Review #43: Classics style Devastator
(Maketoys Giant Type-61)
Giant Type-61 part 4 of 4
And so it comes to this. We've looked at the six individual robots, and now we're almost ready to look at the combined gestalt mode. But first, some final looks at the individual members, now all together.
As vehicles:
As vehicles:
And as robots:
Some vehicle mode comparisons with some official Hasbro deluxe vehicles:
And a robot mode group shot with other Decepticons:
So, get everybody configured for combination...
And then it is a simple matter of combining all of the pieces. But before we see Maketoy's third-party take on Devastator, let us pause to take a quick look (thanks to the pictures to the right which I pilfered from the Transformers Wiki) at the G1 character they were paying homage to.
You can see the main source of debate for Devastator fans in these pictures: the show's purple mixing barrel vs. the toy's green. People have died over this! |
And then it is a simple matter of combining all of the pieces.
Everything clips or tabs together snuggly, often with spring loaded clips that won't let go until you want them to. The connections are firm and not too difficult to put together. And once everything is assembled, you have the mighty Devastator!
Everything clips or tabs together snuggly, often with spring loaded clips that won't let go until you want them to. The connections are firm and not too difficult to put together. And once everything is assembled, you have the mighty Devastator!
And a solid gestalt this Devastator is! I have never had a combining team that holds together so well, official toy or otherwise. I've had this guy for some time (an advantage of such procrastination in getting through all of these reviews) and have done much handling of him, and I have not had Devastator fall apart on me as I pose him.
He looks magnificent. You know how when you're a child, you get a picture in your head of how a character is supposed to look? With Devastator, his animation design was so simplified compared to his individual components, yet his toy design relied on unflattering extra parts, specifically where his hips were concerned. The ideal picture of Devastator was oh so much more then the sum of his parts, and this toy finally captures in plastic the mental image I would have had as a child.
He looks magnificent. You know how when you're a child, you get a picture in your head of how a character is supposed to look? With Devastator, his animation design was so simplified compared to his individual components, yet his toy design relied on unflattering extra parts, specifically where his hips were concerned. The ideal picture of Devastator was oh so much more then the sum of his parts, and this toy finally captures in plastic the mental image I would have had as a child.
Devastator needs a gun, of course. With the G1 toy, he just had a separate big gun just for the gestalt mode. (Although it could be attached to Mixmaster's vehicle mode.) However, in this case the gun is a gestalt, as well, made up of the six guns that the individual Constructicons wielded. The individual guns were serviceable, but it is clear that they were made for this combination and in the combination they make one solid, good looking gun.
The gun fits well in either of Devastator's hands, slotting into a channel on the inside of either of the palms for a firm grip.
So the next big question would be, how is his articulation? Well, it is fantastic!
His head is on a ball joint. The shoulders swivel and ratchet in any direction you could need. There is a swivel in each arm above the elbow. The elbows bend. The wrists swivel. The thumbs are on ball joints. The other fingers can individually move at the base, but unfortunately cannot move at any of the other finger joints. (So alas, it is difficult to have fun making Devastator preform rude gestures.) He has a waist swivel which is hindered an awful lot by various bits of kibble on his back and hips, but which you can at least get enough movement out of to give an accent to various poses. His hips have ratcheting joints to provide articulation in various directions, he has upper leg swivels, then he has nice ratchets in his knees as well. Finally, he has some of the biggest ball joints I have ever seen in his ankles. They're nice, tight ankles that allow him to stand well balanced on one foot. |
The skirt over the hips has two ball jointed segments to allow you to move them out of the way of the legs when moving them. But even with this, the skirt pieces could get in the way of some more extreme poses. One of the improvements made to the green Type-61 version of this toy (over the original yellow release) was some extra engineering that allows you to pull the hip skirt section forward to give additional extra room for the hips to move around.
If you recall from Hook's review, Devastator has two head options. Switching between the two is just a matter of popping one off of the ball joint and popping the other on in its place. One of them is the original head from the yellow version.
If you recall from Hook's review, Devastator has two head options. Switching between the two is just a matter of popping one off of the ball joint and popping the other on in its place. One of them is the original head from the yellow version.
