared to the Siege version. The Siege one was made from the turret and made for a pretty mean blade while this one's just a clump of parts. You can either disassemble the parts to make what could have been intended to be the sword...

...or you can give the Earthrise figure the Siege sword. Maybe an extra one if you feel like it!

For a comparison with his arch-enemy, here he is next to the Earthrise version of Optimus Prime. While the change from Siege to Earthrise is present for the figure, it's not as striking as Optimus Prime in terms of the overall appearance. That being said, I don't mind it since he doesn't feel as unchanged as I initially expected. Plus, I don't care if Megatron can't be a gun mode.

Now some may find it odd that Optimus Prime is taller than Megatron, but they are at eye-level. Kind of hard to tell because of the lack of silver on the face, but blame Hasbro.

 

So now we're at the end of the review, and I must say that this Megatron isn't as bad as I expected. Like there are some things I wish would be better on this guy like the swordthing and the back of the shoulders, but I can at least be sort of happy with what we got since it's a decent attempt at an Earth-mode Megatron and he'll go well with Starscream and the upcoming Soundwave. If you happen to find this guy, get him only if you are a completionist, a big Megatron fan, or if you see him on clearance. Beyond that, you might be happy with Siege Megatron.

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

Transformers Earthrise Runamuck/Runabout review

 The Battlechargers are an interesting set of Transformers, with their old toys being old One-Steppers, then they had toys that would attempt to be similar to the character models. They both had reuses of the 2011 Wheeljack mold, then there was a Combiner Wars Blackjack that was made to be new versions of them, but the trademark loss resulted in the toy only having such characters in the Takara Transformers Adventure line (their version of the RID15 line). So we have the two in Deluxe form. The inclusion's neat, and they wouldn't clash with the use of Blackjack if you want him to be with the Stunticons. So let's see how this mold turned out!

Here we have the two Battlechargers in their vehicle modes. These two look pretty good in terms of mimicking the car they're representing, which is essentially a Lotus Espirit or Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Whatever it is, the vehicle looks pretty good and also stands out from most of the Decepticons we've gotten. The panel-lining done from the transformation cracks does get a little distracting, but it's slightly better on Runabout, the black Battlecharger with red accents, while Runamuck, the white Battlecharger, doesn't look as good. He also suffers a bit from paint discrepancies but is once again nowhere near as bad as Sunstreaker. Both of their rims are the same deco, and while it's accurate to G1, I do wish their rims would be colored differently.

I think I like Runabout better than Runamuck, what with the slick combination of black and red, though the white rims do make it look like a man in a suit missing the shoes and has his socks exposed.

Both of them have weapons of their own, with Runamuck having an unpainted black gun while Runabout has not just an additional weapon that can combine with it but is also painted red, which is pretty cool if you ask me. On the plus, the tip of the gun is not painted and it makes it look less like a safety gun.

Transformation for the figure design is the same on both fronts, and while you may think that it'd once again mimic Wheeljack and Sunstreaker's transformation yet again, I can happily say that these two deviate things when it comes to their engineering; their legs extend by having the struts connected to the knees rather than have them use the tab from the sides of the legs. The chests are fake, meaning the real one is put in the back and covered up by the rear windshield. I'll admit that while the faux chests are somewhat anti-climactic they at least make the figures feel a little more slender than they otherwise would be. The robot modes for the two look quite good, I must say, and while they've got the same hood feet, roof chest we've seen before, their designs at least spice things up a bit by making them less bland than they otherwise would be. Also nice is that they aren't retooled from Wheeljack, which could have easily happened.

The side of the figure design is kind of funny regarding their secondary tires. While they are accurate to the G1 toys, they look pretty much like training wheels...or in this case, training heels. They have 5mm holes, but they could go for some additional paint.

The head sculpts for both figures are thankfully distinct from one another, which is cool though it makes Runabout's head look a little hard to tell about the facial features on him. Runamuck's face is kind of bland but at least the purple eyes make it stand out.

