Review done EXCLUSIVELY for Inside Pulse by Alessandro “Rikkomba” Riccombeni

In 1984 we got two factions of transformable robots: the Good Ones were called “Autobots”, to recall the fact that most of them could trasform into vehicles and back. The Evil Faction was made by Decepticons, because those bad robots were…deceptive. Come on, don’t cry. Yet.

TRUKK, NOT MUNKY!

Anyway, the good guys here were originally famous for their transformations into vehicles, cars, trucks, whatevers and such. People would think that their leader should be the biggest and baddest car of them all. Nope. Their leader was a Truck instead.
Nonetheless, the biggest and baddest transformer of them all to change into a car and back is… Cybertron Decepticons’ leader, Galvatron (plause). Actually we are talking about a quad - changer, it turns into Robot, Car and “Flying Thingie” and it also combines with Leobreaker ot Nemesis Breaker to form its own “Savage Claw” mode.
Please note that this review is based on its japanese version, Galaxy Force Master Galvatron. The most noticeable difference is a bright yellow color where the Cybertron version has gold details instead. Other than that, we are talking about the same toy. Why did I pay more to get the japanese version? Because this version was already out in October 2005 and, sorry for spoiling, when you see a Transformer like this you can only try to get it as soon as you can! I know, too much romance.

I am NOT deliberately ignoring Cybertron Megatron. Really.

Master Galvatron is a great example of what a better paint job can do for a transformer figure.
In robot mode you see lots of Black and Silver, with a great contrast given by several red parts and some yellow details. A nice feature is that the Silver color is made using cellphones’ kind of paint, so that it won’t be scratched away so easily, differently from other kinds of chrome finish. Sadly, we still have parts that are just Grey, no Silver
Eyes are red with light piping, actually the transparent plastic takes a huge portion of its head.
Its face is purple, even if in television that purple is of a darker, cooler shade. Its head design seems to take design elements from both G1 Megatron and Unicron, resulting in an interesting, horny head.
Its torso is well detailed, with a large faction symbol in the middle of its chest. His belly has the car’s cockpit in it, covered by Black to give a “Y” made of transparent plastic. While this “Y” is shown all red in the cartoons, here the shade is much lighter, I think we lost something. However, we all know Hasbro: if they can turn a greatly designed figure into something worse, they will. It’s like Murphy’s law applied to Transformers.
Galvatron’s arms are all black with red parts, I really like them. Legs have car mode’s rear wheels inside robot’s shins: the problem is, they are covered by some stupid rubber parts, spoiling the greatness of this figure. I don’t feel at ease when my transformers have “squeezable” parts.
We also get rubber on his knees and on his forearms, because there are two parts forming a point vehicle mode’s front part…being pointy, they used rubber. Rubber.
It’s Galvatron. No, HE’s Galvatron. One of the most powerful beings in the Universe. Powerful, cunning and cruel beyond any known limits.
So how can we pay him homage? MMM…some silver…some black…some red here and there…yellow because some people believe it brings fertility…Great! It’s getting marvelous! What can we use as a final touch? RUBBER! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Hasbro, you owned me again.

Full Metal…Rubber?

On Galvatron’s back we have 2 parts hanging, they form the car’s front part or the “flying thing” wings. Actually in robot mode they are used to store 2 weapons, the “Ultimate Death Hair Dryer” and “Unicron Claws”, or whatever name you can give to 3 rubber spikes in a row. Truth is, even with all this rubber he looks cool.
I currently display it using Unicron Claws as an “attack shield” (see Magmatron) and with Energon Starscream’s combined weapons as a sword. It’s so cool that everybody should try it. Maybe.
I am trying to forget what the other cyber key - activated weapon is, luckily one day I will be able to forget it. At least, I hope so. Sigh.

Galvy’s articulation sounds very good: shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees are all well articulated; head and waist have very limited articulation, something like 3 positions available for each of them. Last but really, really least: ankles. They are a complete disaster, failing to help posing this great figure as it would deserve. I can’t even leave it combined with Leobreaker because it won’t stand without help. A strong flaw put into an otherwise possible masterpiece.

