Megatron (2007 Movie Version) [Classic Class]

Megatron’s movie design was a bit of a departure from his original looks. That goes without saying. To me, there was always some King Walder and Acroyear DNA in his new appearance. Considering the 2000s Microman line and Cool Girl — which had a heavy Diaclone influence — were being produced by Takara around the same time those first movie toys were being designed, I wouldn’t doubt there was some cross-pollination. I’ve also always found him a little similar to the Guyver. Not completely, but just enough to notice. Of course, Megatron got a new design in each movie, but today we’re looking specifically at the 2007 version.

I got this model kit among a mountain of others at Christmas from the Mrs., who absolutely spoils me. Considering how many redesigns Megatron gets throughout the movie series, I was eager to spend some time with the 2007 one, so building it was a real treat. As a Classic Class kit, Megatron is larger than the Galaxy and Defender Versions that are really popular right now. Once assembled, you end up with a pretty premium-looking figure that just looks amazing. It’s easy to forget how neat his 2007 design actually was. There’s a lot of detailed alien design packed into all those sharp points, and I’ve always appreciated the more feral look of the Decepticons in the earlier movies. I’ve felt for a long time that part of the design philosophy was to make them feel like living creatures. Honestly, the live-action designs always felt like a continuation of Beast Machines to me. Part of me likes to think that if things had continued as originally planned, something like the Bayverse designs could’ve ended up on a Saturday morning cartoon.

This kit looked like it would take longer to assemble than it actually did — and that’s not a complaint. With all the intricate pieces that make up Megatron’s armor, I assumed I’d be building tiny sub-assemblies forever. While there are sections like that, especially in the arms and legs, the process flows pretty smoothly: assemble the forearm, attach armor parts, connect it to the upper arm, attach more armor, and so on. I do find it amusing that at the core of Megatron is a standard Blokees Shining Version upper torso piece. The entire much larger figure builds outward from it, which I just find funny. That core also houses the components for Megatron’s light-up features.

Speaking of his upper torso, you get a choice of chest pieces. There’s the standard chest armor like the one shown in the photos, or an alternate piece depicting his death at the end of the movie. There’s even a tiny Allspark Cube included.

Megatron comes with his Fusion Cannon, which can be held in either hand. You can’t quite combine both arms into the exact pose he used in the movie — maybe an approximation, but not a perfect match. It honestly didn’t bother me. When held in one hand, it almost reads more like a rifle, and that works just fine here. His eyes light up a really satisfying red, which surprised me with how much I liked it. It genuinely breathes a little life into the finished kit.

It’s probably been a bit too long since I spent real time with the 2007 design. Building this made me appreciate the layering of silver over bronze parts much more than I ever did back then. A lot of the toys released around the movie glossed over those details, and I haven’t handled a newer take on this design until now. I always thought it looked cool, but its intricacies are standing out more to me this time around.

His head is amusingly a mix of the final movie design and elements from the abandoned earlier look. It’s funny — what we ended up with was considered to be more “G1.” I can kind of see it, but it’s still very much its own thing. At the time, Megatron getting a new design every incarnation was pretty much expected. So it was pretty status quo at the time. Thinking back, that stretch from 2003 — when the movie was first announced — to its release in 2007 was strange. News came and went, things were constantly in flux, and part of me is still surprised it ever actually came out.

I really like his animalistic face. There’s definitely some H.R. Giger influence there, and the part of me that loves bio-horror is all over it. A display stand with whoosh effects is included, but I found Megatron perfectly capable of standing on his own without it. This was a cool build and a great experience overall. The finished product looks fantastic, and it was genuinely fun reflecting on this version of Megatron while assembling it. At this point, I’m convinced Blokees is incapable of making a product I don’t like — and what kind of idiot would complain about that?

By the Power of Grayskull!

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 [Console Heroes/SEGA Genesis]

It goes without saying that Sonic the Hedgehog was a huge hit. It should come as no surprise, then, that it got a sequel that was also a big hit. Naturally, the Console Heroes SEGA Genesis line took notice and has made diorama sets based on these games (we’ll be getting to part one a little later).