Articulation for the two is consistent with the rest of the Siege Deluxes, though in their cases, they have no wrist swivels. Their guns look pretty cool on their hands, but then again, I'm kind of surprised that the training heels make them a bit more stable. On a side note, Runamuck's hand is kind of hard for him to grip properly.

 

Here's something interesting about these two: they made me want to watch a TV show, but not Earthrise...it's actually Mike Judge's/MTV's Beavis and Butthead! Because Decepticon Grafitti made use out of the personalities that would pop up from the BB duo, and the fact that I've seen King of the Hill before makes me interested in seeing what makes this show great. And hey, if the Earthrise season of WFC sucks, I'd binge-watch Season 1 of Beavis and Butthead instead! On a side note, you should get these two if you can find them easily, though Runabout's kind of hard to get yet somehow easier to obtain than the red conehead named Thrust.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Earthrise Trailbreaker review

We already knew a version of Trailbreaker will pop up in the Earthrise line, but I was quite honestly surprised he's the second version of the mold to come out, especially given that Hoist wasn't as prominent as the other guy. It made sense because Grapple was known to hang out with Hoist in a few episodes, The Master Builders being a good example. Still, we have a Trailbreaker now, and we also had a version of him from the Thrilling 30 line; can the breaker beat the cutter? Let's find out. I should mention that while I covered Hoist in full detail, I will cover Trailbreaker mostly via comparisons as well as what he has new on the table.

Here we have Trailbreaker in his vehicle mode, a pickup truck with a camper in the back. He's mostly the same as Hoist is in terms of molded details, with the deco being what mainly separates the two from one another if you exclude the camper. The grill, wheels, and panels are unchanged in terms of tooling.

The camper piece does have a slightly different shade of black compared to the other parts, as it has more of a speckled look to it while most of the parts are a smooth black and the front is more of a shiny black. Nowhere near as bad of a color match-up as seen on Sunstreaker, but still noticeable. At least the paint apps are nicely applied, which gives the truck that much more of a retro feel.

The only other accessory he comes with can be placed on the top, which can also be applied with the satellite that came with the Centurion Drone.

Here he is with his mold mate, Hoist. As mentioned, both share the same sculpted details for the most part, though now I realize that Hoist's green shades are not as consistent as Trailbreaker's. What's funny is that what little battle damage is applied to the hood of Hoist is not present on Trailbreaker. Also worth noting is that the strange towing equipment on Hoist is entirely removed on Trailbreaker, and we have smoky translucent plastic rather than the blue that Hoist has.

And here he is with Trailcutter from the Thrilling 30 portion of the Generations line. I'm going to admit by saying that I like the design of the T30 version a lot more, as it feels more badass than the "G1-with-knees" copy-and-paste Earthrise version, though I did wish it was bigger (which was an issue that many had when they first got it, as it was smaller than even Classics Bumblebee!), and while the design itself is cooler, I didn't like how the wheels rolled on that figure compared to the more smooth rolling of the ER one. So, yeah, I do feel a little torn on that.

Transformation is 98% the same as Hoist, now with the option for you to either remove the camper or leave it on a specific tab, which compared to the partsforming approach found on Deluxes like Cliffjumper and Arcee, this is the best of them all. Also worth mentioning is that he now has a little shoulder cannon and the same floodlight device on him. Robot mode is mostly the same as with Hoist, though I feel it was made specifically for Hoist because in the cartoon, Trailbreaker and the Season 1 Autobots mostly deviated from the toy designs and made them smoother yet easier to animate (which meant erasing some of the toy details like with the early models for Optimus Prime, Jazz, and Sideswipe). Of course, it isn't so bad because their toy looked the same in terms of design, but the toy is at least not as stumpy as I initially expected on Trailbreaker, given how sleek it kind of looks for him specifically. The back is also decent on him as the camper doesn't stick out like a sore thumb, and the door panels on him are still prominent from the back view.

