Exactly. That's only an excuse. Some people love to make excuses for Hasbro. If something sucks, there must be a good reason, and they'll seize on any information available to make up the reason.

My take on it is that maybe sometimes it just comes down to talent and ambition. In my view whoever designed the toy for Megatron, just wasn't "into it". It's like they gave it a go, said "good enough" and called it a day. When it came to Optimus, it's obvious that there was a lot more passion for the project.

I'd be interested in hearing the inside story from Hasbro. I'd like to know what the break-down is for the development costs and time for each mold. It's possible that they just don't allocate as much resources on a Megatron figure because Optimus is more popular. Or it could be that the resources on each mold in a given class are roughly equal, and it's all down to the talent and passion of the designers involved.

 

Thats an interesting take on it bumblethumper. I kinda want to hear hasbros take on it to now

 

Classics, Henkei and RiD Megatron would like to have a word with you.

 

I would like to know to. People keep saying this megatron isn't so good because of the mode change, between the two movies .. and the lack of time hasbro had to prepare.

But what about the 2007 leader class ? Even then, the optimus prime leader class, was better than megatron's. Both toys were made under the same time-line. What's the excuse for that one ?

 

Potatoe with limbs tacked on? Megatron is a very detailed and great figure
and he is one of my fav figures

 

Eh, it wasnt that bad. it just needed a better paint scheme and it would be a pretty good figure.

 

Well, Prime had a better design; Megatron had a very weak one that translated poorly into his alternate mode. I think that's something that everyone has agreed upon at this point, from the fans to the original designers (who refer to him now as a "walking chandelier"), to the guys that the production brought onboard to change him up for this movie. If that wasn't the case, then he could have just as easily returned as he first appeared. I think that they nailed him pretty well this time; by TF3 I'm 100% sure that we'll see a really fantastic toy of him.

 

well i like the tftm one........ but then again i got the premium one so there might be a difference XD

 

The show designs are based on the toys with slight modifications.

Not vice versa.

 

Prime is 'easier' to engineer because the nature of his realistic earth altmode results in parts which are shaped to click into eachother precisely ;
This means that the framework supports the weight of moving parts like limbs.

Megatron's cybertronian design on the other hand, is made up of a billion parts which contain sub-parts ; which we are made to believe to fit perfectly in CGi.

In toy version however, stuff has to be simplified and subparts become just mere mold detail ; thus, all the 'frame' support has to come from the ratcheting
joints ; which then have to be bulky and sturdy ; which results into 'simple' and rough engineering. ( The hip joints basically, have to support his whole tank mode )

This issue becomes more prevalent with the mass & dimensions of Leader Class and its built in electronics ; plastic can only hold so much....because at some point detailed engineering will have to be compromised and simplified, otherwise the plastic will bend too much.

So, it's simple logic ; building two size classes with the same small building blocks will result in the biggest size toy to be the least sturdy.

 

That's not how it was.

on TFA, most of the characters started out as 2d designs by Derrick Wyatt, which Hasbro then translated into toys. As he tells it, in some cases Hasbro came to him with ideas for a transformation and a character was designed around it, and in other cases they suggested altering kibble placement on the design.

The only character that started out as a toy before being designed for the show was Oilslick.

It's to the credit on both crews on Animated that they were able to develop such a complementary working arrangement.

 

whether or not i like the design of megatron in the movie; is regardless to the fact that while is still my least favorite of the leader class figures so far... he is still one amazing figure in my opinion. i DO wish his "gimp" arm was bigger though; but other then that it's pretty amazing to me. the only thing i wish was different was that i wish the back treads/heels locked in to place... SOME how  

 

He was released rather late in the toy line after the main Deluxe figure, so they had more R&D time.

Finger's crossed I'll finally get a Megs toy come TF3.

 

Actually .. I prefer the movie 1 megatron to this version.

Then again, I prefer jet modes to tank modes .. that's just my preference.

However, the movie does show that megatron can still fly.

His design is cool, but the toy is not executed as well. Here's to hoping for a great megatron movie leader class mold ...... someday.

 

you're not alone on that. I find movie Megatron looks a lot better in many respects over ROTF Megatron. It's especially noticable in the premium version. The sculpt is full of flowing curves, whereas ROTF is just an ugly lumpen mass.

I also prefer the arm gimmick and the look alt mode over ROTF's. But don't like how the head sits in either mode, and ROTF's tank mode is at least a bit more solid.

For TF3 they should try for a leader mold that combines the strengths of both. It should have the sleekness of the first and the muscularity of the second. I'd be interested to see if they could pull it off as a triple changer.