TF Views

The irony of the newer Optimus & Megatron toys.

When one faction leader gets a great toy the other faction leader always gets a really awful toy. Very rarely will both faction leaders get great toys in the same toy line.

Cite some examples perhaps? I'm not seeing it, except movies 1 and 2.

Generations WFC both seemed good.

Classics were both good and in the same case.

Animated with Voyager OP and Leader-class Megatron, both good.

TF Prime RID are both somewhat mediocre.

Cybertron's Megatron wasn't too bad, and its OP was great.

Energon's Megatron and OP were both pretty awful.

I can't speak to the DOTM Optimus, I've heard some folks say it's flawed but not garbage, Megatron voy class wasn't garbage though.

Just tossing a few thoughts on these your way:

JediTricks wrote:Generations WFC both seemed good.

Generations WfC Prime remains one of my favorite Optimus Prime molds ever, possibly my #1 favorite. Megatron's pretty cool, but...I dunno, there's something about it, and I'm not really sure what, that doesn't really *do it* for me, personally. It might be that the transformation feels a bit too simple, effective as it is, or the kind of rough arm articulation. It's not a bad toy by any stretch of the imagination, it's just...I dunno. I'm weird.

TF Prime RID are both somewhat mediocre.

I'll disagree with you here, but still help in affirming your counterpoint to Tigermegs' point, as I think both Fire Convoy and Gigatron are fantastic toys.

Cybertron's Megatron wasn't too bad, and its OP was great.

I still need to get a Cybertron Megatron one of these days. The OP from that line is one hell of a toy though, I'll agree.

I can't speak to the DOTM Optimus, I've heard some folks say it's flawed but not garbage, Megatron voy class wasn't garbage though.

Oh god, let me tell you: DOTM Voyager Optimus is an awful, awful toy. I only have the Fireburst recolor with the Mechtech axe so I can't speak to, say, the colors, but the proportions on the robot mode are horrible (tiny torso, almost the entire back end of the truck folds into his boots, the nose of the truck just crumples into his messy arms with oddly-placed hands), and it has one of the worst cheats/facade parts I've ever seen (the toy has a fake windshield chest that folds up RIGHT IN FRONT of the real windshield!). The vehicle mode sports a cab section that not only lacks the headache rack at the back of it, but is COMPLETELY OPEN AND HOLLOW when viewed from the back! You can see right into it! Not to mention the silly solar panels and oversized gas-tanks the mold has for whatever reason.

The shittiness of the mold is especially baffling since Hasbro had released the incredible Voyager-scale Battle Blades Optimus Prime something like six months earlier, which was basically a perfect Voyager Movie OP. Why they didn't just remold that toy with Mechtech ports and release it under DOTM (especially given how scarce BBOP turned out to be) is beyond me.

tl;dr DOTM Voyager OP is a horrible toy. Voyager Megs was pretty good though, in my opinion.

G1 Megs and Op were both awesome toys (by the standards of the time), Armada Op and Megs I thought were both pretty good. I especially liked the innovation of the autotransforming trailer gimmick. The beast era toys were mostly pretty good except for Beast Machines. The big giant head was ok, but the Optimi from that line all left me pretty flat. The classics deluxe sized Megatron and Optimus are both shitty toys. G2 (laser Prime) and Megatron are decent toys.

Then there's the ones without partners: Alternators Prime is a pretty decent figure, GDO Megatron is a decent figure, but that head looks wierd on it. FoC Optimus is ok, but not great.

JediTricks wrote:Cite some examples perhaps? I'm not seeing it

I suspose it all boils down to "One's" personal taste/preferences,here goes my personal taste/preference examples below.

1- In the Beastwars toy line from 1996 to 1999,Megatron got better toys. The 1996 ultra optimus toy was just the ape standing up & that was the robot mode,sculpt was super ugly in both modes. The tm1 optimus toy had a ape on a skate board with a robot mode that looked like his beast mode & vice versa. I wasn't a fan of the huge Optimal Optimus toy as it looked like a pile of frankenstien junk/ugly in all modes. The 1996 basic toys were too simplistic for me to count them.

2- Beastmachines both faction leaders received awful toys. all the toys were ugly & weird looking.

3- Car robots/Rid,The super Fire convoy/Optimus Prime toy was pure awesome. Gigatron/Megatron was a awesome toy.

4- Armada super/leader sized Optimus was just a awful sculpted brickformer. Armada Ultra sized Megatron was a really awesome sculpted mold ruined by lack of decent poseable legs. Clearly ultra Megatron was the clear winner. I'm not a fan of faction leaders gettinfg deluxe toys,so while armada deluxe optimus toy was decent,I cancel it out as that size class is wrong for a faction leader to receive.

4-Energon Leader & deluxe Optimus Prime toys were ugly sculpted toys. Energon Leader & ultra sized megatron toys were pure awesome.

5- 2005 Cybertron leader optimus & megatron were equally somewhat decent-mediocre toys.

6- 2008 Animated Optimus received super ugly sculpts+engineered toys in all the size classes. All the Animated Megatron toys were clearly more superior.

7- In the live action movie verse all the leader sized Optimus Prime toys were pure awesome & top notch sculpted+engineered+poseable toys. 2007 Movie leader megatron was super ugly in both modes but decently poseable. 2009 ROTF Leader sized Megatron was better sculpted but less poseable,the non-poseable tank turrent/arm hurt this toy. I won't bother rating the smaller sized faction leaders as they looked like cheap KO's compared to the leader sized versions, they were overly simplified aimed at the toddlers.

