Like Optimus Prime, Megatron got a brand new Leader Class mould for Revenge of the Fallen. He arguably had the better excuse for getting an upgraded figure- now Megatron had a tank mode (possibly thanks to bits of Brawl's corpse). Onscreen he possibly retained his jet mode - making the figure a Triplechanger without damaging its' looks wasn't viable, and the new Voyager figure covered the jet, while the Leader took the tank.

I was actually satisfied with the Premium version of the first Leader Megatron, and bought the second largely on a whim for a third of the RRP. This time, at least, Hasbro got the colour scheme right from the off.

Megatron might now have a tank mode, but it's still a Cybertronian model. Pleasingly the basic look of the first film's jet mode is carried on; there's still the same silver/black colour scheme, and the same spiky, cruel feel to the thing. This machine was built for killing and little else. The design is actually rather nice. As with the CG model, Megatron's head is semi-visible at the front of the vehicle, but it's done with enough panache to stop this looking silly - indeed, it adds to the living alien weapon feel.

While the vehicle mode is again (perhaps intentionally) something of a folded up robot, the tank version is considerably more compact, avoiding clumsy kibble of the kind seen under the wings of the 2007 version. The tracks are sadly moulded solid (little wheels in the bottom allow Megatron to trundle along flat surfaces), but otherwise the detailing is rather good - lots of panel lines gel nicely with the silvery plastic, and the few red and gold paint applications stand out nicely. The turret can rotate and elevate, and also fire a missile - mine's missing this, hence the price, though I personally don't think most projectiles display well on movie toys (due to the weapons onscreen usually firing bullets or shells as opposed to missiles); pressing the firing button also triggers a firing sound effect, which is a nice touch.

Compared to the other two Revenge of the Fallen Leader figures (Optimus Prime and Jetfire), Megatron has quite a simple transformation. In common with Demolishor the instructions make it look rather daunting, but once you know where the legs have to sit in each mode it's straightforward, and rather good fun. The resulting robot is also rather imposing, and less awkward than the 2007 version with very little kibble. As a footnote, the front of the tracks flip down to form toes, but I leave them up for a better resemblance to the CG model, something which doesn't affect the toy's balance.

Megatron is pretty solid, though the juxtaposition with the chunky legs and beefy right cannon-arm does make the left arm look particularly weedy and withered. Generally, though, the 2009 version is less awkward than the 2007 one. There are fewer gimmicks built in - the button on the chest is retained, this time slightly moving some parts on the torso, turning the head and causing him to yell "I... AM... MEGATRON!" in a voice that's either Hugo Weaving's or a decent impression thereof. Beyond that, the cannon arm retains its' ability to fire (with sound effect), and can be reconfigured slightly. Articulation is middling - the legs aren't too bad, neither is the tiny arm, but the cannon arm can only move at the shoulder and the head can only turn slightly. Once again, though, there's some great detailing on the robot, and he really captured the feel of the screen model.

Once more it would seem Megatron got the short end of the stick with the Leader Class toys, possibly due to his CG model being the one where ILM really let themselves go. That said, despite its' faults, the Revenge of the Fallen figure is rather good as a display piece (looking marvellous in robot mode), incorporates a much better alternate mode and does address several problems with the 2007 mould. It's just looking at the superb Leader Prime and the RRP of the class, you can't help but feel it should be even better.

DESIGN
ENGINEERING
FEATURES
DURABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL