Studio Series discussion

[unluckiness]

I think it’s interesting that he has a bunch of 5mm ports all over when Optimus seemed to actively avoid using the 5 mm system even for storing stuff in his trailer or the truck mode gun storage.

I think the tank turret is what it is. The way the shoulder cannon attaches to the fusion cannon is really abrupt in color and sculpt though. It’s Almost like a Looney tunes style finger in the barrel.

 

[ZacWilliam1]

86 Megs looks as good as anyone should ever expect a retail toy that turns from that design to that alt mode to possibly look.

It's perfectly great in both modes.

Tiny nitpicks are tiny nitpicks, and honestly this thing is better than it has any right to be as a physical object.

I've reached the point where I'm pretty burnt out on "the same G1 character again but like 10 to 20 % better" but I gotta admit this one is an actual huge step up if you want a Cartoon design G1 Megs.


-ZacWilliam, it shall be bought.

 

[The Phazer]

They dropped the ball a bit on his cannon - it's not accurate in robot mode and doesnt fit or work as part of the turret either. I'm really not sure what they were thinking, other than maybe it was designed to transform more and it was cut for parts at the last second.

But otherwise I think Megatron is very solid. Even surprisingly so on a modern leader budget. And I'm sure somebody will sell a better cannon for it.

Widowmaker is nice too, especially if you fill in the face greeble, she'd not really read as a movie toy at all.

 

[MrBlud]

They look fine to me. G1 Megatron's legs weren't dark grey or black.

They were indeed a different color but they look a lot less incongruous on the model sheet.


Which given stuff like Sunstreaker, it’s possible it’ll look a lot better in hand. Same with the face which honestly looks wayyyyy too white IMO.

 

[Shadewing]

They look fine to me. G1 Megatron's legs weren't dark grey or black.

They weren't that blue-gray either.

 

[Sciflyer]

I feel like they absolutely nailed the overall look of G1 robot-mode Megatron. Face sculpt, proportions, articulation - top notch. And whatever sorcery is keeping his obvious tank parts from not being obvious! Kudos to the design team!

While I share @ZacWilliam1's sentiments on repeatedly going back to the well for marginally better looking versions of the same characters, I never cared much for the Siege/Whatever Megs, so this will be a welcome addition.

 

[Shadewing]

86 Megs looks as good as anyone should ever expect a retail toy that turns from that design to that alt mode to possibly look.

It's perfectly great in both modes.

Tiny nitpicks are tiny nitpicks, and honestly this thing is better than it has any right to be as a physical object.

Personally I think the tank mode looks like jive, it just feels like a very obviously folded up robot with little to no attempt to look like a tank other then having treads and a barrel, even if that barrel is shoved into another barrel. It needs one of those sad "you tried" signs hanging off of it.

 

[lastmaximal]

The turret is kind of a write-off for me. That's where all the obvious compromises kind of wound up with too little left to paper them over. The body and treads of the tank are fine, passable. The turret would need panels to enclose the arms and make it all hang together a bit better, but they used up all the magic in the tread legs. (And tbh I have no idea how that scope/arm cannon is such a weird balance of "totally wrong" and "ehh, close enough").

Child me never understood what went where with the gun barrel/scope parts (it doesn't help that the toy and show used the scope as a cannon), and imagining it as a tank always made me think of putting the back barrel and scope together. So seeing that is kind of nice... But the fact that they're two entirely different colors makes it all too obvious that one is just jammed into another, which is an awkward look.

End of the day, this has a passable but flawed vehicle mode, but no one was ever going to buy this for the altmode anyway -- the altmode was always going to be "oh, well, it can't be a gun". So it's all robot mode all day, and good thing the robot mode is amazing.

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

For having to get the cartoon model into a tank, it's pretty good. I like how the treads all but disappear into the legs and emulate the grip pattern. Tank mode is fine, functional but not terribly impressive, but who's buying it for that anyway?

 

[Shadewing]

For having to get the cartoon model into a tank, it's pretty good. I like how the treads all but disappear into the legs and emulate the grip pattern. Tank mode is fine, functional but not terribly impressive, but who's buying it for that anyway?

"Who buys a transformer to transform them." Well, then maybe people should get Blokee's Action Megatron. He's the same height as SS86 Optimus, and cheaper then this would be.

 

[lastmaximal]

Yeah, that's totally what TheMightyMollusk said.

 

[unluckiness]

The funnel-shaped butt of the fusion cannon has a noticeable seam and what might be a pin. Wonder what that’s about.

 

[LordGigaIce]

They were indeed a different color but they look a lot less incongruous on the model sheet.

View attachment 28263
Which given stuff like Sunstreaker, it’s possible it’ll look a lot better in hand. Same with the face which honestly looks wayyyyy too white IMO.

They weren't that blue-gray either.

View attachment 28264

I'm not entirely sure all of this blue tinting isn't just a lighting effect. Wanna see more pics, and even the thing in person, before making a final judgement.

But his shins being lighter than dark grey or black is accurate.

 

[Princess Viola]

Yeah, that's totally what TheMightyMollusk said.

 

[Sabrblade]

I'm not entirely sure all of this blue tinting isn't just a lighting effect. Wanna see more pics, and even the thing in person, before making a final judgement.

But his shins being lighter than dark grey or black is accurate.

The actual source, for comparison:

 

[Platypus Prime]

"I hate it! Megatron should always have his iconic alt mode of a..." *flips through the options to see what I haven't complained about lately* "-running shoe...?""

-Seriously, it's an option! 'Sports Label' apparently.

Megatron: "Decepticons, ATTAAAAACK!"
*leaps into the air, transforms into a shoe, lands on Starscream's foot, Starscream kicks Ironhide in the shins, Ironhide fakes a serious leg injury and Starscream is fouled*

 

[lastmaximal]

To be fair, I don't think that's what anyone's really saying either, just that the execution of the tank mode is not to their liking. (I know you're being facetious, but the momentum of these things...)

 

[Platypus Prime]

Good point...honestly, it is the best Bot-mode Megatron I've seen, other than the MP, and I never got it as I wasn't liking the growing fragility of them back then (the last MP I got was Grimlock). I'm hoping this won't have any crippling design flaws, and will also be affordable since I have no idea what the price-class is for it. Hopefully not $100, though with the tax uncertainties it may be even if it "isn't".

 

[Sabrblade]

Megatron: "Decepticons, ATTAAAAACK!"
*leaps into the air, transforms into a shoe, lands on Starscream's foot,

Starscream: "OW, MY FOOT!!!"

 

[LordGigaIce]

To be fair, I don't think that's what anyone's really saying either, just that the execution of the tank mode is not to their liking. (I know you're being facetious, but the momentum of these things...)

Honestly I think Kingdom Core Megatron has the basic blueprint of a good Megatron in there. The key is that he embraces the turret kibble by making it part of his shoulders in robot mode in a very non-G1 sort of way.

ER removed this kibble and made it part of an award second cannon/sword/shield thing. SS '86 doesn't even bother with it and his turret doesn't look like a turret.

Scaling up the Core design would be the way to go, with a tank mode that looks like a solid tank with tank bits integrated into the robot mode... but it would deviate from a straight G1 design. Which we just can't have can we?

I get that this is Studio Series '86 and therefore G1 accuracy is the point. In that regard what they did is perfectly fine and understandable.

I'm just saying that the way forward to a great "G1 tank Megatron" involves just a bit more reinvention then the SS '86 line afforded them.