As I may have touched on in my comparison review of FansProject’s and Hasbro’s Stunticons, the massive influx of third-party Transformers hitting the market was due in no small part to the lack of combiners in Hasbro’s Generations lines. And if you were a third-party toymaker, you weren’t really taken seriously until you took on Devastator…or, at least it certainly seemed that way, as damn near every third-party maker has made one. So, once Hasbro unveiled their Combiner Wars theme for 2015 and into 2016 the fandom waited on baited breath for the official take on the granddaddy of all combiners. [And you’ll be pleased to know that there are no pudgy, bald German men present in this review. Sure, it’s an old joke…but hey…what can you do? – Ed.]

In combined mode, Devastator stands 18 inches tall…a full foot and a half…and is generally larger than most of the third-party offerings. [At least, according to the comparison shots you found on the internet. – Ed.] This puts him shorter than Metroplex, for you scale purists out there, but he does tower over the remaining combiners. For a combiner like Defensor…sure, it makes sense, six construction vehicles are going to be bigger than five rescue vehicles. For Superion, made up of five jets…not so much. Meh…this sort of thing really doesn’t bother me though. Articulation for the big guy is pretty impressive…with many of the standard joints being present as well as standouts such as waist articulation and ankle tilts! However…the shoulder and elbow joints can be kinda weak and don’t hold up against gravity really well, and you can see that in some of the images in the gallery. It is worth noting that the component bots lock into place really well, making the merged form a very solid piece.

The component bots…well, they’re a bit of a mixed bag. Generally I was pleased with each of them, but there are nits that can be picked. The transformations are simple in spite of their Voyager-class size and with some, harkens back to their G1 transformations. I’ve read some complaints about this, generally levying that these are up-scaled Legends or Deluxe designs…but I can’t say I agree. More complex doesn’t always equal better and with these guys, I think Hasbro got the mix just right…especially when you consider that each Constructicon looks like it walked right out of the G1 cartoon and into your room. As I mentioned at the start of this paragraph, there are some nits to pick, so let’s get at them, shall we?

Hook – Perfectly fine in robot mode…although the way they did his elbows is kinda ugly. My main beefs come in vehicle mode…as there’s no way to rotate the crane arm nor does it extend.

Scavenger – Actually…pretty solid overall. Maybe a bit more articulation for the shovel arm, but not much else beside that!

Bonecrusher – Ugh…that hip assembly is annoying for every single reason you’ll read about it on the internet. From the chest up, he’s perfect. From the knees down, perfect. That hip/groin area though? Insert sigh of disappointment here.

Long Haul – Actually, for whatever reason, kinda my favorite. The biggest of the group…and the stockiest…nonetheless I was still impressed with is articulation. Except for the lack of elbows. That sucks.

Scrapper – Another elbowless wonder. Hasbro’s reasoning is that it would make the merged Devastator less stable. And it almost made sense…until Takara unveiled their Devastator. Their Scrapper has elbows. Insert another sigh of disappointment. The transformation here, more than the others, is nearly identical to his G1 incarnation…so that’s worth some points.

Mixmaster – Well, his updated vehicle mode is…well…backwards. Yes, I know, it’s more indicative of a different model of cement mixer. Sure, there are pictures of this model on the internet…but I’ve NEVER seen a cement mixer like this in real life. So, until I do, it’s backwards. Robot mode, however, is just fine aside from janky elbows very akin to Hook’s.

All in all, it’s a good set. Sure, at anywhere between $160 and $180, it ain’t cheap. But 6 Voyagers at $25 a pop would run you…$150. Crap, now I’ve written myself into a position where I have to defend Hasbro’s price. [That’s why I give you all the rope you ask for…I just love to watch you hang yourself! – Ed.] Quick, LOOK BEHIND YOU!!!

[I don’t think that worked. – Ed.]

Okay, let’s call it a $10 to $30 ‘you didn’t have to waste gas, time or sanity hunting down all 6 component bots’ luxury tax. If only I could pay that to find a damn Onslaught. [You can, it’s called eBay you idiot. – Ed.] But really, I don’t have any defense for the price. I will tell you that overall though, this is a pretty damn cool set and yeah…he’s pricey, but I found him to be worth it.

Now let’s see Hasbro get cracking on that other third-party darling…because I would TOTALLY shell out this same amount of cash for an official PREDAKING.

#transformers #actionfigures #toys