Head sculpt is an undeniably blocky head, which makes sense for his character yet looks a little funny if you want to make any flathead jokes. Also, his face may be unpainted but he has a nice blue visor. Articulation is the same as with Hoist and most WFC Deluxes, but he has double-jointed knees, wrists, and shoulders that work a little differently.

His accessories consist of the hand-replacement gun that some G1 Autobots have, which look more like silver dildo rockets if you ask me. The camper can be removed and be used as a shield, which is kind of hard to make it look convincing on some poses thanks to the way the arms work.

And here we have Legacy Generations Selects DK-3 Breaker as the Diaclone repaint using this tooling. He's blue like a classic truck and makes me feel nostalgic for the time my dad used to drive in a blue pickup truck, though it didn't have a camper and it wasn't a 4WD Hi-luxe. He's going to go well with other Diaclone homages in the line, that's for sure.

For a comparison with his Thrilling 30 self, here they are side by side. Once again, I'm still mixed on the comparison because while I prefer the design of the T30 figure, I think the Earthrise one feels better engineered; I say that because the T30 one has shoulders that don't feel as integrated, the legs look kind of unchanged, and the torso could use a bit more definition to make it look less unchanged. Also, the benefit of the ER figure is being taller than the other Deluxe.

So while I do like the Earthrise version fine enough, though part of me wished that the T30 Trailcutter figure was better engineered than he already was just so the figure would have some form of being even better than he currently is.

And here he is with his kinda palette swap, Hoist. Their heads, backpieces, and weapons are different, but they are otherwise the same in terms of tooling. So overall, Trailbreaker is a decent reuse of a figure that was alright at first, and I think he's even better despite being a little inaccurate to the character model. I'd say you should get him, but I've never found him in stores.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Earthrise Sunstreaker review

Sunstreaker may be the Luigi of the two Countach Brothers; he's not green nor a coward yet isn't as prominent as Sideswipe is in fiction and toylines past G1. In terms of cartoons alone, he never had a prominent appearance outside of G1, while Sideswipe appeared in Armada, the movies, the High Moon Cybertron games, and RID 15. That being said, it is at least nice that the yellow fellow has gotten toys in the CHUG lines, even having a Combiner Wars release that Sideswipe never got! Said Combiner Wars release was a reuse of Breakdown, which if we're being honest doesn't fit him all that well. Now with Earthrise making a toy of him to go along with last year's Sideswipe, let's see how well he turned out.

Here is Sunstreaker in his vehicle mode, which is more of an earth-inspired vehicle mode than Sideswipe is. It's not too bad of a design if you ask me, what with it being a Lamborghini from the 80s with a few liberties here and there to avoid licensing fees. The sculpted details look good and give the car mode a bit less of a toyetic feel to it, especially with the silver engine block on the back. It's only missing the spoilers that give it a Sunstreaker feel, which wasn't too bad on Sideswipe but is more obvious here. Still, it's as close to Sunstreaker as I've gotten to expect.

That being said, there are some issues worth mentioning with the toy. Number 1: the yellows are HORRIFICALLY inconsistent! I mean, what the hell happened to the coloring department? You've got 80 percent of the body being made in a yellow plastic whose shade looks more faint than it really should be while the yellow parts that are painted are in a more vibrant shade of plastic. You know how some figures had entire layers of paint applied on them to make the paint jobs look consistent? Why isn't this done with Sunstreaker? Also, the rooftop has a bit of a tolerance issue where it sometimes doesn't want to go all the way down, so sanding the pegs is advised.

The engine block is removable, which gives the car more of a stock look to it. The details underneath are nothing mindblowing but it does at least give the car somewhat of a complete look to it if the piece is lost.

Here he is next to Sideswipe, and while the design of Sideswipe's altmode looks Cybertronian according to Siege standards, it didn't stick out like a sore thumb so badly in my opinion. That being said, Sideswipe's colors are more consistent than that of Sunstreaker's, which clash badly in a way similar to the Universe 2008 version. Shame because Sunstreaker could go for a nice shade of yellow.

