Thursday, October 3, 2013
Review: Arms Micron Final Battle Megatron
| Figure Information | |
| Manufacturer: | Takara Tomy |
| Figure Number: | 33 |
| Origin Series: | Transformers Prime |
| Scale: | Non-scale |
| Height: | Approximately 19cm tall |
| Original Price: | 5250 yen |
| Packaging: |
The Arms Micron Voyager packaging shares the same shape as how Hasbro does theirs but in turn makes it unique with the presentation; the sides contain product shots of Megatron with his tech specs on one side while the other features the Microns and their alternate forms. The back features Megatron posed with other arms micron combinations as well as including his bio in japanese text. (which I can't read lol)
| Details - Vehicle Mode: |
Before any positive comments from me, I'll go on about my major gripe for Final Battle Megs' Jet mode, while I chose Final Battle Megs for my TF Prime collection, I absolutely think he has the worst looking jet mode from all the Megatron variants that uses the RID mold (Darkness Megatron wins this mode lol) simply because of the big uneven look in his jet mode where in 50% of the jet has unpainted plastic while the "nosecone" and the wings are painted in metallic silver; it's just too uneven in any angle and add the fact that the only AM stickers you'll be applying to Final Battle Megatron would be Decepticon logos, which I find weird since it really would've worked better if the logos were made imprinted to begin with (and my application ain't that perfect when it comes to orientation/alignment).
Anyway, the mold of the jet mode looks great, it's pretty accurate as far as memory serves (even down to his visible head lol!) and even though a big bulk is left unpainted, the painted ones look really nice in the silver coating and the metallic purple highlights just looks neat! It's also pretty neat that the cannon holder is made with clear purple plastic and it's quite nice to see the Prime Arm sitting at back of the jet mode.
Of course, since Final Battle Megs loses his arm cannon, the cannon holder is left empty but you can indeed port Shadow Dai or Shadow Gabu in their respective weapon modes in there. (I personally prefer Shadow Gabu since the "bow" mode fits well with the look of the vehicle mode)
| Details - Robot Mode: |
While I lashed out on his Vehicle mode, Megs' robot mode looks majestic! With only the "unarmored" limbs left out in unpainted gray plastic, the bot mode looks ridiculously great with the massive silver deco done on the RID mold; I personally got this instead of Darkness Megatron just because chromed silver for me isn't appealing but this... the metallic silver is just pure awesome! Again, like in jet mode, you'll only need to apply the con logo on his chest, which could've really worked if Takara just made the logo during production instead of letting owners apply it themselves. The main selling point of Final Battle Megatron is that his right arm has been recolored into the dead Prime's arm he stole near the end of season 2; though not very screen accurate probably due to transformation as well, the colors as well as the gold trims look accurate at the very least and it looks really nice for an official Megatron release that has the Prime arm. For using an RID mold, Megatron is still left with clear plastic bits on his frame but it (clear purple plastic) really works for his character.
He does have light piping but for me, it doesn't work that well since they painted the red pupils on his eyes which looks weird if you ask me.
For size comparison, Final Battle Megatron falls a bit shorter than First Edition Voyager Prime but still scales well IMO, although I think Prime should be smaller so scaling should be perfect if you are using RID Prime mold instead.
| Microns: |
The microns (or minicon if you prefer) serve as the main accessories for the Arms Micron line but as all microns, they all have identities and at least 2 modes. These microns are also model kits that you'll have to build and sticker up, and yes, only stickers, no decals. All of Final Battle Megatron's microns use clear black plastic with foil-y purple stickers to detail them. I'll start with Shadow Dai, the crocodile.
Shadow Dai is a black version of Dai, who was released as a stand alone kit for the Arms Micron line, Shadow Dai transforms into 2 other modes.
The first one looks like a quadruple barreled grenade launcher of sorts which work well as Megatron's replacement for his Arm Cannon but can also be wielded by hand; this mode has a total of 3 5-mm pegs and 2 5-mm ports which you can freely combine with any other micron.
Shadow Dai's 3rd mode is used for a "super combo" weapon combination as it forms the hilt of the said weapon. In this mode, it still retains the same number of useable pegs and ports as the launcher mode; it does have 2 more 5-mm ports (making a total of 4 ports) but it'll be used for combination thus still leaving the mode with 2 free ports once combined.
2nd in line of Megatron's microns is Shadow Baru, the Falcon.
