Takara wanted an Ultra class for their markets, while Hasbro opted for a Super Class for theirs. Takara even produced a few repaints, 2 of which are rare. Though Hasbro did release the 2 pack for Toys r Us.
@@russellharrell2747 Two Happy meal versions back in 2005, not released in the US. 1 with shoulder Cannons in Europe, that came with a drone for the gimmick. A second version in Australia and New Zealand without the cannons and a jet drone. Megatrons gimmick was a light up energon cube in his chest that could be taken out and swapped with the other figures, the drone (jet or tank) could make the cube light up like a remote. Optimus Prime had the same gimmick, came with a jet drone. Unicron and Ironhide had electronic sounds.
To be fair the two pack this one was came very late in the line and it was a TRU exclusive in Hasbro's line. The main leader was weirdly an exclusive that THEN became widely available (RID 2015 Starscream did the same thing over a decade later). In Japan this WAS the Megatron of their line (or more accurately Galvatron because they didn't need to worry about maintaining trademarks) and likewise had a spiffy purple Galvatron redeco (similar to the Hasbro Leader but the colors are show accurate.) What's kind of funny is that there's a sticker on the box for the two pack of this smaller Megatron and the smaller Optimus that straight up says it's the first time they're in that scale in North America.
For anyone that hasn't seen Superlink this guy was a fcking monster. He could regenerate, do the strike freedom beam spam, puts mfs in genjutsu etc. The build up to his entrance was done masterfully too cause the atmosphere was intense, no music, no name drops, he appears and you know something's seriously wrong. I haven't seen any other tf show that pulls that off other than Prime
@@anderson9244MLG fun fact, decepticons from Armada (megatron especially) were designed around the term "living weapon" and seeing as how that was the starting point for UT.. Yeah
From what I understand, the reason for the Galvatron-esque (Galvanesque?) look was bc in the Japanese, this was Galvatron. Unlike in the English dubs where Megatron would turn into Galvatron then back into Megatron and then back into Galvatron again. He stayed Megatron throughout Armada even after he got the palette swap, then turned into Galvatron for Energon, and then Cybertron winds up being it's own can of worms
Honestly we have Hasbro to blame for all of the weirdness that is Cybertron's story. In Japan, Energon is Armada's sequel and Cybertron (Galaxy Force) is a new story with a new continuity and new characters. But Hasbro wanted to make them all work together which only works if you don't look too closely.
@@Benjinator12 Well, Hasbro and Takara ALWAYS wanted Cybertron/Galaxy Force to be a sequel. It's just Gonzo (the animators) ignored that and did their own thing, pissing off Takara and meaning a bunch of background details from Armada/Energon showed up in Cybertron partway through.
@@JoleneBlake Takara actually gave the go-ahead to Gonzo to make Cybertron its own thing, which ticked off Hasbro who had to wrangle the show back into some semblance of sense making for the three part storyline. Then the comic adaptation included some kind of explanation, saying that the Unicron Singularity was causing distortions across all of space and time, leading to the past and future being warped. Meaning that it was a literal plot hole. A later comic even incorporated that in a way to say it affected the whole multiverse, to explain any Transformers plot hole ever.
You know, looking back and noticing the similarities with G1 Galvatron, how cool would it have been if the writers thought ahead and had Armada Megs be Megatron and Energon Megs be Galvatron? Then Cybertron Megs could be... I dunno, still Galvatron but even more hardcore (since he's evidently wearing scraps of Unicron). I feel like there was a lot of good ideas that someone wrote, but Hasbro didn't think they would market enough toys.
I always loved Energon Megatron and how he looked like Megatron did literally tear himself out of Unicron's guts and refined the body with what he could. The shoulder guns are the bare skeleton of his pauldrons, the wings are essentially him taking a chunk of the gutwall with him after it fused to his turret, and the detailing under his arms looks like the clavicle gears he had, implying he couldn't fully re-armor himself. I also adore the fuselage and cockpit looking like he's so full of piss and vinegar he found a way to make his vehicle mode scowl.
Hey Thew, hate to be "That Guy" but you kind of forgot a gimmick on the old boy. You can actually store the blade part of his weapon in a slot in the nose cone part. That way you have a place to put it when in vehicle mode so it doesn't stick out and have an extra function where you can stick the part where it connects to the tank, press a button on said nose cone when it is the figure's backpack and then draw it like the worlds goofiest Excalibur. The leader class version had "Light And Sound Action!" speaking from personal experience, not sure if the Mega Megs has it thought. Great review nevertheless, just felt the need to point that out.
The Mega version does, almost identical to the Leader version. It's kind of annoying that the Leader Class got a normal clear blade while the Mega got translucent green which is closer to the actual show.
NGL I like watching Thew but that was also really bothering me especially in alt mode when the slots there on camera. I always loved unsheathing the sword like that.
