Universe Galvatron

Robot Mode: Universe Galvatron is, of course, a homage to G1 Galvatron and resembles the original whack-job leader of the Decepticons quite a bit, despite being designed differently. The chest and head are, of course, dead ringers. He also features the same knees, similar feet, and there's of course the big orange cannon sitting on his upper right arm, though the configuration is quite different than it was in G1 days.

Similarities aside, Galvatron is a very posable and highly detailed figure and leaves very little room for complaint. I don't particularly like the way the legs are put together, they're pretty much a wild jigsaw of parts, but that's pretty much the only flaw I see in him. I've heard some people complain about the way the cannon sits on his arm, but personally I don't see anything wrong with it. One little detail that bugs me for some reason I can't quite figure is that his Decepticon symbol sits on his shoulder instead of on his chest where it was in G1 days.

So all in all, Galvatron is a pretty decent Deluxe figure. With better legs I'd have called him very good, but even so he's still quite good.

Alternate Mode: Galvatron's alternate mode manages the balancing act of looking like a realistic tank while still resembling that whatever-it-was that G1 Galvatron transformed into. The tank is quite detailed, the turret can swivel around freely, and apart from the big cannon it also features a small missile launcher sitting at the rear of the turret. So overall a pretty good alternate mode with no obvious flaws.

Remarks: It was November 2006. Classics Megatron had just made it into my possession and for his review I wrote the following: "Now the only question is whether or not Classics will feature a Galvatron down the line and whether or not he'll be a repaint of Megatron or the first original Galvatron since 1986. I'm hoping for the latter." Well, it took nearly two years, but my hopes were fulfilled. For the first time since 1986 we have a Galvatron that is not a repaint of a previous Megatron figure (I'm not counting Beast Wars II Galvatron here, by the way).

The question remains: Is this the Galvatron I was hoping to see? Well, mostly. He is a good figure, no doubt about it, and there is no mistaking who he's supposed to be. He could be larger, of course. As it is he would make a good beefed-up version of Ultimate Battle Megatron, rather than Classics Megatron. Apart from the size thing the only thing I really don't like about him are his legs, but that's not a real dealbreaker, either.

So the bottom line is, Galvatron's a good Transformer in my mind. Not the best he could have been, but good. I'll recommend him to all fans of G1 Season 3, as he's the perfect match for Titanium Rodimus Prime. So if you want to restage their battle inside Unicron, you can do that now.

Rating: B

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And for a second opinion the review by Sam:

Robot Mode: Let's start with the good stuff, so we can get that behind us. It's easy to recognise this figure as a modern Galvatron, so he gets a nice nostalgia bonus for that. I also like the cannon made from transparent orange plastic. But that's pretty much it for the good stuff. It's all downhill from here on out.

The left arm is so loose in the shoulder joint that it always comes off during transformation or just moving. The right arm is completely immobile. Okay, you can bend the elbow and somewhat have the entire arm point forward, but that's it. Which makes Galvatron rather undynamic and stiff. Especially his weapon arm should be posable in all directions.

The legs are a wild mixture of parts from the tank mode with two purple feet glued on front. These look pretty ridiculous, especially since his shins also look like feet. Just about every joint in the legs is loose and it's almost impossible to put Galvatron into any kind of nice pose. You can also twist him at the hip, a full 360 degrees. This results from the transformation. Now normally that would make him a very posable guy, but no. Because his hip is also very loose and can't be fixed into place. Only a big plate, which hangs off his back like an apron, prevents his lower body from unintentional twisting.

Added to that is the completely superfluous, giant rucksack sitting on Galvatron's back. To me it seems as if the people at Hasbro didn't know where to put some parts, so they just combined them into a kind of jet pack and stuck it to his back. It doesn't look bad in general, but once again it doesn't hold in position very well, so the two big parts are dangling loosely.

At least you can turn his head, but here you have to watch out or it'll slide down into his torso, if you push too hard.

So all in all the robot mode is a loss to me. A lot of things were done wrong, a lot of potential was wasted, and the nostalgia bonus alone doesn't redeem him. So it is with a heavy heart that I see no other way but to award this robot mode with an E (Note: The German school grades include a '5', which would be an 'E' in the American school system, if there was such a thing). This robot mode doesn't deserve any better.

Robot-Rating: E

Vehicle Mode: Finally we have a Galvatron, who is not a Megatron-repaint, with a good vehicle mode. He transforms into a futuristic tank, which looks pretty good all things considered. The turret can turn the full 360 degrees, even though there is no way to point the cannon up or down. The tank is a bit boring colour-wise, but the bottom line is: Pretty good. Clearly the better mode of this figure.

Vehicle-Rating: 2

Transformation: Here's where I get frustrated. Everything stalls, there's not enough room to move the parts around, which tend to seize or fall off, parts come loose and it's hard to figure out what is supposed to go where and how. Even after multiple transformations I still needed the aid of the (inadequate) instructions manual.

Trans-Rating: 5

Remarks: The first time I read about this figure I thought "Yeah, finally, a cool Galvatron!". Even the first pictures looked pretty cool and so I immediately grabbed this figure, especially since I wanted a Decepticon leader for my stop motion clips. But at the end of the day this Galvatron here did not fulfill my expectations. Me, I'm pretty disappointed. Deluxe Brawl from the Movie line is a much better Tank-Transformer, so if you're looking for a good tank, my advice is to go there. I'm pretty much fed up with Galvatron. So mathematically speaking we'd arrive at a total rating of D, but I feel the need to add (or detract, rather) my felings of disappointment.

Total Rating: E+