Like the other microns that come with Final Battle Shadow Baru is also a black variant of a stand alone release of the same name without the Shadow prefix. Unlike Baru's two other micron buddies, it only has 1 alternate form which both works as an individual weapon and also part of the weapon combination in the form of a cleaver; this mode has 4 5-mm pegs which will all be in use when combined with the 2 other microns.
Last among the three Shadow Microns is Shadow Gabu, the horseshoe crab.
Shadow Gabu transforms into 2 other modes, the individual weapon mode looks like a crossbow if you ask me but I read it in wiki as a dual blade but I'll be referring to it as a crossbow lol. The crossbow mode has 7 5-mm pegs and 2 5-mm ports in total, I seriously think this makes a good arm weapon for megs or technically any TF who has 5-mm ports in the forearms.
The 3rd mode presents Gabu as the sword tip; in this mode, you are left with 5 5-mm pegs and 2 5-mm ports with both ports being used when combined in the super combo weapon.
While the microns can work as individual (and weird) weapons for their master, the biggest reason why they've been colored black and given purple stickers is to form the super combo weapon, the Dark Energon Saber; originally branded as Dark Matter Calibur in their default colors, the Dark Energon Saber is micron combination nudge to the show's Dark Star Saber which Megatron created using the Forge of Solus that retains all the abilities of the original Star Saber.
While only having the likeness of how the Dark Star Saber looked in the show, the Dark Energon Saber does a pretty decent job of being a weapon fit for the Decepticon Tyrant, the details look neat and the purple stickers work wonders for giving the blade edge feel; probably the biggest flaw of the Dark Energon Saber is that it's only stickered up in one side, thus, making the other side look totally bland.
What makes this weapon an even more rightful accessory for Final Battle Megatron is that you can flip down the cannon holster in his back's jet kibble and actually peg on the Dark Energon Saber there, making it possible to store his sword of destruction when it is not use.
| Articulation Points: |
Megatron's neck is ball jointed but it's pretty limited, he's almost incapable of tilting his head upwards or downwards and the sideways movement is also very limited.
His shoulders are ball jointed but it's pretty tricky to actually play with it due to how the ball socket is constructed; making the shoulders a bit annoying to move but sideways, it can be raised to a 90 while forwards and backwards movement is good but his shoulder pad will limit its movement when it reaches a certain point. The elbows have a hinge that bends to 90 while having a swivel beneath the connector that allows full rotation of the forearms. The wrists can hinge inwards which can be useful on certain poses.
Unfortunately, Megatron has no waist or torso joints.
His hips are ball jointed and unlike his shoulders, these joints are easier to move and can split sidewards and forwards or backwards to a very good degree; Megatron also have thigh swivels which is a plus as these can be useful for dynamic poses. Knee hinges allow you to bend it to a 90 while his ankles can only fold towards the center.
| Poseability: |
It's a bit tricky to get used to posing Megatron but once you get the hand of it, he is pretty capable of making slashing poses with his big sword of doom; additionally, Takara gives you the option to split the Saber into 3 different weapons which you can use in a lot of ways.
Probably, the only disappointing thing about Megatron is that his head cannot support dynamic poses very well but still, Megatron really isn't one who does dynamic feats when fighting as he is a former barbarian, everything comes with pride and might haha.
Additionally, Megatron can (in some poses) give the illusion of gripping the Dark Energon Sword with both his hands which makes ridiculously good scenes when fighting the former clerk who's now known as the leader of the Autobots.
Of course, punishing the traitorous seeker makes very good scenes as well for Megatron, whether he has an arm of a Prime or not.
| Final Thoughts: |
The RID Megatron mold is definitely the best rendition you can get from the toylines in both look and scale, so it's just a matter of choice which version to get, I personally got Final Battle because of silver paint and the recolored arm, he really looks badass even though the figure itself ain't perfect by any means. While you are free to choose which version, I guess it's either gun for the bland unpainted Hasbro or this version of the mold as they are, IMO, the best looking ones (Darkness Megs is ok but the color for me is meh and I don't like the microns that much), I definitely recommend this version because of the Prime Arm and the weapon, it just makes good use of the mold despite the eyesore of a Jet mode.
Final Battle Megatron is another item I got from my friend and supplier, omniclone.
The Decepticon Tyrant gets a score of 3.5 out of 5.
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