Basic Megatron
www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/MegatronGator/megatron.htmThe first appearance of Megatron in Beast Wars wasn't as the familiar Ultra T-Rex dinosaur. It was as a basic size alligator ! He appeared in a vs pack with Optimus Primal (a bat !) that had a small comic included. In the UK this was I believe a store exclusive to Woolworths.
Megatron has an opening mouth, front legs that are ball jointed at hips & knee as well as bend at the ankle, and back legs that fold up a bit at the hips. Not a lot there. The toy is green, carrying over the colours from Megatron's G2 form.
TF: as per all the early Beast Wars basics Megatron is a flipchanger. Pull up on the tail unlocking the strut up the back of the dinosaur and everything happens for you: the head folds down onto the chest and the robot legs extend out the back of the body. From there fold down the feet and fold up the hands at the wrists. Unclip the tail from the strut hanging behind the robot, fold over the end and insert into the hands as an energy weapon. Simple.
Articulation: Ball joints at knees, hips, shoulders and elbows. Hasbro had only recently discovered small ball joints and at this time they were going mad on them making their small toys as articulated as possible to compete with action figures. Good job too, these are some great toys for using as figures in that respect.
The robot mode reveals a lighter green used for the upper limbs. The head - darker green with a purple face in typical Megatron style - betrays signs of having been intended to be lightpiped, but the gimmick was cut out. Boo !
Decent if simple basic. Does the job adequately, and there are more modern and complex basics that don't.
This is really the forgotten Beast Wars Megatron. And do you know what ? If I was doing beasts again from scratch I'd start with an Ultra version of this toy with some electronics in !
Iguanus
www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Iguanus/iguanus.htmAt this point the toy gets a remold. Gone are both heads replaced with new ones, and a frill is added to the upper part of the body. I've always thought of it as a lizard but it might actually mean to be a Dinosaur (see bellow) The main colour of the toy is now brown, with some yellow spots. The opening mouth is still there. TF is exactly the same as is the articulation on the robot. The head is changed and once again it looks like the lightpipe was abandoned on this toy. Double boo !
It's not clear if this Iguanus is the same character as the G1 Pretender version. Iguanus would be back as a Transmetal 2 Deluxe.
CD-Rom Megatron
www.tfu.info/1997/Destron/MegagatorJapan/megatron.htmBack to the original version of the mold now. Japan did get the original coloured Alligator Megatron and Bat Convoy as C, D and VS 6, but they also got a recoloured pair with a CD rom - those were the days - it'd be a DVD now. Basic colour now is a beast inauthentic but Megatron appropriate purple like the G2 Combat Hero version (Archforce). There's a black wash down the spine and into the tail and the eyes are picked out in neon pink. A silver Predacon symbol is on his chest. The tf reveals the previous lighter green bits are now black, the faceplate and front of lower legs are silver and the eyes are painted pink - no light pipe again ! Thrice boo.
Dynamic and character appropriate repaint. Shame it costs so much to get though !
Crazybolt
www.tfu.info/1999/Destron/Crazybolt/crazybolt.htmThe next airing for this toy is in Beast Wars Neo as D-34 and part of VS-34. The Iguanus version is used this time with a substantial repainting - the brown becomes a very dark green and the yellow plastic becomes a pinkish red. A new yellow/green spray op is applied along the back of the beast and round the frill. Essentially these are the same colours used on the Beast Wars toy Snapper. He's got a silver faceplate and the eyes are green in both modes - so still no lightpipe. Yet again BOO ! Since all the other Destrons (Predacons) in Neo are Dinosaurs this implies they must be using this mold as a dinosaur too and it does seem to fit.
A very attractive repaint - best of the two modified versions of this toy.
