First off, a disclaimer. I’ve only picked up the Megatron for now, already having hit “peak Optimus” in my collection with no shortage of worthy Voyager and Leader class iterations of the Autobot leader on my shelves, so I really did not feel the need for another one, particularly as I was not a fan of the design of the truck mode or the robot mode backpack. I still have to acknowledge that yes, Siege Optimus Prime looks like a fantastic figure with a great range of articulation.
The Siege Voyager packaging felt much smaller than past Voyager class boxes, which I welcome as a part of Hasbro acting responsibly toward the environment and cutting down waste. The shape of the box, with its diagonal cut, means the side panel artwork is visible alongside the figure when viewed on a shelf. It’s a fairly dynamic look which nicely showcases the figure and suggests a “premium” feel for the line.
Megatron is nicely secured in his plastic tray – even with the rubber bands removed the figure holds in his plastic tray fairly well, if you’re the kind of collector who likes to put your toys back in the boxes after having them out to pose them for a bit.
Notably, this go round the packaging has completely got rid of bios – there’s not even a one-line bio like “Megatron is the evil leader of the Decepticons”, which is disappointing. There’s also no collector card like the previous Combiner Wars, Titans Return and Power of the Primes lines, so no tech specs – although the instructions detail Megatron’s weapons of war, his D50-R35 Fusion Cannon and HPR Telescopic Laserstrike Launcher. There’s three stats given for each on the instructions – so this is probably as close as we’re getting to tech specs or a bio in this line. Also, no, I’ve no idea on why the weapons have such overblown names.
The purpose of this panel is probably for the transformation, but it never felt necessary. Still, it is absolutely worth it for “such heroic nonsense”.
The deco is decent, although the weathering will be divisive, and I cannot help feeling that the budget could have been used on a different paint application. It does succeed at making Megatron look like a battleworn warrior – although he doesn’t fit with other Generations figures quite as well due to the different look this gives him. The other paint apps – what few there are – get the job done extremely well and bring Megatron to life. The grey plastic is worth mentioning, as it is a much better shade than the Titans Return version.
Megatron’s transformation is nothing particularly surprising, although there are some cool tricks involving the hips and legs. I’ve got to give some appreciation to Hasbro for the way the parts nearly collapse on Megatron’s back without giving him a huge backpack.
The tank mode is inoffensive. It’s a Cybertronian tank mode, but it could also pass for a bleeding edge Earth vehicle. The front end does not lock in, but holds in fairly well – and don’t look at the underside if you don’t want to see most of the robot mode. The tank mode has a fully rotating turret, which is excellent, doubly so given it is formed from Megatron’s arms and does not compromise the robot mode at all.
Overall, it’s a decent little tank mode, which fits Megatron’s personality well.
Megatron has his two aforementioned weapons. The fusion cannon has never looked better, and fits on the arm nicely. It has the proper proportions and look, which is something that none of the previous Generations Megatrons have pulled off. As an added bonus, you can leave the cannon attached when transforming Megatron into tank mode – so you never need to take the cannon off.
The sword is a cool extra. It forms the front of the tank cannon in vehicle mode, while in robot mode it gives Megatron a wicked (and big) sword, which can transform into a second rifle – although the sword blades are not intended to be detachable, which limits the ways the rifle can be used in poses. I cannot see why Hasbro opted to go with this approach – the blades could easily have been put on 5mm pegs, which would have used fewer parts and also would have given a few more posing options (not to mention the 5mm blades would themselves present a few different options).
Megatron’s two weapons can be combined into a single large weapon, which looks a lot like a spear even if the instructions call it a NFM Particle Beam Mega-Launcher. While this is a cool idea, it doesn’t work too well in practice. It’s too big to properly fit in Megatron’s hands and looks generally cumbersome. My personal preference is to fold the sword blades down to form a bipod for a sniper rifle configuration, which seems far more like something Megatron would use.
The linewide gimmick of the Siege line is the C.O.M.B.A.T. system, which essentially means hardpoints for the effects parts included with the Battle Masters and a lot of 5mm sockets – Megatron has no fewer than 14, including his fists. This gives plenty of options for attaching Megatron’s weapons out of the box, and it only gets better once you have a Weaponizer Deluxe. Overall, it’s a fun gimmick to mess around with – and best of all, it is unintrusive so it does not mar the overall figure.
