Review #41: Classics style Scrapper & Mixmaster
(Maketoys Wheel Loader 61 & Mixer 61)
Giant Type-61 part 3 of 4
Well, seems like a certain other toy I've been looking forward to sinking my teeth into has shipped, arrived, and is quite lovely. So you think I'd be in a hurry to get these reviews of the Classics style Constructicons finished! Alas, I got sidetracked by that pesky "life" thing again, and November has passed. And December. And maybe January and February. And that March thing. And a bit of April... But I really need to get my arse in gear and get going again, so here we delve into the final pair of individual members of Maketoys third party offering.
First, a quick look at the original, official versions of the characters.
First, a quick look at the original, official versions of the characters.
Scrapper is uaually the accepted leader of the Constructicons, although who holds this roll seems to fluctuate slightly on occasion (i.e., the writer of a particular episode didn't seem to care). Scrapper is a front-end loader. His robot mode uses the bottom of the vehicle as the robot's chest, with the shovel hanging over his back. His animation model closely follows the toy.
|
Mixmaster is a cement mixer. His robot mode is also basically just the bottom of his vehicle mode, with the vehicle's cab flipped down to form his feet. He has a distinctive head area, with a big chunk of the back of his vehicle mode surrounding his noggin. He featured a crhomed twin missile that could plug into the area above his head. His animation model definitely didn't look too dissimilar to his toy, although the excessive vehicle overhang around his head has been de-emphasised.
|
Well, now to take a look at what Maketoys is offering us.
Mixmaster's vehicle looks very close to his G1 toy, slightly updated to a modern aesthetic. Scrapper's look has been much more updated, but is still a very convincing representation of the sort of contruction vehicle he is supposed to be. Mixmaster's mixing drum had two different coloring options on his G1 version: the toy had a green drum, where as the animation model often had a purple one. Maketoys has gone the green route here, which works better for me, for reasons more important to Devastator's combined mode. While many people do prefer the purple barrel, to me it throws off the gestalt mode's color balance.
|
Scrapper does, alas, have one strike against him, in that his head isn't very well hidden on the front of his vehicle mode, although it is at least somewhat less obvious when he is not being subject to flash photography.
Both of these toys can tow portable generators, which are made from the peices previously seen in the review of Scavanger and Bonecrusher being used as the upper halves of the jackhammers. As far as articulation in vehicle mode, Scrapper's shovel can be lifted on a joint at the point it connects to the vehicle. There seems to have been some fandom disapointment that Mixmaster's drum couldn't be spun, but I find this omission not to be one that takes away from the toy for me.
Articulation is limited in vehicle mode. Scrapper's shovel can be lifted at its base, and that's it. Mixmaster's potentially expected vehicle mode articulation, the ability of his mixing barrel to rotate, is non-existant. Some more movement in Scrapper's shovel would have been nice, but is by far not a deal breaker. Mixmaster's barrel? This I am particularly fine with. Making the barrel rotate would have probably made the figure structurally weaker, and also made for a less balanced robot mode. And really, in a figure intended for adult collectors, what would a rotating barrel have given us? Two seconds of spinning it around while going, "Wee!!!!"? Unlike other things like Hook's crane or the various characters with shovels, which could have potential for dynamic displays, a round barrel when placed in a display looks the same no matter how it is rotated.
Both figures feature promanant holes in the backs of their vehicles (not counting the portable generators). On Mixmaster, at least, it can be written off as perhaps the hole from where he would pour cement. It does, I fear, stick out a little bit on Scrapper. But even in Scrapper's case, it isn't overly distracting from his look. Given that this is an important feature for forming the gestalt and is reasonably well integrated into the vehicle, I am not too put out by it.
Both figures can store their weapons in vehicle mode by plugging them onto the vehicle's sides. |
Moving onto robot mode, we come across an interesting juxtaposition between these two figures. Often with Transformers (or, in this case, their third-party brethren) transitioning to robot mode involves a lot of unfolding and expanding. And this is the case with Mixmaster here. But with Scrapper, his robot mode is more achieved with unfolding and collapsing. This make him the shortest of all of these Constructicons, especially jarring when he is looked at next to Mixmaster, who is the tallest. Even if we ignore the extra height given to Mixmaster with all of the bit over his head, he is still a good head taller then Scrapper.
