BEAST
WARS: TOY REVIEW
Name: MEGATRON
Allegiance: Predacon
Function: Predacon Commander
Beast Mode: Tyrannosaurus Rex
Average Price: 45 AUD
(Above): Megatron cops a mighty left hook, courtesy of Optimus Primal.
BEAST MODE
King of the Lizards. T-rex. He’s INCREDIBLE. He’s got massive
thick legs, and a bulky body, covered in lumpy, scarred flesh moulding.
His spine is moulded with a long serrated column down it. He has long rows
of teeth and even a tongue! Everything about this toy’s dino-mode is appealing.
He looks fierce, dangerous, and ancient. Even his green and purple colour
scheme does not detract from his ferocity. This is a damn cool Beast Mode.
Much better than the undignified ape-mode his counterpart received.
Height is 150mm, while he’s almost 300mm long! (however
his tail is somewhat stubby). He’s 70mm wide at the shoulders and 85mm
wide at the thighs. His head is 80mm long, 30mm wide and about 50mm tall.
His teeth are about 5mm long each.
The only real problem with Megatron’s dino mode is lack
of articulation. You can’t move his tail, or his head (well, not in a natural
motion, anyway). Only his legs, toes, forearms and mouth can be moved (total
of 7 points of articulation). A lot less than his ape counterpart.
His only gimmick in this mode is his water pistol. His
inner jaw and tongue can be removed and it forms a bladder for water. Fill
it up, then put it back in. Then push his head down to spray. Rather than
spraying a jet it sprays a fine film. It holds enough water to last for..
well… for AGES. The only Beast Wars toy with a decent water pistol.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Split his back in two to start. From here is gets complicated.
It’s a matter of pulling his dinosaur head out to form one arm, and his
tail out to form the other. Then twist his legs down, and spin his torso
so it locks into the main body of the robot. That’s about it, but it’s
a lot more complicated to actually DO it.
If this is the first time you’ve ever transformed him,
complete the transformation by removing his bat-wing mutant head and throwing
it away (or at least storing it out of sight).
ROBOT MODE
My favourite, ever, out of Beast Wars.
His T-Rex head forms his arm, and his tail forms a kind
of pincer-claw. The claw can be made to open and shut by a lever on his
arm. His dino-head arm is still able to shoot water. Unlike in the TV show
these pieces aren’t removable and able to form hands. I’d love to see a
collector’s edition version, which gets rid of the claw and makes the tail
an removable shield instead. Leave the dino-head though, I like the water
pistol.
Apart from that he’s great. He has Dinobot-like wings
on his back, and has an incredibly sturdy design. 19 points of articulation,
including the head, waist and missile launchers, make him incredibly versatile
for poses. My Megatron is also VERY stable in almost any pose (including
the incredibly difficult “kicking while standing on one leg pose*”).
Good example of early Beast Wars toys, and often overlooked
in favour of Optimus Primal (because he’s covered in gimmicks).
(* Uuh... as opposed to kicking
whilst both feet are firmly planted on the ground?! Oooookay, Andrew. -
Kelvin)
OVERALL
My favourite Beast Wars toy, hands down. Beats out all later
competitors. I don’t know why. I rate him an A+, though you might want
to bring that down to a B+ if you don’t like toys with no ‘real’ hands,
or if you want a toy that’s brimming with gimmicks.
This toy review was written by Andrew
Sorohan.
I personally don't
think it's such a great toy... the lack of hands really erks me. - Kelvin.
BEAST TRIVIA
The Tyrannosaurus Rex is the best known species a very large carnivorous
genus of dinosaurs known as Tyrannosaurus. Tyrannosaurus lived during the
Late Cretaceous Period (beginning 136,000,000 years ago). Fully grown,
Tyrannosaurus was possibly the largest land carnivore of all time. Tyrannosaurus
was over 14 metres long and the skull alone was more than 1.2 metres long.
Tyrannosaurus was a biped, walking about on its powerful hind legs. If
the animal stood upright, it was over 6.4 metres tall, but the more conventional
pose was stooped with the body carried forward. It has been estimated that
Tyrannosaurus would have weighed in excess of eight tonnes. The body was
massive and the neck was short and thick. The skull was very large in relation
to the body and was armed with large, pointed teeth, 15 centimetres long.
These teeth were serrated and were effective at cutting and slicing. The
forelimbs were small and useless, except perhaps for grasping at close
range. The long tail served as a counterbalance to the body. The musculature
was very well developed, especially those muscles used for biting and chewing
and for support and mobility.
Tyrannosaurus was probably a rather rare animal with possibly only one
individual per 160 square kilometres.
Bibliography: Encylcopaedia Britannica
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