ROTF Legends Devastator! As with most store exclusives (though this one lacks the store sticker that will label it as such), it comes in a nifty can-shaped box which the top is a separate lid held on by tape. Opening the lid, you remove the plastic tray holding the toy and all the packaging art stays inside and undisturbed... more on that later. Undo the usual wiring holding him to the bed, and he's free:
My initial impressions are that he's a little light, but then again, there are no metal parts, and he's not particularly bulky, so heavier, dense parts aren't really needed to bear any weight. Once dismantled into his component pieces, they all feel about the right heft for Legends class figures. Also, his instructions sheet (which is in the cardboard base inside his can) is more like a bed sheet. I didn't use it. Try not to mutilate the cardboard base getting it out, that base is handy later.
So far, I've been flying without instructions, which isn't too hard. A couple evident steps bring most of the members into their Vehicle Modes. The transformation from vehicle to robot is relatively simple, by inspection of the toy and the pictures on the box.
So, Let's have a look at the individual figs:
Demolishor/Scavenger:
Alt Mode: Terex Mining Excavator. His alt mode colors match those of his voyager class toy. His bucket arm is articulated at the central joint, but neither the base of the arm nor the wrist of the bucket is posable. The arm is raised rather high in the air, which looks a little awkward for anything except about to empty into a dump truck. There are two tiny caster wheels under the treads, and, cleverly enough, the rear of the vehicle is carried on the two huge wheels that will become prominent in his robot mode. They're buried side by side in the excavator body, but the tips peek out the bottom and roll freely. The transformation is pretty predicatble: the body splits in half, placing one half of the bucket arm on each side of the head, and move one wheel up and one wheel down. He balances readily on his bucket-hands and the bottom wheel, much more easily than the Voyager. The two body panels on his shoulders like to pop off during transformation, but are easily replaced. His face has sufficient detailing, with dark grey eyeshadow and lipstick, and yellow eyes. He looks good in both modes for a Legends class, and is certainly faithful to his screen design.
Overload:
Alt Mode: Articulated Dump Truck, a specific type which can unload straight out the belly. His alt mode is a typical transformer dump truck: decent cast, with one pair of molded-on wheels, and a filled in dump bed. Some sort of paint applique to the inside of the bed might have diminished this drawback, but that's a large area to paint, i suppose. The transformation is pretty straightforward, the only less obvious step is tilting the entirety of the cab (his legs) down with respect to the bed, til it clicks VERY firmly in place. In robot mode, he's pretty much a red version of TF1 Bonecrusher. He's short, stocky, with wheels on his legs, hips, and hands, broad shoulders, big clawlike fingers, and even a strange claw on an arm behind his head. The only big difference is the head: it looks very much like a crusades- era medieval bucket helm, the only paint detail in his robot mode is the yellow, eye stripe. Still, the sculpt is detailed, and makes me long for a full-size toy.
Mixmaster:
Alt Mode: Mack cab conversion cement mixer. His Alt mode looks great, though I wish it were cast in a darker color, like the coal black his larger toys are. All six wheels turn! His transformation is again like the Voyager version. the mixer barrel stretches out into his long, gangly arms (which seem exceptionally long and gangly), and the majority of the cab hangs off his butt, mostly because it's Devastator's face. Speaking of faces, upon close inspection of Mixmaster's, it appears it's based on the early concept art for his face, rather than the spiderlike face his Voyager self has.
Mixmaster is at the bottom, compared to his look alike: human actor Brendan Gleeson.
To be fair, the huge butt-thing his cab makes does make this otherwise gangly and unstable figure stand up.
Long Haul:
Alternate Mode: Ore truck. Okay, this guy is pretty much mini G1 Landfill in green. The truck looks good except the usual tonneau cover look on the truck bed. The transformation is Just like Landfill: The truck chassis is the legs, the dump bed splits down the middle as the arms. It's really simple, but there's nothing more needed to do the job. His robot mode looks great, plenty of casting detail and paint, including tiny, brooding, beady red eyes. The only thing I miss is the large, clawlike structure that should rise from his back. It's there, but very small, and asymmetrical due to the offset cab design. Strangely, he has grey paint on his kneecaps... and also on the backs of the knees...
