Before I give my opinion on these pieces, I should own up to my bias.
I'm a loyal Galvatron fanboy and devotee. I've got umpteen different
Galvatron toys, reissues, homages, and all kinds of merch. I've
hunted down many collection pieces that are frankly horrible, with no
redeeming value at all except that they represent my second-favorite
TF character (*). Yes, I'm looking at YOU, Galvatron Junior.
So when I go on and on and rave a bit, just bear that in mind.
I really am surprised to see such an overall negative fandom reaction
to Universe Galvatron. I went in with low expectations because of all
the re****ts of the figure falling apart, but that doesn't happen to
mine. The left arm FEELS loose, but doesn't pop off; I popped off the
tank turret the first time I transformed it, but it was my own fault
for just trying to move it in the wrong direction. The vehicle mode
is a great, appropriate upgrade to his original grey rolling artillery
piece. Transformation is completely unique, very involved but also
intuitively simple; as an IRC friend noted, it's like Sideburn but
less evil. Robot mode just looks mean and menacing, and the likeness
to Galvatron is great. I really like the juxtaposition of one hand
balled into a fist, with the other open as a threatening / gesturing
poxture.
No, it's not Energon Galvatron. For better and for worse. EG is
visually perfect, an ideal representation of the character, and, of
course, it's huge. The downside of that is that so much of the toy's
engineering is devoted to getting it to look right that it doesn't do
much other than look-like-Galvatron-at-you. The Universe figure was
designed with something different in mind: to be a "real"
Transformer, with two actually different modes that actually transform
into one another, and what's more, to get the grey-to-purple color
swap from the animation to finally work in the plastic. In both
areas, UG is an overwhelming success. I envision UG as actually
*being* the tank accessory that comes with EG--acting as a sort of
emergency reserve body / escape pod that the big one carries around
with it. Allsparker NightViper learned that it is possible to get UG
in tank mode to attach to EG's arm, which only makes that bit of
personal canon even better.
Yes, it's small, but every Galvatron forever will be small compared to
EG, unless they someday make a Masterpiece figure. I'd have loved it
more as an Ultra, but I'm not that greedy and I love it anyway. Also,
a point I've started making to folks on various forums: we're in G1-
homageland for the rest of this hobby, folks. UG is definitely not
going to be the last Galvatron representation figure we ever get.
Next year is the 25th anniversary? Just means that a few years later
is the 30th anniversary. I suspect many of the people who are
disappointed by UG are so because they envision Classics,
specifically, as a "perfect" lineup of their TF favorites, and UG
isn't "perfect" enough to go with the rest of them. But Classics
isn't the be-all, end-all of TF product, and if people are only buying
toys to try to make The Perfect Lineup Of 1984, they'll surely end up
endlessly buying one homage after another, each a little better than
the last; I'm sure there's a lot of buyer's remorse around now about
RobotMasters Starscream, for instance.
The toy does have flaws, yes. It took me a few minutes to get used to
the faction symbol being on his arm instead of his chest--no, really,
that's been a continuous design choice ever since 1986, so it just
looked a bit 'off' for it to be somewhere else, but I'm managing,
thanks. My only real complaints are the sense of "what a waste of
space / money" regarding all his many, many undo***ented features.
The tank feet are idiotic and useless, a bad idea from TakaraTomy that
should have been nixed, the required plastic simply being distributed
throughout UG's body to make him bigger. And there are many other
random, useless bendy bits on his tank kibble. Why does he have
articulated hooks at the front of the tank? Why must there be TWO
points of articulation on the teeny rocket pod on his right wrist?
Why are his orange plastic wheels PAINTED ORANGE? Especially since
they're 75% covered by his legs at all times? Those are all bits of
plastic and paint that could have gone elsewhere on the toy to make it
either a bit sturdier, a bit bigger, or a bit more colorful, or all of
the above.
OVERALL? If you luck into finding a stable specimen, and if you can
judge it by its own merits instead of viewing it as too small compared
to other toys, I think Universe Galvatron is a very, very good toy.
Note: the blurb on Universe Galvatron's cardback doesn't really match
any established continuity, and there's some debate going on about
whether he's the "real" Galvatron (http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/
Galvatron_(G1) ) , or Galvatron II (http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/
Galvatron_II), or some other doppelganger from some random other
timeline, which has certainly happened before.
As for the Diamond Select Galvatron bust.... y'know, it's funny. This
is my first real TF "adult" display piece. I never got anything by
Hard Hero or Palisades or Diamond before. The idea of spending ~$60
for a statue just always struck me as alien. Yet now, now that there
actually IS such a thing representing my Galvy, of course I had to get
it. The lip sculpt is puffy and weird, but the helmet spikes are
perfect--pictures don't capture the look because they sweep backwards,
curving away from you, thus looking smaller in 2D. At the risk of
sounding like one of Those Collectors, I really like the bust's
box. /:) It looks rather like G1 packaging, has a viewing window for
the bust, a character blurb and decent Don art. A few months ago
there was word of some retailer exclusive version of this bust, done
up in grey like the comic model, but I haven't been able to find
recent news. What I *did* find was that an entirely separate mold, a
half-figure bust of Galvatron being created by Unicron, is to be
released by Art Asylum in March, and that Art Asylum also plans on
subsequently retooling it to have it be toy-accurate for its second
release. So, that's at least two, and possibly three more, pieces of
Galv merch I've got to track down. This would be harder, if I didn't
love this stuff so much. /:)
( * = yes, after all that, Galvatron is still just my second favorite
TF. The real winner is BW Silverbolt. However, since Silverbolt
doesn't get story exposure anymore and has never gotten anything
remotely resembling the merchandising push of Galvatron, there's
really nothing to talk about or hunt for. There was a clear Kabaya
gumkit around 1999, which a friend was kind enough to snag for me.
And the upcoming Robot Hero figure, which I will love and hug and pet
and pat and name George.)
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