Studio Series discussion

Fullstrength Motleypuss

Well-known member
Citizen
So has anybody received their SS86 Megatron from Pulse? Because here it is a month after it's so-called ship date and mine still hasn't shipped.
 

Sciflyer

Two arms and one smile
Citizen
Yep, got mine about a week or so ago. They're just weird / unpredictable about when they ship stuff.
 

Exatron

Kaiser Dragon
Citizen
Can anybody with the High Moon Seeker mold tell me how the two parts of the mace attach? Is it a standard 5mm peg or some other method?
I don't have them out where I can confirm at the moment, but IIRC it's a keyed peg, where the peg has a rectangular protrusion on one side, and the hole on the other piece has a matching slot. I.e. it's a peg/hole connection where they only fit together in one orientation, and you can't rotate it. So even if it's a standard 5mm peg size, it still won't go in a standard 5mm hole unless you cut off that protrusion.
 

unluckiness

Somehow still sane
Citizen
I don't have them out where I can confirm at the moment, but IIRC it's a keyed peg, where the peg has a rectangular protrusion on one side, and the hole on the other piece has a matching slot. I.e. it's a peg/hole connection where they only fit together in one orientation, and you can't rotate it. So even if it's a standard 5mm peg size, it still won't go in a standard 5mm hole unless you cut off that protrusion.
I see. I have a few 5mm port handle extenders and I was wondering if they’d work woth the maces since the heads are pretty but the way they did the handles are garbage.

Thanks!
 

Exatron

Kaiser Dragon
Citizen
Second, he's too tall. In principle, I'm good with him being a bit taller than Optimus. Being visibly bigger than Galvatron though is something I really dislike. I can't believe this got me to order the DNA Galvatron kit for hugging leg extensions of all things. o_O At least I'll finally get a good G1-toy gun for him.
So I finally got the DNA kit in for SS86 Galvatron. I still hate the idea on principle, but it largely does what I was hoping it would.

Before:
20251006_123536.jpg


After:
20251006_132644.jpg


It's kinda weird. I always largely liked the proportions of Galvatron without any modifications, and I like the proportions on Megatron. With the DNA extensions, it feels like Galvatron's legs are a little too long now, yet his hips, waist, shoulders, arms, etc. all line up almost perfectly alongside Megatron now. So largely the same proportions, yet I like them better on Megatron. My best guess is that Galvatron having narrower hips and broader shoulders is what's throwing it off.

The one place where the kit doesn't quite work out as well as I'd hoped is at eye level. Galvatron's head now sits higher than Megatron's by about the same amount it used to sit lower. I hadn't realized until doing this comparison how much higher Galvatron's chest extends above his shoulders. It's almost like he has an extra long neck, despite not having a neck. :LOL:

Anyway, overall I'm happy with the change. Galvatron's now basically the same size as Megatron, with a little bit of extra size from his torso expanding a bit. I'll gladly take that over looking like Unicron hammered him into the ground while upgrading him. I'll be leaving Legacy Galvatron as is, though.
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
The one place where the kit doesn't quite work out as well as I'd hoped is at eye level. Galvatron's head now sits higher than Megatron's by about the same amount it used to sit lower. I hadn't realized until doing this comparison how much higher Galvatron's chest extends above his shoulders. It's almost like he has an extra long neck, despite not having a neck. :LOL:
I guess Galvatron's torso was inspired by Pat Lee:

DWPrimewhatthe.jpg
 

unluckiness

Somehow still sane
Citizen
I think platform shoes would have sufficed in this case. Galvatron’s feet are pretty short and stubby, and don’t really transform making it simpler to keep them attached. About half the thickness of the shin extensions would be a sweet spot.
 
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Exatron

Kaiser Dragon
Citizen
Agreed. I think half that height, whether it be added to the shins or the feet, would be about perfect. And I think doing a shorter leg extension would be pretty tricky, so adding them onto the feet would probably be the way to go. It wouldn't get all the other points to line up as perfectly as the DNA kit does, but it would get them seeing eye to eye, and it wouldn't make him look quite so leggy.
 

Sciflyer

Two arms and one smile
Citizen
The nicest thing that I can say is that SS86 Galvatron has the best-looking face of all of his permutations, IMO. The colors just work so well.

I've got the DNA kit for the Kingdom release, and it does improve his presence quite a bit. It doesn't save him, but it does go a long way to making his proportions a bit more pleasing to the eye. Once you get him posed out, especially, he does look pretty alright.

But yeah, SS86 Megatron looks like he stepped off the screen; Galvatron really doesn't, and I still maintain that he needs a page-one rewrite.
 

unluckiness

Somehow still sane
Citizen
Galvatron's torso works well enough and fits in with the SS86 "animation model but bulkier" aesthetic. The legs are a weak point, looking like bro skipped leg day in comparison and in general don't look great in either mode.
 
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lastmaximal

Administrator
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
This Galvatron mold was always wonky (fool! Galvatron can be any degree of wonkiness he wishes!). I remember leaked item pics showing up that year and every single photograph made it difficult to get a sense of the bulk or proportions or look, even the eventual decent pictures closer to release. I've never seen a toy defy basic photography that hard (usually it's just with color, like a teal or purple that looks different in every shot). And then getting one in hand some of the objections faded while some got more pronounced, which was even weirder.

I like a lot of what they did, especially going the extra mile to have the gray cannon body be distinct from the purple robot torso. I didn't even clock that as a thing in all these years. The toy as is has a satisfying heft and good presence, and now that he's finally in these great colors it's even better.

But so much about it that I'm "fine" with now would be improved by a fresh take: the legs/back of the cannon, which currently has too big a plank holding it up in altmode; the torso, which doesn't need those extra wide armpit flank things (one of the things that always threw me off in those early pictures); little aesthetic things like the head and the spire (upgrade kits like the Achai Studios head help here). It's already a solid release, but I look at what they did with SS86 Megatron and I wonder what cool stuff could come out of a new take.
 

Superomegaprime

Wondering bot
Citizen
Bare in mind Galvatron was desgined to scale with the Siege/Earth rise/Kingdom line figures, as 86 OP & Megs are much later molds and have a different scale size.
 


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