Sonic 2 in Console Heroes form is pretty great. The cartridge looks exactly as you’d expect — a slightly larger replica of the original game cart. Despite being a bit bigger, these replica carts feel really nice in hand. It’s oddly satisfying. When you open the clamshell, you’re greeted with a sculpted incarnation of Emerald Hill Zone. It’s the first level of the game, and very similar to Green Hill Zone from Sonic 1. The look of these levels is pretty much what many of us automatically picture when thinking of Sonic the Hedgehog, so it’s a perfect setting.

There are rings to place on the various pegs, along with great little figures of Sonic and Tails. Sonic is running (it’s what he does), and Tails is in flight with both tails whipping around like helicopter blades. There’s an included clear rod doohickey you can use with Tails to position him in the air. This is a fun little set, and I really like the small bridge in the diorama. You can have the two racing across it to gather rings, or Tails trying to catch up after Sonic’s left him behind again.

This is a great addition to the Console Heroes line — but I have to wonder…
can it Julian fries?

Unicron Head (Clear) [Galaxy Version]

The big bad of all Transformers, Unicron, got a Blokees model kit all his own in Galaxy Version 08: One Shall Fall. A special translucent version was also made available, which originally had to be acquired by scanning QR codes from nine different figures within the set. A little later, Blokees outright put the translucent version up for direct purchase on their site (I wonder if that pissed anyone off?), leading to today’s post.

As of now, I’ve only picked up Hot Rod from Galaxy Version 08, so either completing the set the normal way or scanning all the QR codes has eluded me thus far. When ordering some Defender Version cases with Christmas money, the translucent Unicron Head found its way into the cart (The Mrs added it, thankfully).

Like I’ve said before, I was there opening weekend in 1986 when Transformers: The Movie hit the big screen. Unicron was—and always has been—one of the most awesome things ever created in my mind. While I haven’t collected all of his merchandise, there are just some things I’ve got to have, and a version of this head is definitely one of them.

This translucent version, being more of a special edition, is a really neat representation of Unicron’s head floating through space. Its clear nature gives it a more ghostly appearance, which I absolutely love.

This was a pretty fun, quick build. I’m used to Galaxy Version kits using shared parts to make builds work, but here the only returning part was the display plate. I was expecting some kind of torso bit at the center of the head, like you often see with alt-mode kits such as the Dinobots, but that wasn’t the case.

Being translucent adds a little extra challenge, as some of the parts aren’t immediately obvious. The clear plastic makes things blend together visually. There’s a central core piece that everything builds up from, and one step I found endlessly entertaining was discovering that they gave Unicron a skull.

Before you attach his face parts, you construct his internal facial structure, which looks very similar to the robotic skulls you see when a Transformer suffers facial trauma. He even has eyeballs that fit into the sockets, adding a level of detail that would probably go unnoticed. Unicron’s mouth opens and closes, with the entire mechanism formed around this skull. I spent way too much time making him chomp his spooky skeleton teeth before finally attaching the face parts.

Speaking of the face parts, you’ll need to insert his normal eyes before attaching the face to the skull. Those tiny eye pieces are a little tricky if you’ve got big fingers like me. Due to how they connect, I didn’t try using tweezers, though in hindsight I wonder if they might have helped.

Once assembled, Unicron’s head can be displayed on the included stand with a support arm. It’s actually pretty large all things considered—not huge, but bigger than I expected going in. Also included is a tiny Autobot Shuttle, which you can pose flying past his head as it drifts near Cybertron. If they brought Daniel along, this whole situation probably gives him the willies.

This is a really neat little kit. Hopefully I’ll get more of Galaxy Version 08 soon, or maybe even an entire case, as I prefer to buy these that way. Ideally, I’d like to have both the clear and normal versions of Unicron. As it stands, this translucent version is already something special. It’s always nice owning a special edition of anything—but especially of him.

It really does feel awesome owning it.