I put some crappy pics up over at TFW...
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transf...ml#post7897959
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
I put some crappy pics up over at TFW...
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transf...ml#post7897959
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Hey Sutton, very interested in your observations!
Does it come packaged in robot mode?Originally Posted by Sutton
What sort of plastic are the ball joint sockets and the ball joints themselves?
How easy/difficult is it to get those tabs apart?
Can the joints mentioned be adjusted to be tighter?
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Mine was posted the other day. Im kinda stressed about him arriving okay. Glad yours made it.
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I'm sure most of the loose joints could be rectified with a bit of nail polish or whatever. None of them are deal breakers. A few people are reporting issues with the left leg not extending fully after transformation.
The tabs are really hard to line up and push in, but mine is made harder by the ball joint wanting to pop out all the time. Once in gun mode he's pretty sturdy, although the weight of the silencer makes the muzzle prone to flopping.
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Yes, he comes packaged in robot mode, and the packaging has NO pics of the gun mode whatsoever. In fact, the orange plug is the give away that he turns into a gun at all.
I'm not sure under what law customs could hold this guy to be honest. It's not a replica firearm like MP Megs was. There's far more realistic kid's guns available in shops locally than this guy. But we're all a bit nervous after the MP5 debacle, I guess (which I also imported with no hassles).
From what I recall, customs picked up on MP5 shipments based on the silhouette of the metal parts of the toy, so they could see it was him without needing to open the package. Hegemon is all plastic so it would be hard for them to do that. Plus it's a much more niche, limited run than MP was. The danger is that some idiot officer will open the parcel to check, and think that it is MP Megatron
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Standard plastic. It's not the (worrisome) red stuff that the elbows have. Couldn't tell you what type of plastic specifically or it's chemical compositionFeels similar to the FP Bruticus stuff, not so much like the FP Insecticon stuff. It's got that slight 'powdery' feel, but in a high-quality sort of way.
The red elbow plastic does seem quite soft, the joints it plugs into are standard black plastic but I have doubts for the strength of the joint over time. It is only for posing purposes however, not transformation, and the elbows can't extend past 180 degrees, so worst case scenario is that he won't be able to hold a bent elbow pose. This is mainly a worry for the cannon arm since it has more weight to hold. I'm sure the right arm will be perfectly fine.
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I am really tired to do a proper review of Hegemon at the moment but I did take several pics.
I will write something detailed tomorrow but for those wondering - He has some flaws but is certainly worth it!
Here is a sample pic:
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This made my day! Was worried then I got the one saying in transit
Date # Location Delivery Status
18-Jun-2012 Hong Kong Item posted and is being processed.
18-Jun-2012 Hong Kong In transit.
19-Jun-2012 Hong Kong Processed for departure.
19-Jun-2012 Hong Kong The item left Hong Kong for its destination on 20-Jun-2012
21-Jun-2012 Australia Arrived and is being processed.
22-Jun-2012 Australia Pending customs inspection.
22-Jun-2012 Australia In transit.
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I managed to take my Hegemon out today and have a play, still early days though.
First thoughts are I'll go with the consensus that he is good but he does have flaws.
My limited observations thus far.
On the pro side he is really nice looking in robot mode, this company has it's own aesthetic different to the others. They have really captured Megatrons bulk and power in this toy he looks like a real ex-gladiator Decepticon powerhouse, even Henkei Megs seems spry and thin compared to this guy. He doesn't have the same mecha aesthetics that Fansproject and Perfect Effect but Still very nice. I particularly like the face sculpt. His alt mode is better than expected too. Articulation is decent but not spectacular. His transformation is pretty nice too, all save for those damn hip panels.
On the cons side as has been said the plastic does not feel as nice as many other 3rd parties. For some reason it reminds me of some of the stuff Hasbro used during Beast Wars, but I could be wrong. Mine is also a little loose in a few joints, namely the swivel joint that attaches to this fusion cannon, this could have been solved with a extra tab to lock it in place on his arm, but oh well, it is strong enough for display. The biggest weakness of the toy in my mind are the ball jointed panel pieces on the hips, they seem to pop out of the ball socket easily which makes the transformation a little frustrating.
Overall I'm pretty happy though. I don't think Hegemon is quite as polished as the more established third parties like FP and PE however from the standpoint of a first release from a new company he is quite impressive.
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Finally got some time to write this!
At long last we are beginning to receive Hegemon and although it does indeed have flaws, they do not deter too much from the figure despite it's high cost. For me, it is certainly the most accurate representation of the G1 Megatron character model as well as being very competently designed.
As it has already been said, this toy does not have as nice quality plastic as FansProject and overall is more comparable to that of a standard Hasbro toy which isn't exactly great but it is adequate. The plastic is not a dull, lite Hasbro grey but it is a 'flat' grey rather than having a nice metallic finish like the Masterpiece. The plastic also has that strange 'swirl' on the surface as seen in some of the Beast Wars and newer figures (as recent as Generations) that has that dark grey.
Robot Mode:
At first the figure does seem rather dull looking due to the dominant grey color which gives you a bit of an initial boring perception of Hegemon. However once it's out of the package, it really does 'come alive'. The poseability is fantastic and much more versatile than the Classics and Masterpiece toys when it comes to dynamic poses. He does have some restrictions given the panels that just hang from his waist but thankfully they can be moved around as they are on swiveled ball joints. The ratcheting joints can also be restrictive due to the lack of smooth movement but they are no where near as bad as Classics Megatron and the poseable feet compensates for that.
He does have a couple of notable flaws and they are associated with the clear elbow joints that we did identify as an issue early on - The elbow swivel 'disc' joint is loose but as Zed mentioned, they are not so loose that they prevent you from posing the toy. However they are 'border line' to that so I can see them becoming an issue later on unless the disc joint is re-enforced.
