Here we have Megatron in his Cybertronic tank mode. It's got a lot of empty space in the front, so one could say that it's loosely similar to the ROTF alt mode. Rather than have his head piercing through creepily, his robot chest is stuck in the middle of the two treads. It's more inset compared to the way it was done on BBM Megatron, so it doesn't look too bad. I guess this is accurate to the way the altmode looked in the movie, but I should mention I left the barrel incomplete since the smaller cannon can also peg on the turret despite it intending to peg on the barrel. Like with BBM Megs, there are no small, rolling wheels whatsoever, which is a miracle Optimus has any in his altmode.
One annoying thing about the figure would have to be exposed robot head if you choose to leave it rotated 180 degrees; a tab that goes into the back of the head helps secure it in somewhat, and while you can leave him planting the face into the torso, this may risk damaging the paint.
Here he is with his former BFF yet sudden enemy, Optimus Prime. As far as I can tell, very little seems to be different between their alternate modes right after they got their T-Cogs and later when Optimus got the Matrix and Megatron receiving Megatronus's T-Cog....which begs the question if swapping a T-Cog alters a robot's physical appearance even further, or if Megatronus's T-Cog was specifically able to modify him differently from how Prima Prime's T-Cog altered D-16 the first time around.
Transformation is rather simple for a Studio Series Deluxe, mostly with the arms and how the legs need to be straightened out. The lower leg transformation is somewhat involved, mostly with how the tank treads embed into the shins and calves. The resulting robot mode feels more comparable to the Prime Changers rather than the Studio Series figure, and while there is a good bit of color breakup from the front, the back does look almost like a Titan Hero. That, combined with how lanky the legs are as well as how basic the design is, doesn't help matters. Maybe if he was painted in silver, Megatron could look a little better than he currently does; granted, leaving most Megatron's in a flat gray isn't our of the ordinary, but given how basic the engineering is, on top of how other Deluxes before him like Bayverse locals Jazz, both versions of Sideswipe, and DOTM Soundwave, it is possible for a coat of paint to be applied. Also, the back section could be left off if you want to pretend this is D-16's midway design, but the 5mm port will look awkward.
Head sculpt looks great, even if only the face is given a metallic paint application. Much like Optimus Prime, the eyes here look better than on the actual TFOne movie, where they ended up looking doofy compared to most Transformers eyes, be it the traditional ones like G1 and the Unicron Trilogy or the more detailed eyes like on the movies and Prime. With his accessories attached to his arms and back, Megatron's articulation consists of ball joints at the neck, shoulders, and hips, swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs, and hinges at the double-jointed elbows, knees (which click when straightened), and ankles, albeit with much less range than usual.
The fusion cannon isn't entirely accurate to the movie, but you can theoretically have the backpack attach onto the forearm, or you can store the smaller gun on the back.
Here he is with his former BFF once again, and I kind of feel like it's Siege all over again, only this time with designs that feel AI generated (though not to the same extent as the fake pictures plenty of amateur nerd culture news sites use). Honestly, while Optimus Prime was not too bad for what he had to offer, Megatron falls short. Maybe one could argue that he didn't have enough of a budget to be good, though Prime proves otherwise with how he turned out. That or the designers are tired of doing slightly different versions of the G1 designs. Maybe wait for this to go on sale.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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