Siege Megatron

Prelude: A new toy line, a new Megatron figure. That’s is (almost) as certain as a new Optimus Prime and Bumblebee figure these days. And given Hasbro’s current focus on G1-based “Evergreen” designs, it is hardly surprising that Siege Megatron is looking pretty G1 these days. Well, except for transforming into a gun… eh, I mean, a submarine. There are no gun Transformers, only submarines. But Siege Megs becomes a tank anyway. So, where was I? Ah, yes. Siege Megatron! Here we go!

Robot Mode: As mentioned above, Hasbro is really going for that G1 look right now, and nowhere is that more evident than in Siege Megatron. He really does look like he just stepped out of the TV screen from any given G1 episode. Which, given that this Megatron here does not turn into a gun (yeah, a gun, not a submarine!) but rather a tank is even more noteworthy. Just about the only thing that differs from the classic G1 look is that he has tank tracks on his back, that’s it. From the front he is G1 Megatron as seen in the cartoon, no doubt about it. Bucket helmet, big fusion cannon, everything fits.

Megatron is very nicely articulated and can pull off all sorts of combat poses, including the classic blow-them-all-away pose with the big fusion cannon on his right arm. He also comes with a second weapon, resembling the sword that the original Takara release of G1 Megatron sported back in 1985. The sword also contains a second gun barrel and you can fold back the two halves of the blade to unveil it. I must say, though, that I would have preferred to have the second gun barrel be a separate part instead of integrated into the sword. Using it as a gun means you have those very, very long sword halves sticking out behind it with no way to remove them (short of disassembling the entire thing). You can use the second gun barrel to enhance Megatron’s fusion cannon, you can put it on his other arm, you can put it on his back to somewhat simulate the look Gun-Megatron sported, or you can even put both of his guns on his back and flip the backpack forward, thereby giving him shoulder guns. Lots of fun variants.

And then there is the battle damage detailing that is the most controversial thing about the Siege line so far. In the case of Megatron, I really think it’s too much. Megatron has paint flecks on his legs, arms, back, chest, pretty much everywhere. It looks good on the legs and tank tracks, but on the chest and arms it’s really overdone and looks more like Megatron has a bad case of mildew. Less would have definitely been more here.

To sum it up: Megatron is a very nice design in robot mode and if you remove the excessive battle damage paint, he’d be very good. Well, that and separate the gun barrel and sword. As things stand he’s still pretty good, but not as good as he could have been.

Alternate Mode: I haven’t checked, but I think at this point we’ve actually had more Megatron figures who turn into tanks than ones who turn into guns (skipping the submarine joke now, it’s run its course). Siege Megatron’s tank mode somewhat resembles the one we know from Armada Megatron in that it’s basically an H-shape from above with the tank tracks on either side being longer than the middle. The tank looks pretty good and shows no visible robot bits, so no complaints here. The turret can turn and theoretically the gun barrel can be raised, too, but in practice that doesn’t work due to the sword blade sitting underneath the barrel. The sword blade also slightly scrapes when turning the turret and causes the entire thing to be slightly skewed. This is another reason why I think the sword and gun barrel should have been separate.

All in all it’s still a very good tank mode and the battle damage detailing is far less noticeable here. Sadly it’s mostly on top of the tank tracks instead of on the sides, where it would have made much more sense, but what can you do? Anyway, much like in robot mode, we have a very nice design that could have been even better with some minor tweaking, especially when it comes to the sword/gun-barrel weapon. So bottom line: pretty good, but not perfect.

Remarks: I don’t think there is anything new I can say about Megatron that hasn’t been said a thousand times before, especially as we don’t really know much about the Megatron we’re seeing in the Siege line yet. Well, apart from being very much G1-looking. Let’s assume he is the leader of the Decepticons and seeks to destroy the Autobots in order to conquer Cybertron and bring peace through tyranny to the universe.

As for the toy itself: pretty good. Some minor changes, such as less battle damage and a slightly different secondary weapon design, could easily move me to give it an A-rating. As things stand it’s still a very nice Megatron figure and certainly recommended to everyone who likes the look and feel of G1 Megatron, but be aware that it’s not quite as good as it could have been.

Rating: B

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