Search

Nightstrike's Reviews: 7/8 Studio Series Devastator

Nightstrike
Nov 13, 2020
4 min read

Updated: Nov 25, 2020

While not a huge fan of this portrayal of Devastator from Revenge of The Fallen, I like the design as a separate character instead. While the classic Devastator was a bit of a brute, ROTF reimagined him as a hulking beast that was forced to walk on all fours due to its mass. Annihilator, as I like to call him, is one of the few Studio Series designs I immediately fell in love with, and I soon found myself putting together an army. Alongside my CW Devastator, and other assorted standalones in my collection, I now had more bestial members, who could effectively turn the Constructicons from a small unit into a whole faction. While I still have yet to locate Long Haul, I've put together most of the set, and look forward to being able to assemble him soon. In the future, I may even end up supplementing my set with ShadowOfSilver's take on the concept designs. So, let's begin, shall we? I've taken the liberty of organizing them by purchase time, rather than release.

Scrapmetal

Surprisingly fun, despite how 'generic' he is, Scrapmetal was the first of the set I had gotten, and having him in hand left me curious as to how the combined mode might look. All I knew was that he would be a giant hand. Granted, I have nothing against giant hands, considering the strangely fun time that was Gigatron. Scrapmetal does parts-form, but it's not wholly necessary for robot mode, it just makes it look better. The rear plate detaches via a 5-mm peg, and can plug into the arm, or into Overload for combined mode, which I'll address later. His vehicle mode is the most solid of the bunch, and he's just all-around impressive. He gives off strong bird-like vibes.

Rampage

To be honest, Rampage is probably my least favorite of the bunch, as he lacks an articulated tail, which was one of his defining characteristics. Additionally, the treads only unfold to mildly resemble the whips his body-type has. I wish the shovel could raise and lower, but he does plow, so there is that. He comes with a stand for those who want to show him off as balancing.

Hightower

Very impressive design, considering the articulation level it actually has. I find the robot mode surprisingly expressive, and it's interesting to imagine how he does stuff in day-to-day life. Not the most passable crane, but definitely a favorite figure of mine, in this set.

Mixmaster

Articulation-wise, this guy does amazingly. However, he's back-heavy, so posing him tends to be problematic. His arms also don't quite have a perfect range of motion, and his hands are pretty much static. That being said, he, like all the figures in this team is quite fun, and his vehicle mode definitely passes.

Scavenger

A big one, though not as big as scale purists would hope. In an ideal world, Scavenger would be a Commander that could collapse down into Leader-size for combination, but he still is neat. The wheels are exposed in vehicle mode, but I may end up making covers for them in the future.

Overload

I'm frankly not sure how to feel about this one. I love the multi-jointed arms and all the pointy bits, but he lacks his iconic centipede-esque legs featured in the concept art. The vehicle mode sort of passes, but the bucket is fake, so he's more of a transport than an articulated dump truck. Nonetheless, he has the most intimidating presence.

Scrapper

If we're talking about funky designs, Scrapper almost takes the cake. Having asymmetrical arms and a . . . unique headsculpt all contribute to this guy's horror movie feel. His vehicle mode has a lot of robot bits exposed, but it's still recognizable. Probably the weakest in this regard, but his claw arm can unfold into a makeshift shield.

~~~

(Mostly) Combined Mode

I'm going to be honest here. I have not tried to combine this thing properly. His upright stance worries me because of how potentially fragile it is. So, for combination, I've put him into a quadrupedal stance, with Mixmaster only attached via the c-clips, and propped up using his feet, resting on Scavenger's wheel. This configuration is a lot more stable, though I do have plans to make it more balanced, and include some of the other Constructicons. Of note, is that Scrapper is somewhart shorter than Hightower and Scrapmetal in a stable limb configuration, so I'll be making an extension piece for that. On a fun little side note, you can actually put figures on top of what is essentially a little seating area, and Titanmasters can fit inside his head, as pilots.

If you want to sub in Skipjack in place of Rampage, then you can shift the plate that comes with Scrapmetal to the combiner knee, for a more unique looking leg.

~~~

Final Thoughts

This is one set I absolutely plan on completing, but also aim to add my own touches, such as additional Constructicons and upgrade parts. While I plan on checking out ShadowOfSilver's kits, I do intend to try and make others to fit with the theme, including: