Not that he wasn't somewhat of a deal before, but folks have been very loudly asking for a new Overlord ever since he was the big villain in 2010's Last Stand of the Wreckers.  BotCon tried to jump on this hype in 2012 with a version of him retooled from Revenge of the Fallen Bludgeon, but that's always felt like a band-aid on a gushing wound of desire for the real thing.  Well, here he is, the Real Thing, probably!

I mean, I can't rule out that there'll be a Better-er Overlord at some point, but this offering seems like it's the most on-the-nose that retail can muster.  He looks like Overlord (the original toy, at least, though not the LSOTW redesign), he splits into two vehicles like Overlord (not a common gimmick), and he's the largest size class that isn't a city or a combiner, which is suitably Overlordy.  Overlord was a big-ass guy.  But, frankly, anything much larger than this and he isn't gonna fit on any of my shelves.

(note: TakaraTomy just solicited their Overlord, and they're officially mistransforming his feet in a way that extends his legs, making him taller by about an inch.  Essentially, theirs is on tippy-toes.  You can do that easily on the Hasbro version as well if you want your Overlord to be a smidge taller.)

In addition to the tank and jet modes and the combined robot mode, the two vehicles can also combine into an okayish base mode.  I probably won't be using this much, but it's there.

Since Overlord is a Titans Return toy, that means he's got a little dude that turns into his head.  And since Overlord is a LARGE Titans Return toy, that means his little dude actually just transforms into the face, which sits inside a larger helmet, so that body parts remain proportional.  There's also little head-guy-shaped crevices inside doors on his chest where you can capture two other head guys.  (These take the place of the Powermaster engine plug-in spots on the original toy.)  

Overall, Overlord is a solid toy.  His robot mode is where it's at and stays together like a toy that doesn't transform at all, featuring most of the articulation you'd want (though no waist rotation), and he transforms into two smaller vehicles which are also individually fun entities.  The tank mode's turret doesn't rotate, but considering how the thing transforms, that's not really surprising.  

Just keep him away from Pipes.

Woo, Overlord!  ...well, "Gigatron," for trademark reasons.  "Gigatron" was what Overlord was called in America when he was sold as a "Heroes of Cybertron" PVC figure a decade ago, so when Hasbro still can't use "Overlord," that's still the obvious substitute.

I was excited for Overlord because I didn't have an Overlord.   He was a very large and very expensive double Powermaster guy that was sold in Japan and Europe but not here.  I was pretty apathetic to him until he starred in "Last Stand of the Wreckers," and that sure didn't hurt his toy's street value, no.  But now I have this one, which is Bludgeon with a new head.  And oh how he's Bludgeon with a new head.  It's kind of hard to miss it.  Bludgeon's new toy was so very Bludgeon, you see.  Like, all of him, from head to toe.  Replacing his head doesn't really hide the Bludgeonyness.

But I'll deal.  The Bludgeon toy itself is pretty damn amazing, and I have sung its praises, so regardless of its appropriateness, it's nice to have a character I like as a toy I like.  There are a few things I am careful with, though.  I'm actually on my second Bludgeon, since I broke my first one's hand by trying to put the sword in there.  So I am probably not going to be doing that with Overlord very much.  I can't go down to the store and get another of him for $20.  Also, when you transform him, his nose kinda grazes the inside of his own chest.  I've already dabbed his nostrils with a silver Sharpie marker to cover up where I rubbed off some paint.  Thank goodness his face color is silver.

The first of the BotCon 2012 toys has been revealed! Whether you hate or love this guy seems to depend on what forum you're on, but let me present my feelings. Because this is my blog! It's what you're here for!

Overlord is ROTF Bludgeon with a new head. I really really love the ROTF Bludgeon toy. I also really like Overlord, mostly (okay, only) after his big showing in Last Stand of the Wreckers. So on the face of it, this is great news.

I am not entirely sold on him being a samurai. Since I'm only familiar with LSOTW Overlord, I think of Overlord as this evil crazy immoral jerkwad, and samurais are usually portrayed as honorable warriors. And so there's a characterization dissonance here, for me.

However, this is how my brain has coped with this.  We all know Overlord got all skeletonized (yet still operational) by Ironfist at the end of Last Stand of the Wreckers.   In my personal canon, this is the body Overlord has after this event, after having pieced together new body panels to cover himself up like patchwork.  The head is a perfect match for Nick Roche's rendition, so that helps smooth things over.  So very pouty.

I don't have an Overlord, but I'm gonna!  And he's gonna be a monster.  A pouty monster.