I always Megatron as a Tank rather than a Gun because of how Megatron is always seen to more of a Evil Ruler and the Tank fits the bill, as for the size classes, CW Leader would fit
since we've didn't have a Leader Optimus w/ Trailer, so the upcoming TR Voyager as a nice fit.

 

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also mp megatron

 

Megatron is a tank because gun toys are a hard sell and a tank has more play value with other animals and vehicles.

It's why Shockwave is now a space ship or H-tank instead of a space gun.

 

when i FINALLY transformed MP Megs (after 100+ minutes of tears, sweat and bitterness) i laughed because i felt like he was now a .50 cal pistol, compared to the smooth feel of the original figure's gun mode. he's only been transformed into gun once since then, and probably never will be again.

anyway, to the OP: sadly probably not. Hegemon does it for me. voyager G2 is close with the 3rd party shoulder cannon (i used the extra TFC Hercules cannon beforehand).

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If you say you want a perfect Megs, I say what's wrong with the classics voyager? or the WFC deluxe? or the CW Leader? or the upcoming voyager TR megs? If you can find something wrong with all those candidates, then you will never have a megs that satisfies you.

Besides the laws, the other thing with a gun megs is that he goes from an action figure to a roleplay toy. It screws up the whole play pattern. Transformers are action figures that turn into vehicles or play sets. but something that can incorporate into the other figures and play pattern. but turn megs into a gun, and you can't put him with the other figures any more. It isolates him from the play. (Admittedly this may not have been a breaking point for hasbro, as TR Blaster and Soundwave attest that roleplay alt modes are still alive and well in the brand.)

I was born in 84, so I was too young to be a true g1er. While I did discover the show around 91 on vhs, it wasn't until 93 and G2 that I really got to start collecting TF toys. So for me, Megs has always been a tank, and it makes sense. (again, I had seen the show and saw him become a gun, and I wondered about that at the time. But I loved my tank megatron toy, and at the end of the day I thought the tank made more sense.)

 

A mortar cannon megs could work I suppose, but like you said it would kind of step on Galvatron's toes. (though I'm a fan of crazy play patterns and would be thrilled if they worked out a punch/counterpunch or Animated shockwave type figure where Megatron could turn into Galvatron, which was proposed but not produced during G1. An artillery cannon would make sense for that figure.) The other question is, why is that more acceptable to you than a tank? it's still not a hand gun. And tanks are basically mortar cannons mounted on an armored vehicle anyway.

You wonder at no new space gun Shockwaves. I'd argue that that's what I adress in my previous post, that roleplay altmodes don't mesh with TF's largely figure and vehicle play pattern.

Now, I'm not trying to argue tank megatron is the be all end all. Animated Leader Megatron as an attack copter is one of my favorite megs of all time.

 

"Perfect" is different depending on who you ask. In my collection, I think United Megatron is pretty close. He has the wings true but in the Takara colors I easily overlook them because he has a good G1 style paint scheme, a menacing fusion canon, and in the spirit of true G1 he has a gun mode.

But for me, if I had to design what would be my perfect G1 Megatron, it would be the Combiner Wars cartoon incarnation. He has the original G1 look (like he should transform into a gun) but he has a much more suitable tank alt mode. I know we have already had some G1 style Megatrons that have tank modes, but they each have something that keeps them from being "perfect" but just because they are not perfect, doesn't mean they are not great figures in some way.  

 

In terms of Shockwave, he always doubled as not just a space gun, but a massive cannon in space. If you go with the latter, you solve your "roleplay altmodes" problem. So now we're talking of Megatron, Shockwave, and Galvatron all being cannons. Firstly, Shockwave even when used as a cannon in space is functionally significantly different from the Galvatron cannon. He sits in space not unlike a space telescope. I guess you could get away with making Shockwave a space battleship structured with the massive cannon down the centre, in fact Generations/WFC Shockwave doesn't look too bad if it wasn't so small. As for Megatron he's always had the realistic/military aesthetic where as Galvatron is more futuristic/space age. As for the problem with him being a tank, well even going back to G1 you already had characters like Warpath and Blitzwing that were tanks. The mighty leader of the Decepticons should stand out more.

 

What is questionable about mass-shifting? Every Transformer in the history of forever does it to some extent. You're never going to have a franchise without it.


That being said, Classics is about updating the characters, so I have no need nor desire for a Walther Megatron. Even if he wanted to turn into a handgun again for some inexplicable reason, it would not be a Walther at this point.

 

Throw me in with the group that's never cared for Megatron being a gun. It's a neat idea for all of five seconds, then you realize that you end up with an oversized, floating handgun that no figure can hold. I prefer Megatron being a helicopter, although I'll accept both tank and jet forms.

