Scramble City Galvatron

Review by Tobias H:

Prelude: Especially the older fans, who had the pleasure of watching the original Transformers series on TV, will remember Galvatron, the highly shizophrenic leader of the Decepticons during seasons 3 and 4 of the series. His creation in Transformers the Movie (1986) ist one of the pivotal moments of Transformers history. Unicron reformated the heavily damaged Megatron into this new leader and his only purpose was to be the destruction of the Autobot Matrix. Galvatron betrayed his creator, though, and tried to use the Matrix to enslave the planet-sized Unicron. In 1986 we saw a toy version of Galvatron coming out with the other movie figures, but this figure looked quite a bit different than the mightiest of all Decepticons. Especially the colouring held little resemblance to the cartoon version. In 2005, nearly twenty years after his birth, Takara released a new version of the figure as an E-Hobby exclusive, which finally resembled the character. And this new version has a lot to show.

Robot Mode: For a G1 figure Galvatron is pretty large, very much so in fact. He can easily match today's Leader-class figures. And even though I like his size, it was kind of a disadvantage during the G1 days, seeing as Galvatron towered over his opposite Rodimus Prime by a significant margin. Still, we have a very detailed and - for a G1 Transformers - highly posable robot, who has truly benefited from his E-Hobby do-over. The old gray-based colouring has made room for a violet-grey coat of paint closely resembling the cartoon character's. A lot of details have been added, too. The red accents on his stomach, the little red dot on his crown, even the hinted-at goatee. Most important of all, a Decepticon symbol has been placed on the chest. Another difference is Galvatron's face. It was remolded to more closely resemble the cartoon character. In terms of posability Galvatron is doing quite well for a G1 figure. His arms are fully posable and his legs are capable of quite a few struts, too. His signature giant arm cannon is there as well, of course, and complets the menacing look of the Decepticon leader.

But is this a "perfect" version of Galvatron? Well, a few tiny flaws are there. For one thing he is slightly mis-proportioned, like many G1 figures were. In Galvatron's case it's the arms especially, which have a decent length overall, but the forearms are quite short. Also, his barrel-shaped body makes him quite bulky. If you consider, though, that the original mold of this figure is twenty years old and part of Generation 1, then Galvatron is definitely an above average Transformer. This version doesn't have to fear comparison to many of the more recent figures. So it's two thumbs up for the robot mode.

Alternate Modes: Unlike the cartoon character, Galvatron's toy incarnation is a triple-changer. His first alternate mode is a futuristic laser cannon. Not really a vehicle, though it does have tracks, making Galvatron mobile in this mode, too. Whether or not you like this mode is, I guess, a question of taste. Suffice to say that Galvatron resembles the cartoon character in this mode as well. The cannon rest on three "legs", which might be a bit short when compared to the cartoon. Overall this mode does have all the details the cartoon version had as well, though, including the little "spur" on the top. No complaints here. Personally I would have wished for a different alternate mode altogether, seeing as this cannon is extremely futuristic. I guess they chose this mode to pay homage to Megatron, who transformed into a gun. Bottom line, this mode isn't bad, looks like it's supposed to, but Galvatron's cannon mode does require some getting used to.

His second alternate mode was never shown in the cartoon and looking at it, I kind of doubt that it was intended from the start. You just take the cannon mode, fold out the rear leg, fold up the front tracks, and you get... a slightly different cannon. In this case it most resembles a phaser from the original Star Trek series. It has more or less the same proportions. Maybe someone at Takara or Hasbro played around with the original toy and noticed that you could fold Galvatron into this position, causing a short make-over into a triple-changer. At least that is the impression I get from this strange mode. Personally I think of this "phaser"-mode as a little bonus, nothing more.

Add-Ons & Extras: This is where E-Hobby Galvatron plays his trump card, because apart from the extra parts of the original figure, which was a handgun, this figure has something the original didn't. In the 1986 Transformers Movie Galvatron wears the Autobot Matrix on a chain around his neck, having taken it with relative ease from Ultra Magnus. He hoped to gain control of Unicron this way, paying him back for Unicron's frequent mental tortures of him. The result of this revolt was Unicron pounding on Cybertron and simply swallowing up Galvatron and the Matrix. This toy version of Galvatron has this Matrix-on-a-chain and he can wear it around his neck, just like in the movie. A superb little detail, which adds lots of charm to the figure. A great idea.

Remarks: Anime Galvatron is a very good likeness to his cartoon incarnation and is a definite improvement from the original figure. The new colours finally pay homage to this crazed Decepticon leader. Lots of new details like the Autobot Matrix add to this figure. On top of that Galvatron has quite a few electronics inside him. The arm gun lights up and there are numerous sound effects, for example a weapon discharge sound and the classic transformation sound. He can also speak a number of sentences, though those are in Japanese. My Japanese isn't all that good, but I think I heard something like "Decepticons, attack!". I assume those are quotes from the 1986 movie. Whatever the case, this version of Galvatron offers quite a bit to the Transformers fan and is just a lot of fun. An impressive Decepticon.

Could he be better? By today's standards, of course. The posability could be improved, the arms could take some changing for the better. His alternate modes are an acquired taste. But still, Galvatron is a great figure and this version of it is much better than the original. If you're a fan of the original series, this figure is worth looking for. You get a lot for your money.

Rating: A- because of some small flaws