I DID IT! I transformed him! What a ride.
I'll admit, I was so intimidated by him, but it really wasn't that bad. And, it was actually fun. After hearing all the horror stories of breakage, and paint scraping with 36, and the added danger of chrome on 36+, I knew I had to handle him like a baby, holding a dozen eggs, made of glass. Using the instructions, and 35 years of transforming experience I had him TFed for the first time from bot to alt in just over an hour. And I truly enjoyed every minute of it. Lots of "OH WOW" moments. Like the one Will pointed out with the rib cage pieces. Or just the way all his torso bits are redistributed. I'm always amazed by a Transformation from a seemingly symmetrical robot mode to a asymmetrical alt mode.
MAN! Just like the original toy.
I missed the extending scope the first time around. Thanks for pointing it out, Cram!
The hell, Takara?! As if his Transformation wasn't bad enough, half way through the designers threw in this hidden "F You" mode.
INCOMING!
Prepare for your annihilation!
I'm just gaga over this face. It's old school Takara robot character design. Which has always been my main draw to Transformers.
Now, now. I come offering glad tidings.
FOOLISH AUTOBOTS! Always thinking with your sparks. Never with you your logic processors.
Oh Starscream, your plans to usurp me never cease to amuse.
There's such a nice sense of completion finally having a Megatron for my MP collection. And, the fact that this 36+ version is exactly what I wanted when I first saw 36 makes it that much better. He's proven once again, that my approach to MPs of waiting to see if they do a more toy accurate version is paying off. Yeah, maybe I miss the hype train as it passes me by, it's fun to ride that train, but I am no less excited now to have this guy.
With 36+ in hand, I actually feel like if I never bought another MP, I could die happy with an MP collection that feels complete and cohesive.