Review - Fans Hobby MB-17 Meg-Tyranno
One thing that has consistently helped Fans Hobby to stand out from others in the 3P space, is their willingness to work outside of the established parameters. While other companies are busy putting out the 5th variation on a Masterpiece Seeker, or yet another attempt at Devastator and the Constructicons, Fans Hobby is working to fill the holes in our Japanese G1 collections, or in this case, bringing to life the nostalgic memories of fans who grew up with the Unicron Trilogy in full force. MB-17 is a full featured take on the design of Megatron from Transformers Armada, with play features and mini-con integration aplenty.
Before we get into it, I want to give a huge thank you as always, to Fans Hobby for providing this review sample. Let’s dig in!
Vehicle Mode
Chunky is the name of the game when it comes to these Armada style designs. Tyranno’s alt mode is a huge armored tank with front mounted stag horns. This thing is massive, with working rubber treads, rotating turret, and adjustable cannon.
There are mounting points on the sides, 2 at the front and 2 at the rear, for minicons. You can connect the included mini robot to any of these ports. There are also flip out missile launchers and a command seat in the top of the turret that the mini robot can sit in. Rolling Tyranno across the table top with his treads rumbling is incredibly satisfying, and the recoiling cannon feature is just awesome. It evokes the memories of the gimmick filled toys from my younger days. The LED feature in the cannon (requires 2x AG13/LR44 button cell batteries) is very bright and can be enabled by locking the cannon in using the rotating dial on top of the turret.
Removing the extended barrel gives the tank a snub nose, shotgun style look that I really liked. While this isn’t an “official” mode in the instructions, I really like how it looks. If you have siege effects from WFC Jetfire you can wedge the larger blast effect into the cannon. It doesn’t lock in but it will fit well enough for a photo op. You can also mount the smaller twin cannon from the base mode onto the top of the front left tread for added firepower in tank mode.
Mobile Fortress Mode
The “Mobile Fortress” mode turns Tyranno’s tank into a mobile battle platform perfect for the deployment of artillery, mini-cons, and defense, as well as the capture and torture of enemy combatants. There are a ton of play features in this mode including a launch way, articulated maintenance arm, a shielded battle station, functional and static missile launchers, a spring loaded linear accelerator pad, and a capture claw and torture/containment cell. The armored sections at the rear can also be raised up to serve as launchers for aerial mini-cons. All of the additional components are stored within the body of the tank so nothing has to be left out when transforming him.
Fans Hobby has a reputation for putting out awesome toys, that while homaging the beloved characters of our favorite transforming robot franchise, and filling the gaps in both Masterpiece and Generations style collections alike, also fill the satisfaction quota as playable toys with a plethora of features and creative options. They (typically) don’t feel fragile, or finicky like some of the other “Masterpiece” style offerings thanks to Fans Hobby’s focus on functionality and fun. Battle station modes, armored upgrades, headmasters, and functional gimmicks. These are some of my favorite features and Fans Hobby has a great track record for delivering in droves.
Robot Mode
Standing at just under 10” to the top of the head, and over 13” to the tip of his shoulder pylons, Tyranno is a big bot. Chunky boots, long legs, and a slender waist give him a very anime inspired look. Vibrant colors, sculpted and painted details, and interesting textures make Tyranno a fest for the eyes. Even if the Armada design isn’t your favorite, there’s no denying this beast has a presence all it’s own. The tank turret and cannon on the back give him the look of a warrior with a greatsword slung across his back. The clawed fingers, mighty stag horns, and crimson eyes make this bot ooze menace at every glance.
You’ve got a ton of options for how to display Tyrannon in this mode. 2 alternate face sculpts, one stoic, one in the midst of an angry growling shout. 2 types of horns, one smooth, one full of sharp angles and edges. The turret can be rotated up with the cannon behind his head (I like to remove the extended barrel for this look myself) or to either side with the cannon able to be slung underneath either arm for use as a ranged weapon. You can also angle the cannon barrel to the back in order to provide balance for more dynamic poses. Heck you can even mount the turret on his belly just like the original toy for a shielded battle mode.
