Toy Review - DOTM MechTech Voyager Megatron

[GoktimusPrime]

I much prefer a well made Voyager over a crappy overpriced Leader any day. How often have you purchased a Leader Class movie toy and thought, "Gee, that was totally well worth the $99 RRP!" (even if you bought it on sale, remember that the general asking price is $99). I got TF1 Optimus Prime, ROTF Optimus Prime and ROTF Megatron Leaders all at discount - which I'm glad for, but other Leaders I got at full price. And I cannot think of one Movie Leader which I would consider well worth shelling close to a hundred bucks for (the Optimus Primes come closest).

Is Voyager DotM Megatron worth $50? Debatable, but in terms of dollar value, I feel that I'm getting more bang for my buck than for a Leader. Put it this way - compare this toy to TF1 and ROTF Leader Megatron, and keep in mind that its RRP is approx. half the RRP of the Leaders. Yeah.

The problem with all the movie Leaders is that Hasbro insists on giving them big, heavy and chunky electronic sound gimmicks (which in the case of Sentinel Prime, makes him a tricky sucker to balance!) - and of course the engineering of the toy is compromised, but ya gotta pay more for the electronics. While the engineering of Leader would definitely be above that of a Voyager, I'd say relative to the size and price, Voyagers can be better designed. The ONLY reason I didn't get Voyager TF1 Megatron and got the Leader was because of the non-removable ice kibble. And with ROTF I became a victim of my own spoiler-avoidance as I didn't realise there was going to be a Voyager, so when I saw the Leader figure, esp. on sale, I grabbed it straight away. Had I known I probably would've waited for the Voyager.

So I'm perfectly happy with the Voyager, and if they did release a Leader, I would be skeptical of its quality/value relative to the Voyager. But hey... HasTak are getting better with their designs in DotM... so who knows.

kaiden: That pic of Megs doing the "martial arts mastah" moves looks more like "Fabio's Dance of Lust." <Spanish.Flea> And there's something I would say about Megs holding Spike there... but it's too norti to post (yeah yeah, I'm a sick puppy )

[SkyWarp91]

Leader Class or GTFO.

+1

I much prefer a well made Voyager over a crappy overpriced Leader any day. How often have you purchased a Leader Class movie toy and thought, "Gee, that was totally well worth the $99 RRP!" (even if you bought it on sale, remember that the general asking price is $99). I got TF1 Optimus Prime, ROTF Optimus Prime and ROTF Megatron Leaders all at discount - which I'm glad for, but other Leaders I got at full price. And I cannot think of one Movie Leader which I would consider well worth shelling close to a hundred bucks for (the Optimus Primes come closest).

Is Voyager DotM Megatron worth $50? Debatable, but in terms of dollar value, I feel that I'm getting more bang for my buck than for a Leader. Put it this way - compare this toy to TF1 and ROTF Leader Megatron, and keep in mind that its RRP is approx. half the RRP of the Leaders. Yeah.

The problem with all the movie Leaders is that Hasbro insists on giving them big, heavy and chunky electronic sound gimmicks (which in the case of Sentinel Prime, makes him a tricky sucker to balance!) - and of course the engineering of the toy is compromised, but ya gotta pay more for the electronics. While the engineering of Leader would definitely be above that of a Voyager, I'd say relative to the size and price, Voyagers can be better designed. The ONLY reason I didn't get Voyager TF1 Megatron and got the Leader was because of the non-removable ice kibble. And with ROTF I became a victim of my own spoiler-avoidance as I didn't realise there was going to be a Voyager, so when I saw the Leader figure, esp. on sale, I grabbed it straight away. Had I known I probably would've waited for the Voyager.

Well for the last two movies both Megatron and Optimus have been leader class. And though some of the leader class figures weren't THAT great, their size was at least consistent between the two movies. Now with DOTM there isn't a leader-class Megaton which I find annoying. I don't hate Voyager DOTM Megatron but when I stand him next to Leader Class 2007 and ROTF Megatrons it does look silly.

The upside of Leader Class figures is that for most of them (well except ROTF PRime in my experience) the pieces are generally bigger, meaning that at least they're not so small they're likely to break.

[GoktimusPrime]

Well for the last two movies both Megatron and Optimus have been leader class. And though some of the leader class figures weren't THAT great, their size was at least consistent between the two movies. Now with DOTM there isn't a leader-class Megaton which I find annoying. I don't hate Voyager DOTM Megatron but when I stand him next to Leader Class 2007 and ROTF Megatrons it does look silly.

It honestly doesn't bother me. Having said that, I haven't played with my DotM Megatron in a campaign where he fights Optimus Prime yet... but it should be similar to making him fight The Fallen who's a Voyager.

The upside of Leader Class figures is that for most of them (well except ROTF PRime in my experience) the pieces are generally bigger, meaning that at least they're not so small they're likely to break.

Erm... I assume you meant that since Leader Class pieces aren't so small they're not as likely to break. Most Transformers made since Beast Wars are pretty sturdy (unless they're made of brittle plastic, but thankfully that's a rarity - and DotM certainly seems to free of brittle gold/brown plastic syndrome)... you'd have to be pretty merciless with a post-G2 Transformer to break 'em.

I've never understood why kids break their toys really... (-_-) It bugged me watching other kids break their Transformers when I was a kid, or worse still, break my Transformers (grr)... I'll never understand why some kids trash their toys

[SharkyMcShark]

I much prefer a well made Voyager over a crappy overpriced Leader any day. How often have you purchased a Leader Class movie toy and thought, "Gee, that was totally well worth the $ 99

Starscream, RotF Prime (especially Buster edition), Brawl

[GoktimusPrime]

I don't have Starscream nor have I handled him IRL out of box, so I can't comment on that toy.

