Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 8) - Legion Clash

Such has been the impression made on me (and my daughter) by the Robots In Disguise 2015 Legion Class figures, that I have developed the same old completion symptoms. Mercifully this disease is seemingly jumping to cheaper species by the year. That doesn't make it any easier to catch 'em all, and when news broke on TFW of TRU exclusive "Clash of the Transformers" 2-packs featuring a white repaint of Legion class Optimus Prime, a grey Bumblebee, an Underbite with green highlights and an all new mould "Megatronus", I had to call in some help from overseas.

With these TRU exclusives, bought and shipped over from Australia, arriving at the same time as Legion class Fixit and Underbite means the RID collection train was fully underway again. These are two very attractive packs to look at - as versus packages often are with TFs - and signal the very first incarnation of RID Megatronus to be available on shelves. I'm pretty sure fans will want Megatronus to eventually be available individually, although the white Ultra Magnus-style Optimus Prime Legion figure is plenty nice enough to warrant the pair.

Going straight to the main event, here's Megatronus, an all new Legion class RID 2015 mould. He has yet to appear in the series although he has quite comprehensively detailed artwork on the 2-pack card back. Megatronus, in aligned and IDW continuity, was one of the original 13 Primes and in the aligned continuity went on to become "The Fallen", or the first Decepticon as some call him. Whether or not RID will respect these uses of the name Megatronus remains to be seen. 

He turns from robot mode (with detachable arm cannon) to an H-tank with a neat little waist-swivel transformation being the core of the conversion, and the robot arms locking the tank treads (robot shoulders and legs) together being the final touch. There's good detailing on the tank treads, the cannon/turret can be rotated and even articulated up and down in a limited fashion. The head sculpt is nice enough and reminds me of Venger from Dungeons & Dragons! The colours are hugely Decepticon, as I am sure you have noticed. The cannon can be left on the robot's back for a bit of a Blitzwing look.

The white Optimus Prime is quite nicely painted too, with red, blue and turquoise highlights putting him firmly in the Ultra Magnus camp for me. There is more detailing and paint application on this redeco of Prime than the original Optimus Legion figure, noticeable mainly at the ankles and on the chest and shoulders where it's 2-tone white and red as opposed to flat red like the original. The transformation on this Legion figure is among the best so far, although he doesn't have articulation beyond shoulders, thighs and outward arm swing. This is the same for Megatronus, but at least he has a waist swivel. Of the two sets, I suspect the Megatronus vs Optimus offering will do much better.

On the packaging, the repaint Bumblebee is shown very much sporting a mainly black colour scheme with turquoise highlights. Looking at the toy, it's clearly grey. This disparity should be obvious from the first picture in the article too. In fact the artwork barely resembles this toy at all, it makes me think Bumblebee will be getting some major helmet upgrade in the near future going by the artwork. In truth, I find this recolour more interesting for Bumblebee than the night ops Legion class which is an inverse of the standard Bumblebee. Still a lovely Legion class mould with an imaginative transformation regarding the head and robot chest.

I covered my thoughts on Underbite in enough detail last night to not have to go through it again, and all that's been added here is a bit of green, and the red on the paws is gone, moving up to the shoulders/sides of the cockpit instead. It was entertaining to read on the TFW forums that people referred to this as "EVA Underbite" and Megatronus as "Tank Barricade"! Perfectly respectable fan names, in my opinion.

So, while these sets are currently country-exclusive to Australia, the speed at which the UK has been getting RID after the US makes me think TRUs globally will start stocking the Clash of the Transformers Vs sets at Legion class soon enough. With the repaints of Legion figures firmly underway at this scale (don't forget Alpine Sideswipe and Night Ops Bumblebee), and the first appearance of Megatronus, Robots In Disguise 2015 has a very distinct feel at Legion class scale right now.

Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 1)
Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 2)
Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 3)
Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 4)
Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 5)

Robots In Disguise 2015 - Justice For Steeljaw
Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 6)
Robots In Disguise 2015 (Part 7)

All the best
Maz