FROM FRIDAY'S GLOBE AND MAIL

August 7, 2008 at 9:07 PM EDT

OTTAWA — For months, Canadian trade regulators have pondered a feature of a famous Transformers toy that has amused fans for years: Is the dastardly Megatron a robot or is he the replica pistol that he can be rearranged to resemble?

Ottawa bans the import of objects “designed to look exactly or almost exactly like a real firearm” in part because it fears they could be used to commit crimes.

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal, which usually deals with mundane subjects such as steel imports, found itself puzzling over whether Megatron, the anti-hero of the Transformers toy franchise, should be turned away at the border for looking too much like a fake weapon.

After consulting an RCMP forensics expert, the federal tribunal officially published its verdict online this week, decreeing that Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, is definitely not a replica firearm.

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As kids of the 1980s will remember, Megatron is a dastardly evil Transformer robot who longs to conquer the Earth. But Canadian border guards who don't like the fact he can be rearranged to look like a semi-automatic pistol have barred his entry into Canada.

The ruling by the quasi-judicial tribunal means the classic versions of Megatron – a robot that turns into a facsimile of a Walther model P-38 pistol – can once again be imported.

Megatron, as children of the 1980s will know, is the arch-villain of the Transformers universe where robots can change into vehicles, devices and animals. He began life as a robot that turns into a pistol, but manufacturers also produced a version that transformed into something less worrisome for customs officials, such as a tiny tank.

The classic Megatron's case received a boost from the unlikeliest of sources when a Royal Canadian Mounted Police forensics lab measured him in pistol form and determined that he was too big to closely mimic a Walther pistol.

“It does not exactly resemble a firearm as it is approximately 30 per larger in size than an actual Walther, model P-38,” a Mountie forensics specialist wrote in a report for the CITT deliberations.

Canadian customs officials triggered these hearings last November when they confiscated a collector's edition of the Megatron robot, saying the silver and black figure too closely resembled a replica firearm when rearranged.

Canada Border Services Agency, which reports to Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, refused to reverse the decision, and so Jonathan Bell, the B.C. man who had been trying to import a copy of Megatron, appealed to the trade tribunal.

“The item is shipped as a Transformer robot and remains in the robot form until someone changes it to another form, in this case a Walther P-38 pistol,” Mr. Bell wrote in his appeal.

He wrote that when laws and regulations on replica firearms are taken at face value without considering intent, “we would have to consider prohibiting wood, plastic or metal [from entering] our country, since all of those items can be transformed into something else.”

Transformers robot cleared for import after tribunal decides it doesn't resemble a gun ...Read the full article

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1. Peter Konieczny from Ajax, Canada writes: All Hail Megatron! Can you imagine what the police officer thought when he was told he had to do a report on the Transformer's toy. Did the Tribunal members have to read Megatron's bio, or watch episodes of the original series before they came to their conclusion? At least this wasn't a fight over Shockwave's toy.

   • Posted 07/08/08 at 10:07 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
2. Adam Allouba from Montreal, Canada writes: I bet Optimus Prime is kicking himself for never having thought of just calling the Canadian border guards instead of going all the trouble the Autobots went through. Thank God we've got them to keep us safe.

   • Posted 07/08/08 at 10:27 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
3. Craig Cooper from Toronto, writes: All kinds of real guns on the street and tax dollars go to fretting about toys!

   • Posted 07/08/08 at 10:30 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
4. B A from Canada writes: Decepticons! Transform and Confound!
   
   Meanwhile I'm sure they'll have the forensic report on that suspicious tapedeck they found any day now. Canada. Making decisions at the speed of yer average glacier. Sigh.

   • Posted 07/08/08 at 10:31 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
5. James McCourt from Canada writes: Excellent! My plot to import drugs stuffed inside Megatron robots can now proceed, unhindered by those meddling customs agents.

   • Posted 07/08/08 at 10:59 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
6. John Deriso from Edmonton, Canada writes: Apparently, the RCMP's official report was an audio tape of 45 minutes of sustained laughter.

   • Posted 07/08/08 at 11:29 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
7. David R from Canada writes: Liberal party tax dollars at work. Only the Liberal party think something like this. can't wait for Dion and his Green..... oh no I mean tax shift plan. get ready for more ways to be s***ed by the Liberal party.

   • Posted 07/08/08 at 11:30 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
8. Ryan Lemay from Canada writes: I agree, don't let Megatron into Canada. Sorry Decepticons, this peace loving nation does not want you! We all saw through the 1980's how you terrorized New York and the United States in general, you are not welcome in our country. So take that Megatron!!!

   • Posted 07/08/08 at 11:35 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
9. Michael Sharp from Victoria, Canada writes:
   
   Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?
   
   "Just glad to see you, Officer."

   • Posted 08/08/08 at 1:03 AM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
10. Tracey Anthony from Halifax, Canada writes: As amusing as this was it is also rather disturbing. We need border protection but I'm sorry, the inmates really have taken over the asylum. I understand the pressure they're under, my father in law is a retired LEO, but I have always had the worst issues with Canadian Border guards. If someone didn't "get some" in the last few days or they're having "personal" issues they take it out on everyone. I've joked and laughed with American TSA and Customs agents but try to get a Candadian to crack a smile and they look at you like you're trying to invade. I'm not saying they have to be everyone's best buddy but please try to leave your personal issues at home and be a professional. Oh yes...try to engage your brains and use a little common sense. A Megatron toy as a replica firearm?? Get serious, stop looking at the objects and start looking at the people. They'll tell you if they're up to something they shouldn't be; they always do!

    • Posted 08/08/08 at 6:01 AM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
11. Life Is Good from Canada writes: I live in a border town where the C.B.S. goones live. The drive home drunk from the bar all the time. Walk around here like they own everything. Nothing more then wanna be cops that were too stupid to pass the entry exam. Now its obvious they are nothing more then control freaks. And you should see some of thier offspring. Most should be instututionalised. More then half are on ritilin. And now they want guns. What's next?

    • Posted 08/08/08 at 8:39 AM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
12. Vincent Clement from Windsor, Ontario, Canada writes: David R: What exactly does this have to do with the Liberal Party and Dion?

    • Posted 08/08/08 at 9:17 AM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
13. V Patterson from F'ton, Canada writes: Without our enthused border control peeps, what group could I used for an example when I am trying the summarize anothers bad behavior without having to say autocratic, officious, megalomaniacal despot with a distinct possibility of a Napoleon complex. It is alwasy been so much easier to say someone is behaving just like a CBS :)
    
    

    • Posted 08/08/08 at 9:31 AM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
14. Michael Manning from Mississauga, Canada writes: Let's suppose for a moment that the toy was an exact, non-firing replica of an actual pistol. For what possible reason would it be turned back?
    
    "Whey you could hold up a bank with one!", cries the peanut gallery. Hmm, yes, one could. However in an ensuing gunfight with the police one might find oneself somewhat at a disadvantage.
    
    I'm all for licensing and registering firearms. We register cars, planes, boats, dogs, cats and people. However, in my opinion, restricting imitations is a level of official paranoia that should be curtailed.

    • Posted 08/08/08 at 9:38 AM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment