Maybe not. If u thought it was.. then maybe it is. depends on sum1s pov really. 

 

So, I've been sitting on reviewing Galvatron for a month, thinking about this figure, forming an opinion. Getting the shoulders assembled wrong didn't help either. But with that out of the way, here's my thoughts on the mad tyrant.

Robot mode pluses:
+ sculpt is fairly G1 cartoon-accurate, good balance of detail and smoothness
+ intimidating physique
+ scales well with other WFC figures
+ WFC-levels of articulation plus double elbows, swivel wrists
+ decent range of motion aside from the neck and ankles which are just adequate
+ very little hollowness
+ heel spurs fold away to make the feet more screen-accurate
+ 5mm holes on bicep and forearm to increase cannon-mounting options
+ the giant blocks above his collar are hinged to be posed more cartoon accurate or G1 toy accurate
+ back storage tabs for the extra guns (the twin Revenge starship/guns), and the guns can fit either higher or lower

Robot mode minuses:
- purple color is too far into the red for the character
- not that much bigger than a WFC voyager-class, not taller than the tallest one
- view of the upper back displays gaps behind the collar
- shoulders often assembled backwards, either lowering the arms slightly or making the user rotate the pin face to the front
- heel spurs stop just past flat, making them not always super useful
- no blast-effect 3mm pegs
- tank tread kibble just dangles off the arms unless you tab it into the shoulders, which then locks out bicep rotation
- handling can accidentally dislodge the latissimus dorsi panels and the back panel, they aren't particularly weakly-attached but it does happen
- Revenge starship/gun is unpaitned gray, hollow on the underside which is what shows in weapon mode, and doesn't work with Unicron's base the way it was supposed to
- the Matrix chain accessory is very thick

The pluses in robot mode outweigh the minuses, only a few of the drawbacks are noteworthy concerns. If he weren't $50 he'd be a really fantastic figure, there's a lot of bulk to him, but tossing two of the Revenge that combine into one odd handgun and the Matrix with removable chain doesn't quite work to justify the expense.


Transformation thoughts:
* a fun and simple yet not simplistic transformtion that cheats only a little by using a folding away Galvatron's head and collar
* the tank treads click onto the forearms in one specific angle, it's a soft click but it is specific
- the tab on the panel under Galvatron's head has a scary click to get into alt mode position, I usually have to press hard on the head to get that panel to go into place
* I keep getting lost in what position to put the middle torso section going to alt mode since it and the back panel can move a lot, forgetting it covers the crotch panel
* the legs shouldn't be tabbed together until after raised, it seems like they should clear from other angles but they don't
* a tab on the upper inside edge of each latissimus dorsi panel locks into a notch on either side of the bottom inside edge of the torso panel, this is an odd locking panel but crucial for stability, it's a strong click
* there's a trick to get the starship/guns locked into place, it's awkward due to a slot that is way too long and confusing to know where to lock it in as it won't go in from most angles; that trick is that it tabs in only at the bottom of the slot, slotting the gun onto the left side first is easier as there's a small angled peg that keeps it aligned
- naturally, the cannon barrel does have to be removed and plugged in, with the arm adapter either plugging onto the back of the cannon or left between the cannon and barrel
* if you don't like the intended mounting position for the arm adapter and don't want to drill a new 5mm hole into your figure, the accessory can plug underneath the cannon sideways on the underside of either thigh, it's not perfectly symmetrical but it doesn't interfere or stick out


A note about the shoulder misassembly affecting the alt mode:
* the bot shoulders end up at the top of the legs holding the treads in place in alt mode, when misassembled this causes the treads to sit lower than the cannon's rear leg, making the wheeled cannon not align to let it roll or sit perfectly flat. The cannon is hinged to allow cannon elevation so you can fudge it to roll and sit mostly flat by splaying the legs and disconnecting the treads, but with the parts all correctly locked into place it doesn't work and can't be fudged as nicely as bot mode fudges the shoulders. For some collectors, this won't matter at all, for many this will barely be an issue, but for those like me, it ends up really grating until it's fixed.


Alt mode pluses:
+ the cannon mode gets the broad strokes of the G1 cartoon right
+ it's a big, beefy space cannon, especially with the tail flattened
+ from straight on, this thing looks fantastic
+ the joints holding it upright are all strong without being miserable
+ rolling wheels under the treads and under the back end
+ the cannon can be elevated by flattening the rear leg and folding down the rear panel, then rotating the legs to point the treads inward
+ clever system for the rear leg, two parts folding down
+ there's accessory storage for the starship/guns that actually looks alright flanking the barrel
+ the Matrix chain hovers around the barrel, tabbed into a slot underneath
+ the arm adapter is sculpted to look like a cockpit for the cannon
+ the rear cannon leg adds a 5mm peg to either side and has a sculpt suggesting a pistol grip
+ there is sculpted detail on the inside of the chest panel that is just kibble under the front of the cannon