The new head has some additional features. It has a mouth that can be opened, and along with it a Jay Leno-like chin of epic proportions. The chin, on the surface, seems a bit silly... but I suppose it does give you something to get an easier time of opening and closing the mouth. Also, the new head has a retractable clear visor that can be lowered over the eyes, which references that back in the G1 cartoon Devastator actually had two different head designs that were used in different episodes (or even randomly within the same episode): one with separate eyes, and one with a visor.
Another additional feature of this version of the toy over the original yellow version: something else you might recall from when I was talking about Hook was that on the Type-61 version his crane arm, permanently attached on the yellow version, had been made removable. Devastator can take advantage of this, combining the crane arm with the individual components of his gun to make a clubbing weapon. This can be held in either of his hands by fitting into the same channels on his palms that his gun would slot into. Not a feature I plan on displaying him using, but it was a neat inclusion that adds some extra play value to your $350+ adult collectable.
But yeah, I much prefer just leaving the crane on Devastator's left shoulder. For a truly G1 look, you can leave the crane just sticking straight out behind him as seen in one of the photos to the right. But Maketoys did provide a rather nice option where the crane can be bent down so that it lies down against his back, making for a somewhat cleaner look and also making him a lot more shelf friendly. With the crane sticking straight out behind him, for display one would need to accommodate for that extra space between his body and the wall. Being able to bend the crane arm down saves that space.
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One final weapon option pays homage to the G1 toy's optional drill hands. Remember the jackhammers that a few of the individual robots could have? Fold away either (or both, if you want to go crazy!) of Devastator's hands, and you can replace them with the jackhammer bits (which I still say are certainly not screwdrivers!)
Now for some more photos!
Now for some more photos!
As you can see in one of the above photos, you can slide out the interior of the barrel of Devastator's gun. But honestly, I don't think that looks terribly good. It looks much better without that part slid out, or with it just slid out a little bit.
Below, we'll see Devastator interacting with a few other Transformers.
Below, we'll see Devastator interacting with a few other Transformers.
The first of these was actually one of the first photos of Devastator I took, just to have something to quickly throw up on a forum to show off, hence why it isn't against the white background I typically use for these photos. Devastator is menacing some Legends Class figures, trying to rend Optimus limb from limb while stomping on poor Jazz and Trailbreaker. (Jazz here seems to have something unfortunate in common with his live action movie counterpart.) It is a small thing, but I take it as another good example of this Devastator's good balance that he was so easy to pose standing with another figure under one of his feet.
The second features Devastator manhandling Hybrid Style Optimus Prime (who I think is the best scaled Optimus for such a thing) while Legends Megatron looks on from an angle that hopefully makes his size difference from that Optimus less obvious.
The third was my attempt at having Devastator wield that Legends Class Megatron. It doesn't really work from any angle other then head on, as you have to split the handle open to awkwardly fit half of it into Devastator's hand. But the magic of still photography is that I can choose what angle to show you!
The second features Devastator manhandling Hybrid Style Optimus Prime (who I think is the best scaled Optimus for such a thing) while Legends Megatron looks on from an angle that hopefully makes his size difference from that Optimus less obvious.
The third was my attempt at having Devastator wield that Legends Class Megatron. It doesn't really work from any angle other then head on, as you have to split the handle open to awkwardly fit half of it into Devastator's hand. But the magic of still photography is that I can choose what angle to show you!
Two more photos. Devastator about to attack a cheesecake my girlfriend baked because... well, to quote Emgo, why not? Dare I say, why not? Finally, the usual size comparison photo with a DVD, this time the second season of Good Eats. (In a perfect world, that season would coincidentally have a cheesecake episode... but alas, that episode is in season 5, and there've been no complete season releases past the second.)
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That's everything I have to show you on these toys, so it is time to sum it all up. This set of toys is a success from Maketoys, and to me a great Classics style update to G1 Devastator. We have six individual figures with good vehicle modes and robots that range from acceptable Classics updates to near perfect G1 homages. And they combine to form a perfect update to the G1 gestalt that holds together so well it is easy to forget that he separates into the individual figures.
I won't say that the figures (or their gestalt) are 100% perfect or completely non-fiddly, but this is an adult collectable that is likely to cost over $350, so I should think it unlikely to be played with by children. The adult collector who is not careless should have no problems. For the most part these toys are well constructed, feel solid in the hand, pose good, and look excellent on the shelf. I couldn't be happier with them...