Even as someone who doesn't want a gun Megatron, I find serious issues in all of those options. Classics Voyager has ridiculous wings, and balancing issues. WFC is too small. CW Leader has giant arms and/or tiny legs, and his all-silver colouring is bland. TR Voyager is a HM (meaning the mighty Megatron is either a tiny bot using a mech suit, or has bonded with a weaker being), is terribly under-painted, and probably won't get a Takara release with better paint, considering they don't seem to be doing Sentinel. Honestly, all I want is a black and white, Voyager/Leader Megatron with decent proportions, who turns into a copter/tank/jet, and isn't partnered with anyone. I don't know why that's so hard for Hasbro to do.

 

Ditto a Voyager Soundwave.

I get the point of this thread, apart from the haziness around "legality" Hasbro just aren't going to make a Voyager sized Sunbow Megs. It's not in the corporate ethos anymore for big Toy Companies to make realistic replicas of handguns for what should be beyond obvious reasons - namely Hasbro don't want to be facing the lawsuit that would put them as front page news everywhere when the first kid gets gunned down just for playing with one publically.

Toy Tanks - fine. Toy Guns - less so.

So if it's got to be G1 Sunbow to be "perfect" then a 3P version is probably the only game in town for a while.

 

I love the fact that g1 Megs turns into a handgun. One used by nazis, at that, which is symbolic of Megatron's evilness.

Mass shifting is a phenomenon that simply can't be ignored when it comes to Transformers. Even as a kid, I knew that the show was just trying to sell toys. The toy gun was scaled for a kid to use. That's gotta count for something. I had so much fun as a kid, playing with soundwave and his minicassettes. Cameras, microscopes, boomboxes, etc. Simply loved em all as toys. I gotta say, mass shifting was just one of several ridiculous things featured in that old show. It's part of its appeal.

And how cool was it that his toy looked like a realistic gun? G1 is so 80s, and back then, we could run around outside with realistic looking toy guns. No orange plug tips.

I understand why we can't do that now in th US, and have accepted that.

 

You should totally get the Reprolabels set for this guy, improves him immensely. (FYI I moved the rub sign to a more G1 location myself).





Anyway a CHUG Megatron... hrm. Not that fussed TBH, unless the gun mode was the size of a proper handgun I don't think I would be interested... Actually I would love a Megatron that actually looked like a NERF gun. Not like the Classics guy who sorta was, I mean a spitting image of a NERF gun, bright neon colour shell, Nerf livery and all. I'm amazed Hasbro haven't done it as part of their Crossovers line!

Edit
IE, I would love a Megatron that turned into a N-Strike Recon CS-6! I mean, it's PERFECT. A pistol, with additional stock, barrel and 'laser' dot scope? Sure it has a flip up sight that nobody ever uses but I would buy the SHIT out of a Recon CS-6 Megatron. It doesn't even have to fire (cuz that would 'nerf' the actual Transformer) it just has to look like it!

Do it Hasbro. DO EEET.

Edit


Two snakes! Like Theees! Hmm. Not sure why that one has the orange bit sticking out the back... normally it doesn't.

 

Well if you're so fixated on the law you can find it yourself. Demanding that someone find it for you is poor form.

Incidentally I found this interesting:
U.S.C. Title 15 - COMMERCE AND TRADE

 

Well this took me... 20 seconds to find?

15 U.S. Code § 5001 - Penalties for entering into commerce of imitation firearms

After a 12-year-old boy was shot by police in Cleveland, Americans confront our history with toy guns yet again

 

The successor to the Recon is the Retaliator:


As for that orange piece sticking out, Nerf Wiki has this to say:

hasbrocom - cs_recall_nerf_recon

 

Ah, I didn't know that! 330,000 units recalled? Wow. I suppose they were all modified and resold though...

Although looking at it I'm not seeing that many differences (aside from the colour). While the stock is different (and perhaps not as good, it doesn;t have clip storage) the barrel extension is the same and everything on the pistol itself (bar the slide) looks the same? What else did it do? Shoot further?

Anyway Megatron into an actual NERF gun!

 

The other problem with Megatron turning into a handgun is that it undermines his authority as a leader (which recent fiction has enthusiastically tried to increase... Lord Megatron indeed!).

If he needs someone else to fire him or carry him in alt mode, then he's dependent on lower-ranked soldiers to be effective. For an autocrat like Megs is usually portrayed, that is seriously problematic. No wonder Starscream's always trying to take over - he's genuinely carrying his team.

 

Yeah, Elite blasters generally have better performance than the old N-Strike blasters.

Though the "improved" XD versions (the white Retaliator in my image) have a reputation of not really living up to the hype, as in, they have about the same performance as the standard Elite versions.