You can store the sword in the jet nosecone. You kinda just, shove it into that slot and it locks there. It's meant as a "sword drawing" gimmick, though at his age, it might be risky. I have to wonder if the idea was for this guy to be toy-colors Galvatron, or if it was just that the decision to make him Megatron rather than Galvatron happened late. The Japanese version just called him Galvatron for the whole run of the show.
i maintain that they should have just kept calling him galvatron in the american version too because this is CLEARLY just gray galvatron and his whole thing of getting upgraded into galvatron, dying, coming back from the dead as megatron, and getting upgraded into galvatron again was super confusing i imagine after he did it in cybertron for the third time optimus was just internally like "oh primus this shit again"
@@gmdexcillion3521 "I am invincible. I am Galvatron!" "New look, same old lines." This was said during Galvy's debut in Cybertron, with Optimus giving off exactly those kinda vibes.
@@gmdexcillion3521 With Energon it was apparently to protect trademarks. IDK why or how that works but in an ideal world Hasbro would've had it the right way. Supposedly Aaron Archer wanted to call one of the toys "Galvatron Imperius."
The name seesawing was a trademark protection thing so Energon Megatron was always meant to be Galvatron. Personally I've always assumed the grey was intentionally toy Galvatron based myself (meaning I think you're absolutely right on that) especially given that Energon was overwhelmingly based on visual homages.
@@ChouRaiyuki Yup, trademarks are a "use it or lose it" situation. If you don't keep putting out product under the trademark, then it stops being yours. This is how Hasbro lost a lot of names between G1 and Armada.
I LOVE this Megatron. And I have never watched Energon. There is something about it that is just brash and obtuse but so awesome. Thank you Thew for bring much love
It makes more sense when you realize the original Japanese version of this figure was just called Galvatron in both colors. He is clearly Galvatron. For some Hasbro has to keep turning him back into Megatron at the beginning of each series.
Because it's US copyright. At that time, ANOTHER toy company wanted to use the name "Megatron," so if Hasbro DIDN'T revert him back to Megatron, they'd have lost the rights to his name..... and given that Megatron is a MAJOR Transformers legacy (not that one) character, they won't ever let that name out of their sight.
The Energon Megatron's sword stores in the jet nose backpack. It's what that slot is for and i think the tank can plug into it as a weird sword-drawing gimmick. Also i recently was gifted the little one by my eldest brother.
And yet the toy works as a Galvatron toy. As it was designed to be. As well as wearing the Galvatron animation colours well. Shame we never got this toy in G1 Galvatron toy deco.
This guy was my megatron, even as a kid in 2007 I thought bayverse megs was lame but this guy is a pompous evil bastard that took 0 shit. Also, his voice is perfect. This guy was (and still kinda is) megatron to me. I’ve been wanting you to review this maniac forever.
From visual vibes alone for me it’s like they all have a different flavour of villainy to them Like- Armada megs: low, ominous chuckle or booming evil laugh with folded arms Energon megs: deranged maniacal screaming during a fight Cybertron megs: anime intensity and a huge “evil and loving it” vibe, complete with overly dramatic poses
This is my favorite take on a Galvatron/Upgraded Megatron. I mean, what's better than a cannon? Answer: TWO cannons! Also, the jet mode gives me massive Thunderwing vibes. Like "why wasn't this a Botcon remold?" massive vibes.
Fun fact! The shoulder guns are shoulder-mounted clear versions of G1 Galvatron’s arm cannon. Also, the sword can detach from the tank and store in the cockpit.
What’s funny is that I watched Energon as a kid and I don’t remember Megatron transforming at all. The only thing I can remember him doing for most of the series was sitting on a throne in Unicron’s head or flying around in robot mode. As this was a series where transformers didn’t need a flight transformation in order to fly, so everyone was flying all over the place. Oh yeah he also spent a few early episodes in a wall.
It's definitely one of the goofiest jet modes. I've seen, but you got to admit, the fact that the white bits make a make-shift deer skull is pretty neat
I remember as a kid thinking that the intakes were where the cockpit was. Then turns out it was that tiny tip at the end and I was both dissapointed and made me love this toy even more. I hope we get a larger scale version in Legacy outside of just that core. It's good but it's very fiddly to mess with, especially cause of how much the shoulder guns want to pop off
His ear horns swivel 180° for vehicle mode, and the sword stores in the neck of the cockpit. Or at least they did on the bigger version, which I used to have, when I was growing up.
Well, I was fighting the urge to get the new Core Class figure because it felt like something I didn't want or need, but once again Thew's enthusiasm has worked its magic.
my favorite thing about the leader class version of this mold is the sheathe for the sword. you like dip the back of the tank in his nosecone kibble and hold a button and it like, *fwooshes* out like obsidian from steven universe's mouth sword.
I love this sucker, I have the bigger version and it really goes for MAXIMUM TOY, having the nosecone serve as a sheath that you have to plug the tank in to draw out was so extra
To be honest, I kinda didn't mind the Energon series. I only have one broken Energon figure and that's Demolishor as his arms are transparent plastic and of course, one broke at the joint due to the clear plastic.
Oh no Thew! Energon is soooooo good!? I loved it. Especially when megatron throws another bot into the energon pool to see what happens and then jumps in himself!
