Video Review of Transformers Masterpiece MP-43 Beast Wars Megatron

Mine arrives sometime today, looking forward to it!

IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!

Hooray! Do let us know how he is, yessssss...

DAYUM it got to you fast! Mine should be here by the end of the week, assuming DHL actually delivers on time...

If that video is indicative of how people have been transforming him, no wonder we've gotten reports of stress marks; who in their right mind just randomly pries at a thin hinge piece like that?!

Malicron wrote:If that video is indicative of how people have been transforming him, no wonder we've gotten reports of stress marks; who in their right mind just randomly pries at a thin hinge piece like that?!

Exactly

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Malicron wrote:If that video is indicative of how people have been transforming him, no wonder we've gotten reports of stress marks; who in their right mind just randomly pries at a thin hinge piece like that?!

Exactly

Sadly, as someone experiencing the figure now, there are some parts which require force. He is held ogether by some very thin pegs and some heavy locking mechanisms. Being delicate will just make him stay in beast mode.

Well, mine is delayed, thanks to stupid card snafus. First was on me, the card I had on file was an old one I forgot was canceled.

So I had to add a new one.

Which was declined for suspected fraud. (Only its third use)

Which I couldn't clear up till this morning.


Sigh......

He looks fantastic...and I like what you did with Dinobots head

This is it, the big in depth review at the biggest release of the year (that's right, you heard me!). While you can see a video of the transformation here, I will go through most of what the figure has to offer with images to go along with the pros an cons. The pros far outnumber the cons though and I do recommend the figure, so if that's all you needed to know then great. If you want more, well let's get to it:

Beast Mode

The beast mode is spot on. Some people have been saying that this mode is fully painted like with some previous Beast Wars masterpiece figures, but it is not. it is mostly shiny purple plastic with a pastel violet hue found across the toy in digital stripes. The mouth and head are very well articulated. So are the eyes which can be positioned as you wish by rolling them around. Other main points of articulation in this mode are the small arms (2 points of articulation), tail tip, tongue, knees and individual toes.













While there is more potential articulation in the legs (like outward movement), this is all due to the robot mode's articulation and messing with the legs undoes some panels and reveals robot mode kibble. So I don't touch the legs much. The articulated eyes make him very expressive. If you insert batteries, pressing a button on the top of the T-rex head will make him talk in Japanese. While he does come with extra clear adapters to connect him to Dinobot's stand, I didn't feel any need to use them. He is very well balanced. Also, of all the Beast Wars toys, he is the one that has the least amount of robot kibble showing (mainly because unlike the others, he uses the same parts for both modes).







Transformation

The original Beast Wars Meagatron toy is my favourite toy ever so it is really fun to see that Takara felt they did indeed ace that transformation the first time. To the point that this toy transforms the same way. The big change for this new figure is that to give him a much smaller backpack, the T-Rex shell is made up of 20 thin pieces of plastic which fold onto eachother to make a smaller back section. This of course makes him very tedious to transform back into a T-Rex. However, every parts does fit into each other fine and if I do intend on transforming him again, unlike ROTF Jetfire (NEVER AGAIN). I did see stress marks around the pins though, but I do not think they will get worse if I pay attention.

The scary part though is when you first start prying the shell open. He is held together by some very thin pegs and some heavy locking mechanisms. So you do have to use some force sometimes, since being delicate will just make him stay in beast mode. It reminds me of MP 05 Megatron in a way where you have to be forceful yet delicate at the same time (ah, the jokes I just can't make). Another big difference over the original toy is the role that those thigh circles play. These parts are working overtime here by both hiding and locking in panels as well as having (decorative) guns fold out. They do come off easily during transformation BUT once you peg them back in robot mode, they stay on securely. So I don't see them unpegging as too much of a negative.

