General Information:
Release Date: July 9, 2015
Price Point: $179.99
Retailer: San-Diego Comic-Con Exclusive, Hasbrotoyshop
Accessories: Devastator forearms/weapons x 2; Chest plate/weapons; Rifle (splits into two weapons)
Official images and text below in italics have been provided by Hasbro and Hunter PR:
Be the first to get your hands on Hasbro?s largest TRANSFORMERS GENERATIONS: COMBINER WARS figure! This massive set features six Voyager scale figures packed out in their combined DEVASTATOR mode in an exclusive window box display with a unique CONSTRUCTICON theme. This Special Edition of DEVASTATOR also features a brand new head sculpt and an exclusive deco featuring vac-metal parts! Fans will also receive a Hasbro SDCC exclusive cover edition of IDW.
Packaging:
The San Diego Comic-Con release of Devastator is packaged in a special box. Instead of having the Constructicons broken up, Devastator is packaged in his combined form. The outside of the box has a slip cover with some retro looking artwork of Devastator's head. Cut the tape, slide that off and you're greeted with a giant shovel! The shovel is lime green like the Constructicons and has lots of scratches and scrape designs on it.
Swing the shovel out and Devastator is revealed before you! Devastator is inside a "Generations" style box with the "Transformers" logo on the right and huge window allowing you to see the figure. The figure is set into cardboard that has been designed to look like a giant factory with ladders and several levels, as if someone is building Devastator himself! The details are great and actually evoke some artwork done in the 80's in Japan. The back of the box features Devastator's iconic "wing shield" from his chest area and again there are scratch designs on the box as if this was a metal box that has seen wear and tear. This box is a striking way to present the figure and it's a nice follow up to last year's Dinobot set (though that Ark box playset was far cooler).
Initial Thoughts:
This review is an ongoing project for the week so I wanted to get the photos of Devastator up first and then talk about my first impressions of the figure. First off, he is big measuring at 18 inches (about 45.7 centimeters) tall and he strikes a frightening profile against the other "Combiner Wars" Combiner figures. He towers over them and it's not hard imagnining him giving them all a thorough thrashing. The sculpted detail is great. There's plenty of callbacks to previous designs including the layout of each Constructicon. Mixmaster is probably the "most changed" in terms of appearance - but you know, that "small foot" issue people keep going on about just isn't as much of a big deal to me. To me it looks just fine. However, in photos there's a bit of an exaggerated effect that causes it to look a lot tinier than it really is. The vacuum metallized portions of this figure are probably the ones I'm least fond of. I mean, it's shiny and chrome sure, but it kind of keeps taking your eye away form the rest of the figure.
There is a lot of small detail sculpted into this figure including vents, panels and cross hatch patterns. The basic silhouette of the figure is directly inspired by his G1 appearance in the animated series. Each Constructicon makes up the same part of the giant they did in G1, so iconic elements like the "wing shield" on the chest, the asymmetrical leg designs and Hook's crane arm being next to his head are all intact. For this variation of the figure, a different head sculpt was used featuring thin, four sided eyes that look like they're narrowed. The mass release will come with ahead featuring "visor eyes" instead. Why? Because in the animated series the animators wound up drawing him both ways so this pays homage to that.
In terms of articulation, most of the major joints on this figure are ratchet joints, so you can move his legs around and pose him, but you're limited in terms of what poses his feet can support since they can't tilt side to side and there are no specific heel joints like the other "Combiner Wars" figures have to balance him. I have no complaints though, he looks great and even has waist articulation! I'll offer up more thoughts on Devastator in an update to this review, for now enjoy the pics!
Update (10/28/20):
Years after the fact I never did get around to doing a detailed review, but I will say that my thoughts have not changed much over the years. The individual Constructicons are good but not great overall but the combined robot is fun and looks great. That said, I do hope Hasbro makes another attempt at the Constructicons in the future because I think they can do much better than these designs. This was a good set for its time, but in retrospect the Takara Tomy "Unite Warriors" set was the best thanks to the extra accessories included with that set.
