Here we have Optimus Prime and Megatron in their vehicle modes. I'll go over differences in a moment, but while Megatron is generally 1:1 with the larger toy in terms of overall proportions and details, Optimus Prime is a new mold built from the ground up while using the same character design. That said, it works differently, as we'll get to. Talking about the Hasbro toys specifically, the larger Optimus was mostly drab for the blues, whereas Megatron had more of a minty mouthwash hue to his color scheme; here, Optimus's blues are more saturated and look gorgeous with the chrome, while Megatron has more of a yellow-green, sky blue, and warmer grey combo than what we had previously. Prime's colors look way better than the larger toy, yet I'd argue it is the worst version of the design, whereas Megatron's pretty good in either size, color differences, and everything.
Here is Optimus with his Leader counterpart. While the sizes are an obvious difference, the deco on the smaller toy looks much nicer and almost makes me wish I got the Japanese Grand Convoy instead of the Hasbro version. That said, while neither one has the best truck mode, it would be worth mentioning that the Deluxe has clear windows and they stick out less. And of course, both can store their guns from the back.
The figure has a trailer hitch at the back as well, meaning he can haul the larger toy's trapezoid drone container much like how the smaller Armada Prime can haul the larger Super base trailer. Note that the scale will be wack.
Here he is with the aforementioned Armada Prime I owned as my rep for that series before Legacy Evolution wiped the floor with it. I know we had Armada Prime made as a trend to help kids afford a version of Optimus that can still stand on its own (super articulation, a Minicon who turns into a gun), but Deluxe Energon Optimus never got a standalone release in the US. Was the larger Energon Prime more affordable than the Armada version?
Transformation is mostly identical to the Leader toy; only the fists go inside the cavities of the back rather than retract, the head is hidden within the helmet instead of the torso, and the feet aren't flat flaps like with the larger toy. The robot mode is still just as fat and chunky as the original, though possibly moreso this time because of how much smaller the figure looks. It's one of those weird visual quirks that pops up sometimes at certain angles. While we already know the general proportions of the figure, I have to question why the helmet can't tuck into the back kibble better. Not helping is that the rear wheels are lower on his back rather than being upwards where they should be. As a result, he has more junk in the trunk than he should. One thing I have to question would be the use of translucent plastic for the biceps. I don't mind if they're used for the chest windows, but the upper arms along with the feet are cast in that kind of material, and considering the fragility people get paranoid over, along with the ankles having fairly tight hinges...there's also the fact that I have seen one of these break on an eBay listing. I believe even the knees are cast in the same kind of material, as we'll get to in a moment.
Head sculpt is absolutely teeny tiny, but at least it is sculpted and painted as well as you can get at the size. I love this shade of blue and the shade of yellow they used for this figure and would love to see it applied onto the larger toy. As for the articulation, his ball-jointed head can only turn left and right; shoulders are on ratchets moving front and back as well as in and out, elbows bend on hinges, hips are on ratchets moving front and back but move in and out without them (and barely due to the tires), thighs rotate, knees bend, and ankles kind of hinge due to transformation. His gun being cast in clear plastic makes sense since it was a common Energon thing to do, though some had missiles and others did not.
Here he is with Armada Prime, who was slightly shorter than his subsequent form. He goes from being a wide bruiser into a chunky munky between Armada and Energon, though I'm sure a better proportioned Energon Optimus is out there somewhere. Once again, I want to know what led to the existence of the smaller Energon Optimus, given how only Japan gave more attention to it and the only international release that we know of was in the US with Toys R Us (apparently, other countries sold the set, but nobody knows what retailers joined in).
Here he is with the larger Optimus. I don't really have a preference for either version of the character, but I'll be honest and say that the clear windows look way better than painted windows, especially without a small scratch revealing some white peeking through ruining the look like on the larger Energon Prime.
Surprisingly, he can combine with the Prime Force drones the same way the larger toy could. In actuality, you can fake it by using the 5mm ports as friction while wedging the forearms in the slots. Meanwhile, the legs have no stability to keep them inside the driller and submarine. He looks like he's wearing his dad's clothes when you think about it, though he can't have the chest open. We'll talk about the helmet in a little bit, but it works differently from the larger toy. This Optimus never had its own mini Prime Force, and a new gimmick was implemented for it.
