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Series: Generations GDO
Year: 2012
Allegiance: Decepticon
Class: Voyager
Power is all that matters to Megatron. It is his means, his motive, and his goal. His every thought is only of how the might of his armies can bring ever more power into his hands.
Prelude: Nowadays just about every given Megatron is a tank, but back in 2012 it was still at least semi-original to have a tank-mode Transformer retooled into a Generation 2 Megatron homage. So here we have the 1990s Extreeeeme Megatron reborn from one of the best Bayverse figures ever made, Bludgeon, and released as a Toys R’Us exclusive to boot. Welcome to a triple dose of nostalgia, fellow collectors! Let’s say go!
Robot Mode: This figure is, of course, a retool of Revenge of the Fallen Bludgeon and meant to be a homage to Generation 2 Megatron. The figure is mostly identical to Bludgeon, only the paintjob was changed and the head was switched out. The new head is a glorious recreation of the old Megatron buckethead, sporting a purple face and a spectacular smirk as well. Very nicely done.
The mold itself is still quite spectacular. Of course it’s a Bayverse design, meaning some parts look a bit overdesigned and the limbs are rather gangly, but overall it’s a very cool looking robotic samurai. Megatron is mostly green and purple with some unpainted grey parts and the black tank tracks on his shoulders and legs. Articulation is standard for the time, meaning he lacks such things as a rotating hip and ankle tilt, but can still pose quite well all things considered.
Megatron carries the turret of his tank mode on his back and can open it up, too, revealing a sheath for the smaller sword he carries. The big sword, of course, uses the main tank barrel as a sheath and its handle is the muzzle of the cannon. Both swords can be drawn from their sheaths and either put in Megatron’s hands (either individually or combined into a single blade) or sheathed at Megatron’s left hip. When the big sword is sheathed, it looks like a hip gun (shades of Armada Megatron) and modern day blast effects can be applied to it, too. Sadly, just like with Bludgeon, both swords are made from a rather soft, rubbery plastic, so unless you keep them in their sheaths all the time, they WILL bend. There seems to have been a minor improvement, though, when it comes to the hands. I remember that Bludgeon’s rather pointy thumb used to leave deep scratches in his sword handle, which is also the front of the tank gun. While Megatron also has a pointy thumb, no scratches so far, so maybe they filed his nails a bit this time around.
One thing to keep in mind: on many a Bludgeon figure, the rubbery tank tracks that hang off its shoulders and adorn his shins have started to corrode the plastic they are in contact with, giving it a melty appearance. No traces so far on Megatron here, but be aware that it might become a problem at some point.
So to sum up the robot mode: great! Maybe a bit too samurai-looking for a Megatron figure for some people, but overall I love this retool here. The new head is great, the robot overall is cool, and all he really needs would be better swords (there are upgrade sets for that). So thumbs up!
Alternate Mode: Naturally Megatron transforms into the same kind of Japanese Type 90 tank that Bludgeon did, the only real difference being the color. It’s a bright green now with some purple and red highlights. The tank tracks are made of a rubbery material, as mentioned above, but don’t actually move when the tank rolls. The actual rolling is done via tiny wheels.
The tank turret can rotate a full 360 degrees and, as mentioned above, you can apply modern day blast effects to the muzzle (the grip of the sword). Alternatively you can plug in the short sword here, too, which makes for an interesting if silly visual.
So bottom line for the tank mode: it’s a tank, so full marks for that. Nothing much you can do here apart from rotating the turret, but that’s all it really needs to do. So no complaints here.
Remarks: Ever since Generation 2 saw Megatron return with a tank alternate mode (which has become his standard alternate mode in recent years), any given new tank Transformer had good odds of being repainted green and released as G2 Megatron. So, seeing as one of the best figures of the 2009 Revenge of the Fallen toy line was indeed a tank Transformer, it took only a few short years for Bludgeon to be retooled into Megatron for the Generations GDO line up (somewhat ironic, given that G2 Megatron was the one to destroy Bludgeon). Originally the GDO line was supposed to be exclusive to the Asian market (GDO standing for Global Distribution Organization), but many of them eventually turned up in Toys R’Us stores, too.
As mentioned several times before (and also in my review of him), ROTF Bludgeon was among the best Transformers figures of 2009. The Revenge of the Fallen movie might have been crap, but the accompanying toy line was, for the most part, quite brilliant. Megatron takes a very good figure, adds a spectacular smirky Megatron head, and a nice G2 inspired paintjob. That’s really all you need to know. A great figure and one of the best G2 Megatron homages ever in my mind. Now if he just had better swords…
Rating: A-
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