Megatron is a great introduction to the Siege line. He’s a solid figure, with great poseability and a good likeness to the original Megatron. The tank mode is fun, as are the weapons. The C.O.M.B.A.T. system is inoffensive, and fun to mess about with. The sword / rifle is limited by the blades not being detachable, and the weathering is a questionable choice which won’t be to everyone’s tastes.
However, taking Megatron as an addition to the Generations line, he’s the absolute best Generations / Classics Megatron released since the line began in 2006, and fills that space in the collection nicely. He’s a solid figure in his own right – and filling that space makes him even more appealing as a release. Recommended.
I was lucky and picked up both Siege Megatron and Optimus this week from Target in Clackamas, Oregon (now sold out). This is by far the best voyager scale Megatron I've ever owned. He isn't a 'tiny Masterpiece" like Optimus, but he is a great representation of the figure. My particular figure's right ankle tilt doesn't work and he's missing his tank wheel on that same leg, but he's still a great figure. his tank mode locks in very well, and he does actually roll (his wheels all align and stay aligned when he's in tank mode). You can attach 2 of Lionizer or Greenlights energy effects to his sword, the upper and lower tabs can each have an effect. Blowpipe's energy effect (yellow starburst) barely fits in Megatron's cannon, but it works. You may need to adjust the ring piece of the effect to get it to attach.
My only real complaints are: no front-back ankle tilts and his heels aren't adjustable, limiting some poses. No wrists. The head flap is sturdy but it feels strange it doesn't lock into place in robot mode. He does have a backpack, but it locks in very well, doesn't effect his balance, and doesn't cause any issues with arm poses.
His transformation is really clever, he is a standard cybertron H tank, but also the best designed one by far. I love the heft of the sword, I wish Prime's axe had been a little beefier.
Let's get somebody with some 3d printing design skills to do some new hands with wrist swivels on Shapeways please? thanks!
Okay, that is one good-looking Megatron. Sure it\'s not as intricate as the second Masterpiece version, but they\'ve gotten a very good G1 look, the tank mode looks solid, and while the \"battle damage\" is unnecessary and I would prefer it to not be there, but it kind of… works on Megatron. I mean, he\'s a tank that rolls through the mud and battlefields, and it\'s not too obtrusive. I would prefer if they\'d used those paint applications on some more detail. And that sword/sniper rifle is fantastic, I think that\'s a great reference to the original toy\'s sword that was in the Japanese release. Did any version of that sword get released with American/European versions of that toy, or did it stay a Japanese exclusive? Anyway, I\'m sold, and I\'m gonna pick this one up as soon as I can.
Also, do my eyes deceive me, or are there truly no stickers anywhere on that figure? Because those awful stickers killed a few of the PotP toys for me (Starscream\'s wings just looked dreadful, and poor Elita-1 wasn\'t much luckier), and the luckiest part about the Leader Evolution Optimus Prime is that most of the truck stickers are folded up and hidden in OP mode.
Can you please inspect his (and all other Siege toys) packaging with a black light.
Apparently the outer boxes have some secret message or info printed on them but those that have done it are keeping silent because they don't want to spoil the surprises.
I don't own a blacklight so cannot do that. But there are glyphs on Megatron's foot on the art.
Now I'm imagining an alternate reality where the Great War never happened because Megatron got an art scholarship. Instead of fighting each other on the battlefield, both sides are really vicious art critics.
No one will understand his work and The Great War will be still be waged.
I think the only time Megatron's gun mode transformation has really had a justified reason for existing was the Infiltration chapter of the IDW comics. Otherwise, it just gets used because it's there and they flimsily had to advertise his toy. There was very little reason to use him as such when he could just shoot whatever down by himself.
I'm digging my copy of both megs and OP but a lot of this line will be box display pieces for now.
On the subject of gun v tank, I gota say, if your Megatron, and given you can use your cannon as a makeshift thruster for transport, you actually have very little reason to transform into anything else anyway.