Rampage:
Alternate Mode: Cat D9 dozer. The dozer mode looks even better than the deluxe: the drive sprocket has been corrected to obtain the triangular track arrangement, rather than the unrealistic oblong one deluxe Rampage exhibits. His transformation reminds me again of the deluxe, with the upper tracks swinging out to his sides as whip/arms, this time, the dozer blades are stored on his shoulders. The detailed head comes out of the cab roof, and the bottom of the dozer forms his single, pogo-stick like leg. The lower tracks extend out behind his leg to support the mode, like a display stand for the monopodal hopper. As in the deluxe, hydraulic pistons decorate his upper leg and merge into the hydraulic pistons that control his blade. The lower track "feet" detract from the monopodal look, but it eliminates the giant backpack deluxe Rampage wears to stand him in his jackhammer-like movie robot form.
Hightower:
Alternate mode: mobile crane. Interesting choice of mode: the most dominating feature is the crane boom, and the supporting boom, and the replica cabling tying them all together. His wide-set tracks have caster wheels under them, like most, and he has a molded-in stack of counterweights on his back deck so he doesn't tip forward when lifting a heavy payload. The transformation is the least obvious: his tracks swing away from his body on bowed legs, and then turn inside out. His while crane boom rotates around, as does the rear portion that becomes his head. He assumes a strange, animalian posture, with the boom rising high behind him, growing a grapple claw in place of the hook, and having a strange driver's rollcage housing his surprisingly humanoid face. Two little T-rex arms dangle from this rollcage in front. Weird. Then again, with a centaur/pogo stick, "wheelbot". and the strange, monkeylike form of Mixmaster, this is only par for the course. Oddly, I like his robot mode, though how low to the ground he rests seems the most unnatural.
Scrapper:
Alternate mode: Front end wheel loader. It looks fine, but the wheelbase seems strangely slid forward. The most unfortunate thing is that the bucket doesn't raise and lower, but that would have defeated the intended robot mode design. He sports a large blue cab window, which wraps around and happily ablates the molded in cab pillar detail. Of course, this is even common on larger scale toys... His transformation is, as with most of these size transformers, relatively simple and straightfoward. But it leads to a real treat: the robot mode looks excellent. His feet are the two bucket halves, and he stands on long, excellently detailed legs. His head is on top of his shoulders, and he has a strange, triple triangle shaped eye band. He has well proportioned, clawed arms hanging down to either side, capped with two black shoulder pointies that, in the concept art, appear next to spewing exhaust pipes, a mockery of Optimus Prime's clean looking chrome. The big clawed hands made up of the hydraulic bucket pistons look like they could do some major damage. Lastly, his head is ON TOP of his shoulders!!!
HASBRO: PLEEEEASE MAKE A FULL-SIZE TOY OF SCRAPPER.
Devastator:
Well, the transformation to Devastator is pretty elegant, firstoff, he's kibble-free. Very few can boast to have that. Rampage and Long Haul turn readily into stocky, gorilla-like legs. The transformation from vehicle to arm for Scrapper and Hightower is even simpler. The trick is getting the three torso parts together: Mixmaster (head), Demolishor (chest), and Overload (crotch (can you hear Long Haul sighing with relief?)). They all entangle rather cleverly into a fairly solid unit, with the face dangling down in front. The four limbs attach by mushroom-shaped pegs that plug into simple clip sockets. The arms are mildly posable, and the legs can only rotate on their attaching pin. The limbs are ambidextrous, however.
He looks really good... The key details from the movie self show through fairly dramatically for such a small toy. His detail is far from meager. The face has a drybrushed look over the silver, and a separately cast green spiky thing appears under the surface to imply the whirling grinder blades stored just under the surface of his head. The mixer barrel is awfully vertical, and detached from the head, but it doesn't dictate the shape of his face as much as the $100 devs does.
He stands readily, displays well, and, remember that can shaped box? it makes a pretty good mini display case if you are so inclined.
To sum up:
Transformations: 8.5
Alt Modes: 7
Robot Modes: 9
Paint detail:5
Cute: 7
Evil:9
Fun and addictiveness: 10.
I'd keep an eye open for this one. And remember, it's a true combiner team, through and through!
Complete Gallery (more to come)
