DX9 Tyrant - Galvatron

I love the look of the cannon. Unfortunately, there is no vertical articulation. The treads are functional, but he doesn't roll. Whenever I try to push him along, he ends up tipping over because the treads are stiff and the stands are on loose swivels for transformation. The line work is accented with metallic paint.

Transformation is difficult, but mostly because the manual leaves out steps or has you do stuff too early. Joints are stiff, clearances can be tricky if you're trying to avoid scratching paint, and there is a lot of moving parts. Things did not get off to a good start because the wrist panels are difficult to open and fingers kept popping off. When folding the head into the body cavity, remember to bend him at the waist joint and to flip the the abdomen panels completely. There is plenty of room for the horns to clear if done right. Fold the head flush against the panels; don't leave it in the cavity or you won't get the arms in. Don't peg in the rear kickstand just yet; save that for last. The legs are tricky, but manageable. After transforming the cannon, clip it to the top chrome flap before folding it down. The cannon does not shove straight into the port. I wasn't able to peg the scope to the the tabs on the feet. Despite that, the canon holds together well and is very solid.

Tyrant is tall. He towers over most of the other figures in my collection. His face sculpt is appropriately menacing and is locked in a perpetual scowl. The paint application is fairly clean, but does have minor blemishes in some places. Between cannon and robot mode, the primary color switches from gray to purple. It's a neat effect. He has diecast in his feet.

His head is on a swivel and hinge. Hs shoulders are on double hinges with ratcheted swivels. The upper hinges have limited range of motion and are not strong enough to hold the weight of both an arm and his cannon. He has swivels right at the elbows. Although his elbows are double-jointed, the upper part of the joint only hinges along the frontal plane, parallel with the front of his body. His wrists and all his fingers are on ball joints. Except for his thumbs, his fingers are tabbed in at the second knuckles with tiny nubs. He swivels at the waist. His hips are on universal joints with longitudinal ratchets. He also swivels at the upper thighs and has single-jointed ratcheted knees and double-hinged feet with ankle rockers and toe tilts. His ankle tilts are a little wonky on mine, but he hasn't toppled over yet.

His accessories include an alternate clear cannon and the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. The matrix looks really good. It's not as hefty as the one that comes with Masterpiece Optimus Prime, but it's larger. The outer layer can slide outwards but not apart, as if he were trying to open it. I wish it clicks closed because it is always sliding apart. The clear canon is reminiscent of the original G1 toy and also works with the light-up feature. The LED stick is quite visible within that barrel though. Batteries are included.

For now, Tyrant stands on my Masterpiece shelf. I'll reassess once I get X-Transbots' and Fans Toys' figures in hand. It'll most likely go with DX9 Carry onto a shelf with the upcoming Spark Toys figures.