Unite Warriors Grand Galvatron is Takara’s strangest and prettiest combiner yet. John DeLuna, Exvee and Matt review every piece: Cyclonus, Ghost Starscream, Armada Thrust, Zombie War Breakdown and Wandering Roller. Metallic purples and a clever Galvatron torso win them over. A clear-plastic Starscream they are afraid to make into a leg does not hurt either. First, the crew reacts to the Masterpiece Inferno prototype and the rumored Masterpiece Cheetor.
Masterpiece Inferno and Masterpiece Cheetor
Exvee is confused by Masterpiece Inferno, since it looks so cartoon-accurate that he cannot see how it becomes a truck. Matt says it looks great but plain until colored, and hopes for repaints like Grapple. One host says third-party versions had trained him to expect far more going on. [Source: TFW2005]
A Masterpiece Cheetor appears to be next instead of Megatron. Exvee says Cheetor’s beast mode cheats too much in the show to replicate, so Takara will favor the robot. He expects Cheetor to come in a bit smaller than an Autobot car, under Optimus Primal. One host hopes Cheetor’s goofy season one face translates. [Source: TFW2005]
The Grand Galvatron Story
John explains the setup. Galvatron wants to become the next Unicron, so he possesses Cyclonus at his own grave, and four spirits with grudges against Galvatron join him. Exvee says the set is very pretty and delivers on the hype. He singles out Roller’s silver paint. Matt picks Cyclonus’s metallic purples.
Cyclonus and Ghost Starscream
Exvee never knew he wanted a cartoon-accurate Cyclonus until this. He says the deco makes it a different toy from Hasbro’s, with metallic paint that blends with the plastic. Ghost Starscream is cast in clear plastic. Matt’s elbows hold a pose but have no friction, and Exvee’s barely hold the gun. Exvee calls loose joints a fair compromise against cracking. Matt dislikes the pointed chin. Matt says the Skydive-based Seeker is closer than he expected, and one host notes the wings are off.
Armada Thrust and Zombie War Breakdown
The crew likes Armada Thrust’s black and mint-green deco. Exvee says the new conehead sculpt does not really homage Armada Thrust beyond the painted canopy on the forehead, but he likes it. Matt calls it a great sculpt, and one host says the colors match the original Armada Thrust. Exvee dislikes the Offroad-based mold and finds his Breakdown’s joints loose. He does like the blue and the separately cast combiner peg. Matt loves the colors and says his joints are fine.
Wandering Roller and the Grand Galvatron Torso
Roller, built on the Rook mold, is the standout for both. Exvee says its joints are better than his Rook’s, and he loves the orange and brown. Matt has one loose fist port. Exvee says the torso sells Galvatron better than the Hasbro version, since the Galvatron parts get their own colors. Matt slightly prefers Hasbro’s red abs. The crew still rates Silverbolt the best Combiner Wars torso. Neither Matt nor John has dared to turn Starscream into a leg.
The Galvatron Cannon
Matt says Cyclonus’s gun sticks out too far as Galvatron’s cannon. Another host says it only works with the arm pointed down. One host notes that Hisashi Yuki tweeted Titans Return Galvatron’s cannon pegging onto a Seeker arm. The crew calls for a third-party fix, perhaps from Renderform. [Source: not found] Exvee says the set feels like the Transformers Cloud line’s thinking applied to a combiner. Matt hopes Takara does something just as weird with the Sky Lynx mold.
Contributors: John DeLuna, Exvee, Matt
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