I bought this 2 pack new recently, specifically because this Megatrons colors are accurate to the show and that he also scales quite perfectly with the new Legacy Armada Megatron, Starscream, and original toys of Armada Demolisher and Cyclonus!
A few quick facts about this bad boy: Aaron Archer wanted Armada Megatron to just be Megatron, and Energon Megatron to just be Galvatron. Hasbro vetoed for the sake of brand recognition and trademark retention. (Cybertron Megatron would be Galvatron Imperious, which is unbelievably badass and a shame it didn't get used.) His standard colors are mostly based on the G1 Galvatron toy's colors, while his Galvatron upgrade is based on the G1 cartoon's colors. I don't know about this version, but the Leader version lets you store the sword blade in the neck of the cockpit. It even has a gimmick where plugging the tank on and then pressing the release button will allow you to draw it like a proper sword, and then plugging it in again and pulling it without pressing the button will detach it from the tank. The Leader toy also has a lame clear blade instead of an awesome green one.
I have a particular fondness for this guy, but I started collecting around 2010 and couldn't afford the secondary market markup. So I couldn't resist picking up the Legends/Core/whatever just a few days ago. But this is so clearly G1 Galvatron that I can't see him as Megatron.
This one odly takes me back when i was actually dying because i had a autoimmune ilness in my colen we didn't know about wich i barely survived and due to a lack of energy i was basicly stuck on the couch watching cybertron and then started energon when it got discovered... now i'm kinda happy though i relatively recently got a second autoimmune ilness because the doctor didn't perform tests on the value's in time before my pulse sky high, wich now has stabilised quite a bit though as of the past few months...
Leader class is the same except with more of a teal on the clear plastic, a completely clear sword, the teal plastic being softer so it (hopefully) won't break and the cannons are two pieces, the clear cannons themselves and opaque hinges.
the funniest thing about the Energon cartoon is that Hasbro is partially responsible for it being so janky, they forced the studio to rush production so the english version has a bunch of unfinished stuff in it and the JP broadcast has them fixed. Same thing happened to Armada but that show was better so it had less impact.
Good memories of getting the Leader Class version as a kid and the story being my mom forgot she bought him for me and hid him so I wouldn’t find the present so she had it for a sec
Young me didn't appreciate this Megatron, but I bought the purple Galvatron recolor immediately. Of course NOW I prefer Galvatron in his G1 toy/Marvel comic colors and wish I had this version of the mold. Oh the folly of youth. At least I have the core Legacy version now, he's a fun little desk bot.
Great video as always! You sir are a true master of your craft. By the way, That Meg's ARMada arm/tank/cannon/sword IS the dumbessest. Such a strange design choice. I think the main deciding factor was to make it seem like the new Megs was so big and powerful he eclipses the older Armada one. I'm hoping we get a new one from Galvatron remold.
This is one of the energon figures I have the mega megatron, it has a lot of odd bits and bobs but somewhat pleasing. The galvatron repaint how ever holy crap it looks amazing still trying to hunt that down, the silver, yellow, purple, and red/black sprinkled in just looks so nice probably the best coloured unicron trilogy megatron. The legacy core class is neat it’s mini megatron missing a bit of paint but it’s a core what they did is good as is. A smaller project I have is the tank cannon sword thing I’m working on designing/3Dprinting it to be an actual transformer and if legacy does a full sized one it could work for that too
I remember wondering why ive not seen any animation of Cliffjumper powerlinxing with anyone thats not Jetfire and Ironhide until i think i saw what happens if you do that...
Show was a fun dumb time, though getting past the 3D cell shading of that era was the biggest hurdle for me. Owning the original, I actually had no idea that the down sized one was literally bigger than most Leaders are now, and still maintained the same electronics, and engineering of the original. I always figured this would be pocket sized deluxe. For me this is still my favorite of the Unicron trilogy designs as it calls back the original Galvatron design, and the only real gimmick outside of transforming is the arm/tank weapon. Not sure if it was possible on this one but for the original while you could store the tank on the back of the space plane you could also pop the blade and store it in the backpack for a less stupid look. Really do miss actual rolling landing gear on these larger releases.
Still love this one (and now I'm afraid to touch the shoulder cannons). I'm a bit opposite when it comes to the ridiculousness though! I friggin' LOVE the big tank on his arm for no discernable reason. Maybe BECAUSE I can't seem to find a reason for it. It's just a little him on his own arm! The spaceship mode is still one of my all-time favorite Transformer spaceships. Just utterly fantastic, colors and all.
They totally should have made a Core class Armada Megatron and give him a post on the underside so he can be used as a weapon like this one's tank gun.
I always liked Energon Megatron; homage to G1 Galvatron in design look, mini tank double as call back to G1 Megatron's Fusion Cannon while been precursor to Prime Megatron of how Megatron has sword on his cannon arm and jet mode is the best of Megatron's aerial modes.
The sword stores inside the neck of the jet mode. Unless it's glued in place, you forgot to even mention it, or that it's glued in place if that's how it is.
