Ice man cometh.

Almost no one liked this guy when he came out. Of the three original Movie Leader characters, Megatron here was considered the worst by a wide margin.

It’s been over a decade now since his release. Let’s see if all the complaints back then were warranted shall we?

Vehicle mode

Okay, yeah. What even is this thing right? Well, it’s an alien jet. That’s what it is.

Now, you can’t blame the toy for the design of the jet mode. Even on the big screen with all of his robot parts magicked inside him, people still took issue with the alt mode. Particularly the exposed head. Leader Megatron was fighting a losing battle from the start.

Well, he is pretty close to his on-screen model. The shape and detail are there. It’s just bulked up by the robot mode kibble. It’s particularly bad underneath the wings. Those are pretty much all of Megatron’s legs.

Oh right, there are tiny wheels to roll Megatron in jet mode.

Yaaaaaaaay.

Transformation

When Megatron here came out, all the reviews I read absolutely hated the transformation on this figure. It was too complicated, it was too finicky, it was too hard.

I admit the transformation was more complex than I thought it would be. However, it’s not that bad. Some of the ROTF and HFTD releases were much worse than this.

It’s actually a pretty fun time. I absolutely love the Automorph on this guy. It makes his transformation look that much more impressive.

Robot mode

Megatron brings to mind the words creepy and imposing. Sharp edges, alien detailing and a highly unsettling head make Megatron seem more Resident Evil than Transformer. For better or worse, the blue and pink paint details make Megatron look less scary and more like a toy. The rest of his paint picks out his molded detail very nicely, particularly his face. The shade of grey used for the plastic leaves a bit to be desired though.

Now, people ragged and hated on Leader Megatron for his excessive backpack and kibble. I’ll tell you right now, the back kibble is bad. While it does fold and compact as best it can, it’s still obnoxious. With the benefit of hindsight however, it’s not the worst backpack we Transformers fans have seen. Also, I don’t mind the arm kibble. It bulks up his arms and hides his weapons. I’ll talk about those later though.

For posability, Megatron commits a terrible sin at Leader Class size. A sin I could barely forgive at Legends size. He does not have head articulation. His head is plugged in place for robot mode. You can kind of fake articulation for his head by unplugging the head and positioning it just right. But that really isn’t something that should happen on a figure this size.

The rest of his posability is okay. His arms go in and out to the sides, they rotate at the shoulders, rotate at the bicep, bend at the elbow as well as have finger articulation. His legs go in and out at the hips, rotate at the thigh and bend at the elbow. Megatron has pretty limited posability to begin with since he’s missing head, waist and feet articulation but the heavy, large backpack hamper the posability even more. Posability is definitely not a strong point of Leader Megatron. DOTM Commander Megatron poses better than him.

Gimmicks

The most famous gimmicks of the Leader Class figures of yesteryear were of course the lights and sounds action. Megatron has two. Pressing a button in jet mode activates a “metal shrieking” sound and flashing lights. “Metal shriek” is the best description I’ve found for the noise. It’s also triggered when the Automorph in his chest is activated. The sound is… unique. I could do without it.

I already mentioned the Automorph was fun just now. Megatron has 4 parts in his transformation with Automorph technology. First, folding his nosecone folds up his wings automatically. Second, his feet auto-transform when his knees are straightened. Third, pressing the button near his waist auto-transforms his chest and brings out some red spikes next to his head.

Megatron’s fourth Automorph gimmick is in one of weapons, his fusion cannon. Pulling on a switch on his left arm kibble pod transforms the kibble pod into his fusion cannon. Megatron also has a melee weapon. His right hand comes out and is connected to some “chain”. Pressing the black switch activates some “whipping action”. Yes, the kibble pods are kind off obnoxious. But the fact they conceal the robot mode weapons is very cool. If the kibble is gonna be there, at least make use of it.

Writing this section reminds me just how full of gimmicks the older modern Transformers were. Yes, they compromised the Transformers somewhat, especially Megatron here. But these toys were fun.

Toy or collectible?

Honestly, I don’t think he’s either at this point. But I also think he is both. If that doesn’t make sense, that’s because it doesn’t. I’ll try and explain anyway.

As a toy for kids, I think he’d be pretty frustrating to transform and his jet mode is kind off underwhelming. However, he’s also got a heft and feel toys don’t have these days. He’s also cool looking and packed to the gills with gimmicks. So I think kids could have a lot of fun with this guy.

As a collectible, the MPM is out and looks to absolutely annihilate this Megatron in every way possible. Collectors will probably be better off with that guy. However, he’s the first iteration of the Bayverse Megatron. Megatron is also pretty neat time capsule of the 2007 to 2009 era of Transformers. They just don’t make mainline Transformers like this anymore. So maybe he’s got a place in an adults collection for nostalgia purposes.

Closing

I like Movie 2007 Leader Megatron. I’m not sure how much of that is nostalgia for wanting him for more than 10 years, but I like him.

He’s a mixed bag for sure. Some of the stuff he puts on offer is great while some of it brings about a resounding meh. Use your discretion with this one, but I am happy to have this guy in my collection.