Terriermon
was originally introduced in "Digimon: The Movie," as
the partner of Willis, and then in the third season of the show,
another Terriermon was introduced, partnered with Henry. In this
season, we were introduced to his whole evolution line, including
his Mega form, MegaGargomon, and so a
"Warp-Digivolving" figure of the character was
released.MEGAGARGOMON
The toy comes packaged in MegaGargomon mode, and while I'd normally start a review with the toy in it's "lower" form, I'll start with this form today. This incarnation of MegaGargomon is him in his "flight mode" - with his ears extended, and the jets on his back up (and yes, I'm well aware that it's not actually a MODE, like Fighter Mode, Paladin Mode or Crimson Mode, but just GO WITH IT, okay?). He's a big fella, coming in at just under eight inches - but his large bulk, and impressive nine-and-a-half inch wingspan (earspan?) make him an imposing toy. MegaGargomon has articulation in his shoulders, elbows (two joints), knees, ankles, and even his thumbs and fingers. His ears are technically poseable, but are supposed to remain locked on his shoulders... which brings me to the first bad point about this toy - the freakin' ears don't lock well at all. They're forever falling out and flopping around. And while we're on negative points, it seems like as good a time as any to mention his missing paint, which is minimal compared to other Tamers toys. Here, he's missing grey paint on his toes, as well as the darker green paint that should be around the insignia on his loincloth. His belt buckle, and the small zip on his stomach aren't painted, and neither are the tri-force symbols on his ears. Finally, none of the smiley faces (on his missiles and his stomach) are painted. Listing that off, it sounds like a lot, but they're all very small things that don't add up to much. But, of course, the mode's biggest failing is that it's another toy that only looks good from the front - turn him around, and you've got Terriermon staring right back at you.
To transform MegaGargomon into Terriermon, you first open his chest, and fold his head inside, closing the chest over it. Then, you open his forearms
and fold his hands inside, before sliding his
forearms up, over his upper arms. Next, you open his shoulder
missiles, fold his compacted arms inside, and shut them. You
rotate his arms around to cover his front, then fold his jets up
under his ears, and unlock his ears and fold them down by his
side. Then, you push his legs up, so they compress, then rotate
his feet around 180% and push them up. Finally, to finish, you
turn the toy around, and fold back Terriermon's arms. You can, if
you want, fold up the tips of his ears. I don't normally feel
like it, as you can see from the picture.TERRIERMON
Hardly the greatest alt. mode ever, but still one of Bandai of America's better ones. Terriermon has articulation in his arms, ears, ear tips and ankles - he's a little unsightly, in that there are four huge screw holes in plain view on his legs, and MegaGargomon's jets don't exactly fold up inconspicuously under his ears. And those ain't Terriermon's feet, mate. Terriermon is missing no paint (aside from the toes, but those are MegaGargomon's anyway), but makes for a better display piece than an actualy plaything, as his brick-like stature and loose ears detract from his play value. Also, it's nitpicky, but his ears aren't long enough (that, or his body's too long). And once again, if you turn him around, there's MegaGargomon's body and folded-up arms just sitting there.
OVERALL
Not a bad toy - not a great one, but not a bad one. There's some clever design at work - specifically in MegaGargomon's arms. I quite like how they fold up into themselves, that's well done. There's also a certain level of enjoyment to be derived from such a big Terriermon. :) But it remains yet another "turn me around" toy, just with knobs on. Still, it's definitely a great one for the kids, as it's simple yet effective, and is of a popular character.
Rating: 3 out of 5