So Scrapper's height is a bit of an issue. It would have been nice if all of the Constructicons were of a slightly more uniform height. But, that aside, while Scrapper is one of the figures that takes liberties with how the G1 character looked, he is a good looking robot. As far as Mixmaster, of the six individual Constructicons, he is pretty much a perfect example of what the original toy would have been if it was a modern deluxe sixed toy. |
Part of Scrapper's unfortunate lack of mass also comes from the fact that, alas, he does have some back kibble. Unlike Mixmaster, whose combiner port is perfectly fine staying where it is for his robot mode, with Scrapper the combiner port just folds up compactly on his back. Also, I must mention his vehicle mode's engine block, which is one of this set's only pieces of removable kibble. It is used on all three of Scrapper's modes (even if its use in robot mode is just storage) but it needs to be removed and placed in a new position for each mode. Unfortunate, but as the only piece in this set like this (if you don't count the combined mode's forearms) not overly annoying.
Articulation, as with the previous four of these figures looked at, continues to be quite good, although I must admit that Scrapper does suffer a bit. Scrapper's head and shoulders are on ball joints, but these pieces have their movement hindered somewhat by the shovel. There's a swivel below each shoulder, and pivoting elbows. The waist has a very expressive and tight ball joint in it, but it is one of the gestalt mode's ankles. The hips each have ball joints with a swivel under that. Knees bend well. The ankles pivot nicely to maintain flat-footed poses.
Mixmaster has similar articulation. His head is on a ball joint that is not too hindered by all of the necessary vehicle bits around it. The main joint in each shoulder is a ball joint, but there are also a few pivoting joints in the area, necessary for transformation, that give the shoulders some extra expressiveness. A swivel below the shoulder, and both a pivot and a ball joint in each elbow. The waist is very similar to Scrapper's, for much the same reason. (Devastator needs his ankles!) Hips have ball joints with swivels below them. Knees bend expressively, and the ankles are on ball joints. The ankles on mine are actually a bit loose, but it is possible this is just an idiosyncrasy on my copy of the toy, and if I am ever too annoyed by it I can fix it with a bit of clear nail polish.
Articulation, as with the previous four of these figures looked at, continues to be quite good, although I must admit that Scrapper does suffer a bit. Scrapper's head and shoulders are on ball joints, but these pieces have their movement hindered somewhat by the shovel. There's a swivel below each shoulder, and pivoting elbows. The waist has a very expressive and tight ball joint in it, but it is one of the gestalt mode's ankles. The hips each have ball joints with a swivel under that. Knees bend well. The ankles pivot nicely to maintain flat-footed poses.
Mixmaster has similar articulation. His head is on a ball joint that is not too hindered by all of the necessary vehicle bits around it. The main joint in each shoulder is a ball joint, but there are also a few pivoting joints in the area, necessary for transformation, that give the shoulders some extra expressiveness. A swivel below the shoulder, and both a pivot and a ball joint in each elbow. The waist is very similar to Scrapper's, for much the same reason. (Devastator needs his ankles!) Hips have ball joints with swivels below them. Knees bend expressively, and the ankles are on ball joints. The ankles on mine are actually a bit loose, but it is possible this is just an idiosyncrasy on my copy of the toy, and if I am ever too annoyed by it I can fix it with a bit of clear nail polish.
There's a few extra accessories to look at with these figures. The first is the shield that came with Long Haul, and is integrated into his vehicle mode. Interestingly, Long Haul is the one figure in these six who, because of his larger hands, can't really use this shield in robot mode. I usually like to give it to Scrapper's, considering it a perk of being the team's leader.
If you don't want to have Scavenger and Bonecrusher wielding jackhammers, and if you don't want to just put those pieces aside, you can attach them to Mixmaster's back to create a jetpack look. Not my favorite option, but it is always nice to have options (as long as it doesn't interfere with the basics of a figure, which this doesn't) so it is appreciated. |
One last element on Mixmaster is an additional homage to the original G1 toy. That toy had a chrome double missile that plugged into the vehicle bits above his head. This figure has missiles there as well, but they are integrated rather then an additional piece. Flip down a panel on the above-head kibble, and it reveals two red missiles ready to ruin some Autobot's day. The panel that was flipped down becomes a targeting device.
Overall, Maketoys continues to please with these final two individual Constructicons. Scrapper is not exactly a carbon copy of his original toy, but (aside from a few issues with the head and shoulder articulation) is a decent update that fits in well with his team. Mixmaster, on the other hand, is an almost perfect modern updated recreation of the original G1 figure. |
So that finishes (finally) our looks at the six individual Constructicons as brought to us by Maketoys. Very soon I will be back with their mighty gestalt mode, Devastatior! As a bonus, since Reprolabels has come out with stickers for these guys recently, I'll be able to give you a look at those, as well! And I promise not to disappear for a few months this time. But before I tackle Devastator, I'll first be taking a quick look at another third party product. Hopefully I'll be back with that tonight or tomorrow, and Devastator will follow soon after!
Review added 6 April 2013 by Yotsuya. Please comment!