Dave's Transformers Animated Rant: Voyager Wave 2 Optimus Prime vs. Megatron the Battle Begins Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/TFA/Voyager2 Strictly speaking, this is neither fish nor fowl...it's not in the same packaging as other Voyagers, it's two Deluxe-sized figures, etc. But I'm going to list it as Wave 2. From what I hear the official Wave 2 is just a running change to Wave 1 anyway. And Wave 3 (Grimlock and Lugnut) has appeared before the official Wave 2, to make even more a mockery of Hasbro's designations. Ironically, while sold as a battle pack, these two versions of the characters never encountered each other. Prime's in Earth Mode, Megatron is in Cybertron mode, and there was no time of overlap where those two versions could meet. :) CAPSULES Optimus Prime (Earth Mode) vs. Megatron (Cybertron Mode) Two-Pack: Prime is like a cheaper version of the Deluxe Cybertron Mode Prime...not horrible, but disappointing even if you ignore the badly done "battle damage" paint. Megatron is a cut down version of Voyager Cybertron Mode Megatron, decent but also marred by bad battle damage paint. The DVD that comes with the set has the first 22 minutes of the pilot plus some demo material. Mildly recommended. $19.76 at Wal-Mart. RANTS: Packaging: A window box that's essentially rectangular but both sides have the same sort of triangular cut-out as the left side of the regular Voyager box. 14" (36cm) across at the top and bottom, 12" (31cm) across at the narrowest point. 8" (20cm) tall, 4.5" (11.5cm) deep. The general color scheme and layout are similar to the regular Voyager boxes, but modified to accomodate two characters. The front side has cardstock along the right and left edges and across roughly the bottom third. The upper left has the "Ages 5+" and conversion difficulty (3 again). The upper right has a DVD shape with "Exclusive DVD Included!" written in it in red. Each character has upper body art over a banner with their name and faction logo, with Prime on the left and Megatron on the right. The TFA logo is in middle bottom with "The Battle Begins" at the very bottom middle. The line art is repeated larger on the back half of the top side (the front half is mostly window), with the logo and set name in the middle. The bottom just has legalese and UPC. The right side has co-sells of the Wave 1 Deluxes, plus Voyagers Bulkhead and Starscream. The left side repeats the DVD exclusive blurb, shows the cover art of the DVD, and has the following text: "OPTIMUS PRIME and MEGATRON meet for the first time in the exciting new TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED series! Witness the first battles of a new legend as the AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS struggle to control the secrets of the AllSpark. With the help of Sari and their other human friends, OPTIMUS PRIME and his loyal companions fight against the evil plotting of MEGATRON, with the fate of the city in the balance!" The back panel has photos of the robot modes on the extreme sides, facing off as if about to tussle. Between them are photos of the vehicle modes, with the combined bio note above those. Their Galactic Powers & Abilities are in the upper left and right corners, their names in a banner across the top, and the series logo and set name at the middle top. There's no line art or motto, but one can presume the mottos from their solo toys still apply. Inside, the figures are heavily twist-tied to blister backing (which has to be separated from the tray in order to undo the ties) in robot mode, vaugely menacing each other. Between and behind them is a DVD case with the single-episode DVD. Both sides of the box are pretty heavily taped, there isn't an "easy to open side" like on the regular Voyager boxes. However, the instructions are stuck in the right side, so go ahead and open that one. The instructions are black and white (and gray), single-sided with Prime on top and Megatron on bottom. Unifying Themes: There's two motifs that tie these two toys together. The more obvious one is that they have crappy battle damage paint decos. As someone pointed out on the AllSpark, Prime looks like a Venom symbiote is taking him over. And Megatron has light metallic purple splotches I'm guessing are supposed to be Energon leaks, plus some silver "scraped paint" bits. I wish they hadn't bothered, or at least gone for just somethign subtle like the scraped paint and nothing else. It looks like someone slapped the damage patterns on in five minutes by attacking the design drawings with a crappy photoshop layer. The other motif is the Fast Attack Battler style of melee strike gimmick. Both have spring-loaded waist joints, so if you twist them back to their right, they'll swing back. [Later note: the waists do ratchet when you push them past the spring point, which you can use to make them a little better able to make right-handed attacks.] DVD: It just slides out of a slot in between the blister and the cardboard tray once you pull the tray out. No tape, yay! The front repeats a closeup of the package art busts superimposed on each other as if going hammer and tongs. The blurb on the back of the box is as follows: "OPTIMUS PRIME and MEGATRON meet and battle for the first time in the awesome new TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED series! OPTIMUS