I won't say that the figures (or their gestalt) are 100% perfect or completely non-fiddly, but this is an adult collectable that is likely to cost over $350, so I should think it unlikely to be played with by children. The adult collector who is not careless should have no problems. For the most part these toys are well constructed, feel solid in the hand, pose good, and look excellent on the shelf. I couldn't be happier with them...
Or could I? As I mentioned in the last part of this series of reviews, since there had been such a long gap in my updating of this website, a happy side effect of this was that Reprolabels had time to issue stickers to go with these figures! So before I completely finish up here, I thought we'd take a look at those stickers!
(This portion of the review may be a bit familiar to anyone who comes here who also frequents the Seibertron.com forums, as I already wrote my thoughts on these stickers there. So rather then come up with a new way to say the same thing, I may as well just do some copy and paste!)
First, the individual bot modes:
(This portion of the review may be a bit familiar to anyone who comes here who also frequents the Seibertron.com forums, as I already wrote my thoughts on these stickers there. So rather then come up with a new way to say the same thing, I may as well just do some copy and paste!)
First, the individual bot modes:
I have to say, I've changed my mind twice now on one thing about these toys, that being the white and red stripes on them. When I first saw them, I was like, "What is Maketoys thinking? The Constructicons have always had black and yellow stripes!" Then, I got used to the red and white, and I thought, "Huh... not what I would have done, but it really does kind of work." But these stickers gave the Constructicons back the proper coloration in the stripes, and it does look so much better! (Or at least, so much more like fond childhood memories of the original toys.)
Now the vehicle modes:
For those who prefer a purple mixing barrel for Mixmaster, Reprolabels did provide stickers for that option. I've always been more of a green-barrel guy myself, though. There's actually three barrel options, I suppose. Completely purple, purple with the black and yellow stripes in the middle, or green with the stripes in the middle.
Reprolabels did also provide two different options of stickers for all of the windows each vehicle has, rather then the blue they are painted. One option is a purple color that matches the other purple on this Devastator. The other option is a greyish/silverish color to probably better resemble glass. Personally, I was fine with the windows the color they were, and thus didn't bother with the window stickers.
This set features some tiny stickers, the most tiny and most annoying to apply of which would be the chrome stickers on Scrapper's ladders. Have fun putting them on! (Do take your time.)
The chrome detailing on the various shovels and blades on some of the vehicles all had two options: plain chrome, or "dirty" stickers. I went with the dirty option. Thought it looked a bit more fun.
Reprolabels did also provide two different options of stickers for all of the windows each vehicle has, rather then the blue they are painted. One option is a purple color that matches the other purple on this Devastator. The other option is a greyish/silverish color to probably better resemble glass. Personally, I was fine with the windows the color they were, and thus didn't bother with the window stickers.
This set features some tiny stickers, the most tiny and most annoying to apply of which would be the chrome stickers on Scrapper's ladders. Have fun putting them on! (Do take your time.)
The chrome detailing on the various shovels and blades on some of the vehicles all had two options: plain chrome, or "dirty" stickers. I went with the dirty option. Thought it looked a bit more fun.
Now on to Devastator!
Not trying to pick a fight with Hercules fans here, but Maketoys Giant was always to me a much more "G1" looking Devastator, even when Hercules has his add-on set. This sticker set really drives that home and gives him all of the little details to complete the homage this toy was providing.
To the left, a photo swiped from Reprolabel's website so that you can see some of the other sticker options, most prominently the purple windows and the ever popular purple barrel on Mixmaster. (I'm not saying the purple barrel looks bad, it just isn't my thing.)
The only real complaint I would have is that it would have been nice if Reprolabels had provided stickers for Devastator's forehead. I really do like the head I am using here better overall, but I do miss the silver that the other head provided has, and had been hoping Reprolabels might provide a way to have that on this head as well. But other then that, an excellent group of stickers to give your Maketoys Giant the finishing touches to make him a truly excellent Classics Devastator, and provides options in many of the stickers to give each person a choice in what details their Constructicons have. I'd definitely recommend these stickers to anyone who owns these toys. So yeah, that finally wraps things up for this series of reviews for the Maketoys Giant Type-61, a.k.a. Classics Devastator. Apologies once again for the multi-month break between parts 2 and 3 of this series, and I do hope you have enjoyed this look at these toys. In honor of the recently passed Roger Ebert, I give this Devastator two thumbs up! Review added 10 April 2013. Please comment! |