Speaking of unpegging, my big worry with this guy was that with so many sections unpegging purposefully (6 parts) I thought it would have for a very frustrating transformation. But no, most parts are secure enough that if you want this toy not to be a partsformer, it wont be, but it also allows you to take some parts out for ease of transformation. And I recommend you do that with the big T-Rex body shells since removing them helps transforming the waist. It transforms essentially like the original toy (pivoting the axis of the waist and locking it in) but you have to pull it out first and that requires more of that delicate forceful touch I was talking about earlier. Also, if the back doesn't peg in well, DO NOT FORCE IT. Just undo what you did and try again, it should clip in effortlessly.



The tail and lower legs have as many transformation steps as the original toy. For the life of me I do not know why the instructions spend so much time on the lower legs, there is nothing to do there.

Robot Mode

[url=7oXtISrMwVc]Hoo-Ah![/url]. This is an amazing looking figure. He looks like he jumped right off the screen. The stability is great, thanks to the metal used for his heels. The extra kibble comes off only if you want it to and the only angle which looks a bit off is directly at the side. He looks good from the back, and even has a nice extra transformation bit where the T-Rex' pelvic area splits in half to reveal some robot mode detail made just for the back section.









I really love the left arm. It is fully articulated and I really like that the tail can be pivoted a bit to provide extra room, showing that they are two independent pieces. It's my favorite aspect of this toy, since it does end up being the biggest improvement over the original. Removing the tail is easy and it pegs back securely if you want it attached.











The rifle accessory is fine and while it is easiest to use when removing the tail, you can keep it on. It attaches as well as any of the other myriad of MP weapons we have had over the years. The tooth brush is much more secure though and it is quite fun. The energy blast is hollowed out from underneath but you won't notice that if you pose the toy properly.




















Speaking of posing, there are many ratchets to help you achieve great action poses. They can keep the right arm held really high (sadly, that means those silver pieces near his collar have to be loosey goosey to offer the arm as much mobility as possible). The one place where there are no ratchet, and it's too bad, is between the shoulder and torso, which hurts the toy. It is a friction joint and on my copy there is no friction on that left arm, which just falls. But at least you can compensate with the shoulder ratchet. I do not have more complaints than that. While the waist is a bit loose, he is top heavy enough that the weight compensates. I really like the silver deco over the sculpted detail which replicates the shading found on the show but using real light. The different faces are fun and work well.







So the main complaints: Force must be exerted at times, lots of panels to deal with (especially going back to beast mode), stress marks near pins and a friction joint that just doesn't hold for his left arm.

The main pros: This toy is gorgeous in both modes, he feels very sturdy and he is a love letter to the favourite toy of my childhood. Easily the best Beast Wars MP figure to date.



Also, just to review the use of Amazon Japan, it went so well I can't imagine getting non exclusive Takara toys from anywhere else. The price was the best and the shipping was lightning fast. I live in Canada and got the toy today. Here is a breakdown of the transaction, if anyone is curious:

Order Summary
Item(s) Subtotal: ￥ 23,506
Shipping & Handling: ￥ 1,200
Total: ￥ 24,706
Import Fees Deposit ￥ 1,175
Grand Total: ￥ 25,881

That's a total of $232 USD / $309 CAD

They did a great job on the packaging too.

One visible gripe for me is the leg screw holes on the T-rex mode, at least they are on the inners in robot mode but it would have been nice not to have them at all -or an option for switching the legs around to keep them on the inners in both modes.

Looks like a great figure and something I definitely want at some point.

So far, that Megatron seem to deliver.

Another broken crotch confirmed:



Not mine, thank God.

Ironhidensh wrote:Well, mine is delayed, thanks to stupid card snafus. First was on me, the card I had on file was an old one I forgot was canceled.

So I had to add a new one.

Which was declined for suspected fraud. (Only its third use)

Which I couldn't clear up till this morning.


Sigh......

Very similar thing happened to me.

Got a phone call and text from my bank Friday morning when the pre-order came in, asking if this was me. I texted my approval and got a thank you back.

Sunday night, had 2 emails from Amazon Japan, thought he had shipped until i got the 2nd one. Went to the site, saw that my card never ran, so I did it manually and it went through (I hope). so mine should have been here like today or tomorrow, but alas, it seems as though I was bitten by the delay bug.

william-james88 wrote:Another broken crotch confirmed:



Not mine, thank God.

