“The last movement in an opera of evil that finally laid Autobot and human low, making him undisputed ruler of Earth! The final few fell here, a doomed last stand against an unstoppable enemy! A foe so powerful, so resourceful — none could stand against him!” — Galvatron (talking about himself).
Unique Toys has accomplished something that is no small feat — they’ve created what could very well be the definitive modern Galvatron figure with their Mania King. This particular version of Mania King is the new “vintage color version,” which is evidently a limited edition, or something to that effect, and an homage to the Transformers character Galvatron as he appeared in the original Transformers movie from 1986. It’s an impressive effort and one that will be greatly appreciated by fans who have been waiting for an updated Galvatron figure that’s worthy of their display shelves.
Since this is an unlicensed 3rd party figure, it technically isn’t Galvatron per se, but until an official update is released by Takara or Hasbro, this guy will do just fine battling Rodimus Prime and Ultra Magnus on my shelves. In fact, unless an official Takara Masterpiece Galvatron is announced, Mania King here could very well be the only Galvatron figure I’ll ever need because, frankly, it’s difficult to imagine anyone topping this effort. I apologize if that sounds like hyperbole; I simply feel a need to convey just how impressed I am with this figure.
However, even though I am blown away and think Mania King is an exceptionally strong effort, there are a couple small aspects that keep him from being absolutely “perfect.” Let’s take a look and see what Unique Toys got right and what could be better.
I’m in love with his packaging. The black and white approach on the front of the box almost makes the artwork look like a panel from an old comic book. I’m guessing this is in reference to the “vintage” aspect of the figure’s design, but that’s only a guess. On the back of the box we’re treated to a rough translation of the character’s biography, which comes across a bit comical due to the use of nonstandard English, but it’s absolutely endearing. I love it. What’s also interesting is the cannon depicted on the box is the original version and not the deco we actually get with the figure.
Check out the below video for a nail-biting transformation demonstration and some additional thoughts:
He’s simply gorgeous. I had all but quit the 3rd party Transformers game, but one look at this guy’s promo pics and I was sucked right back in because he’s everything I’ve been wanting in a Galvatron for years. It’s clear a good deal of thought and effort went in to making him look great from every angle and not just straight-on, which is often the case with official Transformers.
The head sculpt succeeds in capturing the angry, crazed look Galvatron should have, but I’d love to know why they chose to give him a black “soul patch” on the top of his chin. It’s weird and somewhat out of place. I can’t think of any version of Galvatron that sported such a thing, comic or cartoon, so it just looks strange to me. I guess it’s a Mania King thing. Must be.
While his deco is a thing of beauty, his cannon is what’s going to make this guy the talk of the town. Unique Toys fitted his cannon with an actual, working laser pointer, which means, for all practical purposes, Mania King’s cannon can actually fire a real laser. I mean, it’s just an ordinary laser pointer, but it’s so cool at the same time, and I am going to drive my cats crazy with this thing.
Now, it’s my understanding that not all stores will have the laser pointer version available, and many figures will have it removed and replaced with a simple LED light. I got my Mania King from Chimungmung.com, so if the laser pointer is something you’re interested in, you may want to place an order with them ASAP.
Mania King’s posability is pretty versatile for such a complex transforming figure. He’s got all the necessary points of articulation for dynamic posing, and the only key point of articulation he’s missing is a wrist swivel. His hands are locked in a “bicep curl” position, but that works well if you have him posed like I do above. Beyond that, he tends to suffer from what some are calling “gorilla arm syndrome.” This is really the only thing truly holding him back from being perfect, in my opinion. It should be an easy thing to ignore, especially since we get so many official Transformers with the same problem, but you become very aware of this shortcoming when posing him.
He’s a pretty standard voyager class size and is almost exactly as tall as the new Age of Extinction Galvatron. He looks great with the recent Generations Springer, and he works extremely well when posed with Cyclonus and Scourge. In terms of his fitting in with a CHUG display, he’s a great fit. He’d be too small for a Masterpiece-driven display, however.
His alt mode is every bit as impressive as his ‘bot mode, and that’s really saying something. His transformation can be finicky and convoluted (see video above), but the result is pretty much worth the bother. It’s an awesome approximation of his tank/cannon mode from the cartoon and looks just awesome from just about any angle. I’ll tell you though, at certain points during his transformation, it’s necessary to use more force than you’re comfortable with, which can be an unnerving thing considering his price tag. Once you get through it, though, the result is pretty great.
The only aspect of his transformation that doesn’t work all that well is his head — there’s really nowhere for it to go, so all you can do is try to position it so it at least stays out of sight. Otherwise, this alt mode is a big win — to the point where I’m almost tempted to grab a second one just to keep in alt mode because I really like it that much.
Chimungmung.com was kind enough to include a bonus sheet of Decepticon stickers, but there really isn’t a good place to put one, so Mania King will have to remain faction-less, at least for the time being.
I enthusiastically recommend this figure to anyone looking to add a definitive Galvatron to their CHUG display. Even if an official Galvatron does come out soon, I have my doubts that it will be as good as this guy. But bear in mind that this is an unlicensed 3rd party product, so it is on the pricey side. I paid about $114 shipped from Chimungmung, but it may be worth your while to shop around.
- Buy from Big Bad Toy Store (probably won’t include the laser pointer feature)
- Discuss on our forums