ROTF Prime, as I mentioned in my previous post, the Leader Optimus Primes are the best made movie Leaders IMO - not sure if they're worth the full RRP though. I got them on sale for $80 each and felt thoroughly satisifed with that. One disappointing thing with ROTF Prime is the swords - how they interfere with arm articulation when retracted. And yes, we know you're Optimus Prime, now shut up!!

I've seen and handled Leader Brawl IRL, and I definitely don't think he's worth it. As the review for this toy on cliffbee.com states:

"A frustrating toy that so easily could have been fantastic. The basic transformation scheme of Brawl hasn't really been expanded upon here - instead the designer has crammed light and sound gimmicks in, and made them far too easy to trigger. The tank mode suffers visually as a result, so the smaller Deluxe works better as a tank despite not having the imposing size. The robot mode displays well, but the poseability is hurt by the lazy transformation and the designer's fetish for electronic gimmicks (the hip cannon). Throw the loose cannons into the mix and this is a very frustrating figure, even if you take the batteries out. Whilst it's not a bad toy, it's far from the great toy it should have been, and there's no way this figure is worth three times the Deluxe, which is more satisfying despite the problems it has with its shoulders. I'd recommend the deluxe over this figure - it's barely worth twice the price of the smaller toy (and that's mainly for the size difference), let alone four times - which is the difference in RRP. I actually find Leader Megatron more rewarding, because while Brawl takes a good idea and stuffs it up, Megatron takes a crappy idea and makes it respectable - 4.5/10"

(you can read this review in its entirety here)

So it's not that the Leaders are terrible... but I've yet to see one that I thought was absolutely worth paying close to a hundred bucks for. At any rate, TRU are selling Leader Sentinel Prime for $69.99 atm which I think is a great price for a Leader

[Tallestblue]

Wow. Gok. Seriously get yourself a Leader Class Starscream. It's...it's stunning...there aren't words for how awesome it is.

[kurdt_the_goat]

I much prefer a well made Voyager over a crappy overpriced Leader any day. How often have you purchased a Leader Class movie toy and thought, "Gee, that was totally well worth the $99 RRP!"

Pricing aside (which is less relevant for the different markets with better prices than Aus don't forget!), what you're saying is pretty silly. Who wouldn't prefer a well made toy over a crappy one? Higher cost just rubs salt in the wound! It works the other way - who would rather 4 crappy deluxes over Buster Prime?

That said, i've tried to avoid leaders (shelf space, cost) as much as possible because often, value-wise (not price-wise), it makes sense to get more good toys than a single good toy. But, there are other factors that come into play, such as one wanting a larger toy for scale, or the added transformation complexity the larger scale often (not always!) affords.

What i find interesting is, when i come across what i believe to be 'best of class' toys... say Buster Optimus for leader, WFC Optimus for deluxe, i wonder why, when i consider these toys 10/10, do i want other toys that are 8 or 9/10's? Character or some other aspects start to affect decisions!

Man, who thought deciding which toys to buy was such a difficult process!

[GoktimusPrime]

Pricing aside (which is less relevant for the different markets with better prices than Aus don't forget!),

Okay, but I live in Australia and I pay Australian retail prices. Thus I judge the value of the toy according to the standard prices in my region.

what you're saying is pretty silly. Who wouldn't prefer a well made toy over a crappy one? Higher cost just rubs salt in the wound! It works the other way - who would rather 4 crappy deluxes over Buster Prime?

Well I thought the argument was that Leaders than Voyagers simply because they're bigger, and I'm trying to say that bigger isn't necessarily better. But some people buy bigger toys even though they're not that good, just cos they're big. Combiner Devastator is a classic example of this (I should know... I bought him (on sale... still feel ripped)).

But, there are other factors that come into play, such as one wanting a larger toy for scale, or the added transformation complexity the larger scale often (not always!) affords.

Fair enough, and for that I personally find the Voyager size big enough. Like I said before, when I was playing ROTF, my Leader OP was rasslin' with Voyager The Fallen... no probs there. Commander Class Megatron is probably too small to tango with a Leader Prime though -- it's probably subjective depending on one's personal tolerance to size differentials.

I'm not fussed about Voyager DotM Megatron's size difference compared to Leader TF1 and ROTF Megatron though, since I'm not gonna be making him fight past incarnations of himself. Or am I...

Man, who thought deciding which toys to buy was such a difficult process!

Don't you miss the old days when there was just ONE version of each Transformer toy/character to collect!

Damn you, Beast Machines!! *shakes.fist*

[Lord_Zed]

I'm not fussed about Voyager DotM Megatron's size difference compared to Leader TF1 and ROTF Megatron though, since I'm not gonna be making him fight past incarnations of himself. Or am I...

*

I'll be buying my Voyager DOTM Megs specifically to pose fighting HFTD Voayger Prime from the previous movie, Shockwave is already to go, but can I get a better Starscream?

Don't you miss the old days when there was just ONE version of each Transformer toy/character to collect!

Damn you, Beast Machines!! *shakes.fist*

Well if they are improvements its not an issue, however if they are much the same, or even somehow lacking compared to their predecessors as a few DOTM toys look like they might be, then yes I do.

[SkyWarp91]

Well I thought the argument was that Leaders than Voyagers simply because they're bigger, and I'm trying to say that bigger isn't necessarily better. But some people buy bigger toys even though they're not that good, just cos they're big.

I know some of the biggest toys aren't even that great, but like my sister I have an OCD-like tendency to keep things 'neat' , and with my TFs I want them in scale as much as possible, even though the scaling isn't perfect. I don't collect Legion figures unless it's the ROTF Legends Class Wheelie or HFTD LEgends Class Ravage.