Galvatron (Kingdom)

 

When it comes to Transformers, the movie and it's post years are a particularly favored era for me. The space opera, far out designs, and darker tone improves what was already a solid formula. Galvatron is a much more interesting villain than the earlier version of Megatron. Like Rodimus Prime with Optimus, he influenced the writers when it came to making Megatron more interesting. It seems like that to me anyway. This Kingdom version is something of an anomaly. It's the Generations version of Galvatron and the Studio Series 86 toy as well. Like Cyclonus and Ultra Magnus, it's clearly intended to fill both roles.

Galvatron will be re-released in Legacy sans the signature War for Cybertron battle damage deco as well. I'm ok with or without it, but you may have your preferences. I'm not sure if I'll get that Legacy version, but am really tempted on the Pulse exclusive version. I just like Galvatron, and I'm pretty fond of this toy as well. I'll admit though, to date my favorite version has been the Energon version. It's a mix of classic and update that's also really cool. This however, is a strong contender for that spot. 

The toy is 100% classic Galvatron. Robot mode to laser cannon, everything looks and feels right. A nice little extra touch is replacing his classic rifle with one that looks like the ship Unicron gave him in the movie. Another extra is the Autobot Matrix of Leadership dangling from a chain to be worn around his neck like in the movie. The gun and Matrix can be utilized in cannon mode and add a little extra to an already cool toy. I like both modes, but don't like transforming it. It's not hard or anything, I just don't enjoy the transformation. I'm not sure of there's an official laser gun mode, but sure one can be pulled off. The original wasn't that amazing to begin with. 

Galvatron is one of those great characters that doesn't always get the best toys. Usually the better ones have an all new design as the original is pretty hard to pull off. His cartoon appearance took some liberties with the toy design that went on to define the character. This is a good version. It looks great in both modes and is a solid toy as well. Plenty of articulation, the cannon is sturdy, and everything serves a purpose. This is another Christmas gift from the Mrs and it's a great one. He's big, evil looking, and imposing. All hail Galvatron!