Transformers Review – Masterforce Knockoff Overlord

Intro:           

            Now, first of all, let me get this out of the way first. For the first time ever, in the history of Planet Cybertron blogs – all the way back since the Friendster days – Planet Cybertron will be reviewing the first ever knockoff figure. As far as knockoffs goes, there’s probably no one better to review, than one of the most iconic characters in the Japanese G1 era Transformers – Overlord.

            I have to admit, Overlord have been one of the Holy Grails of my collection. Unfortunately for me, and most other collectors in this region, Overlord was not, and still not readily available. From the information that I’ve gathered, Overlord was sold only within Japan, and for a time, it was also an European exclusive. So the rest of the world can only watch in admiration as Japan and the European continent get to enjoy that luxury.

            Overlord has yet again proven elusive and there wasn’t even a knockoff version anywhere in this region. So for a time, I abandoned my hope, until the day I met a friend of mine, Big Daddy. He was looking for a buyer for his 20-something year old knockoff Overlord, which he had gotten from Hong Kong. I’ve actually heard of it before that a good knockoff version of Overlord did exist up there in Hong Kong, which was pretty much show accurate. Well needless to say, when Big Daddy laid to me the news, my eyes twinkled like the Northern Star.

            As mentioned, Overlord was a Decepticon general during the events of Transformers: Masterforce. Overlord had two powermaster partners, a husband and wife team of Giga & Mega… I know, the name sucks, but oh well, not my problem. Overlord was formed by 2 vehicles – a jet and a tank. He has proven time and again to be a constant tough-rival-to-beat for God Ginrai.

            So here we are, on a momentous day, for which Planet Cybertron will be reviewing its first ever knockoff figure – Overlord. History will be made.

Base mode:

 

The base mode looks awesome. It’s so massive that it’s even a bigger base than Metroplex. There are repair bays, satellite antennas, weapon attachments, a platform-of-sort, and a really convincingly good-looking tower, which is formed by the jet’s cockpit. While the base looks massive, it does have one major drawback. The base itself consists of 3 separate parts – and the problem is that nothing is holding them together. The ramps provided only serve as a bridge. So you can’t pick the entire base up like you would with Metroplex. And if you notice from the photos, I don’t have the front ramp for my set, which is a bit of a shame. But nonetheless, it’s an issue too small to be dealt with.

The base has a lot of play value to it, and I can imagine kids having so much fun playing with it. Collectors too will have a lotta fun displaying the base along with various Minibots and Minicons.

Alternate mode:

            Now as far as memory serves, Giga (the guy) is supposed to be the pilot of the tank, while Mega (the girl) is supposed to be the pilot of the jet. 

            The jet itself is so doggone huge!!! It’s even bigger than Metroplex’s base mode, and that alone is saying it a lot. The jet is predominantly black and white in color, with a little bit of purple here and there. The cockpit and the compartment below, where you would be able to stash Mega in are made from translucent orange (or yellow to some) plastic. My only complaint with the jet, is the obviously pointless front landing gear, which is literally too short to reach the floor. This point I have looked up the internet, and found that it was also an issue with the original – obviously a flawed design issue. 

Flawed Design

            The tank itself is literally half the size of the jet, and is predominantly white and blue in color, also with an orange translucent compartment cover to house Giga in it. The turret doesn’t really turn here, due to the transformation, with only the gun being able to tilt upward and back down. The wheels don’t really wanna turn on mine, probably due to old age.

           

Robot Mode:

 

            Overlord is simply gargantuan.  Standing at about 13-inch tall, he easily dwarves all other G1 figures out there. Being a G1 figure, Overlord is generally a brick. His head turns left and right. As far as the arms go, he only has a rotatable shoulder joints, and finally, the hips can only go back and forth. 

Overlord with Built-in Weapons Deployed

            Now, regardless of the articulations, this is still an awesome figure. The two Powermasters – Giga and Mega can be inserted into the two compartments in the chest cavities to reveal even more weaponry. Being a knockoff figure, the quality of the material used may have suffered as one of the Powermasters – not sure whether it’s Giga or Mega – have actually broken off.

            The cockpit of the jet, which would normally form the shield in robot mode can’t really be detached easily from the main body. It can be done so, I think, but I’m just not confident enough to force the cockpit off. I’ve already seen some crack marks appearing on the cockpit’s plastic, and I am really not ready to take that risk. 

            As far as my figure goes, all of the Powermaster gimmick mechanism still functions, which is always good. Due to the condition of Giga and Mega themselves, I tend to activate these function just by pressing the buttons in the Powermaster slots by hand. 

Built-in Weapons Deployed

Overall:

            Even though that the version of Overlord that I got is only a knockoff, I have to say, it is very, very close to the real thing. And for most of us in these parts, this is probably the best Overlord figure available to us. It’s a very massive figure,

            Final verdict, 8/10.