Blokees, you magnificent bastards. You did it again.
This Chinese model kit company has been making waves and making exciting model kits of everything from the Avengers to Saint Seiya. But the one franchise they shine the brightest in is Transformers, which I'm a huge fan of. Hot off the heels of their bigger, badder Action Edition Optimus Prime, Blokees whet everyone's appetites by releasing a follow-up: Action Edition G1 Megatron!
The leader of the Autobots won't be complete without his sworn nemesis, so you're damn right I snapped Megatron up the moment I saw him in the toy aisle. So, have Blokees outdid themselves with Action Edition 02? Read on to find out!
Right off the bat, the box itself is already a pointed improvement over Action Edition 01. The graphics and colors are more exciting this time around. Would have wanted a smaller box for display, TBH, but I understand that Blokees needs this much box to handle the amount of plastic needed to build the Decepticon leader!
As with all of Blokees' model kits so far, everything you need to build Action Edition Megatron is at your fingertips. Literally. Parts snap off from their sprues nice and clean with no need for tools, and peg into each other with (relative) ease. Watching Megatron become solid in your hands slowly but surely is a treat. Okay, I should have worded that better...
There's no denying it: Blokees Action Edition Megatron is a model kit maker's dream. The design and details are ripped straight from Generation 1 (or at least, from Hasbro's Masterpiece version)! This is Megatron as you remember him, from the doodads on his torso to his fresh AF eyebrows.
Megatron's proportions are less cartoony than his Action Edition predecessor, making him look a bit more premium this time around. But that also means that Optimus Prime looks more like a toy when placed side-by-side with this figure.
Til now it blows my mind how much articulation Blokees packs with their Action Edition figures. Action Edition Megatron has so much articulation that yo Double jointed elbows and knees, waist swivel, and an ab crunch means this bad dude can Pose with a capital P.
My copy, however, has some pretty loose hip joints that make him difficult to stand and pose. Not enough to be a floppy piece of crap, but enough to be concerned about how it holds up in the future. Here's hoping yours doesn't go the same way.
Like the Transformers Mech Alive gimmicks of old, even Megatron's fusion cannon sports some transforming tricks of its own. Pull the "sight" and the barrel opens up to reveal the gunmetal inner workings underneath. I don't know which configuration looks more badass. What do you think?
One obvious upgrade from the first Action Edition is Megatron's hands and fingers. No longer needing chunks of plastic to represent fingers, Action Edition Megatron sports fully articulated digits!
All well and good, but you need to understand—they came that way on the sprue. I didn't put this together; Megatron's fingers were attached to the sprue fully assembled and articulated. I don't know what kind of magic Blokees employed to do this, but my old and tired fingers thank you!
Speaking of upgrades, Megatron sports not one, not two, but three different face plates for each of his moods! There's a happy face for when his victory over the Autobots is all but assured, a stoic face for when he's listening to Starscream whinging, and a rage face for when his victory over the Autobots has been snatched from his hands.
And just like the previous Action Edition release, Megatron also sports an LED casing inside his torso that allows light to pipe through his neck and through his eyes and chest! The red eyes lit up look really good, and I wish I could display him lit up all the time!
All of the faces are sculpted nicely and are easy enough to swap around. I say easy enough because...
...his aforementioned face plates don't tab into place correctly, jutting out in an uncomfortable way. I tried shaving off some plastic, but it still doesn't look right. Whatever you do, do NOT attempt to push the faces all the way in. You WILL hurt your fingers and will definitely damage the face plates or the head trying to pry them out.
As a consequence to the face plate not falling into place correctly, the piece that forms Megatron's forehead and noggin doesn't sit well either. It's frustrating to see, and it's a blemish on an otherwise great-looking figure.
I could stay mad, but it's hard to do when Action Edition Megatron comes with so...much...STUFF.
The amount of extras Megatron comes with absolutely blows the first Action Edition out of the water. Almost all of them are relevant accessories that elevate the display in ways that's hard to enumerate, but I'll try to do so one at a time.
First up is a semi-articulated figure of everyone's favorite Decepticon bird, Laserbeak! This little birdie can perch on Megatron's arm, flap its wings, and move its head up and down, but not much else. It's still a great little figure deserving of Megatron's most loyal soldiers!
Next is a figure of a Kremzeek, those little energy demons that appeared in an episode of Transformers that one time! Around an inch in height and cast in translucent yellow plastic, this little dude's got too much of a shit-eating grin for someone who can barely stand on its own two feet.
Megatron also comes with some significant weaponry: a pistol and his signature Energon mace! The pistol is cast in purple and silver plastic and tabs neatly into either of his hands, while the mace is cast from translucent deep purple plastic and is articulated enough for some action poses. To use the mace, just replace either of Megatron's hands with the mace and off you go!
And we're not done. Megatron also comes with a little camera that's supposed to be the Decepticon Reflector. I would have loved it if it had at least some kind of insignia showing it's a Decepticon. As it is, anyone not versed in their Transformers would wonder why Megatron is packaged with a vintage Ricoh SLR camera.
Finally, we come to the pièce de résistance of this set: a full-sized throne for Megatron! Cast in purple plastic, it's a replica of the command chair from the Decepticon flagship Nemesis. It's hollow and is meant to store all the aforementioned accessories Megatron comes with. Awesome!
With some finagling, Megatron can sit in the chair well enough if not for the giant gun barrel sticking out his back. Still, it's a very imposing display piece that lets Megatron be the Decepticon leader he should be!
I'm torn with this one. In spite of the looseness of the joints and the face plate problem, the Blokees Action Edition Megatron is a major upgrade from the Optimus Prime kit. Still, you would think the model kit company knows well enough how much a micrometer of plastic can mean the difference between a great figure and a disappointing one.
But the more I look at it on my desk, fighting Optimus Prime until either one of them stands or falls, this model kit brings me joy to own. The market for non-transforming converting Transformers have been eating real good thanks to Blokees, and as long as they keep releasing well-designed model kits of Transformers characters, I'll keep buying.
Find the Blokees G1 Megatron Action Edition model kit at Blokees.com or wherever you find your imported model kits. I hope you find this review helpful. Stay safe out there and thanks for reading!
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