Studio Series discussion

Superomegaprime

Wondering bot
Citizen
86 Megatron, looks ok, but my eyes are automatically drawn to the legs and I see blue instead of black or grey which as me thinking "What on Earth were they thinking?" I'm likely to skip this as I skipped 86 OP as I wasn't really feeling him compared to the ER mold, sometimes its the paint job and brighter is not always better and honestly, I rather like the darker shade of red on some of the OP figures we had
 

Magnusblitz

Well-known member
Citizen
Looks pretty damn good given the constraints of "make the G1 cartoon model turn into a tank." The three things that leap out at me are (1) lower legs too bluish, (2) fusion cannon looks weird, and (3) upper shoulders look weird.

I do agree that the photo is likely oversaturated and the leg color should look better in person. But, the screenshot Shadewing posted does make me think that "model sheet" is a bit over-blue-shaded in general, so not thrilled if that was indeed the reference. Especially since the rest of the toy doesn't look to share the same shading (i.e. the fusion cannon and waist seem to be just full-black, not a dark grey like the model sheet).

The shoulders seem to just be a concession to making the top of the tank not too big. Maybe the fusion cannon too, but I think they could've made it properly-sized without it detracting any from the vehicle mode.
 

Exatron

Kaiser Dragon
Citizen
He looks very good, and I'll definitely be getting him. Having said that, I can certainly pick a few nits.

First off, that cannon just looks a little weird. I think it's mostly due to how short the center segment is. On the MP, that segment runs the length of his forearm, and it runs most of the forearm on versions like Earthrise. Here, it's really short and shifted toward the front of his cannon. It makes it look like the front end is really short and the back end is too long. But looking at the comparison pic with MP Megatron, the cannon is basically the same length proportionally, and roughly positioned the same relative to his arm. It's just oddly proportioned amongst the segments. Likewise, the back end looks like it doesn't really flare out. It does, just the wonky proportions make it feel like it doesn't. I'm sure it's a concession to working in the turret, but Siege/Earthrise pulled that off better.

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.

Finally, while he looks great in a lot of the pictures, he just looks kinda off from certain angles. I'm not going to read too much into it. Reminds me of how Kingdom Galvatron looked horrible in all his initial pictures. Hopefully, he will similarly look better in person than on screen. Considering how great he looks in most of the shots, that would make him pretty fantastic in person.

All in all, I like him. I'm going to be getting him. I really hope we get a G2 retool with an actual G2 tank-front chest and a translucent purple version to go with the GS Behold Galvatron. But having said all that, I don't think he's going to be replacing Siege/ER/DC Megatron for me. I think they'll still have a place in my main Generations lineup along with ER Optimus. SS86 is kinda forming its own little separately-scaled collection, which is kinda what I was afraid would happen back when SS86 Optimus was first revealed.

Final thought: This is the final nail in the coffin for me in terms of a Kingdom redeco being acceptable for an SS86 Rodimus. He'd be positively dwarfed when placed alongside SS86 Optimus, Megatron, and Galvatron.
 

Undead Scottsman

Well-known member
Citizen
I feel like it's still not the definitive G1 tank megatron, but it's the closest we've gotten. I feel like it's the Earthrise Prime for Megatron; pretty damn good, but still room for improvement.

I think the #1 thing that would fix these tank Megatrons is stop trying to incorporate the fusion canon into the turret; just let the turret be formed out of the arms and part of the back with the barrel on it. The fusion canon can go on top of the turret or on the back of the tank like a missile pod. It's not going to look great, but this allows you to keep it colored black and quite frankly, there isn't really a good place to stick it if you don't want it to stick out like a sore thumb.
 

unluckiness

Somehow still sane
Citizen
I think CW Megatron handled the turret fairly well, all things considered. Having a proportionally large turret helps but specifically I think what would help Studio Series Megatron’s turret look better is if the top had flaps or something to cover the cannon. Real tank turrets are basically one big holliw chunk of metal.
 

PrimalxConvoy

NOT a New Member.
Citizen
G1 Megatron.jpg
 

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I can't help but wondering if that back part of the fusion cannon can slide down a little bit...

As for tank mode, it looks good to me, except the weird contrast with the barrel. Can't help but think it might have looked better if they could have found a way to put the barrel from his back between his arms, and have the cannon stick out from that.

You'd need to find something to do with the base of the fusion cannon, though... maybe have it unfold into something that attaches to another part of the tank? "Extra armor" or something.
 

Donocropolis

Olde-Timey Member
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I think CW Megatron handled the turret fairly well, all things considered. Having a proportionally large turret helps but specifically I think what would help Studio Series Megatron’s turret look better is if the top had flaps or something to cover the cannon. Real tank turrets are basically one big holliw chunk of metal.

Combiner Wars Megatron was a fantastic tank and an OK robot. This one reverses that, which really is fine with me. I mean, in an ideal universe, both modes would be great, but I don't know if it's possible to get a better tank out of the shapes that make up a cartoon accurate G1 Megatron robot.
 

LordGigaIce

Another babka?
Citizen
Combiner Wars Megatron was a fantastic tank and an OK robot. This one reverses that, which really is fine with me. I mean, in an ideal universe, both modes would be great, but I don't know if it's possible to get a better tank out of the shapes that make up a cartoon accurate G1 Megatron robot.
CW Megatron was also from a time and line where stylizing the G1 designs was still something that regularly happened. He's a good looking G1 Megatron, but he's not a Sunbow accurate G1 Megatron. And this thing is trying to be very specifically the latter.
 

Donocropolis

Olde-Timey Member
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
CW Megatron was also from a time and line where stylizing the G1 designs was still something that regularly happened. He's a good looking G1 Megatron, but he's not a Sunbow accurate G1 Megatron. And this thing is trying to be very specifically the latter.

True. And honestly, it wasn't the lack of Sunbowness that I didn't like about CW Megs. He had some issues with his shoulders and an awkward fusion cannon arrangement that detracted from what was otherwise a really nice robot. The working treads and firing cannon were also a ton of fun.
 

Sciflyer

Two arms and one smile
Citizen
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.

Finally, while he looks great in a lot of the pictures, he just looks kinda off from certain angles. I'm not going to read too much into it. Reminds me of how Kingdom Galvatron looked horrible in all his initial pictures.

I feel like that DNA design kit for Galvatron was a must-have, due to his relatively squatty-looking proportions; it improves the figure quite a bit, IMO. It was an okay-ish attempt at a Galvatron (considering his toy track record), but there are too many things about it that are off for me. I wish that the design team could have held off and waited on a true SS86 Galvatron, using an all-new mold, but alas, it was not to be. Honestly, I would be okay with an officially licensed, non-transforming, robot mode Galvatron at this point.
 

LordGigaIce

Another babka?
Citizen
Galvatron was shorter than Rodimus according to the G1 size charts so him being shorter than Megs isn't that crazy an idea. It's also worth noting that the Galvatron figure in that comparison pic has a wider stance, lowering the height a bit.
 

Donocropolis

Olde-Timey Member
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
This is pure love to me! I am very excited for this one. Now to decide if I really need to hang on to my 3 versions of the siege mold. :ROFLMAO:

You fool! I've only invested in TWO versions of the siege mold! Finally I've become a crafty consumer.

Now I have to decide if I want to keep Siege Megatron and ER Prime with my main G1 display, as I like the way that they scale with everyone, and just have this Megatron elsewhere? (I never did buy SS86 Prime as I was happy enough with ER).
 


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