The instructions are great, and to read the revisions just pull out the Google translate app on your phone. Take a picture, highlight the text, voila.

Nice review Will, the back is mistransfomed though. The back panels connect together at the bottom. Takes some careful movement of the joints behind his neck to accomplish but it'll go.

The robot head looks too big to me.

cruizerdave wrote:The robot head looks too big to me.

I think that as well

william-james88 wrote:Another broken crotch confirmed:



Not mine, thank God.

Just a hunch, but could it be an issue concerning the tolerances between the plastic shell and the (ratchet) joints they house?

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:Well, mine is delayed, thanks to stupid card snafus. First was on me, the card I had on file was an old one I forgot was canceled.

So I had to add a new one.

Which was declined for suspected fraud. (Only its third use)

Which I couldn't clear up till this morning.


Sigh......

Very similar thing happened to me.

Got a phone call and text from my bank Friday morning when the pre-order came in, asking if this was me. I texted my approval and got a thank you back.

Sunday night, had 2 emails from Amazon Japan, thought he had shipped until i got the 2nd one. Went to the site, saw that my card never ran, so I did it manually and it went through (I hope). so mine should have been here like today or tomorrow, but alas, it seems as though I was bitten by the delay bug.

That delay but is a saucey little bitch.

ScottyP wrote:Nice review Will, the back is mistransfomed though. The back panels connect together at the bottom. Takes some careful movement of the joints behind his neck to accomplish but it'll go.

But isn't that what I did?

He looks really good and I expect to see a dispatch notice from Kapow... any day now.

It's funny but I am glad he is out of the way now. I've mentioned before but I don't like Megatron's Season One design. There was no cohesion or uniformity to the aesthetic, just random lines and colour patches. Which is why, in contrast, I think Megatron's Transmetal design is one of the best in the entire series.
As for MP Beast Wars, I'm more interested now in what comes next, MP Terrorsaur, Rhinox, Tarantulas etc

^^ Heh, well now it is

I didn't have a lot of time to mess with it yesterday, are the panels on the back of the thighs on a mechanism that requires the calf to be rotated first, or is it the added pressure from my hand on that piece while turning the calves what locked them in? If the former, that was an amazing twist.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:As for MP Beast Wars, I'm more interested now in what comes next, MP Terrorsaur, Rhinox, Tarantulas etc

Blackarachnia is next.

Sabrblade wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:As for MP Beast Wars, I'm more interested now in what comes next, MP Terrorsaur, Rhinox, Tarantulas etc

Blackarachnia is next.

After Blackarachnia. A character I don't like, but will buy regardless to complete the line.

Wow! He looks really good. Love the proportions in robot mode, but yeah, his head looks a little large.

A question for Will or anybody who has him in hand. That membrane that spans the back of his T-Rex jaw, is it articulated? Does it collapse in when you close the jaw?

If so, that's a really cool little touch.

I'm thinking tarantulas but would they do two spider bots so close together? So maybe Rhinox

ScottyP wrote:^^ Heh, well now it is

I didn't have a lot of time to mess with it yesterday, are the panels on the back of the thighs on a mechanism that requires the calf to be rotated first, or is it the added pressure from my hand on that piece while turning the calves what locked them in? If the former, that was an amazing twist.

This bit fascinated me too, I will explain the mechanism. So the thigh has 3 folding panels:

1. The cone shaped one that locks in
2. A panel that connects with the rest of the dino shell
3. the actual thigh that opens up

The panel that connects with the rest of the dino shell has a small groove on it. When you open the thigh and fold that panel inside, the groove ends up in the perfect position so that when you press the cone shaped pieces, they will lock into that groove. thats why they dont lock in dino mode but lock in robot mode (since you fold in that panel first).

I hope that was clear.

EDIT: rereading your question, we may not be talking about the same thing, I will have to check

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:He looks really good and I expect to see a dispatch notice from Kapow... any day now.