PRIME and his crew of AUTOBOTS dream of being heroes, but the battle against the DECEPTICONS ended ages ago, leaving glory in short supply - until the AllSpark appears with the dreaded MEGATRON in hot pursuit! The fierce battle sends MEGATRON, OPTIMUS PRIME and the other AUTOBOTS crashing to the surface of a strange, new world - Earth. Here, in the city, the battle for the AllSpark continues, with the AUTOBOTS meeting their new friend Sari, her father and a whole new set of enemies both robot and human. Join them on their first new adventure! Rated TV-Y7" A bit misleading, given that it only has the first 22 minutes. No Sari outside of the demo reel stuff. There's a REALLY long FBI Warning sequence at the start, and then we get a credit sequence different from the one used on broadcast, with a different version of the opening theme song. I get the impression that this is a combination of demo reel and scenes from early episodes. Anyway, the episode is just a single scene, no breaks. The episode ends on "50 YEARS LATER" and then goes into another demo reel promo thing, which includes the only footage of Sari and her transforming scooter/jetpack thing (a device that was dropped from the actual show). The entire pilot movie is due for DVD release June 17, it may or may not have this material in the extras. If it doesn't, then there's one reason to get this disc, I suppose. [Later note: the "Transform and Roll Out" DVD does not have the demo reel stuff, but it does have two new shorts (Prime talking to schoolchildren who ask embarrassing questions, and Prowl trying to be Evel Knievel). So it's worth having both discs.] There's a brief gallery with pictures of the first wave Deluxe and Voyager toys, same pictures as used on their packaging. Probably the biggest problem with including this DVD, though, is that it makes it pretty obvious that neither of the Cybertron Mode Megatron toys really matches either the vehicle or robot forms seen in the cartoon. Even the robot mode misses by not giving him the correct sword, instead trying to transform his cannon into one. AUTOBOT: OPTIMUS PRIME Altmode: Earth Truck Function: AUTOBOT Leader Previous Name Use: Yes. Previous Mold Use: None Callouts: "Double-handed Ion-axe!" Motto: None Galactic Powers & Abilities: > Can cut reinforced steel. > Advanced fire-fighting systems. > Trained at AUTOBOT Academy. Until now, OPTIMUS PRIME never thought he would come face to face with MEGATRON. The legendary villain was thought to be long ago deactivated, but on CYBERTRON his power and evil are still feared. He knows that to face MEGATRON is to face his own mortality. MEGATRON, on the other hand, does not know who this young AUTOBOT is, and does not care. All he knows is that the AllSpark is under this fool's protection. If he will not give it up, MEGATRON will tear him apart to get it. Packaging: Five twist-ties. His axe is in his left hand and gripped firmly by the blister. No rubber bands. The instructions make him a lefty, consistently putting the axe in his left hand (which would tend to work better with the swinging gimmick, admittedly). The swinging gimmick is mentioned in the lower right of the instructions, but no action arrows or anything...just static poses with the declaration that there's a robot punch. Vehicle Mode: "Earth Truck" is what the package says. It's a 5" (12.5cm) long four-wheeled (sort of, see below) semitractor with a blue lightbar. However, the wheels aren't in the right places. If you look at the cartoon carefully, you'll notice that all four of his wheels should be on the part of the truck that becomes his boots, with no wheels directly under his cab. In fact, this toy does have six wheels, but the four in back are effectively coaxial...two of 'em are tucked between the legs. Kinda weird. The rear section is dark blue plastic, as is the rear half of the cab. The wheels are a dark gray plastic. The windshield is clear dark blue plastic, as is the lightbar. The middle chunk of the cab and the lower third of it are made of darkish red plastic. The smokestacks (which are short) are light gray plastic and just pegged in. The grille is also light gray plastic. I'll describe the axe under robot mode, it isn't remotely integral to this mode, it just gets carried (at least for Cybertron Mode it masquerades as a trailer hitch). It makes the rear section a little more stable, but isn't really necessary and just looks ugly sticking up in back. The bumper and a strip running horizontally across the front and sides of the cab are painted silver, as are the hubcaps. The passenger side headlights and roof lights are painted yellow. There's a pretty good red paint match on the parts of the cab made of non-red plastic, and faintly metallic dark blue paint on the side windows. There's black borders on the end of the vehicle on the robot toes. Cruddy black "crack" damage paint is on the driver's side of the windshield piece, covering the headlights and rooflights on that side entirely. It's worth noting that there's no Autobot symbol visible in this mode. Also, the battle damage on his abdomen-grille is not repeated on truck-grille...they're different pieces despite being supposedly the same thing. Not as obvious as the fake roof on Bumblebee's chest, but same idea. ;) Transformation: Kind of a bargain version of Cybertron Mode Deluxe