Studio Series Devastator (SS-69)

Prelude: Who can forget the mighty Devastator? How he combined out of eight (or seven? Possibly six? Maybe even nine?) individual Constructicons and... yeah, failed to kill Skids and Mudflap? Awkwardly climbed a pyramid? Fell victim to a human-built rail gun? Well... where was I? Oh yes, Devastator, the combined form of the Constructicons. Many thanks to fellow TF collector Reyjin, who loaned me this mighty beast for this review. So, as we stand here together directly below the enemy’s scrotum, let’s say go!

Individual Figures: The first time Revenge of the Fallen Devastator was released in toy form, he was the combined form of six vehicles with no individual robot modes. Then a Legends version was released, adding seventh member Overload. And now we have the Studio Series version, which adds yet another member, Scrapmetal, for a total of eight (based on Devi’s original concept art). So before we look at the combined monster itself, let’s quickly go through the eight individual members in alphabetical order.

Hightower
Long Haul
Mixmaster
Overload
Scavenger
Scrapmetal
Scrapper
Skipjack

Combined Mode: Now let’s get to the big monster himself, Devastator. While he is not the tallest combiner ever produced in toy form, he might well be the most massive (at least among the official Transformers toys). The eight Constructicons combine in the following way: Long Haul and Skipjack become the feet and lower legs, Overload the lower torso, Scavenger the upper torso, Scrapper becomes the right arm, Hightower and Scrapmetal the left arm, and Mixmaster becomes the head. Side note: the instructions for transforming Mixmaster into head mode are crap! Had to look up various imagines online to figure out how to properly affix the vortex drum.

Now the first thing I found noteworthy about his combiner is that, despite looking like a mess of parts, he is entirely stable and in no danger of falling apart. As a matter of fact, the most unstable thing about him is the foot formed by Long Haul, where the panels tend to pop apart now and then, but even if that happens the figure does not lose stability and still retains a solid stance. A pretty amazing piece of engineering, so kudos for that.

Devastator strongly resembles the figure’s original concept art, which I personally like a lot. He also strongly resembles the actual Devastator seen in the movie, except for a few things. One, Studio Series Devastator cannot walk on all fours. Or, well, he can, but he will look down on the ground the entire time. There is an upgrade set (or several, possibly) to fix that, but out of the box like this, he remains bipedal. Not really a problem for me, but I’ve heard some people complain about it.

Articulation-wise Devastator is a mixed bag. Below the waist he can’t really move all that much. He has no knees, so he can only swing his legs back and forth. His arms are pretty well articulated, on the other hand. His head is immobile, but he can open his mouth. So, yeah, a mixed bag. His right arm is pretty stable, composed only of Scrapper, but the left arm is a bite more hodgepodge, with Hightower forming the forearm and thumb, while Scrapmetal is the hand and fingers. Not ideal for grabbing things, but it goes well with the overall look of the figure.

At the end of the day Devastator is clearly a collector’s item, unlike the original ROTF Devastator, who was primarily a toy for playing with. You can play with him, too, of course, but he is big, somewhat unwieldy, and more suited as a display piece than something you regularly take out to transform, combine, and play with. So bottom line: a great feat of engineering, looks great, but some limitations in terms of actual play value.

Remarks: I’m of two minds about this set, truth be told. On the plus side, it’s the closest we’ve come to actually seeing the combiner monster from Revenge of the Fallen in toy form. The engineering is quite amazing, the combination is surprisingly stable, and the combiner itself looks fabulous. On the negative side, the individual figures are a mixed bag, the finished combiner is not all that good at posing (especially below the waist), and given his weird proportions, he takes up an awful lot of shelf space, too.

So bottom line, Devastator is a fun set and I am glad that I had the chance to mess around with it. I will not buy it for myself, though. One, because I am simply not that big a fan of the Movie designs, and two, despite his many good points, Devastator is simply not tickling my fancy. Fans of the Movie designs in general and Devastator in particular, though, will probably be quite happy with this guy (even more so if they improve him with an upgrade set). So, if you count yourself among that group, feel free to take a closer look at Devastator, either by buying all eight bots individually or getting the full giftset.

Rating: B

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