Netflix War for Cybertron Megatron with Captive Lionizer and Pinpointer



Oh God, Hasbro. How many times are you going to make me buy this mold?



So, a quick acknowledgement first: this review is probably going to age like milk considering it's a redeco based on a cartoon series that hasn't come out yet and as such I'm pretty much just reviewing the pretty colours without the context of the show to base any opinions on. I suppose that is in the toy's favour if the show is bad but is a disservice if it turns out to be really good.



Netflix War for Cybertron Megatron (with Captive Lionizer and Pinpointer) is the fourth redeco of the stellar War For Cybertron Siege mold. Because I am a Megatron completionist, I of course own them all and I of course don't like to think about how much they cost me considering three of them were expensive exclusives I had to import. I think at this point everyone has at least handled the mold in some compasity? It's great. It's got all the things that a recognizable Megatron needs, is posable, falls into that sweetspot of having a transformation that's not too difficult or too simple and I love the accessories; particularly the giant sword based on the Takara version of the G1 toy that I personally don't feel gets referenced enough.



This is the best that the mold has ever looked. The paintjob is fantastic. While I'm not usually a fan of the "battle-damaged" look, I can't think of any instances where it's been done better than here. Unlike the original Siege version's matte grey body, Netflix Megatron is painted up in a delicious dull silver with smoky accents to show wear and tear. He's awesome and manages to come across as a premium figure (with is good, because I paid a premium price for him! Damn Australia's exchange rate!).



Other than the exceptional paintjob, Netflix Megatron's main feature is that he comes with two Battlemasters: Lionizer and Pinpointer. The first thing to notice about these two is that they're both Autobots and are specifically called out on the packaging and instructions as being captives, unlike the Decepticons Heatstroke and Heartburn that come with Hotlink. I'm not sure if this will come in to play in regards to the cartoon but, hey, it's worth mentioning.

I personally love Battlemasters as well as their effect parts. These two are also noteworthy because they're made to fill in some gaps in the collection. While there was a Lionizer in Wave 1 of Siege's Battlemasters, he had a black and silver colourscheme that was not accurate to the original G1 toy. This has been corrected here and Netflix Lionizer is back to his glorious orange and silver colourscheme. Pinpointer, meanwhile, was strangely absent from Siege, despite his Targetmaster partner Crosshairs getting a figure, only being obtainable through Takara's release of the Titan Returns Windblade. Presented here as a redeco of Siege's Firedrive, collectors can finally reunite him with Crosshairs without having to get Windblade (but you still should! The Takara paintjob is greta and TR Windblade is a seriously underrated toy!). I'm sorry I forgot to take a picture of Crosshairs and Pinpointer together... I'll remedy that when I get the chance.



The tank mode is the tank mode. There's not really much to talk about here. Again, it probably looks the best of the four but it's still just a vaguely-Cybertronian box. It looks fine. It rolls. It's alright. It seems we'll be getting a slightly better looking tank-mode when this figure receives a heavy retool (or is it just a few shared parts?) in the Earthrise line (at the expense of some of the robot mode's aesthetic) but this is what we're working with now.



I think if I were to rank the four, I'd put this one as my favourite. The Generations Select G2 version would come second, losing points for being based on the unreleased version of the G2 toy and for the fact that I would have preferred an ACTUAL pre-war IDW Megatron using that head retool. Siege third... and the Anniversary version last. That guy was really disappointing to me as I was expecting him to look much better in person that he actually does.

...And that's about it! I hope you enjoyed this quick little review. When the cartoon comes out and if I watch it I may come back and add a bit more context later. We'll see!

 

In terms of being a megatron completionist, I can relate.

 

Get on my level

 

The tank mode in particular looks fantastic

I really like the anniversary Megatron; that one is probably my favorite of the 4 so far.

 

I've skipped the first two versions of this mold (and the G2, I guess), but the paint on this is really good looking. Of course, as soon as it starts hitting they also reveal the Super Megs from Takara. I don't know which one I want now. That one costs twice as much, which is a tough sell. But I have the other Big Decepticon Boys from this line so far and this figure gave me a hankering for a Voyager Megs.

I know which one I don't want, and that's the upcoming Earthrise figure. I aim to make the next one I get the last Megs I need for a while, which means naturally the next one will either be a blue and silver Marvel Comics redeco or a Galaxy Force Galvatron.

 

Thought I was the only one that loved the Marvel Blue Megs. I always want a repaint to do an easy cobra custom.

 

Who is the red one in the bottom shelf? Just off center left.

 

If I'm looking at the right one, that's the Street Fighter crossover figure, Megatron as M. Bison

 

They actually won't be selling me any Earthrise characters I picked up during Siege that aren't in Marvel Colors....

 

I would KILL for a Marvel-coloured Megatron!

 

I’ve had no interest in this mold until now... I swear, if the battle damage on the Siege figures had looked anywhere near as good as the Netflix figures, I would have been so much less hard on it.

still think his alt mode is fairly lame and uninspired (yet still better then most of the Siege “CybertronIan” modes) but that deco man, that deco is just aces.

 

Yeah, that would actually be really interesting and unique, maybe if they made his black parts a dark blueish green color, sort of like the ink on page look.
I'm getting pretty tired of these kind of minimal effort cash grabs from Hasbro, though the paint and dark colors on this one do look pretty good...

 

i'm probly missing it in this photo but do you have the tiny turbo changers g1esque megatron?

 

No, it never came out here and I havent tracked it down online. I'm also missing the translucent TLK one and the ROTF one for the same reason.

 

No Despotron or Rioter ?

 

I don't collect Third Parties.

 

All good. It’s still the best Megatron collection display i’ve seen.
Hats off to you sir.

 

Ooh that thing is slick.

 

I'd like an Armada Megatron remold now, like how they remolded Leader Megatron into Armada Megatron. Thanks to the transformation of Siege Megatron, there is enough clearance for Armada Megatron's horns in vehicle mode.



And I'd like a remold into Emirate Xaaron. Instead of a fusion cannon and sword, he would have new mini-figures that would that would form the cannon and middle of the turret.



And I'd like another mini-figure designed to fit into the rear of the tank mode to fill up the unsightly gap between his legs.

As for the Netflix toy, it does have good colors but I have the original Siege release and the G2 repaint. It is a decent toy but its still four out of five (including the Earthrise remold) uses based on the same color scheme and all five are the same character.