Peace through empathy.

The story of Megatron adopting the Autobot badge happens at the end of IDW’s Dark Cybertron. However, the story of him becoming an Autobot does not start until after his trial, when he becomes part of the crew of the Lost Light as its co-captain. Let’s say Rodimus was not thrilled. This is the Transformers Furai 06 Megatron IDW (Autobot Ver.) Model Kit by Flame Toys, and yes it is officially branded as a Transformers product. However I feel I must warn you that he does not transform into anything.

It always starts with the head, doesn’t it? It’s really well done but oh boy, it looks small. I can see why the more experienced amongst you will probably opt to highlight the features. I don’t really dare do that yet. Even without any painting this model kit remains striking enough, although I see how watercolors could made it pop. Perhaps one day. For now, even at beginner level assembly, you can tell that’s ole bucket head Megs himself.

Work was cut out for me to build the arms and the shoulder pieces. The amount of complexity escalated, but keep in mind I’m still a rookie here. It was still doable, albeit with a lot of patience to do this on my second day. I prefer taking my time completing one stage at a time for an hour a day and was willing to wait. I still think this was a lot compared to the head unit. The arms had all sort of moving parts and interchangeable hands/fists.

The shoulder pieces are also quite moveable, so I knew the arms would not lack poseability. The hands themselves do have rotation and can pivot slightly as hands should. From this angle you can notice the slot in which Megs’ iconic fusion cannon should be connected. The joints are big of a challenge to fit together, specially the rubbery plastic ones but once in place they don’t come apart as easy as you’d think.

It kinda bugs me to no end, but the logo is not as precisely centered as it should. That’s because I still gotta learn to deal with stickers of this size. I also have to learn how to take stickers off the sheet and onto the model without having to relocate them several times. I know I probably weakened the glue trying to recenter that logo a few times. This is the only sticker I really cared to have on the figure and it had to be right. Or mostly right.

The torso unit depends on three parts that don’t just connect, but rotate and bend between them. The chest and the abs don’t really twist but they do give a little bit of an ab crunch that can go a long way to nail a particular pose. I was impressed with the level of design that has gone in the way of giving this figure poseability.

The instructions do recommend glueing some critical pieces together, but I’ve made mine without a single drop of glue with no issues. Well, almost no issues. As we get closer to getting the legs connected to the waist, I was a bit doubtful the legs will hold but once everything is in place it does tend to keep itself in one piece.

Please make sure you only take your next piece nipped out of the runner one side at a time. You don’t want to start guessing which one was which number. Those red buttons on the skirt sections of his waist should go in one at a time and click as you push them in, otherwise you’re doing something wrong. There are holes on the other side to those to hook up to the rest of his skirt, so don’t put the red buttons backwards or you’ll have to fish them out. Fortunately I had a decent starter tool kit.

La piece de resistance. Megatron’s fusion cannon. He spends most of his time onboard the Lost Light without one, until one is made for him for the great battle against the DJD (Decepticon Justice Division). It has no great complexity to it, it’s just made of three pieces. It still looks the part, both looking like a cannon but still resembling a gun scope. It doesn’t light up or anything, just so you know.

The finished product does indeed look the part. It does look great in pictures, and in similar fashion to my previous kit it’s smaller in real life but that’s ok. I’d rather have a figure that is small but looks bigger in pictures than the other way around.

If you are into model kits and are a fan of the Transformers characters this model kit is a strong contender for premium shelf space. Specially if you’ve read the IDW More Than Meets The Eye series and love the adventures of the Lost Light starship, in which case you want this figure already. I wish it was just a little larger, but I’m not placing him in the transformer shelf. He gets to stand with the other model kits as a classic inspiration.

Strongly recommended. Great poseability, lots of personality but of course, no transformation. Here he is along with both the Takara’s Masterpiece MP-36 Megatron and the Reformatted R-28 Tyrantron by Masterpiece Creations, which coincidentally is based upon the same IDW design.

That will do for now.