Darkness Megatron’s alt mode is an odd looking Cybertronian space jet. I’ve never really been thrilled with its design, but I do have to admit that the larger Darkness figure seems more thought out than the smaller Deluxe Megs. Or at the very least he doesn’t have that cobbled together feel.
Darkness Megs comes with two accessories, both of which are Arms Micron figures. First off is Gola 2, a robotic gorilla that transforms into his arm cannon. Gola 2 is very similar in design to Gola 1, which came with Deluxe Megatron. There are two major differences though. Gola 2 is larger, and he also doesn’t have the two wing-like attachments that form the blade. Gola also comes with a sticker that allows for him to have a metallic eye.
Megatron’s second accessory is the Arms Micron Hades, a huge bat that can turn into a double bladed scythe. I think Hades may be the largest Micron in the series up to this point, and he’s definitely an intimidating looking figure in either mode. What makes him even cooler is that he attaches to Megatron’s, giving him demonic wings. Hades is also entirely made out of translucent purple, so he adds even more of that glowing energon feel to Megatron’s look.
Packed in my shipment with Darkness Megatron was also my order for three individual Arms Micron figures. Gabu, who transforms into a horseshoe crab and bladed crossbow looking gun. Baru, who can become a falcon or cleaver. Dai changes into a crocodile or four barreled gun. All three of these Decepticons have interesting designs and alt modes, but they definitely aren’t the best Microns I’ve seen.
I ordered these three specific ones specific figures because they combine to form a gargantuan sword called the Dark Matter Calibur. This Decepticon blade, which is nearly as tall as Megatron, is the coolest Arms Micron construct I’ve seen so far. The thing is a properly massive anime sword and makes Darkness Megatron, an already imposing figure, even more badass. I don’t see how Optimus could defend against a weapon like this, even with his special shield.
All around I’m extremely happy with Darkness Megatron. The only real issue I had with the figure is that his joints are a bit too weak, but aside from that he’s just right. He’s the perfect size for my collection, and the added translucent and chrome bits just make him look even more powerful. Then there’s his extra Micron, Hades the bat. He’s a figure that’s almost too big to even be called a minicon, and he turns into a double bladed scythe. What’s not to love there? Plus, with the Dark Matter Calibur sword in hand, he looks unstoppable.
Darkness Megs will be a bit more expensive since he’s an import. But if you’re really interested in the Prime line, he’s definitely worth the higher price.
-Vault
That chrome looks very nice. I’ll have to be content with the Hasbro version, but I’d think twice if I didn’t have it already. Great review, and I like the way you use those stands to make your figs hover/fly.
Great review of a bloody nifty bunch of toys, with some excellent pictures!
It’s a wrench, but I’m going to have to pass on these. Nowadays, I have to plan storage space allocation practically to the square centimeter.
Or even the cubic centimeter.
Impressive figures.
Too bad I’ll never own them due to cost and just not liking the last few iterations of Mag’s alt-mode. As you hinted at, he’s been more bot-mode who transforms into cyber-kibble tank/jet/whatever with no real thought to practical design, as if he never seems to transform. This version does seem to have SOME thought put into his alt-mode, but not enough for me to care.
In fact, I’ve passed on more than a few TFs that rely too heavily on the more insectoid Bayformers. That look has never appealed to me. Actually, I read this morning that he’s not going in a completely new direction, but the human cast will be replaced, but not all the Bayformers, or something like that? The article was vague at best as this was apparently a recent decision, probably brought about by people telling him TMNT fans were revolting over his ALIEN “Ninja Turtles” project.
anyway….Hades looks like a nice update to Ratbat, but again, he doesn’t really click with me. This time due to the translucent plastic he’s comprised of with no paint apps, so it’s hard to make out features in a series of photos, no matter how well they’re taken.
The other three Microns hearken back to …was it the first RID series? They had minicon trios that merged into a sword, too, among other items. Mine were all “lost in storage”, so working from vague memories about a decade old, here. Baru looks to be the best of the lot in alt-mode, possibly a Laserbeak/Buzzsaw update? The other two are passable in either mode, but the combined sword is impressive.
Hades is really impressive in person. Fun to play with, too. The pics don’t really do him justice.
You’re talking about the three jet Minicons that combined into the Star Saber?
There were also the three racing vehicles that combined into the Skyboom Shield, and the trio of space vehicles that made up the Requiem Blaster.
Those were awesome, but the shield was fickle–it didn’t clip together very well, and the handle was one of the Minicon’s heads, and it wasn’t long enough for most figures to get a decent grip on it.
And that was in Armada, not RiD. RiD was an awesome toyline, with real world vehicle modes and articulated robots. Armada was a series of bricks with cheap Minicon-activated gimmicks.
And the Star Saber didn’t hold together for sh*t, either.
yeah, that would probably be why I don’t remember it much, other than they started changing everything up in successive years during this period, like Power Rangers. In fact, I do seem to recall more than one TransRangers or whatever joke going around the early days of the net, back then.
Different strokes, I guess, but I think that chrome looks HORRIBLE. If I saw that close-up preview pic having no knowledge of this figure beforehand, I would have sworn that it was a knock off.
The Calibur is nice, though. I thought I read somewhere that the one dude was a stingray, not a horseshoe crab, but at that level of abstraction, I guess it doesn’t matter. Maybe it’s really a flounder.
I agree 100% on the chrome. I hate chrome on toys. This is one case where I’m glad I got the Hasbro version.
Hee hee hee . . . chrome shiny!
(Beedo is fascinated by small, shiny objects, and can’t get enough of vac-metal-coated toys.)
Great job vault! you have a way of makingprime figures look appealing to a non prime collector
Very cool.