 

The transformation might be a little familiar...and that's because it's reminiscent of how Wheeljack transforms in the same line. At first, I thought the figure was actually a heavy retool of Wheeljack (which doesn't bother me because of the similar designs they share of roof chests and hood wings). The more prominent differences include how the forearms transform as well as the use of another swivel that was just for articulation purposes on Wheeljack. The robot mode is also leaner than Wheeljack is, what with the thighs being longer and the arms not being as stumpy; it works well for this character given how he's a sleek character among the Autobot Cars. The feet humorously have another side of Lambo details on what was the bottom section and is now the top in this case. Once again, the shades of yellow don't match up all too nicely, especially under my lighting where the shade of yellow on Sunstreaker looks more like a white toy that yellowed. Thankfully, it's not too bad when seen with your own eyes.

Head sculpt is perfect for how Sunstreaker looks, but he needs a bit of a smirk if you ask me; he's a character that loves himself quite a bit, which TFWiki sums up whenever the captions say that he's better than you and me. Also love how the yellow looks on his head, which matches the parts that are painted yellow. The articulation on this guy is about the same as all of the other Siege figures, what with the ball-jointed head, shoulders moving front and back as well as in and out, swivels at the biceps, and bends at the elbow. Waist swivel, hips that move front and back as well as in and out, thigh swivels, knee bends, and ankle pivots. As for his weapon, he doesn't get a gun whatsoever so instead has to use the engine block...which looks more like a price scanner and is kind of hard for it to be held on his hand properly unless it's held like this.

Sunstreaker received two repaints in one box, believe it or not! One is Spin-Out, who is basically Sunstreaker if he was colored to look like Sideswipe. The other repaint is Cordon, who at least has a lightbar to make his chest look a wee bit different. He's not a Red Alert-themed repaint, though, but he has a vague Prowl influence. Funny how he's one of the WFC figures based on a police car or ambulance to not have a removable siren. The sad thing is that these two have better shade consistency than Sunstreaker, and while Spin-Out's head is the same as Sunstreaker's, Cordon's ears replace the yellow with red.

For a Sunstreaker comparison, here he is next to the Universe, Combiner Wars, and Masterpiece versions. The two prior Deluxes were alright for what they were, and the Universe one was pretty neat for the fact that it was a unique method of using the Sideswipe mold while giving him the chest he's known for, but the Masterpiece certainly has more of the proper proportions Sunstreaker is known for compared to Sideswipe. Not saying that the ER version is bad, but it just looks a little stumpy than it really needs to be.

For a comparison with fellow Autobot Car Wheeljack, you can see that Streaky's already got a bit of a height difference compared to Jacky. Aside from the different chests, arms, and lower legs, even the rest of the body's different from Wheeljack. The thighs may be similar at first glance, but they're sculpted differently and aren't reused.

Their transformation skeleton(?) is similar yet the sculpted details are also different from one another; for starters, Sunstreaker doesn't have the slits that Wheeljack has while the shoulder hinges are also sculpted differently.

The sculpting used for the torso gaps is also different from one another, with the chest cavities having differently sculpted frames while the holes are placed differently. Also, Wheeljack's is placed lower than Sunstreaker's.

Even the backs are different, with the spoiler having the 5mm holes that are on Sunstreaker's forearms. And despite Wheeljack having a 5mm hole on his back, it's not the same spot that is found on Sunstreaker. I also like how Streaker's back looks as it's a little more like he transformed rather than leave it hanging.

Here we have Sunstreaker next to Sideswipe. At last, the two bros are complete! Sadly, Sideswipe remains the better of the two in terms of being an overall solid figure aside from the odd tint of the forearms and thighs. Still, pretty sweet to own the Lamborghini Brothers without having to pay too much. Sunstreaker's a pretty cool take on the G1 guy, but with a few things that are in need of improvement. For example, the yellows need to better match, there should be a few more accessories (notably the gun and spoiler) and the roof should better line up with the vehicle mode. That being said, he can happily join the rest of the Autobot Cars of '84.

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