8- Dotm,Both faction leaders received bad toys in all the size classes. With optimus having a slight advantage/win,as the Ultra size smaller optimus that comes with the supreme toy,is a decent toy all bit itself,ignoring the trailer/suit of armor thing.

9- 2012- TF Prime Optimus Prime has better sculpted/engineered toys than Megatron. $29.99 Weaponizers Optimus,I rate the best top notch toy of the entire Transformers Prime toy line. Megatron is a wannabe toddler version of his movie verse toys in both modes.

10- Titanium 6 inch,All the megatron & optimus toys were awful,so no winner.

11-Masterpiece,Optimus is the clear winner & received two awesome must get toys. MP-05 Megatron was a piece of junk that was beyond flawed,for starters the robot mode is mis-proportioned with 75% legs & 25% robot head+chest. over sized arm canon makes the robot mode tip to one side. I can't believe Takara used pin joints in the waist+hips for the robot mode. Toy is a pain to get in a stable robot display pose. toy is too fraigle to transform or play with. Diecast metal feet & diecast backbone rust super easy. Great sculpt but kinda on the skinny/punny looking side.

12- Classics 1.0 Voyager optimus & voyager megatron toys were equally decent-mediocre. All the deluxes & basics for classics 1.0+2.0+generations+WFC+HOC I rate as equally awful toys for both faction leaders.

13- Alternators only had Optimus & no megatron. So optimus wins by default.

14- Generation 2 1993,Optimus was a re-released 1984 toy,not a new mold so he doesn't count as a new mold. 1993 G-2 Megatron had a decent sculpt but was a awful toy due to it having almost zero poseabilty.

15-1994 G-2 Combat megatron sized optimus & megatron were equally awful toys,so no winner here.

16-1995 G-2 Laser optimus was a pure awesome toy. Their was no larger huge Megatron new mold in 1995 so optimus wins be default. the G-2 super tiny gobots cars for optimus & megatron were too tiny to matter & had almost no poseability,so both gobots toys are awful.

Tigermegatron wrote:2- Beastmachines both faction leaders received awful toys. all the toys were ugly & weird looking.

Blast Punch Optimus Primal was a good toy. The colors were completely off, but it was fairly show accurate mold wise.

I won't bother rating the smaller sized faction leaders as they looked like cheap KO's compared to the leader sized versions, they were overly simplified aimed at the toddlers.

ROTF Voyager Megatron and the 2007 Voyager Optimus Prime figures were pretty good actually. Not sure why you seem to think they looked like knockoff's aimed at toddlers, because they certainly weren't.

Sparky Prime wrote:

Tigermegatron wrote:2- Beastmachines both faction leaders received awful toys. all the toys were ugly & weird looking.

Blast Punch Optimus Primal was a good toy. The colors were completely off, but it was fairly show accurate mold wise.

I won't bother rating the smaller sized faction leaders as they looked like cheap KO's compared to the leader sized versions, they were overly simplified aimed at the toddlers.

ROTF Voyager Megatron and the 2007 Voyager Optimus Prime figures were pretty good actually. Not sure why you seem to think they looked like knockoff's aimed at toddlers, because they certainly weren't.

My only issue with the BM toyline was that everything was completely out of scale. It seemed like Hasbro actively had an edict somewhere that stated the bigger the character is on the show the smaller the toy and vice versa. Megatron with the "housecoat of doom" was a mega when he should have been at least an ultra. Nightscream on the other hand was Ultra when at best, he should have been a basic. The Megatron head should have just been a playset. Actually, I've heard that toy can be a head for Fortress Maximus, has anyone here ever tried that?

I don't think anyone here actually owns both a Megabolt and a Fort Max, but by all words, it is actually possible, and was added to Megabolt in anticipation of Brave Max's never-produced US run.

BM's problem was that the toyline and the cartoon were being produced concurrently. It was also the VERY FIRST TF toyline where a character was made in multiple scales that represented the same body, and were available at the same time. Cheetor had his Mega and Supreme toys, and Jetstorm got Deluxe and Ultra versions. It seemed like, to me, Hasbro really wanted to emphasize that Cheetor was going to become the leader, and that Megatron was kind of a shadowy background guy, with the Vehicons being the focus. It didn't play out that way and kind of failed, and that's part of what makes BM interesting.

Shockwave wrote:My only issue with the BM toyline was that everything was completely out of scale. It seemed like Hasbro actively had an edict somewhere that stated the bigger the character is on the show the smaller the toy and vice versa. Megatron with the "housecoat of doom" was a mega when he should have been at least an ultra. Nightscream on the other hand was Ultra when at best, he should have been a basic. The Megatron head should have just been a playset.

I'd have to agree with you there. Always seemed odd Silverbolt, who was the largest of the Maximals in the show got a basic sized toy, where as Nightscream and Rattrap as the smallest got Ultra and Mega sized toys respectively.

Actually, I've heard that toy can be a head for Fortress Maximus, has anyone here ever tried that?

Yeah, I've seen people say that if you remove the legs on Megabolt, it does fit on Maximus.

Onslaught Six wrote:BM's problem was that the toyline and the cartoon were being produced concurrently.

That's no excuse for the Tank Drone being a basic sized figure when the tanks were among the biggest characters in the show. They could have made the toys more scale accurate if they wanted to, especially with the later waves that had more show accurate molds.

Onslaught Six wrote:I don't think anyone here actually owns both a Megabolt and a Fort Max, but by all words, it is actually possible, and was added to Megabolt in anticipation of Brave Max's never-produced US run.

Actually, I own both. You can use Megabolt as the head quite easily, even without removing all the legs.