It's funny but I am glad he is out of the way now. I've mentioned before but I don't like Megatron's Season One design. There was no cohesion or uniformity to the aesthetic, just random lines and colour patches. Which is why, in contrast, I think Megatron's Transmetal design is one of the best in the entire series.
As for MP Beast Wars, I'm more interested now in what comes next, MP Terrorsaur, Rhinox, Tarantulas etc

I think we are all waiting for Terrorsaur. How are they gonna handle that one?!

As for Transmetal Megs, as a kid I never liked that design since what I found super cool about the first series was the alt mode integration (which this MP has in spades) and in transmetal two, the t-rex head you see on his torso is just fake kibble. Always found that super weird.

Cobotron wrote:Wow! He looks really good. Love the proportions in robot mode, but yeah, his head looks a little large.

A question for Will or anybody who has him in hand. That membrane that spans the back of his T-Rex jaw, is it articulated? Does it collapse in when you close the jaw?

If so, that's a really cool little touch.

It is not articulated and does not collapse. but it doesnt need to because it fits in his big cavity of a head so you only see as much as you want to as you open his jaw. Basically, if you thought it did that trick, then visually its the same as if it did

ZeroWolf wrote:I'm thinking tarantulas but would they do two spider bots so close together? So maybe Rhinox

Happy either way. Rhinox is my favourite Maximal.


When it comes to Tarantulas and Tigatron I am curious how far they will go with show accurate Beast Modes. Ordinarily the two spiders would be minor retools, but proportionally they are very different. Especially as Tarantulas should be bigger in both modes regardless. Tigatron should share some engineering from Cheetor, at least on a cosmetic level, in Bot Mode. Whereas the build of a Tiger is bulkier than a Cheetah, so it will be interesting to see how they hide that extra mass and leave them looking superficially similar in Bot Mode.

Back on topic, how long until we see this guy? The Megatron mold is too expensive for them to only use once after all....

william-james88 wrote:As for Transmetal Megs, as a kid I never liked that design since what I found super cool about the first series was the alt mode integration (which this MP has in spades) and in transmetal two, the t-rex head you see on his torso is just fake kibble. Always found that super weird.

What's more is how, in the show, that fake T-Rex head on his chest was, like the toy, treated as not being his actual T-Rex mode head, since his onscreen transformation was pretty similar to that of the toy, with his actual T-Rex head disappearing behind the torso of the robot mode just as the fake head appears already on the torso's front, and colored very differently from the metallic chrome look of the actual T-Rex head.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Whereas the build of a Tiger is bulkier than a Cheetah, so it will be interesting to see how they hide that extra mass and leave them looking superficially similar in Bot Mode.

Back on topic, how long until we see this guy? The Megatron mold is too expensive for them to only use once after all....

Show-wise, Tigatron is way bigger than Cheetor in robot mode.
Beast Wars is a little inconsistent with scale on purpose with the shot looking good taking precedence over scale, so sometimes it's even more pronounced!

I'd love a T-Wrecks. Using precedent, it won't happen since T-Wrecks was a Hasbro release and I'd expect something like a "toy deco" in very light purple as the redeco. Perhaps even something not identical to but similar to the United release of the Cybertron/BW 10th deluxe with very loud purple:


However, it's a crazy new era without rules in the MP lineup so T-Wrecks is what should happen!

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Back on topic, how long until we see this guy? The Megatron mold is too expensive for them to only use once after all....

Why can't it be the reverse:

Like, this Megatron is expensive because they they won't reuse the mold.

ScottyP wrote:Show-wise, Tigatron is way bigger than Cheetor in robot mode.

Yes. That is why aesthetically they will look similar (in Bot Mode) but the mold involved for MP Tigatron will be larger and not a mere redeco, as per MP Shadow Panther and the original toy.

ScottyP wrote:
Beast Wars is a little inconsistent with scale on purpose with the shot looking good taking precedence over scale, so sometimes it's even more pronounced!