The handle of the cannon is on a rotator ring to allow it to be held at various angles. You can arm Tyranno with his mini robot as a hand held blaster, or mount him to the ports on the shoulder or legs to function as ancillary weaponry. LED eyes in the head (requires 2x AG0/SR521SW/379 or LR521 button cell batteries) and cannon both work in this mode. The dial on the turret functions to engage the LED in the cannon even when it is rotated forward. The engineering to achieve this is rad. I figured once it was tilted it would disengage but you can still operate the gimmick with the cannon hinged forward or back.
Articulation Breakdown (From the top down)
The head is on a bar-bell joint, with one ball in the base of the neck, and one in the head. This allows for full 360 rotation, side to side tilt, and limited up and down tilt. I would have liked a bit more up/down, especially with Naval Commander being taller than him in his powered up mode.
The shoulder pylons are mounted on swing arms at the chest, allowing them to tilt forward and back, as well as raise and lower to accommodate shoulder and arm movement.
The turret on the back is on a swing arm with a 360º rotation at the secondary axis.
The shoulders are ratcheted, full 360º rotation, and outward movement to just past 90º. The shoulder armor slides out to create a larger profile.
Arms have a Bicep swivel, double jointed ratchet elbows, wrist swivel, and fully articulated hands, as well as flip out blades on the forearms.
360º rotation at the waist as well as a separate rotation just below the chest to accommodate the front mounted cannon mode.
Slight ab crunch, forward and back.
2-way ratchets at the hips that allow for 90º movement forward/back/and out. (back is slightly limited due to the rear skirt) with an integrated thigh swivel.
90º bend at the knees.
Multi jointed ankles allowing for tilt and swivel as well as rotation.
Pretty much anything and everything you expect in a modern figure of this scale and price point. If I could add forward butterfly joints into the shoulders that’s about all I can think to add on. Maybe a tad bit of height and more mobility in the neck. Otherwise it’s spot on to modern standards.
Accessories
Mini Robot. Converts from mini tank, to double barrelled blaster, to bipedal robot mode. Designed to homage the mini-con “Leader-1” from Transformers Armada.
2 sets of horns, one angled, and one more rounded. This gives you the option for a more toyetic look, or a more faithful look to the animation.
2 face plates, one stoic and one in the midst of an angry shout, with exposed fangs.
2 eye inserts. One painted, one unpainted, but both made of clear red plastic. The LED function works with both, so I prefer to keep the painted eyes installed.
1x Maintenance Arm. Folds up to store inside the tank fender area.
1x Mounted Twin Blaster. Can be mounted on top of the tank in vehicle mode, or on the armor emplacement in base mode.
4x Projectile Shells. Can be inserted into the pop out missile launcher on the turret, and fired using the spring loaded launcher.
Instructions and Collectors Card.
Final Thoughts
This is a love letter. This is, at least for the moment, the definitive take on Armada Megatron for the modern collector. The design has been adapted to fit Fans Hobby’s style without losing much of the original flavor. The articulation is tops, the presence is just phenomenal. They knocked it out of the park on this one. They may have had a few stumbles with Naval Commander’s plastic issues (which have since been rectified) but this has put them right back up there near the top for me. I hope we see this in a few more colors down the road and I look forward to their take on Tidal Wave coming soon which will carry over the combination gimmick with this figure, the same way Armada Megatron and Tidal Wave did.
If you want to check out something a little different than the same old G1 design, or you have your own nostalgia for the Unicron Trilogy era of Transformers, this comes highly recommended by yours truly. You can order yours from your third party vendor of choice, or directly from Fans Hobby here. If you want to check out Fans Hobby’s take on Armada Optimus to go with this spiky bad bot, you can check that out here.
Thanks for reading. Check out the full gallery below, and I’ll catch you next time!