TransRubbers: Squeezable Disguise…

Master Galvatron’s transformation into car mode is easy and clever: you basically hide its shoulders under the chest, join the arms, turn everything 180 degrees, turn around the “wings” and clip it on the rest to form the front part, then the waist goes where the chest was and legs form rear wheels on the sides. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a new champion: as previously spoiled, this is the largest car mode ever in 22 years of Transformers. An imposing and powerful-looking car mode, I’d say. It also seems a Decepticon Batmobile, so it automatically pays homage to RID Megatron. As a nice coincidence, it’s very cool to look at, wheels roll very well on all surfaces and most parts are stable. Again, the part that bothers me the most is represented by those shitty “shin covers”, they just hang behind the car with nothing to do or a fixed position to leave them in. They suck soooo badly.
In this mode the previously mentioned “Y” is the cockpit, near it we have a cyber key slot; if you put Galvy’s personal, cool cyber key there, two turbines will pop up, WOW! And we also have a double missile launcher! Ok, I am not impressed at all, next please? Oh, yes…

Transformers for Ladies?

Not only Master Galvatron is a badass, not only he has the biggest car mode of all, not only he’s the first 40$ Transformer to use all the plastic its class allows to give out a huge ‘bot without any separated-pathetic-soundbox-disguised-as-a-tank, no. There’s more. Nostalgic of Transmetals, Hasbro gave Galvatron a third mode, the fearsome “Flying Thingie Mode”. Basically, you split the car’s front part in two halves, attaching them to the rear wheels. Doing so, Galvatron’s arms’ rubber end is totally exposed, representing this mode’s front part. Now boys, we ALL know what that part seems like, so I will personally applaud Hasbro for favouring perverts during their job interviews and I will pass on.
I mean, what can I say of this mode? Insufficient? Huge? Half-done? Obese? Yeah, Obese maybe describes it better. An Obese Flying Thingie with only 1 inch long wings. And I thought Energon Scorponok’s third mode was enough for next 20 years. Great.

As a last feature, Leobreaker / Nemesis Breaker can attach to Galvatron’s robot mode. As I said, its ankles won’t help posing him so I gave up. We are talking about a sad add-on, anyway so I will pass on this too. I think it takes coolness away instead of adding more of it.

Blame Yourself or God…or Children Safety Laws. Sigh.

I can tell you that Galvatron’s ankles and rubber parts really bother me, but the truth is that I just pose it in that cool way I found, described above, and I am more than happy like this. Thinking about its gimmicks and how much fun children could get playing with them, I think there are better toys around for this price. I don’t dig that much the “Ultimate Death Hair Dryer” while “Unicron Claws” will bend and break after a kid’s few smashings with other toys. It’s fun to transform into car mode and its third mode CAN be fun, maybe… Anyway, I think that this toy could have easily been better. It’s better than Armada Megatron or Energon Megatron in terms of design, color scheme and transformation, but too many compromises made because of safety laws put this toy down from being a Must-Buy-Masterpiece to a “watch your wallet twice first” toy.
I really like it, honestly, and I would personally give a top score, but I can’t, because of its ankles, its Hair Dryer and all that stupid rubber. If ankles and rubber are not an issue for you, make it a 9. Nonetheless, a top score Transformer would never have a Hair Dryer as a gimmick, so…keep trying, Hasbro.

On LordElohim’s Energon Cube Scale, I give this Leader TF a 7 out of 10.

The Bottom Line

Lord Elohim
TBL: Typically speaking, people hate recolors, but in the last two lines, in my opinion, Hasbro has really made Megatron shine with the Galvatron recolor. He looks like such a badass in black and silver. On top of that, it’s a really good mold, too, one of my favorite Megatron molds. I strongly suggest picking up the Galvatron repaint, and I’d give it an 8/10. One downside, is that unlike Optimus, this mold was not designed to hold Leobreaker, it seems like more of an afterthought than it was for Prime. He can equip Nemesis Breaker and stand, as you can see in the picture, but it’s quite difficult. Luckily, the purchase of Nemesis Breaker is not required to enjoy this figure.

Charles Emanuele
TBL: It is very rare that I would recommend a repaint over the
original toy, but that is the case with Galvatron. I bought Megatron when he first came out and was impressed but not in love. Fast
forward a few months and daily viewing of the Cybertron cartoon and I was
digging Galvatron big time. The chrome really makes Galvatron look more
menacing than Megs and that much cooler. Transformation is smooth and
there is no signs of SMS. I can’t wait to get Nemesis Breaker to link the
two together. Highly recommended.

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