The late 1990s saw the Transformers franchise rebrand itself with Beast Wars, which even had its own Japanese-exclusive anime. Now, one of the chief villains from these anime is back with a modernized toy, nearly three decades after the release of his original one.
Released as part of Takara Tomy’s Transformers New Legends line, Galvatron is a new take on the Predacon leader from Beast Wars II: Super-Lifeform Transformers. Updating his classic design and toy with new engineering, he even includes a monstrous element from the sequel to his debut anime. Available now for pre-order, even in the U.S., international fans can now collect this vicious Emperor of Destruction.
The Most Obscure Version of Galvatron Returns in New Transformers Beast Wars Figure
New Legends Galvatron is heavily based on the classic toy, which was itself the only completely new Predacon mold in the Beast Wars II toy line in 1998. Featuring extensive articulation and weapons, he retains his classic Galva-Axes in robot mode, as well as the ability to turn his wings into a Scissor Hand claw.
Also present are his original alternate modes, as Galvatron (along with his mutated brother, Gigastorm) represented one of the few true Triple-Changers in the Beast Era. In fact, he was the only Predacon from Beast Wars II with both a vehicle mode and a beast mode, transforming from a robot into a drill-tank and a dragon.
Further differentiating him from his contemporaries was that, unlike the organic beast modes of the Maximals in the anime, his dragon mode was completely robotic, with this evident in both the original and this new version of the toy. While Galvatron was the main villain in Beast Wars II, his body was also briefly seen as a Unicron-possessed vessel in the sequel, Beast Wars Neo: Super-Lifeform Transformers. This is represented in the new toy through the Unicron horns that can be added to robot mode.
The figure is now available for pre-order in both Japan and the West, with international fans able to buy him for US$129.99 on the official Hasbro Pulse website. This is the first time that a transforming toy based on the character has been released in the West, although he has recently had toys and model kits released through companies such as Blokees.
Likewise, this is also the first truly new transforming toy for the character since the 1998 release of his original, with almost every other collectible being a small non-transforming figure or kit. Now, while not nearly as well-known as his Maximal rival, Leo Prime/Lio Convoy, Galvatron (also known as Beast Galvatron among fans) is finally able to drill his way out of obscurity and roar into fans’ collections around the world.
