Got my Masterpiece Megatron today. Happy dance!
The plug was astonishingly easy to remove. I broke out some channel locks, broke the adhesive's seal with those, and was able to remove the plug the rest of the way with my fingers. No damage to Megatron, thankfully, except for a bit of adhesive stuck inside the barrel. If I was more ambitious, I'd try to get it out of there, but there's no reason to.
So, if you're on the fence about getting it from BBTS, I wouldn't be. They have the best price, and for 30 seconds worth of work, you can save yourself a bundle.
I'll blather on more about it later, after I've soaked it all in.