Optimus Prime. The axe just pegs onto the butt, so no need to load it into the hands during transformation. But there's a lot of similarities, such as the way the legs connect to folding panels, or the front wheels end up in the shoulder area. But the robot-to-vehicle transformation suffers from "Big Convoy Syndrome", by which I mean that there's a lot of panels that need to peg together all at the same time, and unless you get things just right you're going to spend some time trying to massage it all together once you've got it close. Robot Mode: Well, if you stand him up straight, he's 5.75" (14.5cm) tall, but his feet are molded for a squatting stance. It's kinda hard to get him to stand with straight legs without it looking like he's doing the pelvic thrust (which really drives you insa-ay-ay-ay-ane). This head is a "battle mask" mold, it looks like of all the Prime toys we're getting, they'll be split relatively evenly between open face and battle mask. He's got wheels on both sides of each ankle, plus the ones inside his shoulder area. He's got the classic Prime color scheme. Mostly red torso and upper arms, gray abdomen and thighs, dark blue helmet and boots. He departs a bit in that his forearms are dark blue, not just the hands, and his pelvis is also dark blue. The head is dark blue plastic with clear dark blue lightpiping. The hip joints, knee joints, elbow joints and thighs are light gray plastic, as is his "cravat". His smokestacks become elbow spikes...but the pegs are the wrong size to let him hold them in his hands as pistols. The battle damage paint cracks onto his right shoulder, part of his abdomen, the left side of his pelvis, and creeping up the right side of his battle mask. He has yellow paint stripes on his helmet, and on the center and right details of his pelvis (but the battle damage covers the left side). A silver Autobot symbol is printed on his left shoulder, and his faceplate is silver. The little bit of his face visible above the mask is the same light blue seen on Cybertron Mode Prime's uncovered face. He has black "rubber soles" on his feet, a nice touch to explain why he doesn't leave divots wherever he walks. The sides and back of his abdomen are also painted black. The head is on a ball joint restricted down to being effectively a swivel, but his collar keeps his head from turning at all unless you lean it forward on the transformation hinge. His waist has that spring gimmick, and also ratchets if you exceed the range of the spring. Shoulders are ball joints, and can shrug up on transformation hinges. The elbows are a hinge on the upper arm and a ball joint where it connects to the forearm. The fists can fold inward on transformation hinges. Ball joint hips, hinge knees, swivel below each knee (which is pretty useful, given the way the feet are molded). The toes can point down, but aren't very stiffly jointed. The smokestacks on his forearms can spin around a bit, but they only stay flush in their intended position. The axe is just a single piece of clear dark blue plastic with red and silver paint, and some pegs to help lock it into the vehicle mode. It's the "Axe 1" from Cybertron Mode: single blade, rocket motor on the back. But since it's not trying to be anything but that, it has a much more impressive blade. The whole thing is 4.5" (11cm) long, and the blade is 2.25" (5.5cm) long and 2" (5cm) from edge back to rocket motor. A different color on the motor would have been nice, but that's easily fixed at home if you really want it. Oh, and it can indeed be held in both hands, if you shrug the shoulders way up and have him hold the axe over his head. However, it's more likely they just cut-and-pasted the call-out about being double handed from the Cybertron Mode packaging. :) For reference, Apple Barrel's "Red Spice" is a good match for the red paint on this toy, if you want to try painting over the battle damage. The plastic is a bit acetone-soluble, so be careful when stripping battle damage paint from the places where you can (abdomen, right shoulder, pelvis). Just about any silver paint will do, and a bright yellow paint used to go over the battle damaged areas should also be used on the other yellow details since the yellow paint apps are a bit iffy anyway. The eyes are too deep-set for painting over them to work, you'd have to fill in the gaps with putty (and totally kill the lightpiping) to repaint them. http://www.dvandom.com/kitbash/aniprime1.JPG is my effort at un-damaging Prime. Overall: It really feels like they tried to do a Deluxe toy on a Scout budget. While not the utter pile of slag that the Classics two-pack Prime turned out to be, it's pretty sad next to Cybertron Mode Prime, even if it does have a cooler-looking axe. They really should've just avoided the battle damage, it only detracts from the figure. And since a lot of it is on painted parts, you can't just grab the paint remover and strip it all off. I'll probably paint over the faceplate bit, at least. DECEPTICON: MEGATRON Altmode: CYBERTRON Fusion Fighter Function: DECEPTICON Tyrant Previous Name Use: Yes. Previous Mold Use: None Callouts: "Fusion cannon converts to sword!" Motto: None Galactic Powers & Abilities: > No known weaknesses. > Scientific, strategic and engineering genius. > Fusion cannon can disintegrate up to 40 feet of solid steel. Bio note shared with Optimus Prime, see above. Packaging: Five twist-ties, no rubber bands. Vehicle Mode: It's essentially the same "fusion fighter" as Voyager Cybertron Mode Megatron, vaguely resembling the ship seen in the cartoon, but with the fusion cannon stuck on the back as a thruster rather than underslung as a weapon on the front. Given that the cannon is only pegged on, it'd have been nice to let it split in two and have the barrel part peg on separately. 