A Different Kind of Galvatron...maybe?

Of all the toys I received as a kid, few hold the kind of real estate in my memory that the original Galvatron does. Christmas 1986. I remember tearing open that box and finding him there in his cannon mode, that massive neon orange barrel staring back at me, and thinking this was easily the most impressive thing I'd ever owned. 

I played with him constantly. The 9-volt battery that powered his light-up eyes and those three magnificent warbling laser sounds was basically a subscription I renewed every few hours. By the time I eventually parted with him years later, he was still intact but thoroughly loved. The kind of loved where you've handled a toy so many times it just feels like an extension of your own hands.

In all his glory.

So needless to say, Galvatron has always occupied a special corner of my collection. When I decided to rebuild, getting some version of him back was never really in question. But which one? There's actually more to untangle here than you'd think, so bear with me. For the full backstory on the character side of things, you can point yourself over to the Wiki. But the short version is that "Galvatron II" as a name originates from Simon Furman's work and refers specifically to the Galvatron pulled from an alternate timeline — the one where Unicron actually won, consumed Cybertron, and set his herald loose on Earth (one of my favorite comics BTW, seeing Galvatron in front of a dead Rodimus hanging between what was left of the Twin Towers? Eerie). A rogue, increasingly unhinged version of an already unhinged character. Ehobby ran with that concept and gave him his own release. 

There are two?!?

Now here's where it gets interesting for collectors. In 2005, Takara put out a mainline reissue of Galvatron — the purple one, the so-called anime-accurate version. Personally I love that version too. That's the Galvatron we all saw on screen, the regal purple emperor barking at Cyclonus. But that's also not what the toy looked like. The original 1986 figure was designed before the movie came out, based on an unused color scheme. And if you grew up with it in your hands the way I did, Galvatron was always a shade of gray. The purple reissue was a nice addition, but it couldn't replace the original. 

Gray is good.

The Ehobby Galvatron II, released in 2006, fixes that. It uses the retooled body from the 2005 reissue — the updated electronics running on two AA batteries instead of a 9-volt, the slightly reworked screeching face — but puts it back in the original gray and orange color scheme where it belongs. He also comes with a sheet of gold filigree stickers designed to match his first appearance in TV Magazine's story pages, plus a gold Decepticon insignia. Fair warning on those stickers: the Wiki describes them as very difficult to apply, and you can bet I won't be testing that theory. Additionally, tucked in with him is a green chrome Creation Matrix — a redeco of the accessory from the purple reissue, this time meant to evoke the Marvel Comics version rather than the movie's. It's a small thing but a nice touch. 

Creation matrix reference unlocked.

I'll be honest, I managed to find this one in excellent condition and I jumped on it without a lot of deliberation. He fits perfectly alongside the other Ehobby figures I've been picking up, and there's something quietly satisfying about having a version of Galvatron in my collection that looks the way he did sitting under my Christmas tree in 1986. 

Not the animated version, not a modern reimagining. Just him. Gray and orange and slightly absurd and completely perfect.