Toy Review - Titans Return Galvatron

[GoktimusPrime]

GALVATRON
Series – Titans Return
Size/class - Voyager
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 1
Released here – August 2016
Approximate Retail Price - $50
Approximate Size - 18.5cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-modes – Space cannon, Space fighter
Main Features/Gimmicks – Headmaster
Main Colours – Purple, grey, red
Main Accessories – particle cannon, Titan Master "Nucleon"

This is bad comedy
I really don't know why Galvatron needs to be a Headmaster. The idea of making G1 characters who were previously not Headmasters into Headmasters holds no appeal to me whatsoever and kinda feels like it's cheapening the whole Headmaster thing, because in G1 being a Headmaster was cooler because it was a rare ability or feature. Now that every 'bot and his dog is becoming a Headmaster it makes it feel less special.

I've got some ideas to explain the Headmaster thing for my TR Galvatron in the Gokiverse (which I'll post later in the Creative section), but really... it's just an unnecessary gimmick IMO, and for Galvatron it proves more of a hindrance. This is due to the flip up mask which gives Galvatron Batman neck. Well, nearly as bad. He can turn his a leeeeettle bit to the sides, but not much.

I can understand the necessity of having an adornment for Galvatron, because with the sole exception of Fortress Maximus, Headmasters are blockheads. The only way to add better aesthetics to these heads are to either give them detachable helmets which can become part of the vehicle modes (as seen in the 1988 Autobot Headmasters), or have a helmet that clips over from above (as seen with TR Powermaster Optimus Prime) -- but the nature of Galvatron's transformation to jet mode makes the rear-mounting helmet feature from PM OP non feasible. And the more ornate shape of the mask makes it less practical to be used as say a cockpit seat. The 1988 Autobots' helmets are still pretty blocky. So unfortunately it appears to be a necessary evil in terms of having a Headmaster Galvatron with a more ornate and G1 accurate looking head, oh wait... there is something that would've worked -- don't make him a Headmaster!

Okay, I'll shut up about that now.

Aforementioned issues aside, this is a reasonably good Galvatron toy. It is a darn sight better than the Deluxe Generations figure (which I've never hated) and is currently the closest thing we have to a media-accurate G1 Galvatron toy. To this end it actually does a pretty good job. The robot design appears to be more greatly influenced by Kohara Shouhei's design rather than Floro Dery's. I think this works well because Dery's design shows Galvatron with these very round legs. This would be incredibly challenging to replicate in a toy (even for an MP) because the rear section of Galvatron's cannon mode is meant to be blocky. Kohara's blockier Galvatron legs are far easier to translate into a toy, and quite frankly just looks better than Dery's.

Dery→←Kohara

I've heard someone criticise the location of the particle cannon as it obstructs the arm from bending, and this is true, but being a 5mm post the cannon can also be held in the hands to free up the elbows.

Nucleon resembles Megatron's head without the mask, and indeed looks like a mini Megatron in humanoid mode. Unfortunately there is virtually NO paint ops on this figurine except for the eyes. This has got to be the blandest thing I've ever seen on a Transformer since the G1 Decoys. This figurine desperately needs some colours.

The cannon mode looks pretty neat - it's a good representation of how Galvatron's cannon mode looked like in G1 media. The legs don't retract in this mode and as such the rear section of the cannon feels too long. The legs on mine don't clip together very strongly either. The starfighter mode looks like an 80s style spaceship.

...the "wings" look unconvincing though. But I guess spaceships don't need aerodynamics.

OVERALL
While the robot mode does visually look impressive, the Headmaster gimmick (which isn't even cross compatible with other Titan Masters) is both superfluous and hindering and the alt modes are underwhelming. If Universe Galvatron was a Deluxe that should've been a Voyager, then Titans Return Galvatron is a Voyager that should've been a Deluxe.


PICTURES

Robot mode - that is literally as far as the head can turn with the mask on


Without the mask


Cannon mode


Spaceship spaceship spaceship!


Nucleon: The Search for Colour


Spot the difference


Apparently if you hold Galvatron upside in spaceship mode he becomes a gun

Or more accurately, just an upside down spaceship...

[prjkt]

by "The legs don't retract in this mode and as such the rear section of the cannon feels too long" I take it you haven't been collapsing his legs the way you do for Jet mode?

If this is the case, give it a shot that way - condenses the size a little bit, and seems to be the proper way to work the figure on both the Hasbro and Takara versions I have.

When I get some more time I'll do a detailed comparison post of the two releases.

[GoktimusPrime]

I just tried it... I heard a loud snap then a rattling sound from somewhere in the toy. I re-extended the legs and now the rattling seems to have stopped. I did notice that when the legs were retracted that they couldn't close together, so it seems that the toy is designed to have the legs extended and closed (as per the instructions too). Erhmm... I'm not gonna try that again.

[SMHFConvoy]

I think the toy wasn't originally intended to be part of TR because of the whopping great chest cavity that would fit Galvatron's head easily. Robot mode and canon mode is really nice though

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I think the toy wasn't originally intended to be part of TR because of the whopping great chest cavity that would fit Galvatron's head easily. Robot mode and canon mode is really nice though

I'd concur with this as well.

