Something from drafts! I wrote this sometime around April 2019 (alongside last week’s Optimus review), but I seemingly never posted it back in the day. So, let’s bring it out for the first time ever, as an important final capstone to Retro Bot Reviews (more on that at the end).
Since the first Action Masters were released in 1990, the idea of a Transformer that doesn’t transform has always been a controversial one. However, in the years since , there’s been plenty of non-transforming action figures of the franchise’s best characters, usually done by outside companies licensed by Hasbro, the true meaning of the term “third-party.” Toys Alliance took the idea and literally blew it up in their Mega Action Hero series, creating a humongous, detailed, super-poseable figure of Optimus Prime. A good hero needs his good villain, so it makes sense for the second release in the line to be Megatron. Like Optimus, MAS-02 Megatron doesn’t transform, and is focused instead on simply being a gigantic, detailed action figure of the famous villain. Don’t let that be a dealbreaker, though. The photos in this review were, again, taken by Venomously Addicted Photography, who you can follow on Facebook and Instagram.
The first thing that will strike you is its size. At 18 inches tall, the same as his companion, this Megatron is sized in the realm of Titan-class Transformers. He doesn’t seem to specifically be any previous figure blown up, like how the Optimus seems to have been directly based on his second Masterpiece toy. Nonetheless, it’s recognizably based around Megatron’s original cartoon and Marvel comics appearance.
On close inspection, he actually shares some parts with Optimus, specifically his elbows, shoulder joints, neck, and hands. Everything else is different, though. It’s a pretty straightforward design, the only hints of his (now non-existent) alternate form of a pistol being a gunbarrel on his back, and his lower legs being shaped like the grip. In an attempt to make his design not look too plain, he share a trick with Optimus where a previously simple design has been busied up with tech detailing and panel lines, or “greebles” as fans call them. I’ll say this: Compared to Optimus, I think they went a bit overboard on this guy, and he reads as a bit too busy to me. For example, his helmet is a pretty simple design, but here, its clean lines are broken up with angular dents and panel lines. His face, though, has a frowning, angry, annoyed expression, appropriate for the character.
The second thing you’ll notice about this Megatron would be how shiny he is. Whereas Optimus’s metallic colors manifested as dark, rusty ones, this Megatron’s main color is a bright, metallic silver, with black as his secondary color. Outside of his main colors, the paintwork is, as with their previous release, ridiculously extensive. Almost every bit of excess tech detailing on his body has bits of black, gold or red paint detail on it, making him almost look steampunk-ish in places. Like Optimus, I appreciate that his joints have tech detail and paint on them too, selling them as part of the robot instead of out-of-universe joints.
Speaking of joints, one reason for the high price tag is his high flexibility. Since he shares some parts with Optimus, he borrows his crazy articulation (72 points, according to the marketing blurb). Aside from the obvious ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, waist and head, he includes details like an ab crunch, and fingers with every single joint articulated (yep, I immediately did some rude gestures). His hips are allowed to move freely thanks to his pelvis being made up of a “skirt” of moving panels. Luckily, he’s very stable, though you can’t do anything ridiculous, like lean him over.
He’s got one accessory, in the form of his trademark fusion cannon. A large black weapon, with silver painted tech details, it’s meant to permanently slide onto his right arm. It’s hefty, but doesn’t mess his stability up, and more importantly, manages to be big enough to look menacing, but small enough not to bump into him or cause articulation problems (a problem some other Megatrons have had to deal with).
Another curious feature he has: A removable chest plate, for no reason other than the fact that MAS-01 Optimus got one. Underneath is a ton of painted tech detail around a red orb. It’s probably supposed to be a Spark chamber (and if it’s based on a pre-existing design, I haven’t seen it.). Like Optimus, he has two light-up gimmicks, in this case, his eyes and his fusion cannon. Both require three buttoncell batteries to work, and can be switched on and off with hidden buttons.
So, is he worth it? Like Optimus, he costs as much as one of the larger Masterpiece figures, but is many, many times larger and more poseable, at the cost of a transformation. Let’s be honest, though: The two transforming Masterpiece Megatrons that were created the last two decades were some of the most complicated Transformers in existence, thanks to the impossible task of making the design look like his cartoon appearance, and still change into a gun. If you bought one, you probably transformed it once (over the course of hours), then left it in robot mode. This guy saves you the trouble, and is way more durable, solid and stable, on top of the gigantic size.
If you’re going to get one of the two MAS releases, I think the Optimus is a slightly stronger figure, but this guy’s no slouch either, and they make a nice pair to display and pose. I’ve got no idea where a line like this can go afterwards (maybe a Starscream or a Soundwave?), but they’ve certainly gone all-in on the concept of creating straightforward, solid, absolutely massive robot action figures, and the results are amazing.
(2022 notes: Well, the line didn’t go far after this. Optimus got the obligatory Nemesis repaint, and physical samples of a Soundwave (with a transforming Laserbeak!) were shown, but never released. This never felt like a line that would go on for long, anyway, but, luckily, Toys Alliance seems to have done just fine, and seen success with their own original Transforming Robot IPs, Archcore and Acid Rain. As for this Megatron, like Optimus, he’s very out of my sphere of Transformers interests, but was an extremely well-made figure for what he was, if you’re into it).
(Another important note: And, that’s it for my Retro Bot Reviews! Before I was on Children of Primus, I was on another site that’s since been lost to time, and these Retro posts were a way for me to make sure the writing I’d put so much work into over there still got the chance to exist online. But, I’ve mostly reached the end of my archive, with the exception of a few reviews that’d require a ton of re-working, so I’m calling it in. You can keep looking forward to my newly-written Monday morning reviews, though, since I can’t live without yakking too much about my hobby. And, who knows, I might start posting something else in this Friday slot, though it definitely wouldn’t be weekly, since I don’t have the spoons to write two of these inside a week. Thanks to everyone who’s been reading so far, and here’s to more of my rambling in the future!)
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