Here we have Megatron in his tank mode. This is probably the strongest of the two modes, as the G1 design better fits the tank mode motif that is commonplace with a lot of G1 Meg designs, especially in Cyberverse. Granted, some could pull off other alt modes differently and generally maintain the look as seen with Animated, but this is a mode I can tolerate fine enough. The design itself is a lot more compact than I expected, honestly reminding me of how the old ROTF Leader Class toy, even with the fusion cannon extending past the torso. While not included, you have little nubs meant for the blast effects common in many WFC Trilogy Transformers toys. The torso sticking out past the treads is a bizarre place for it. Perhaps if it was better integrated within the vehicle mode, or if it was replaced with a more convincing front for the altmode, it can be better than how it's currently done. The tank can rotate at the (admittedly far-back turret) and aim up and down, but there are no wheels for the toy to roll over surfaces. Yeah, sometimes I question the current trend of Leader Class figures where they claim to have a better budget for engineering yet skimp out on details like this. Also, why is it that the turret is at an angle even if the toy is locked in place?
Transforming him into his jet mode kind of sucks. You need to make sure the hip joints are rotated along with the legs for the transformation, the arms don't properly tab in place thanks to the lack of proper slots, and the spikes made up from the knees have no locking space. Sometimes, the Fusion Cannon could point the wrong direction because the stability is poor as piss. I'm not surprised that this is how rushed the figure feels overall, but the jet mode looks like even more of an afterthought than I expected. Granted, there is a cockpit and a set of wings that try hard to give this toy a convincing alt mode again, but it feels very half-assed compared to the original jet mode he had in the 2007 movie.
Here is the obligatory gun mode, where it showcases ow even 40 years into the brand, certain fans refuse to cope with facts regarding tank >>>> gun. Anyways, this fan mode sort of works, as it even has a trigger that is just there for display only. But seriously, Geewunners and Beewunners, y'all tell people to move on from the Bayverse after The Last Knight failed yet you refuse to move on from Megatron not being a gun, that's why I can't take you mfs seriously.
Transforming Megatron into his robot mode is pretty involved, mostly with the hip joints requiring that the black sides face the front while the gray sides remain in the back. Be sure to also have the biceps facing forwards so the elbow joints aren't interfered with, while the forearms have the 5mm posts facing away from the body. The tank treads within the thighs should be shifted inside so they flow better with the sculpt. The robot mode we end up with...is what I expected the character to look like in the Bumblebee movie. That being said, I can't be the only one who sees the proportions of the waist compared to the thighs to be funky as hell. Almost Pixar-mom if you ask me, especially if you notice how he has a skirt that further makes him look like he has those child-bearing hips on a humanoid design versus the alien looks of the other Megatron designs. I do appreciate there being a good use of silver paint throughout the toy, with some gunmetal or black plastic breaking up most of the character details where appropriate (apart from the red biceps). However, the light gray plastic looks a bit awkward, and it's especially prominent in the fusion cannon (which I think has one of the slots facing the wrong way. This feels like a very confusing attempt at trying to make a G1 Megatron design look live-action. He looks much messier than a lot of the Cybertronian designs in the Bumblebee movie, so he ends up being more of an AI generated images. Also, his Decepticon insignia is crooked.
The head sculpt looks strangely like AOE Galvatron with a Tidal Wave mothplate in a Geewun bucket head. I always felt that the Movie Megatron faces worked because they were meant to be built from the ground up as more monstrous by comparison. This, on the other hand, looks too much like a photoshop on DeviantArt that was made in the earlier days of Bayverse hate. Not a properly well-thought out face, sorry. Anyways, his articulation consists of a ball jointed neck, shoulder rotation, outward movement, butterfly joints (which is a rarity for Transformers in the mainline), bicep rotation, elbow bends past 90 degrees but not quite a double joint, forearm rotation, wrist articulation, and finger articulation where they all bend at two points while the index finger moves independent from the middle, ring, and pinky. There is a waist joint, hip movement front and back along with in and out (with some hip skirts in the way), thigh rotation, fairly deep knees that may hang a little low, and ankle movement up and down as well as pivoting side to side.
The fusion cannon is also able to peg on the back if you want to give him a bit of a G2 look, although it can point upright constantly as the gun barrel did in G1 at the cost of not giving him a fusion cannon on his arm. Alternatively, it can be stored via rotating the barrel 90 degrees to utilize another tab that allows the barrel to hinge in a more compact mode.
For a size comparison, here he is with his prior designs from the 2007 movie as well as Revenge of the Fallen, whose altmodes alongside the Maurader Megatron design that was scrapped in Animated Season 4 (thanks for not promoting it well, Cartoon Network). I know the Average Geewun Fan™ will easily jerk off to the cancelled design and beat a dead horse with their Bayverse hate as is the case with stuff like this in the fandom. That being said, Megatron worked better having his own identity in subsequent iterations rather than trying to copy the G1 look with some tweaks. Even if Animated did something like that, he was at least not the same as a character and turned into a helicopter. But what do you expect from the mentality of a fanbase who grew up with Saturday morning cartoons of varying degrees?
I don't care what Geewunners and Beewunnwrs say; this design is inferior compared to the past Michael Bay designs of Megatron other than being comparable to the Galvatron design since it's pretty bland compared to the main trilogy designs as well as The Last Knight, which had one of the few good things being Megatron's new look.
And here we have Megatron in-between the Decepticons who DID appear in the movie. I always felt that these designs were clunky as hell, especially considering how rushed they were in order to win over the same people that hated Paramount's involvement with Transformers since 2007, and while Megatron doesn't have any awkward wings or bell pants like with screamer nor isn't as fat as Soundwave, he still embodies how half-baked almost everyone was in the movie. Some people say that Megs was going to be the gun that Soundwave held in his hand, which probably theorizes why it looks out of place. But then again, the people making the movie boast about what we already know instead of talking about what we don't know.
For another size comparison, here he is next to Optimus Prime as he appeared in Rise of the Beasts. I know people would mention that the Bumblebee movie matches the movie better, but the ROTB version has better proportions and looks cooler than the Beewun version. Besides, I don't want to have any fanboys to ejaculate on their screens if the size comparison featured the 2019 Voyager.
Honestly, this figure also reminds me of Super Megatron from the Generations Selects line, mostly with the altmode and the radical take on the G1 design. However, I feel that Supermegs is more worthwhile as a figure. On top of wanting to experiment with the new bits added, the jet mode is much better on the Voyager than on the Leader; the tank mode admittedly has some issues with that big gap in tank mode. I'd argue that seeing Megatron as a Triple Changer is neat, but a figure like the Studio Series Concept Art one should have been a slam dunk had it not been the designers prioritizing the bot mode more than ether alt mdoe.
Overall, Concept Art Megatron is going to be seen as an overrated figure to hype up. Those Geewun influences won't be enough to save a mediocre tank mode and a horrible jet mode, especially if you have to spend $55+ for a figure that doesn't feel worth the asking price. Granted, a lot of Leaders are guilty of it, too, but all I can praise this guy for are no hollow parts on top of having some weight compared to Scourge and Primal; the articulation is great, and the silver paint is nice. Honestly, while this figure at least has more going on than Combiner Wars Megatron did in terms of engineering, they both feel like the epitome of being overhyped versions of the character that are going to get praised for looking like the "definitive" versions of a character. If you really want this guy, who am I to stop you? Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend him unless he is on sale.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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