Cyberworld Galvatron

Prelude: When a bunch of superheroes … sorry, Transformers… are captured and brought onto Battleworld … sorry, Cyberworld … to battle for the entertainment of … someone, I guess, one of the Transformers selected was Galvatron. No, not the future Megatron… probably. Maybe. We’ll see. Anyway, here is Cyberworld Galvatron, Armored Cyber Changer. Let’s say go!

Robot Mode: Galvatron is a robot from Cyberworld’s Armored Cyber Changer class, roughly the size of a small Deluxe or large Scout class figure. He is clearly a kid’s toy, being a pretty straight-forward, simple design with open forearms and lower legs (as seen from the back) and but limited articulation. He has knees, but no elbows and cannot turn his head. Enough for some poses, but he is not a contortionist.

Design-wise Galvatron really reminds me of late-80s Transformers figures, maybe a Terrorcon. He looks mostly robotic, the only “beastly” part of him being the dragon head on his chest. I especially adore his head design. While he has the classic near-human face with a visor in a science-fiction-style helmet, he also sports a truly epic handlebar mustache. We need more robots with mustaches, I always say.

Not surprising for a kid-oriented toyline, Galvatron comes with a gimmick, namely his gun. It’s a double-barreled gun with added blast effects that make it look like two fireballs are shooting out of every muzzle. The muzzles can also fold back, causing a longer single barrel to extend from between them. The weapon can be held in either hand, attach to the forearm, or mounted on the back. With the fire effect parts, it can also function as a jet pack and the fire effects themselves can be used as a kind of flaming-mace by the robot, too (see fifth picture). A secondary weapon is the tail of the beast mode, which becomes either a dagger or gun (possibly a dagger-gun).

Bottom line: a nice little robot. Clearly made for kids, sure, but a lot of fun and a killer mustache. Nice.

Alternate Mode: Galvatron has pretty much the most basic beast transformation of them all, he goes down on all fours. He transforms into something called a “Junkion Dragon”, but personally I’d call it a robot griffin. It’s a slightly dragon-like beast with stubby wings and a tail. The beast is pretty much immobile. The front legs (really the robot arms) can move in theory, but are supposed to be plugged into the sides of the torso for some reason. It can open its jaws, though, which kind of surprised me a bit.

Galvatron’s flame-thrower gun can be mounted on the griffin’s back, either pointing forward or backward, flames in or not, your choice. So bottom line for the beast mode: it looks nice and blocky, kind of reminds me of a G1 Firecon. You can’t really do much with it, sure, but it has a certain nostalgic charm to it.

Remarks: I haven’t seen much of Cyberworld yet, just the first episode, so I have no idea what role – if any – Galvatron will play in the events of that series. I assume that he is not a future version of Megatron this time, but rather a separate character like in IDW or Beast Wars 2, and will be fighting his way through the various levels of the Cyberworld at some point in the series. 

Now let’s not mince words, Galvatron is a toy made for kids. He is blocky, not terribly well-articulated, and carries a pretty large gimmick as a weapon. That said, he’s pretty fun. A nice, almost vintage-looking Transformers robot with a cool metal handlebar mustache. And even that multi-fireball gun is fun, if unwieldy. So bottom line: if you’re looking for a high-end collector figure, this one here is not it. If you’re just looking for a fun Transformers figure you can also give your kids without much fear of them breaking it, Galvatron is definitely worth a look.

Rating: C+