Animated Megatron (Leader)

Robot Mode: As seems to be a trend for the Animated figures (at least those who are not of the Deluxe class) Megatron is relatively small for his size-class, but that actually makes him of ideal height to interact with other Animated figures such as Starscream and the Deluxe-sized Autobots. In robot mode Megatron presents himself as a very posable, highly detailed, and just plain cool-looking Decepticon. His colours fit him well, dark grey with touches of red and black, and he's got all the weapons he needs, too.

Megatron's familiar fusion cannon (which can fire a red missile) sits on his left arm, but can just as easily be put on his right arm as well to soothe the hearts of the G1 fanatics. Apart from the cannon he also carries two swords, really the rotor blades from his vehicle mode. The two swords are well made and despite being made from two individual blades each they don't wobble or anything. When they're not needed they can hang off his back and kinda look like a cape or something. Very cool.

Megatron has an electronic voice capable of saying three lines when you press the Decepticon symbol on his chest: "Crush the Autobots!", "Where is the AllSpark!" and "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Okay, that last one isn't really a line, but it's probably the coolest laughter I've ever heard from a toy. I wish there was a way to make it so that one doesn't have to cycle through all three lines to get back to the laughter again. Oh, and Megatron's mouth moves when he speaks. So again, very cool.

To sum it up: A very awesome robot mode for the Decepticon leader, to my mind the best Megatron since Energon Megatron. He's got everything you want from your major bad guy. So double thumbs up for the robot mode.

Alternate Mode: For what I think is the first time in Transformers history Megatron transforms into a helicopter. Not sure what the exact model is called (if it is an existing model), but it's a twin-rotored military-style chopper with some resemblance to the Osprey. The rotors are mounted on wing-like structures at Megatron's sides and are at an angle to each other, giving the entire thing a strong resemblance to Energon Megatron's vehicle mode. I'm not a hundred percent into the overall look of this mode, but it does look decent.

Megatron's fusion cannon now sits under the cockpit and it sports one wheel of the chopper's landing gear, the other two are on the back (unfolding from the robot mode legs). If there is one slight problem here it is that the hinges that move both the wings and the folded-up robot mode arms up and down are not the most stable in the world, but that might just be my model and not a general problem. It doesn't really bother me, either, you only notice from certain angles that the shoulders/wings are not at the perfect angle.

Megatron has sound effects in this mode as well. During the transformation when you shift the cockpit forward you hear the classic Transformers transformation sound. In copter mode, pressing the Decepticon symbol (now on the belly of the copter) causes helicopter sounds to emerge. Nicely done. So overall a good, solid vehicle mode. Not spectacular and with some slight problems, but overall pretty good.

Remarks: After spending most of the first season of the Animated cartoon series as a severed head in Professor Sumdak's laboratory, Megatron finally got his body back in the season finale and what a body it was. He immediately went on to crush the Autobots and the treacherous Starscream as well. The AllSpark, the very thing he coveted, led to his defeat in the end, but Megatron is still causing lots of trouble and preparing for a new Cybertronian civil war as we speak.

As a figure Megatron gives us a very, very good robot mode, coupled with an alternate mode that isn't exactly a revelation, but solid. So no complaints here. I haven't yet understood why Hasbro has issued two different versions of the Cybertron Mode Megatron that was seen for all of twenty seconds in the series premiere and only one version of this robot here whom we'll probably be seeing until the series ends, but whatever. A very good leader for the Decepticons, Megatron is a must-have for all Animated fans.

Rating: A

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