7.5" (19cm) long and with a wingspan of 5.25" (13.5cm), see the Voyager review (http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/TFA/Voyager1) for discussion of the overall look and how it might be better going backwards. It's a slightly darker scheme overall, with a noticeably darker light gray and less clear red plastic. Rather than deployable landing gear, it has permanent wheels on the bottom, which don't roll very well. From below it looks like Megatron's taken off his legs and plugged into a flying rig or something...not much effort to hide anything from the underside. The central fuselage is a mix of charcoal gray plastic, a rigid clear red plastic canopy piece, and a gray handle. The rear half is mostly charcoal plastic, with gray tail struts and rubbery clear red diamond bits at the very back. The blades flanking the cockpit are also rubbery clear red plastic. Most of the rest of the toy is lightish gray (40% cool gray) and slightly metallic plastic except for some rigid clear red bits near the front (robot upper arms) and on the antigrav pods. There's a dark ruby red paint on cannon vents and on what becomes the robot toes. The canopy is painted silver around the edges and mostly charcoal over the clear red part, leaving only a few slits. There's silver on the antigrav pods, and charcoal around the edges of the tail diamonds. There's also metallic light purple battle damage splotches in various places, I'll discuss them more in the robot mode section. Transformation: Similar to Voyager, but the arms are just reverse folded at the elbows and raised over the head so that the wheels on the forearms touch ground. The cannon is just pegged onto the back, not connected to a hinged strut. Robot Mode: 6" (15cm) tall, and similar to the Voyager, but darker thanks to the darker gray plastic. There's only rigid clear red plastic on the lightpiping, upper arms, and (oddly) the hip ball joints. The boots are mostly charcoal plastic, the kneecaps are rubbery clear red plastic. The rest of the toy is medium-light gray plastic, albeit with charcoal paint on the fists, pelvis and hip flaps. The parts on the chest and shoulders of the Voyager that are clear red are just painted charcoal here, with gold Decepticon symbol on the chest. The abdomen has that dark ruby paint on it, as do the toes. The face is darkish silver, with charcoal on the "teeth" of the right side of the helmet and on the right side's forehead wedge. Because the paint mask for the left side of the head is mostly battle damage, he has no paint in the left side's wedge, oddly. There's three small silver smudges on the left upper chest that may be intentional battle damage, or may be actual factory goofs...but they look good as damage. Otherwise, there's a lot of light metallic purple that I think is supposed to look like leaking energon, but some of the locations don't work, especialy the splatter over much of the left side of the head. Instead, it looks like he's done poorly in paintball. [Later note: I decided to clean off the battle damage and add some details: http://www.dvandom.com/kitbash/animegs1.JPG ] The head turns on a ball joint at the base of the neck, it can wiggle a little bit side to side. The waist has the same snap-back gimmick as Prime. The shoulders are ball joints somewhat restricted, and the struts they're on can shrug upwards. There's upper arm swivels, double-hinged elbows, and no no wrist articulation. The hips are very loose ball joints, but a little nail polish topcoat fixed that. There's somewhat loose swivels just above the knees, but nail polish worked there too. Hinge knees and ankles are stiff enough, though. His cannon pegs onto his right forearm with a D-shaped peg, so you can't point it backwards. The peg is the same size as his fist hole, but forearm kibble makes it hard to plug in to either the top or the bottom of the fist. It does not fire a missile. Transformation is simpler than with the Voyager version, with no automorph. You break it open at a hinge, unpeg one of the blades and swing it around to the other side. So, rather than being a blade underneath the barrel, it's a curved blade along the side of the barrel. Still not the sword from the cartoon. It can be plugged into the back, though, so you can always stow it and give him a sword from some other toy. Since his fist holes are 5mm, he can use Energon weapons. Since the swinging gimmick works best for left arm weapons, it's a pity he has no forearm peg on the left arm. Overall: Could use some more paint apps for details and to lose the battle damage, but otherwise a decent representation of the Cybertron mode. Or, at least, no worse than the Voyager version. ONLINE CONTENT: See the Deluxe Wave 1 for Optimus Prime and Voyager Wave 1 for Megatron. Dave Van Domelen, notes that it's a lot better than the Classics two-pack, but that's damning with faint praise.