Review: #699
Name: Devastator
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Generations - Studio Series
Year of Release: 2020
Size Class: N/A (boxset of 2 Leaders, 4 Voyagers and 2 Deluxes)
Mold Status: repaint of SS Devastator and its components
PACKAGING:
In addition to being first released by its separate components, Devastator was later released in a boxset.
As per usual with a lot of Generations boxsets, the artwork on the front is awesome. The only negative is that there isn't many differences with this boxset compared to the separate releases.
As this is eight figures of various sizes together, the box is absolutely massive.
The various sides of the box shows off the separate and combined modes.
Pulling the inner insert out, you can see that the figures are packed in their combined mode. It's also pretty amusing that there are two sets of instructions, as it was just too much for one sheet of paper.
As part of the Studio Series, Devastator also comes with a gigantic cardboard stand, showing off the Egypt backdrop.
INDIVIDUAL MODES:
Devastator is comprised of eight figures: Hightower, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Overload, Scavenger, Scrapmetal, Scrapper and Skipjack.
The theme being construction vehicles, they look great as a set.
One of the best things about designs from Revenge of the Fallen is how unique they are, looking absurdly otherworldly and at times, ugly.
Unfortunately, this set doesn't really differentiate itself much from the regular separate releases, just the addition of some dirt. Scrapmetal has it at the end of his shovel / combined mode claws.
Long Haul has dirt on the sides of his beds, which ends up as part of the foot in combined mode.
Skipjack has a very minor amount on the sides.
And Scrapper has dirt at the end of his shovel as well, which is also the combined mode claws.
TRANSFORMATION:
As expected, the combining the eight figures is complicated. There's only one configuration so you cannot swap and change the limbs around. The limbs are the easiest, it's combining Scavenger, Overload and Mixmaster into the torso that's complicated. In particular, Scavenger is confusing due to his unique design, and Overload has a mess of joints that you need to fold away. All in all though, this is still a pretty unique and impressively engineered figure.
COMBINED MODE:
This is the whole point of the set, and Devastator looks mighty confronting. The sheer size alone is impressive.
It's a messy combined mode, but that's true to the design. Devastator is designed to stand upright though and the weight of the figure does put a lot of strain on the legs, which can buckle if they are not in their default straightened position.
The other difference here is the head sculpt, which has a few additional spots of silver compared to the original release.
A quick comparison against the regular release and the biggest difference is just the yellow leg due to being formed by Skipjack, rather than the red of Rampage. The yellow there does help in breaking up the overwhelming red though.
Devastator has ratchet joints for everything but you'll be hard pressed to get him into a good pose. He has joints for his shoulders, elbows, claws and hips. Practically, they're next to useless as Devastator is likely to collapse under his weight if you try anything other than standing up straight.
Nevertheless, this is an awesome combined mode, and something that was sorely missing back when the movie was released.
OVERALL:
If you had skipped out on the regular releases, or missed a component here or there, then this boxset is a great solution. It combined all eight figures in one convenient package, although he was pricey on release (there was a slight premium compared to buying the figures separately, which doesn't make much sense). The figures themselves are awesome and worth the price of admission alone, before even taking the combined mode into consideration.
---------------------------------------------------------
For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page.
