Here we have Galvatron in his futuristic cannon mode. Though not really much of a tank, it has treads via stickers and wheels to roll on, and thankfully there isn't much to complain about with someone whose plastic wheels roll better than most average toys. Despite being lavender or lilac instead of purple, at least the color used looks nice and vibrant instead of cheap and lifeless like on a lot of toys made recently. Some of these parts could either be nice and dense plastic or painted thoroughly to prevent mismatching, but I love the chrome accent around the cannon and the minimal use of stickers. The treads being stickers instead of molded details is weird but could be worse.
The cannon lights up via the LED in the head, but instead of distorted garbling, you get to switch between three different SFX modes: blasting noises, the transformation sound, and voice clips. The first mode works well here with the grey button on top while we also have an additional trigger for the gun mode. Yeah gun mode sucks but then again, it's comparable to when Japanese mecha designers try to squeeze out so many configurations for their toys.
Transformation is best accompanied when you press the button for the noise, though it only does the ascending sound despite what TFWiki says. Still, it's accompanied by so many ratchets while the fin in the middle works as a soft yet stable lock for the torso to not shift down if you go back in alt mode. As for the robot mode, it's pretty close to the cartoon design, and further more thanks to the color scheme new to this toy. Granted, it's a lot brighter than normal, especially given Takara likes making their Galvatrons lilac or lavender (lilavender?), but this being the old toy specifically makes it work better, honestly. Also helping is the red chrome on the abs, knees, and so.e of the stickers. And while a lot of proportions on the old Season 3/movie toys are wonky compared to the slim character models (though not like the Diaclone carry-overs are any better), Galvatron mostly works pretty well save for the tiny biceps. I guess the new deco is a case where putting lipstick on a pig works.
The head is said to be retooled to somewhat match the cartoon, but I can't tell the difference given how the proportions are. Still, the eyes light up, and he can use the voice clip mode, playing the following Seizo Kato lines: "Wa-ha-ha-ha, kono orokamono-me!" (Bwah ha ha ha! You fools!), "Eei, Cybertron o hineri-tsubuse!" (Hrr--crush the Autobots!), "Kono yaku-tatazu mono ga!" (You're all useless!), "Eei, hakai shite kureru wa!" (Grrah, I'll destroy you!), and "Destron gundan, transform!" (Decepticon army, transform!). By the way, TFWiki slipped up once again when they said you can use 2 AA Batteries when you only need AAAs instead. Nice work, cucks. At least I can hear the voice clips here since they despite owning MP-36 Megatron, who reuses them due to Kato's passing, I have a bootleg version and the voice box in the fusion cannon doesn't work. Who knows if it even kept the Japanese clips since said bootleg was made in China and some have Chinese voice clips. Anyways, articulation consists of ratchets in the shoulders moving front and back as well as in and out, ratchets for the elbows, a slight waist swivel, slight kicks for the hips, ratcheted knees, and a bit of toe ticulation. He can have the particle beam cannon clipped in one arm while holding a smaller blaster carried over from the old release.
What makes this release special is the Matrix of Leadership, dipped in chrome and made out of die-cast. You have the option to display it by itself or on his neck like a gold chain. That bling is nice and all, but it originally began life as an accessory for the 2002 New Year Special version of Convoy/Optimus Prime. US fans who collected the Reveal the Shield line in 2011 should recognize the accessory from the Rodimus vs Cyclonus 2-pack.
This figure was repainted in the old toy colors as Galvatron II and sold exclusively at eHobby. The head still retains the retooled face on the cartoon version I have, but the Matrix is colored green to represent its appearance in the comics as the Creation Matrix. Exclusive to this repaint is a speech clip that replaces the line "Destron Gundam, transform!" with "Washi no kobun ni naran noka!" ("You will be my servant!").
Speaking of the original toy, not much else to say about it beyond the inferior sound effects and the 9-volt battery it used to be powered by.
For a size comparison, here he is with his old form, towering over it while also being a better toy overall. I know some will still swear by the G1 Megatron toy either for nostalgia as a whole or straight up bias against the Movie-onwards toys (because there are still people out there who only like Season 1 and 2 solely because no characters were replaced, what maroons), but Galvatron manages to beat his old self anytime of the day, if we're being honest. The proportions are generally better if slightly wonky, the articulation is a bit more robust for the time, and the scale helps him stand out compared to other toys in either the G1 line itself or any display. That said, he does look funny shaking his fist against G1 Prime for taking the Matrix back, doesn't he? Wonder if I should get Powermaster Prime to go with him. Honestly, if you can still find the Takara cartoon color reissue at a reasonable price, then that should be your best option for a retro Galvatron. The cartoon colors, die-cast Matrix, and sound effects are already enough to make him a recommend amongst other reissues and vintage toys out there. Just be ready to pay a hefty sum for this guy, doubly so for Galvatron II.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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