So for that, we move to Energon Rodimus, who is taller than this Optimus. In fact, all of the Deluxes tower over the figure just about. And yes, Rodimus is finally reunited with his blaster. I don't have any of the other Energon Autobots with me yet, any Combat/Deluxe and Mega/Voyager figure can turn into either the upper or lower half of a super robot. Everyone else was designed to work this way from the ground up, so what happens when you implement a design who never had this ability?
What we get is a very wonky set of top and bottom modes for Optimus. Admittedly, the top mode is kind of clever with the Super Mode helmet as well as the grille for the torso and the option to use the gatling guns instead of hands; however, the chest split in half as splayed-out shoulders doesn't look that great, nor do the legs barely bulking up the body. The lower half is even worse, with the toy looking like Optimus was a victim of having his spine obliterated so badly, the upper body sags below whoever whalloped on him. At least you can rotate the parts around so the back kibble is easier to tuck away, but I can see why many would find this worse than the larger toy. At least the design was always intended to use the drones as well as combine with Wing Saber and Omega Supreme.
As far as repaints are concerned, this is the Fire SL version of the mold, casting him in red and orange so he can go well with a Black Rodimus repaint. I like that the chrome is gold on this figure, and it almost reminds me a bit of the Galaxy Force repaint Cybertron Prime later got.
The gold repaint is self explanatory, and it is one of those things Takara does all the time with their Optimus Primes. On the bright side, this is not the only gold Optimus Takara made.
As for Megatron, this is the main version Takara used for their line. He was named Galvatron the whole time because of the design, whereas Megatron went back and forth with the name changes because of the necessity to maintain copyrights for both...and people bitched about Bayverse Megatron abandoning the Galvatron name in The Last Knight (not that it saves the movie from any other issues it has). It's closer to the Mega Class figures that came out at the time, and while that means people can have a slightly smaller option if they don't like their toys big or chunky, it isn't entirely going to scale that great. Megatron is at least the height of Optimus's super mode in the show, so this downscaling would only make sense with the Optimus he came with. In fact, it's weird in general for Takara to make a figure that is out of scale with everyone else in the line, other than them dealing with their financial struggles before merging with Tomy a year later OR to match the scale with Armada Megatron. That said, the colors are easier to compare this time: greens are yellower, the greys are more saturated, the shoulder squares are colored differently, the blues are brighter, and the orange is more vibrant. Functionally, they are all the same, but the shoulder cannons on the larger toy are on separate pieces they can detach from, while the Takara version has the clips molded on the same cannons. Funny enough, including these two with the Legacy United Core Class figure results in a daddy, mommy, baby trio of a family.
As for the mold itself, it functions the same as the larger version; hyper mode is included, cannons can pivot, the articulation is not changed, the fists and feet are spring-loaded, and the tank can clip on the arm. One change other than the structure of the cannons is that the blade is colored green instead of clear plastic. On one hand, this results in better synergy with the rest of the clear plastic. On the other hand, the LED is still red. The electronics are also modified, with the cannon no longer sounding like a machine gun and the blade now making basic sword clash sounds.
As for his repaints, this is the Black Version of Galvatron given away by TV Magazine and Tobu department stores. The mix of black, red, and clear orange almost makes him reminiscent of Black Zarak, but that is probably not intended.
As for Superlink Galvatron G, this is their version of the deco used for the powered-up Decepticon leader. He comes with an Energon Star of his own as well as a clear blade originally used by Cruellock/Dinobot. The colors are closer to the show, yet I find them to be not as nice as the Hasbro version.
The only other US release comes in the form of Shattered Glass Megatron, who was retooled with a head based on the Marvel Comics version of G1 Megatron and a color scheme more heroic than his positive-universe counterpart. The Rumbler tank is now colored to look like Megazarak yet there are no electronics.
Overall, this set is one I would recommend you get if you want to go for some of the special releases for the sake of the brand history. Optimus Prime isn't that great but looks nice thanks to the colors and chrome. That and he is an interesting smaller option for anyone wondering how he'd Powerlink with other Autobots. Megatron, on the other hand, is just as great as the larger Hasbro toy, but he doesn't scale as accurately with most of the characters in the show and is harder to get than the larger version. This set is mostly suited for anyone who wants to put these in their Optimus Prime and Megatron collections, while the larger versions are put with their Energon displays. That said, getting them complete will be very difficult, so if you want to get these two, know that they are meant for each other in the context of the 2-pack rather than the Energon line as a whole, and be ready to pay a pretty penny.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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