I wanted a worthy subject for my first published toy review. My 999th Transformer, Takara's anime-colored G1 Galvatron reissue, released in December 2005, fits the bill nicely. Apparently all my watching of TV-Nihon subtitled Japanese TF shows has done nothing for my comprehension of Japanese. You'll have to go elsewhere for translations! Context of release: Takara has bee reissuing G1 Transformers for most of the decade. Most of the previous reissues have been smaller guys. But over time, Takara has become more ambitious, improving the toys with more anime-accurate colors, facial remolding, adding accessories, reissuing bigger toys, even altering the original electronics. Galvatron embodies all of these. Packaging: Very nice take on the original packaging. Scramble City logo on upper-left of front of box. New box art, depicting Galvy climbing out of the lava baths. Galvy is pictured in all three modes on top, bottom, sides and back of box. The back of the box shows the Scramble City artwork, Metroplex vs. Trypticon. It also shows some of the features in this new Galvatron, which I'll get into in a bit. Inserts: Basics here, the instructions, label sheet, and a registration form for takarafans.com that I can't read, but relates to registering the UPC symbol at the site somehow. Also included is the D-62-S file card for Galvatron. On the front is the lava bath box art, on the back is description and tech specs and toy pics. A note on the number designation: My 2001 Megatron reissue from Takara is designated 16-S, the S signifying a special release. It would seem to be the same case here. Transformations: Identical to the original, Galvatron has three modes. He comes packaged in what I'll call cannon mode. I don't remember what Hasbro or Takara called it, but there are treads and it rolls freely. Handheld Gun mode is essentially rotating the treads around and twisting down the handle. Robot mode is my favorite, the rear of the cannon becomes the legs, the treads and mountings become the arms, the cannon mounting becomes the head. There is a seperate arm mounting for the cannon barrel that snaps onto either arm. I mount it on his right arm, just like Megatron. Articulation: Galvatron has quite a bit of articulation for any G1 Transformer, especially of this vintage. His arms rotate, elbows rotate and spin, giving him complete arm movement. He twists at the waist as well. What most people who don't own Galvatron don't realize is his leg articulation at both knees and hips. And his feet rotate at the ankle, as a result of his transformation. It's easy to pose him crushing a Cybertron under his heel, and firing on others. Colors: In a word: beautiful. Galvatron is reissued here as he should have originally been. One of the reasons I never got him as a child is because he was "the wrong color." In the movie and on the show, Galvatron was purple and gray. The original toy had colors inverse to the movie and cartoon. The D-62-S reissue is primarily a light purple. Not so light to be lavender, but a few shades lighter than his lieutenant Cyclonus. The purple is on his upper body, helmet, the horseshoe on his back, torso, arms and upper legs. There are two shades of gray on him, the same gray shades found on the original. Only this time the light gray is on his face, shoulder tips, tank tread housings, gun mode handle and trigger, stomach piece, abs, hip pieces and lower legs. (Galvy's arm mount for his cannon is also light gray, but this piece must be on the same part of the mold for a purple piece, as the gray is paint. Take care not to scratch it.) The dark gray is on his chin, shoulders, tank treads, waist, crotch button, knee areas, feet and handheld gun. Galvatron is accented with a metallic red paint on his kneecaps and raised abdominal pieces, originally chrome on the 1986 version. There is a Destron symbol on his chest, split by the door to his battery storage, but in a much better size and location than on the original. I also want to note that I don't notice any difference in the orange cannon piece. Molding: The only mold difference I notice is on his face. Galvy's nose is a bit narrower and his eyes are squintier and more menacing, as fits the Reincarnation of Megatron and Herald of the dark lord Unicron. Electronics: I can't seem to find a 9V battery to put in my original Galvatron, so I won't compare the two's sounds. Lights and sounds are activated two ways, either by pulling the trigger or pushing the crotch button. (On Megatron, the trigger did transform into his crotch. Still makes me giggle!) The reissue has light up eyes, only they are red, not yellow. The same light will make the cannon glow in tank or gun mode. There are three settings for sounds, via a switch on his back. He has a sound similar to the TV show cannon firing, a classic transformation sound, and five phrases in Japanese. I wish I understood Japanese better, as the voicework is great! I should also mention that the electronics are now powered by two AAA batteries, rather than the 9V. Extras: Galvy comes with a movie-accurate extra accessory: the matrix on a chain necklace. This is the same piece that was included with 2002's New Year Convoy, only accented with gold instead of strictly silver and with a shorter chain. This matrix does fit in Convoy's chest. In fact, I had a lot of fun today having Galvy dismember Ultra Magnus from his armor and rip the matrix from his chassis. For bonus fun, hang the matrix around Scourge's neck and see if he becomes a super-powered monster! Worth it? I think so. I'm an old-school Geewuner and this is easily one of my favorite 2005 releases, Galaxy Force/Cybertron, Binaltech/Alternators or otherwise. I preorded this through hobbylinkjapan.com and my total, shipped to Minnesota, was $70.11. Now my G1 Movie Destrons have a genuine leader, my Rodimus Convoy has an anime-accurate nemesis, and for some reason, my Meister reissue looks really scared. Perhaps I'll reread my Target:2006 TPB and see what Galvy did to him!
I'm glad that I picked up Galvatron to join my G1 collection. Now I have all 4 leaders, Optimus, Rodimus, Megatron, and now Galvatron!!! Fosterlager, you mentioned that the matrix fits in OP's chest? Gotta try it out later. I bought my Galvy reissue at Image Anime in NYC last Friday (1/27), and it's worth every dollar I spent it on ($86.70 total).
interesting, considering galvy appeared in target 2006 in toy colors: mwah! (he was even toy accurate in his 1st appearance in the UK comics) geewuner than thou! i just got him today thx to wifey (who helped herself to some fancy sneakers). he's great. i wished the torso locked into place in bot mode tho'.
Feh, I knew that! I have the original Galvatron and I'm glad I do for that reason. Cartoon Galvy is currently on my shelf with Unicron, Cyclonus and Scourge, and Jazz doesn't seem to care what color he is, though. He's looking down the barrel of the same orange cannon... Yeah, try Galvy's matrix in any G1 Prime chest, the slot in the center of the matrix casing fits onto the divider between the seats.
Anyone else have trouble with the electronics on theirs, mine wont work. Ive tried everything, and I just got him a couple hours ago. Im using old batterys, do you think that could be the problem?