It wouldn't surprise me if Ultra Magnus and Galvatron were going to be part of a line where all the TFs came with a controlling robot, but it kind of evolved into the Headmasters thing. Or something like that.

[Maruten]

The robot mode looks really nice until you get above the neck. I don't think either of the alt modes are great. I've been waiting for a great G1 Galvatron but I think this is probably the biggest disappointment for me in TR so far.

[GoktimusPrime]

I agree that simply having a fold down head instead of the Headmaster gimmick would've been MUCH better. I think the cannon mode is adequate - aside from the long rear/leg section it's reasonably G1-media accurate, which is not easy to achieve because much of Galvatron's bulk disappears in cannon mode (the legs seem to be entire absent). Strangely enough, in the G1 cartoon Galvatron's colours change between robot and cannon mode. He's purple in robot mode but toy-accurately grey in cannon mode! I doubt even a Masterpiece would be able to replicate this, let alone a much cheaper Voyager.

The spaceship mode is pretty forgettable, but appears to be something chucked in at the last minute to give the Titan Master a vehicle to pilot. Half of it is just the front fuselage kibble which sits on the back of the robot and bottom of the cannon, and the rest is the rest of the toy deformed in awkward way pretending to be a spaceship. It reminds me of the vehicle modes from the Beast Wars Transmetals. And in all fairness, this mode isn't too intrusive. I suspect that the legs might've been able to fold up (similar to the CW Aerialbots' legs) if not for the spaceship mode.

But other than the head and legs, I think that Galvatron is a pretty solid toy. The head bothers me way more than the superfluous front fuselage or legs though. If they were to re-release this mould without the Headmaster gimmick where the entire head maintains full articulation and folds into the chest, then I'd be all over that toy like Michael Bay on innuendo.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S.: Here is a mod job someone's done on their TR Galvatron to improve it and make it more G1-accurate. The main differences appear to be the complete removal of the front fuselage section and modification of the head and pauldrons as shoulder pylons. The simplicity of neutering the cockpit section actually shows just how unobtrusive it is, whereas reversing the Headmaster gimmick required a lot more work. Rebuilding the pauldrons as pylons also seems laborious, but looking a pics of the cannon mode they don't seem to sit as flush as the pauldrons.

[crankcase76]

The robot mode looks really nice until you get above the neck. I don't think either of the alt modes are great. I've been waiting for a great G1 Galvatron but I think this is probably the biggest disappointment for me in TR so far.

^+1, I wish I had not bought it when I transformed it.... Looks good in Alt mode but the head master thing just sucks.

[GoktimusPrime]

Okay, I finally worked out how to transform the legs properly. The trick for me was to flip the hip panels out. But it was still tricky to get the legs to clip together properly and even caused a stress mark around one of the tabs. The cannon mode is incredibly back heavy. I hadn't noticed it before when I had the legs transformed incorrectly because the extended legs rested on the ground like a tripod, but with the legs retracted properly it makes the back heaviness far more noticeable as there's nothing to support the rear section anymore. There's a catch on the bottom which is supposed to act as a supporting strut, but it's about as useful as the second 'r' in "library." So with the arms in a normal configuration (i.e. perpendicular to the body), the cannon ends up falling over backwards like this...

Although I was able to make it stand upright but moving the arms forward, but then it also causes the cannon to aim slightly downwards.

Making Galvatron's cannon mode stand up should not need to be a balancing act!

I was making a side by side comparison between this toy and Universe Galvatron.

And in terms of value for money, the Deluxe - even with its flaws - is arguably a better toy. The main criticism towards Universe Galvatron has been its size and how it might've been a better toy if it had been a Voyager. The reverse feels true for Titans Return Galvatron; I think that this toy might've been better if it were a Deluxe. There's nothing really in this toy that could not have been achieved at the Deluxe size class, really. The way that the legs fold up is similar to what we see in many Deluxe Class Combiner Wars figures; it's definitely possible for Deluxes to have heads that can fold into their chests (heck, Fuzor Silverbolt does it and that toy came out in 1998!); the way that the fists flip is seen in Deluxes like TR Hardhead; having a detachable cannon is achievable in any size class... there's just nothing about this mould that justifies its Voyager price point (other than fanboys who would whinge that it's too small).

Universe Galvatron's tank mode is far more solid and satisfying that TR Galvatron's unbalanced space cannon mode. There are a lot of clever features in Universe Galvatron's transformation which allows him to transform from a grey tank to a predominantly purple robot, such as the way that parts of the tank treads manage to fold away, or how the arms tuck away etc.

My Nucleon also doesn't clip onto Galvatron tightly, it actually feels loose. Not so loose that it'd fall out, but there's no feeling of it clipping tightly into place. I tried swapping heads with Hardhead and it was impossible. Galvatron's head clip is too large for Furos and Nucleon's head is too large to clip onto Hardhead. So it appears that Galvatron and Nucleon aren't even cross compatible with other Titan Masters, so what's the bloody point of making him a Headmaster, then?!?

Methinks I need to downgrade my previous rating of this toy...

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

you must be doing something wrong there Gokster, the heads are cross compatible. I've swapped mine over with many figures. Well two headmasters no problem.

Labeling this guy worse than universe Galvatron is harsh I think, Look at your own picture. Uni Galvs' legs aren't working and he's just looking sad and depressed.