Alt mode minuses:
- from the side, there's less coherence than bot mode due to more visible break up between parts
- the front legs connecting the cannon to the treads is very thick and clumsy since it's obviously just the arms folded up
- the chest sticks out a bit under the cannon
- as mentioned, the shoulder misassembly does affect how the cannon displays and rolls, but you can mitigate somewhat
- the arm adapter accessory is only intended to plug into the back acting as a cockpit, it's a clumsy look, while the underside between the cannon legs seems designed exactly to take it but has no mounting hole

The minuses in alt mode are few, but most are substantial and affect the looks; the pluses are mostly lightweight but there's a lot of them. The finished cannon may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it has charm.


Overall, Galvatron ticks a lot of boxes well, is fairly fun, but is expensive for what you get, using bulk and added accessories trying to make up for a lack of size and extra features. Without factoring in cost, I like what they achieved quite a bit, even if I am annoyed that I had to fix it myself and it wasn't easy due to using pins instead of screws, I'd probably give this a high "B+" or even a low "A-" on that end. Factoring in that pricetag does take this down a bit to a low-to-medium "B".

 

As mentioned above, I finally did the shoulder fix. After a few weeks of hemming and hawing, a friend loaned me a heat gun which made the shoulder fix pretty darn easy. The things to know if you're going this route:

• - follow the existing instructions (at least 2 flat-head screwdrivers or something else you can slip in between the parts to pry the shoulder halves with, turn the bicep sideways so the seam aligns with the split to allow more spreading room, use the weapon's solid 5mm peg to press into each hole to re-seat each pin)
• - pulling the shoulder away from the body helps keep the figure from being a problem
• - the pin and plastic should be heated from the pin face side of the shoulder as it's seated on that side of the hinge, not the back half like I thought
• - patience is required, don't rush it like I would
• - the heat gun will turn the matte shoulder finish slightly more shiny
• - without a real seating tool, the shoulder won't press back closed quite as tightly but that only affects a millimeter of gap, not joint strength, it doesn't look worse than most figures that come from the factory

With the heat gun, this turned from a frustrating pain in the ass into an easy task. The hardest part was maneuvering all the rest of the body parts out of the way while keeping the arm stable. With the arm parts slightly warmed, I was able to hold them open with just my fingers while I flipped the shoulder joint around, avoiding the frustration of jamming that crap back together. Best of all, the heat gun allowed the screwdrivers in without gouging the plastic or stressing it.

 

For more pics, click on the image above

Prelude: Behold: Galvatron! He who leads the minions! He of the big orange cannon! He whose madness can infect entire planets! He with the shoulder thing! You know the shoulder thing, don’t you? Everyone knows the shoulder thing! It has become such a huge thing that to talk of mighty Galvatron is to talk of the shoulder thing! So yes, we shall mention the shoulder thing as we review the mighty Galvatron! There is more, though, to mighty Galvatron than the shoulder thing. Behold: Let’s say go!

Robot Mode: One of the first things many people complained about (even before the shoulder thing, I believe) was that Galvatron was packed as a Leader-class figure while only being the size of a Voyager. Well, Voyager-class figures masquerading as Leader-class figures has kind of become a thing in the War for Cybertron line, but Galvatron is definitely not a culprit. While his height is that of a (large) Voyager-class figure, he is also very broad, quite sturdy, and has a pretty high parts count, so in my book he fully counts as a Leader-class. Never mind that being “only” as tall as a Voyager makes him more in scale with the rest of the line.

Okay, let’s briefly touch on the shoulder thing. Most Galvatrons out there have switched shoulder pieces, meaning that the shoulders hang a bit too low. You can ignore this (easily done, I believe, as I doubt I’d have noticed it if not for the endless onslaught of complaints about it), you can simply turn the shoulder pieces around and ignore the now visible silver stud, or you can go the hard way and switch the shoulder pieces. There are tutorials on how to this all over Youtube, never fear. Personally I’ll leave the shoulders as is, as it’s really just a very, very, very minor thing.

The robot easily pulls off the classic Galvatron look, no problem. He has the big orange gun on his arm (upper or lower arm, your choice), he has the big boots with the knee pads of doom, and he has those huge neck pieces right and left of his head. The only thing I’m kind of missing a bit is that button on his crotch piece the original figure had for its sound effects. That’s just nostalgia speaking, though. Overall, Galvatron looks great and is quite clearly Galvatron, so no complaints.

Articulation is fabulous, including double elbow joints, twisting hip, twisting wrists, the whole nine yards. The only thing that’s slightly bothersome are those tank tracks on the back of his arms, which get in the way sometimes, but apart from that: no complaints. The detailing also looks very cool and I don’t even mind the battle damage deco on his torso, forearms and feet. It’s subtle and nicely done, so it’s not as jarring as it was on some of the Siege figures.

