Photo dump of the Transformers Authentics Megatron & Optimus Prime toys my 8-year-old niece gifted me for my 40th birthday & Christmas respectively. They have their charms, but they got hit with the blunt end of the budget stick. They cost the same as a what a Deluxe Class Beast Wars figure would cost when they first came out in 1996 ($10 CAD).
Optimus, you might wanna see Ratchet about that... 😅
As far as alt modes go, Megatron's is bulky but still hits all the marks despite not having functional wheels. The grey plastic they used on Optimus instead of the more iconic blue drags him down further.
Articulation is a total joke for these guys, but I can't be too harsh considering they were a gift.
Out of the two, Megs is my favourite since I discovered that his fusion cannon accessory uses a 3mm post that's not only compatible with Transformers figures with similar sized ports, but it also fits the hands of Lego minifigures. So I can have some fun with that, at least.
Highbrow's visor is fully tinted glass, whereas his optics only have a single layer of tint on the outside (this wears away over time and is replenished by secretions from within the optical socket, much like an organic organism would produce tears). The sparkeater transformation causes the coding that controls that function to go dormant, leaving the optics' tint to get worn away and giving them that signature yellow coloration.
Perceptor's targeting lens functions similarly, even though it's deep-wired directly into his socket :D
(pictured: Mainframe and Jackpot)
Mecha that didn't originally have mouths generally have shorter cables than their mouthed counterparts, because their regenerative systems are preoccupied with growing them a proper mouth (you can't effectively eat sparks without a jaw, unfortunately :/). Given enough time and fuel though, their cables will eventually match the length of their packmates!
The transformation isn't pretty at first, because the body will cannibalize to metal that comprises the faceplate, but shortly after the mech is first turned, they'll have a new mouth and jaw :D
Sparkeaters are equipped with a mouth full of sharp dentae, some of which are serrated. Their equivalent of molars are often more heavily serrated, almost like a kind of grinder, since they'll use those in conjunction with their corrosive oral lubricant to tear off parts of their prey.
A sparkeater's cables sprout directly from their spinal cord and function both as defensive limbs and sensory ones. They're highly dexterous and touch sensitive, which is why sparkeaters use them for communication. Like a weird metal tentacle handshake XD
In addition, if given enough time, a sparkeater's cables will eventually take on the natural plating color! This means that while Forged sparkeaters may have colored cables, the vast majority of cold constructed will have silver cables (cold constructed mecha don't grow their own plating and thus don't have coding to account for plating coloration)
