Studio Series 86 Galvatron vs WfC Kingdom Galvatron vs Legacy Galvatron

[Anonymous X]

Just wondering, I should get around to picking up an SS86 Galvatron. Because the figure looks cool.

However! Would I be not-so-worse off getting the WfC Kingdom or Legacy versions at a cheaper price? Are there any known issues with "mold rot" with the SS86 Galvatron?

Let me know your honest thoughts.

 

[lastmaximal]

If you're just getting one main show-based Galvatron, get the SS86. Kingdom and Legacy are the same slightly-off (but possibly off enough) redder purple, and Kingdom has poorly-executed extra battle-damage scuffing (the Legacy one drops those but retains the purple). SS86 is in a better spot on the color wheel, a bluer violet.

I haven't messed with mine much, but from the handling of it so far I haven't encountered any mold rot/looseness/etc problems on my copy.

 

[Exatron]

Really does come down to color preference. SS86 has a bluer purple closer to the cartoon and an opaque, painted orange cannon. Legacy has a redder purple and a translucent orange cannon like the G1 toy. Overall, I prefer the Legacy version, but both are nice.

Just avoid the Kingdom version. In addition to the "battle damage" paint, many of them have the shoulders misassembled, and it's not the easiest thing to fix without giving him real battle damage.

 

[Sabrblade]

Do like me and get SS86, Legacy, Selects, and Behold! Galvatron to have a full barbershop quartet of insanity.

Avoid Kingdom Galvy like the plague, though.

 

[lastmaximal]

Really does come down to color preference. SS86 has a bluer purple closer to the cartoon and an opaque, painted orange cannon. Legacy has a redder purple and a translucent orange cannon like the G1 toy. Overall, I prefer the Legacy version, but both are nice.

Just avoid the Kingdom version. In addition to the "battle damage" paint, many of them have the shoulders misassembled, and it's not the easiest thing to fix without giving him real battle damage.

All good points. Man, I'd clean forgotten about all the hoopla about fixing those shoulders (which I did have to do). So much stuff from the last few years has just gotten memory holed.

And yeah, opaque cannon on SS86, looks nice. If I ever get the urge to see it with a clear one, I'll just swap in the Selects momentarily.

 

[Gizmoboy]

I have both Kingdom and Legacy. Kingdom stays in cannon mode on display while Legacy is my Galvatron. Legacy is good enough for me, but I wouldn't be opposed to snagging SS86 if he ever went on sale.

 

[Anonymous X]

Err, unexpected plot twist: turns out that I already own Kingdom Galvatron, but entirely forgot that I did. Which is too easy to happen with this stuff. Might keep him, or sell and put the money towards the blue-r, new SS86 one. Perhaps.

Take a look – are these misassembled shoulders or corrected shoulders? (Not the best pictures , but I’ve taken them in a rush before work this morning. Could do better ones later if requested.)

 

[lastmaximal]

That might be correctly assembled?

 

[Exatron]

Yeah, those are assembled correctly. On the ones that are misassembled, the tops of the shoulders are about level with the outer corners of his torso. They're supposed to rise above that, as they do here.

So looks like it's purely a matter of deco now.

 

[Anonymous X]

Thanks, guys.

Yeah, have to mull it over. Did see the SS86 Galvatron yesterday and that blue-purple looked pretty great. Better than the original Kingdom/Legacy deco. But is it worth the bother of selling the Kingdom figure as well as the extra expense? Not sure. (The Kingdom figure’s “Siege wash” doesn’t bother me BTW, as that’s easy sorted with a dab of isopropyl.)

 

[lastmaximal]

That's definitely a weighing you have to do yourself. I initially figured I'd be good with the Legacy one once I found it for a good price, as it remedied the issues I had with the Kingdom one and the color shift seemed too minimal a change.

But the more I saw of the SS86 (and I tried to take my time with this, because the blurple sometimes looked different depending on the picture, and there weren't many side-by-sides) the more it chipped away at that decision. And eventually when I compared them both in person, I felt good about making the switch. But that's entirely subjective.

 

[unluckiness]

Personally, between Legacy and Kingdom being functionally the same thing and being less accurate than Studio Series shrinking the demand further, the hassle of selling my Kingdom Galvatron at a reduced price just drove me to keep it. Lets me use the clear cannon with blurple Galvatron too.

Sitting on it until the supply dries up and flipping it is an option as well.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

Yeah, I got Legacy and didn't think SS86 could be that different.

Then I saw SS86, and was completely at odds with myself.

But, I've just got Legacy for now (and Selects).

Maybe as long as I don't look at '86, I'll be okay.

 

[Anonymous X]

I probably wouldn’t want an SS86 Galvatron had I not seen one in Smyths yesterday (which I owned a version of anyway, but didn’t remember I had until this morning). It’s one of those “oh, that looks good, actually” moments.

 

[unluckiness]

I personally wish the entire toy was that metallic blurple on the knees and cannon attachment in altmode.