The other similar associated issue with the joint which is not a problem as of now but I can see it becoming a problem later is the ratchet for the elbows. The 'gear' holding this joint is part of the clear plastic elbow and I can see that being 'sanded' down over time as the joint is used, specially since clear plastic is more prone to wear than regular plastic on a pressure joint. Fortunately the clear red plastic appears thicker than the standard Hasbro clear plastic but I am still not confident on it's long term durability.
Accessories:
Some 3rd parties have made themselves well known due to clever use of accessories such as FansProject but specially PerfectEffect. Hegemon does come with a nice set of weapons but they are nowhere as clever or original as the other 3rd parties but despite that, they are still decent and do the job for the most part.
The Energon weapons such as the flail and sword are much more impressive in person than the photos we have seen. They are of this very rich clear dark violet which has a nice 'crystalline' look to it. The flail chain is made of metal and looks very nice but I would have preferred a slightly longer chain but this is till better than the ridiculousness that was the MP-5 flail chain length.
As you can see by the picture bellow, Hegemon looks very impressive equipped with the Energon weapons and certainly helps to brighten him up:
Unfortunately the pieces that would form the gun extensions are pretty much useless in robot mode. Unlike G1 (or Masterpiece 3rd party extensions), you can't assemble the parts into a big canon for Hegemon to use in robot mode but only serve as a form of stand for weapon storage. This is a little disappointing but not a deal breaker as it doesn't really take away from the rest of the toy. The silencer attachment seems to be of no use in robot mode.
Having said the above, I am not completely certain if there are any more uses for the gun extensions than weapon storage so if anyone knows something please let us know.
The scope is fairly straight forward and not that different to G1 in which you can see through it but similar to the Classics/Henkei Megatron as it has a red clear plastic 'lens' within but it is not really functional.
Robot Mode Pics
Hegemon with Henkei Megatron:
Hegemon with MP-05 Masterpiece Megatron (MP chain has been shortened from default):
Transformation to Gun Mode:
Something that I found very impressive on this toy is the engineering in it's transformation. It is a bit of a clever mixture between that of the Classics/Henkei and Masterpiece toy. They seem to have picked up the best from both designs and compensated for the flaws by applying their own unique and very clever engineering.
I will highlight some of the notable engineering:
The chest piece disconnects from the waist and re-positions very similarly to that of Classics while one of the arms is handled similarly to G1/MP by 'popping off' from the shoulder but they add completely unique engineering which allows it to 'swing' from the right side of the body to the left so it can join with the other arm and form the back of the gun similar to G1/MP. This can be little tricky as it is unusual but once you get the hang of it, it is very easy. This new design gets rid of that back metal 'T' frame that the G1 and MP Megatrons share which can make the transformation a bit awkward.
The legs are fairly straight forward as you just turn and join the together. Then you just push them into the gun body as the legs are 'telescopic'. To finish off, you just tidy them up by covering some exposed bits with the waist panels.
As Zed mentioned, nuisances during transformation are the waist/gun handle panels that have a tendency to pop off during transformation which is annoying. Another problem is that the barrel of the gun also has a tendency to pop off while transforming. However they are not major issues and they do not appear too fragile to break.
Overall a very clever and relatively fun transformation. It is also fairly fast with non of the frustrations associated with the Masterpiece design. Certainly the most cleverly engineered gun 'Megatron' to date. I would say that this is probably the design that they should have done for the Masterpiece, at least for the upper body and waist as it is complex without being frustrating and it gets the job done.
Gun Mode:
The gun mode is not as accurate to the real thing as G1 or Masterpice but it still looks like a somewhat realistic Walther P38 inspired gun. Although the gun mode still shows robot kibble like Megatron's 'belly' it is subtle enough not to be immediately noticed as it blends in with the rest of the barrel/trigger assembly.
The gun handle is probably the biggest inaccuracy and 'give away' that this is a toy. It is rather square and not as orthopedic looking as the gun handles on G1/MP but it doesn't deter too much from the overall look. I can understand the decisions as this is the compromise made in order to give the robot mode proportionate thicker legs. This was probably done due to much of the criticism towards MP-05 being about the thin disproportionate legs. However despite the 'square' handle, it is still comfortable enough to hold in your hand.
The gun mode is very clever and nicely done. The way that a fairly hefty robot managed to transform into such a sleek gun with minimal to no kibble really shows how excellently engineered this toy is.
The only complaint that I would have is that the trigger does not click!
When it comes to the gun extensions, the barrel assembly attaches by pulling apart the silencer. When you remove the tip of it's barrel, the silencer splits in two which you can then reassemble on the gun. It is straight forward and you don't necessarily have to dis-assemble the silencer to attach it but it is the recommended method on the instructions.
Unfortunately the gun handle attachment (the weapon stand) is not that well executed. It attaches by pegging into holes under the gun handle which is a new and not a bad way of doing so but the overall look of the shoulder rest is a little bad and looses a lot of realism. I understand that the shoulder rest was compromised so that the extension can also serve as a weapons stand in robot mode but even that wasn't that clever and certainly not worth affecting the look of it as a gun extension. Despite this, it also seems as if even with the extension serving as a weapons stand, they could have done better by just adding a few more joints to better shape the shoulder rest but maybe they ran out of budget.
The shoulder rest extension is probably the biggest flaw on this set for me as it serves little purpose for robot mode and yet they compromised it's primary function as a gun extension for it.
Gun mode pics
Megatron Gun Comparisons:
Masterpice, Hegemon and G1 gun modes with extensions:
More pictures:
Last edited by kup; 21st July 2012 at 11:51 AM.
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