Robots in Disguise Galvatron

Ah, me... Another repaint. I picked this up in Forbidden Planet on the same shopping trip that I bought RiD Ultra Magnus and Megatron. The friend I was with took one look at the packaging and suggested I should only buy one or the other (clearly more concerned about FP's rip-off prices than I was), but I wouldn't listen.

So, exactly how much of a fool was I?

Robot Mode:
Well, yes, it's basically a palette switch of Megatron... He retains the translucent purple of the wings, but Megatron's black becomes Galvatron's white, his purple becomes black, and some - but not all - of the chrome changes colour. All the translucent reds stay red, and the Predacon spark crystal in his chest remains purple. Other than that, it's exactly the same as Megatron...

Wow... I really was rather stupid, wasn't I?


Alternate Modes (additional to those of Megatron):
If Megatron's frankly bizarro alternate modes weren't bad enough, this version ads four modes that might as well be accidentally discovered fan-modes. That said, it is reported that there were a couple of very subtle changes to the mold, mainly to better accommodate 'Elephant' mode.

The elephant almost looks good from the front, albeit with very bat-wing-like ears that are disproportionately large given the size of his head. Seriously, even Dumbo would call this guy big-eared. From behind, however, the elephant just looks daft - it has no body! Sure, it has four legs... but what's behind the head is largely empty space.


Gryphon mode is slightly better - that is to say, it's easier to see this mold as a fantasy creature than as something that actually exists. He almost looks like Sky Lynx in this mode, since jet mode's nose becomes gryphon mode's head.


Alternate Dragon mode is basically a back-to-front bat mode, but with the tail mounted on to it as a head with a long neck. It doesn't work as well as bat mode because you're looking at the bare 'innards' of the toy on the 'chest', but it kind of works...


Lastly, the jet-boat (or hydrofoil) mode is probably the second-least terrible, after gryphon mode. Essentially, it's not much different from Megatron's alleged car mode, but with the front wheels flapped downward... so, while the 'car' had the dark potential to be an awful Batmobile, this could just as easily have become the Bat-boat.


In retrospect, I think I probably should have followed my friend's advice and picked either Megatron or Galvatron... trouble is, I'm not sure which I should have picked. Both look pretty good in robot mode - replete with extravagantly molded details and a fairly opulent paint job - and the extra alternate modes offered by this aren't anything particularly special... Of all of the upgrades Megatron received when becoming Galvatron, this is the least of them. Perhaps if I'd seen any of the animated TV show, I might have been able to make a more informed decision... but, for the moment, I have them both... and I wouldn't really want to part with either.