Post by Philip Ayres on Apr 16, 2017 15:59:08 GMT
Generations 30th Legends Megatron & Chopshop
The Legends version of Megatron looks a little different to what we're used to. Gone is the silver replaced by greys and a bronzey brown with some yellow and black warning lines as chest and head deco. This unusual colour scheme is based on his past form as a miner first seen in IDW's Transformers 23 Chaos Theory Part 1. As a concession to what's expected from Megatron he has a Decepticon badge on his chest still and a gun on his arm, albeit not his familiar Fusion Cannon, neither of which has been seen, as yet, on his miner version in the comic which has made several subsequent appearances since this toy was release. Even though I know what the toy represents it feels an odd choice to have as the opposite number for the earth form of Generations Legends Optimus Prime.
Articulation: Ball joints at shoulder, elbows & hips. Bending knees and rotating head. The cannon is on a ball joint which can pivot out to the side of the arm.
Transformation: Straighten the arms & legs. Fold the gun onto the top of the arm. Rotate each arm 90° out to the side at the elbow. Pull both shoulders are from the sides and fold in in front of the chest bringing them together with the peg on the side of the gun fitting into his left hand. Fold the foot up. Fold the outer side of each leg down 90° at the ankle. Fold the foot & outer side of the leg down a further 90° at the inner side of the ankle. Fold the lower leg panels up 180° at the side of the knee to form the body of the vehicle.
We've not seen Miner Megatron's vehicle in any of his comic appearances yet so here they've gone for one of Megatron's usual forms, a tank. It's base is quite long & thin while the turret is tall & chunky so the proportions feel a bit off. The turret *almost* works at the front till you notice the peg holes from the hands at the sides. The turret turns, which is a point in it's favour, and although the gun barrel doesn't elevate the entire turret can tilt upwards. There's an intended peg hole on the roof of the turret and that can be used with Megatron's companion, Chop Shop.
While the original 1985 Chopshop was a deluxe insecticon this new version has been reduced in size to become a Minicon. In robot mode only his arms are articulated, moving at the shoulders. He transforms by folding his arms to his side and laying him face down: that's it. It might be a simple transformation but it's surprisingly effective and look far more like the original toy than his later Legends version! The insect mode has a fold out handle that lets it be held as a weapon or mounted on the tank. Somewhat surprisingly, the minicon is also a triplechanger of sorts: Raise the arms in robot mode and spread the legs, causing the mandibles to spread as well. He's now become a mine plough that can attach to the front of the Megatron tank.
Somehow the main Legends toy doesn't quite feel like Megatron. The tank feels slightly off and I can't help feeling that they might have been slightly better just up scaling the excellent Universe Legends Megatron. The Minicon is fun though.
Megatron was a Generations Thrilling 30 Wave 2 Legend, sold alongside Starscream and Waspinator, meaning that both toys in this wave had a Decepticon with insect Minicon theme. This wave was, like every wave in every size for Generations Thrilling 30, skipped at UK retail.
TG-28 Generations Legends Megatron & Chop Shop
In Japan Megatron & Chopshop were sold in a box with their US Wavemates Starscream & Waspinator. While Chopshop follows the example of Starscream and Waspinator by being coloured in a darker plastic Megatron is instead painted silver in an effort to make the toy look much more like his usual self.
Looks very nice!
Beet-Chop
Beet Chop is a clear blue repaint of Chopshop offered as part of the Japanese Clear Microns campaign in 2014. Looks very nice again, I've long been tempted by the Microns in this campaign.
Botcon 2015 Beet-Chit
Botcon Beet Chit is a this time solid blue version of Chopshop. Blue keeps cropping up in connection with this toy: it was the colour used for a catalogue illustration of Armoured Insect Battalion Beetras, the toy which became Chop Shop, and, like several odd colours of 1980s Transformers, has followed th toy round ever since.
Combiner Wars Legends Warpath
When a Legends version of Warpath was announced, people immediately feared it would be a repaint of the Legends Megatron and so it proved. There's two problems here: The first is that however good Legends Megatron is, and your mileage may vary on that, it does lack Warpath's signature chest cannon which means it won't be off to a winner. The second is that between the excellent Universe 2 Legend and the superb Generations Deluxe Warpath has been done pretty definitively already. But having done Cosmos as a Thrilling 30 Legends and Powerglide as a Combiner Wars Legend in Wave 1, Hasbro seem to want to crack on with the 1985 Minibots and unfortunately the chance of a cheap repaint, albeit with a new head, was too much for them resist.
The colour is good and the new head is nice. But the rest of the toy is just wrong for Warpath.
He then wasn't helped by his case assortment: He was sold in Combiner Wars Legends Wave 3 with Groove and Viper, a repaint of Powerglide who was advertised as a Decepticon troop builder and would be in demand from both Transformers and GI Joe fans, thanks to the homages to various Cobra toys from the later line. So of course 3 of Warpath go in the case of eight, with three Groove, and only two Viper. For the next wave, Wave 4, guess who gets carried forward and guess who gets dropped? Yup, that's right bye bye Viper, hello more Groove & Warpath. And to add insult to injury come wave 6 back comes Warpath *again* for a third go!
GI Joe Crossover Megatron
I am a sucker for clear repaints and this version of Megatron, a holographic representation of his Generation 2 form is right up my street. As with the Japanese Legend, the colours help this toy feel much more like Megatron.
Transformers Collectors Club 5.0 Megatron
This version of Megatron uses the colours from his Cancelled Combat Hero repaint and pairs the toy with a repainted Grand Maximus Pretender Shell. As the Pretender Shell has never been released in the west this toy has proved quite popular with collectors wanting to turn their Fortress Maximus' Cerebros into a Pretender!.