And just when you thought that Takara’s MP-36 Megatron couldn’t get any better…
Producer: Black Mamba/MoDEL001
Price: Approx. $30 for P36 Cannon and $28 for the MoDEL head upgrades
Release Date: May 2018
Item Height: N/A
Item Weight: N/A
Batteries: N/A
WHERE TO BUY: GCIToys P36 Cannon and GCI Toys MoDEL001 Head Upgrades
In this review I’m doing an unusual “doubling up” with two completely different products from two manufacturers because they’re both upgrades for Takara’s MP-36 Masterpiece Megatron that can (and in my opinion should) be used in conjunction with each other. The Black Mamba P36 Cannon upgrade gives Megatron a Cannon with English voices (vs. the Japanese of the default) as well as a light up feature and the MoDEL001 head upgrades come with a new helmet that has LED eyes and appropriate faces with clear eyes for the lights to shine through (including a “toy accurate” face that does not come with the original.)
Presentation: The boxes on both are thick carboard and both items are well-packed inside of the plastic clamshells. The only real “problem” I have is that the graphics on the MoDEL001 box are really faded looking which obviously doesn’t effect the product but cheapens the overall look when you unpack it.
Build: These are entirely plastic pieces and overall they’re put together well. The biggest differences I noticed are that the pegs that plug the MoDEL001 faces into the helmet are shorter (due to the electronics within the helmet taking up more space,) and the either the audio quality or the speaker itself on the Black Mamba P36 Cannon leading to the audio not sounding as clear as the default cannon on MP-36 Megatron. The MoDEL001 helmet is also very slightly lighter in tone to the default helmet but it’s such an insignificant difference that it still matches the body fine and is really only noticeable when you have the two helmets next to each other. The Black Mamba kit also comes with a back cover meant for the Infinite Transformation “KO” MP-36 and can fit onto the official with slight modding (removing two tabs; very simple) but the color doesn’t match very well and while it does hold on with friction it’s not a “perfect” fit by any means. That part is considered a free extra in the P36 Cannon package so it really can’t be considered a let down but in a way still is.
Accessories: These packages are literal accessory packs so they don’t really “come with” anything extra besides a stand for MP-36’s gun mode in the MoDEL001 set. The Black Mamba box also came with a couple of Kremzeeks (small, energy creatures from the “Transformers” television series) which is a neat pack-in as well.
Articulation: N/A
Overall Score: 7.0/10 – Both of these kits are pretty well done but if I had to choose one it’d be the MoDEL001 set because it just gives Megatron that visual “pop” where the Cannon’s effect is something more audio-oriented.
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