Kingdom Megatron

Prelude: He has entered these hallowed halls, a conqueror, yes! For he is Megatron, leader of the Predacons, and willing to tear time and space apart to achieve victory over those accursed Maximals. Too long has he stood in his more famous G1 namesake’s shadow, despite achieving far greater things. Now, for Beast Wars’ 25th anniversary, he returns in War for Cybertron Kingdom as a Leader-class figure. Let’s say go, yes!

Robot Mode: Let us start by celebrating the fact that Megatron is the first true Leader-class figure in the entire War for Cybertron line-up. Meaning he’s not a Voyager-class figure with extra parts and delusions of grandeur, no. He’s a Leader through and through, big and sturdy, no extra parts. For that alone he deserves quite a few accolades.

Kingdom Megatron depicts the Predacon leader as he appeared in the first season of Beast Wars, so let’s start by comparing him to the old Ultra-Class Megatron from 1996. Kingdom Megatron is a tad taller, a tad slimmer, and somewhat better proportioned than his predecessor. He is also far more detailed, especially on his torso, and is more purple where the original was more blue-grey. Speaking of colors, Kingdom Megatron has quite a few of them. Where the original was almost monochrome, Kingdom Megatron is almost a little too colorful. Still, they are clearly meant to be the same guy.

Comparisons aside, Megatron is a very well-articulated figure with a ton of detailing. His right hand ends in the T-Rex’ head, which can open its jaws pretty wide and has a port for attaching blast effects inside. The other arm is the T-Rex tail, which turns into a pincer. Unlike the original figure, you actually see a robot hand here. Would have been nice if the pincer were detachable, but that’s just a minor thing. I could have done without the folded-together plates hanging off his forearm, but the pincer is big and stable enough to actually grab Deluxe-class figures and hold them aloft without problems. Speaking of folded-together plates, though, there are quite a few of them on his back, too. A bit more streamlined than those huge shell-wings 1996 Megatron had, but still quite a bit.

Overall I’d say that Kingdom Megatron is a pretty accomplished figure in robot mode. As mentioned above, maybe a tad too colorful, but otherwise I have few complaints. He is also in scale with both Dinobot and Optimus Primal, so bonus points for that as well. So bottom line for the robot mode: not perfect, but pretty good.

Alternate Mode: Megatron transforms into a purple Tyrannosaurus Rex. The transformation is similar to that of the 1996 figure, though a bit more complex. The resulting dinosaur is pretty large and looking pretty good in general. Whether you like his purple coloring is subjective, of course, but it’s a massive beast with fully articulate legs and even the tail can move a bit. Nicely done.

Not quite so nicely done: the dinosaur’s hide. Most of Megatron’s beast mode is covered in rubbery plates that do a nice job of looking organic, but they don’t properly line up around the beast’s neck. Getting the plates around the back and tail to properly align is possible, but difficult. I have also read that a few people had problems getting the tail to properly snap into place in this mode, but with my Megatron at least it worked just fine. Discounting the hide plates, everything holds together very well. A solid T-Rex.

As mentioned above Megatron is very nicely articulated in this mode as well, you can do running poses and such without problems. That does pose a bit of a problem of its own, though, as Megatron’s knees open up quite a bit when he bends them, showing a white joint inside. Kind of looks a bit weird here. Apart from that, though, I have no true complaints. A very nice, very massive T-Rex mode. Big enough for Optimus Primal to ride on it.

Remarks: Let’s face it, for all that G1 Megatron is far more famous, he is most famous for yelling “Decepticons, retreat!” in pretty much every episode he ever appeared in. Beast Wars Megatron, voiced perfectly by David Kaye, was a far more dangerous and sinister villain. Through three seasons of Beast Wars and two seasons of Beast Machines he remained a threat to freedom and all sentient beings everywhere. He is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, and boy did he like to monologue.

I skipped out on the very expensive and very large Masterpiece Beast Wars Megatron, but when this Leader-class figure here was announced, I couldn’t resist. It’s not perfect and I’m still waiting for that Transmetal version, too, but I don’t regret buying it. It’s probably not for everyone, but if you are a Beast Wars fan, you won’t go wrong with this one. The fact that you can get four or five of him for less money than the Masterpiece version helps, too, of course. So bottom line: recommended to Beast Wars fans.

Rating: B

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