Finally, I really like the head mold. It’s Galvatron, no doubt about it, and with a facial expression that can be anything between a stern look and a smirk, depending on the light. Very nicely done. So bottom line for the robot mode: I love this guy. Shoulders and all.

Alternate Mode: The original G1 Galvatron was a triple changer, though the only time you ever saw his gun mode was in a single issue of the Marvel Comics. Titans Return Galvatron was also a triple changer, which was not the main reason the figure wasn’t that great, but didn’t help much, either. Kingdom Galvatron, thankfully, is not a triple changer. He focuses exclusively on one alternate mode, namely Galvatron’s famous cannon mode.

The transformation is a bit more intricate than with the G1 figure, but it’s still essentially the robot going down on all fours and shooting out of his head. That said, the cannon looks very nice and is easily recognizable as a cannon or futuristic artillery piece. Very nicely done. The cannon can roll across the floor and... yeah, that’s pretty much it. It’s a cannon, it doesn’t really do much more than that. But quite a nice cannon, I must say. So thumbs up, a nice cannon mode.

Accessories: Apart from his big orange blaster, Galvatron has some more accessories with him. One is a Matrix of Leadership on a chain, which is at this point a semi-regular accessory for a Galvatron figure, I guess. The Matrix can be removed from the chain and Galvatron can sort of hold it up (jam it between his closed fists). Fun side note: he can also wear the Matrix chain in his cannon mode, there is even a tab to slot it on.

The other accessory is a pair of guns that resemble Galvatron’s space ship from the Movie and third season, the Revenge. The two blasters can combine into a single bigger weapon, can store on Galvatron’s back in robot mode, and enhance his cannon mode. A nice little extra, but nothing I would have needed.

Remarks: Depending on the medium, Galvatron is Megatron’s future self, a time traveler, a barbarian from Cybertron’s ancient past, a complete madman, a cross-dimensional agent of Unicron, or some combination of all that. Kingdom ticked most of those boxes, once again making Galvatron the future version of Megatron, who has travelled back in time to escape from the yoke of his master and acquire the Allspark as a weapon to regain his freedom. Spoilers: he fails and is gobbled up by Unicron. Before that, though, he had some pretty good scenes.

I was a bit skeptical after seeing the first pictures of Galvatron, but having the figure in hand, it has fully won me over. Sure, there is the shoulder thing, but personally I am not bothered by that at all. The figure is good, solid, and perfectly portrays Galvatron as we saw him in the third season of the G1 cartoon (and the more recent Netflix series, of course). I could have gone without the Revenge blasters, but that’s just about the only thing. So bottom line: an excellent figure, possibly the best official depiction of the character yet. Just be aware: there could be a shoulder thing!

Rating: A-

You own this figure? Rate it on TFU!

 

After shower looks better

 

Hey I just saw your picture and was wondering if that was an original G1 Galvatron gun and if it was how well does kingdom Galvatron hold it?

 

What did you do to clean the cannon.

 

I used the same 91% iso alcohol

 

Not original G1, it's the Renderform gun that came with their Mad Emperor upgrade head set for TR Galvatron.

 

Oh, well it looks cool regardless. Thanks for the answer.

I like the two nemesis guns he came with, but it would have been awesome if they gave him a new version of his original gun.

 

Awesome! I just did the same and it turned out fantastic.

Weird how Galvatron only gets better the more paint you take off.  

 

I thought alcohol made clear plastic brittle? Surprised it worked out in this case. I'm happy with the painted base of it though, so I'll just take off the battle damage some time in the future.

 

The cannon is a pretty thick piece and doesnt bear any load

 

and the selects version looks better without stickers!

 

It very much does, yes. I forgot about it once and had the doors on a PotP Tailgate crumble apart. I guess Galvatron’s cannon must be thick enough that that doesn’t happen as quickly.

 

It's almost perfect, except it's wide chest. I cannot seem to get around it as it bugs me alot. It should be a bit narrow in between his shoulder pylons, not at the edge of them.

 

It also has almost as many paint apps. Maybe three or four fewer.

 

IPA has been known to melt or cause clear plastic to crumble starting with the Siege line. So, beware. Crumbling doesn't typically happen right away either.

 

Picked one up at the weekend, scrubbed the muck of his chest, arms, and ankles this evening

He's pretty great. I didn't warm to him right away out of the box, but after messing around with him for a few days, I'm really enjoying him. The transformation is really clever without being frustrating, and he looks great with his two main sidekicks. Looking forward to getting the Selects version in a few months time

 

You can also use a magic eraser to remove the paint on the cannon. Takes more time but safer.