This is what we have to work with. They have already broken their own mandate of Show Accuracy though, as MP Blackarachnia is clearly bigger than she should be.

ScottyP wrote:I'd love a T-Wrecks. Using precedent, it won't happen since T-Wrecks was a Hasbro release and I'd expect something like a "toy deco" in very light purple as the redeco.
However, it's a crazy new era without rules in the MP lineup so T-Wrecks is what should happen!

william-james88 wrote:Why can't it be the reverse:
Like, this Megatron is expensive because they they won't reuse the mold.

Because the MP Seekers, Datsun brothers, Lambor brothers etc etc exist and more pertinently to MP Beast Wars, MP Shadow Panther exists.
They have known how to recoup the expense of any mold for as long as the series has existed. Rip out the electronics and instantly they have two immediate (and cheaper to reproduce) redecos of Dinobot and Megatron, in Grimlock and T-Wrecks respectively.
Without any real effort at all, they are free to re-release the two most expensive figures of the Beast Wars line to date. From a business standpoint, how could they not capitalise on that opportunity?

Given the kinds of re-shelling we’ve seen of late from Combiner Wars and Titans Return, I would be neither surprised nor very disappointed if Tigatron is merely a reshell of Cheetor.

That said I will also not be surprised if he is new larger mold. However that just strikes me as very unlikely considering the only tangible difference between Cheetor and Tigatron is the beast mode details.

So basically, it’s a 50/50 chance.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Why can't it be the reverse:
Like, this Megatron is expensive because they they won't reuse the mold.

Because the MP Seekers, Datsun brothers, Lambor brothers etc etc exist and more pertinently to MP Beast Wars, MP Shadow Panther exists.
They have known how to recoup the expense of any mold for as long as the series has existed. Rip out the electronics and instantly they have two immediate (and cheaper to reproduce) redecos of Dinobot and Megatron, in Grimlock and T-Wrecks respectively.
Without any real effort at all, they are free to re-release the two most expensive figures of the Beast Wars line to date. From a business standpoint, how could they not capitalise on that opportunity?

Many reasons. Firstly, every toy you mentioned above is a much lower price than megatron. As I said, maybe the reason for Meg's high price is because he will be used less than the other lower priced molds. I don't know, but I just don't think it's as obvious to say they are gonna make hasbro based repaints when they made other repaints in the pat for cheaper molds.

Another thing is that nothing is free. Making a redeco of BW Megs as T-Wrecks means it costs them both all that production cost AND the cost of not doing something else with the same resources (Transformers are still assembled and painted in human production lines). So they have to see if there is a market for it. just because a redeco potential exists, that doesnt mean we will get it if they dont think it will sell enough. Unsold units are very bad on a balance sheet, and one of the main things investors care about, as I have come to learn from listenting to quarterly calls from Hasbro.

All to say, its not all that simple, hence why I suggested the idea that Megatron's high price was based on the fact that they wouldnt recoup mold costs with redecos.

True, Maximo. He is bigger though, so even though they might look of the same [in universe] Cat Bot mold, if Tigatron were a larger version, they might get more creative with it IE The tiger head on his chest might not be fake, but integrate the real Beast Mode head. Differences like that, previously unachievable with MP Cheetor, for whatever reason. Plus of course, Tigatron did have one extra Cheetor didn't...

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:True, Maximo. He is bigger though, so even though they might look of the same [in universe] Cat Bot mold, if Tigatron were a larger version, they might get more creative with it IE The tiger head on his chest might not be fake, but integrate the real Beast Mode head. Differences like that, previously unachievable with MP Cheetor, for whatever reason. Plus of course, Tigatron did have one extra Cheetor didn't...

Fluttershy accessory confirmed!

Sabrblade wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:True, Maximo. He is bigger though, so even though they might look of the same [in universe] Cat Bot mold, if Tigatron were a larger version, they might get more creative with it IE The tiger head on his chest might not be fake, but integrate the real Beast Mode head. Differences like that, previously unachievable with MP Cheetor, for whatever reason. Plus of course, Tigatron did have one extra Cheetor didn't...