That said, if you did transform and had to sacrifice everything to get absolutely world shattering weaponry capability out of the alt mode (and anything less would diminish that firepower) that is not a bad compromise in that you give that power to an inferior bot who you trust to have excellent combat skills already. Worst case scenario is Megs just transforms back to robot mode if things go awry.
Additionally, the shooter is the one who gets the blame for the attack to those who don't know better and Megatron stays anonymous even while striking with all his might.
According to TFWiki,Megatron's box says "RISE FROM THE SHADOWS" and Optimus Prime's box says "LIGHT THE DARKEST HOUR".
After looking at these pics more. It looks like Megatron spent the day in his art studio than in war. Silver on gray doesn’t look good, especially when it’s more like blots than scarring. Me thinks some dry brushing with gunmetal or black will do wonders.
I agree on several parts of your statement, but as far as alt modes goes…these are iconic characters being released, repeatedly, for better or ill, and THAT is their selling point in package. People who buys these toys for kids may know Optimus Prime and Megatron from common media considering their pop culture status, but they may not know their alt modes. Also, bot modes, in many cases, are more streamlined for packaging. Often the figures are mistransformed to make them fit in the limited space.
I see no real issue with them being in bot mode over alt mode. Adults will recognize icon characters, and kids will most likely look at the packaging back to see the alt mode before choosing. It's pure marketing common sense if you ask me, and you gotta give kids some credit. When they are being forced to choose one toy at the store, they are going to look at the packaging to choose.
I think the product competition between these 2 categories is a seperate discussion.
I mean, if the physical toys were really at risk of extinction, then Star Wars figs and Lego's wouldn't survive anymore either by now.
The majority of mainline Generations without any integrated electromic gimmicks have proven themselves to sell plenty well enough.
Guess which one is likely to sell more of ?
made to look like the commander's hatch from a tank turret. So yeah, it's really not a random design choice.
I honestly just don't get the complaints about the cannon. It's the main body of a massive tank gun, not the sight for a small handgun. It's design and application make absolutely perfect sense. Wanting it to look like a gun scope wouldn't fit the tank mode as well and be more of a personal preference than an actual aesthetically correct one.
Thank you @Sol Fury for the review and fantastic photo gallery!
I can't wait to get this guy in hand.
As far as his not being a gun…US law limits toys looking like guns. It doesn't matter if it's dumb kids, overzealous or politicians, or triggerhappy cops. Honestly, it makes more sense from a marketing standpoint for Megatron to not be a gun, but adults today will be less likely to buy them for children. The fact that G1 Megatron is actually rather silly and stupid. It literally makes no sense for a bot to have an alt mode that requires someone else to handle it. A tank has become the logical replacement to the gun mode, and that is acceptable to me.
The "submarine and space cruiser" modes are Hasbro's attempts at giving G1 fans what they want while bypassing the strict US toy laws. I honestly don't understand collectors complaining about that.
If you want a more G1 like figure, get the MP. This is a toy, meant for children, designed with fans and collectors at heart. It looks great and I will buy it, perhaps twice to mod that sweet secondary gun of his. I am sorry, but I cannot understand complaining about this figure's tank mode when Takara has already given collectors the MP Megatron as a gun. A CHUG collection is made up primarily of Hasbro mass release toys…expect compromises, and be thankful they throw us Gwunners a bone occassionally by sneaking in these sub modes.
Side note, I am willing to bet we will see replacement Fusion Cannons on Shapeways and possibly by Dr Wu and Nonnef once these hit mass retail.
Several occassions I gave Xmas TF gifts to my little nephews ; and I know they gravitate towards anything with wheels which clearly identify as wheels.
Heck, one of them refered to TR Blurr as "That robot I want – the one who turns into a jet".
their purchasing choices gravitate towards TF's with altmodes which can be identified to a certain extent.
Im not by any means saying kids dont play with action figures. Im just saying if you give them a choice between an action figure or a really cool electronic toy, 4 out of 5 kids will go for the gadget, be it a smart phone, RC drone or car, video game or something more in touch with the times. Granted a kid might get action figures shoved down their throat by their collector parent and they might love them. But I dont think kids are just born wanting a G1 style Moonracer. Its like me wanting to play with a 1950s tin toy when I was a kid in the 80s.
I think it was a crappy decision.