Fluttershy accessory confirmed!

Indeed. I didn't notice that thing in the background when I was looking for the specific image I intended

^ Regardless, MP Starscream was a very expensive mold once upon a time. Yet MP Sunstorm, Acidstorm etc exist today. There is a lot of possibilities with the Season One cast, in terms of redecos and retools. They have certainly taken note of that fact, at the very least.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Yet MP Sunstorm, Acidstorm etc exist today.

Both Hasbro initiatives. And Takara never did release their own version of Acid Storm.

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Yet MP Sunstorm, Acidstorm etc exist today.

Both Hasbro initiatives. And Takara never did release their own version of Acid Storm.

Takara did their Sunstorm first.

Sabrblade wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Yet MP Sunstorm, Acidstorm etc exist today.

Both Hasbro initiatives. And Takara never did release their own version of Acid Storm.

Takara did their Sunstorm first.

Thanks, good to know.

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Yet MP Sunstorm, Acidstorm etc exist today.

Both Hasbro initiatives. And Takara never did release their own version of Acid Storm.

Takara did their Sunstorm first.

Thanks, good to know.

And with all of the extra MP-11 accessories that Hasbro MP Sunstorm lacked.

Some BW molds already have their limits. Optimus Primal, other than the "burning" variant, hasn't got anywhere else to go. Cheetor has one more variant that is perhaps too unlikely to actually happen, in Nightprowler:


Rhinox is a one and done, as is Airazor. The Spider Bots are just a pair. The rest have some potential to mine and that isn't uncommon knowledge.




Oh and, as per earlier discussion of scale, specifically regarding the Cat Bots, this little nugget of knowledge from the Wiki:

Cheetor and Tigatron are the only characters in Beast Wars who are definitely in the correct scale to the life form they have adopted as a beast mode, since Cheetor specifically was seen near a real cheetah in the pilot episode. As a result, Cheetor and Tigatron have the odd distinction of being the yardstick by which other Beast Wars characters' scale inconsistencies can be measured.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Some BW molds already have their limits. Optimus Primal, other than the "burning" variant, hasn't got anywhere else to go.

He has more than that (though I do not think they will do it)

*looks at the face paint of that Primal redeco*

Huh, who knew Primal was a Bowie fan.

I think given the reputation of the translucent MP Starscream, they wouldn't try that again. As for the other one... MP Shattered Glass Optimus Prime exists, so I wouldn't discount his BW equivalent.

ZeroWolf wrote:*looks at the face paint of that Primal redeco*

Huh, who knew Primal was a Bowie fan.

Looks freaking gorgeous...

Although they're just matching the original tech specs, I never understood the "9" intelligence stat though, considering he's easily the most "cunning, yyeessss" Megatron ever. His intelligence should be like, 11! He easily outclassed Primal in intelligence. And, if anything, it would have made more sense to put the "9" in speed since he was more of a bulky Rhinox-like fighter than a quick moving Dinobot. TOY RUINED!!! Just kidding. =P

Fellow Seibertronian TMan978 have uploaded his video review of MP-43 Beast Wars Megatron!
Check it out!

Jumpstart1083 wrote:Looks freaking gorgeous...

Although they're just matching the original tech specs, I never understood the "9" intelligence stat though, considering he's easily the most "cunning, yyeessss" Megatron ever. His intelligence should be like, 11! He easily outclassed Primal in intelligence. And, if anything, it would have made more sense to put the "9" in speed since he was more of a bulky Rhinox-like fighter than a quick moving Dinobot. TOY RUINED!!! Just kidding. =P

To be a little fair, his mastermindedness didn't get fully realized in the show until about two years after the original Ultra class toy was released. Watching just the first season by itself, Megatron had no long term plans or machinations by all appearances, and was much more comical a character than the Machiavellian Bond Villain that he would become in the second and third seasons.

Not to mention that the original Ultra class toy was originally meant to represent G1 Megatron in a new body, and G1 Megs wasn't exactly a genius back in most of the 1980s fiction.