The G1 Journey

Devastator Bio:

Awesome and terrifying, this Decepticon is a bizarre combination of six Constructicons: Scrapper, Scavenger, Bonecrusher, Hook, Long Haul and Mixmaster. Pure brutality – sole purpose is to crush all in his path. His mind is a melding together of his 6 parts, but limited by their competing thoughts. Enormous height, incredible strength – can knock down a bridge with one punch. Has 10,000 degrees Celcius solar energy beam rifle. Slow, awkward, not too bright.

Introduction:

It’s finally time! Man have I been itching for this moment. Devastator is IT! He is THE combiner! I really hope everyone reading this is as excited as I am because this has been one hell of a journey and a huge build up! Devastator was the first combiner I knew about and for many, many years he was the ONLY combiner I knew. He’s a very special combiner at that too – as you all know he has 6 members and does not combine in the Scramble City style that is typical of Generation 1. For many reasons, Devastator is the combiner that will always be my personal favorite. After taking my time to really play with each Constructicon figure, it’s finally time for the big finale. Constructicons – merge for the kill!

Transformation:

So with all 6 of the Constructicons reviewed already, I was very familiar with how to transform them into their combination modes. Even then, I was a little unsure how to piece Devastator all together. Unfortunately Devastator has to be combined not only using the 6 individual figures but a few accessories as well to hold him together – so there is a bit of parts-forming. The accessories are a little tricky to fit together to be honest, especially the connector piece for Long Haul and the two legs, Scrapper and Mixmaster. For my Encore version, I really had to push hard to snap the fittings into place. I want to get my hands on a 1980’s Devastator to see if there is any difference. Regardless, the legs themselves fit snug onto Long Haul’s “hip connector” once you fudge it in properly and actually become a lot easier to piece together after you understand the “feel” for them.

The next step I took actually had me laughing a little bit. I took Hook’s body and was trying to snap him into place on Long Haul’s cab to form the torso. For at least 10 minutes I was staring at the pieces trying to figure out where they connected – I’m not using instructions mind you. After 10 minutes of frustratingly laughing, I remembered Devastator’s head is actually the piece that connects the two figures. Whoops! Pretty interesting connection point in my opinion. I honestly would not expect it to hold that well, but it does. There are two solid points of connection that will hold together the lower half of Devastator and the upper torso. It can’t exactly take a huge blow or even be shook, but it’s sturdy for its time.

Okay, lower and upper torso is together, now there are only two pieces left to combine – the Scavenger and Bonecrusher arms. Very easy connection. Scavenger has a metal piece that folds out to be slid into a connection joint and Bonecrusher actually has a port that is for a small peg on Hook to be connected into. Again, the connections are pretty solid but they cannot take too much up and down movement or a sudden blow – the arms will fall off if there is too much activity going on. Overall, the transformation to Devastator is a bit fidgety, but it’s an easy process after the initial transformation with surprising connection strength.

Final Combined Mode:

So what is the actual Devastator figure like? Before I go into detail, in 5 words I will sum up my overall feelings: a figure for the ages. In all seriousness, this is a figure that could sell on today’s toy shelves. Here’s why:

– Fun to play with: This is a figure you can reenact scenes with from the TV show and comic books 😉

– Relatively easy combined mode: How often do we have a combiner in the modern era that’s a pain to assemble or doesn’t stay together well (Power Core Combiners … ) Devastator has some slight issues, but no where near what I’ve experienced with modern day combiners.

– All 6 members of this team are SOLID: The Constructicon team as a whole is AWESOME. Some of the individual figures are the best G1 can offer … so far. Rarely do we have a 6 member team that are all All-Stars.

– Iconic name and easily recognizable alt modes: The name Devastator says it all and it’s even better when the alt modes are very, very easy to recognize.

When thrown all together, this figure looks gorgeous. Even with some of the alt modes in plain view it does not distract the eye in any way: it just looks good together. The solid green deco with purple highlights (and a sprinkle of die-cast here and then) makes this figure a collection shelf standout! Going off of that, it’s also a very well balanced and proportional figure. There really isn’t any spot on the figure that is out of whack – you can make an argument for his gut area as it kind of sticks over his legs. With the combiners I’m familiar with, there are always spots where the figure is weak or one member of the team is insanely larger than the others … not with Devs. Very well balanced which makes for a great looking G1 figure.

Although Devastator lacks today’s articulation (shocker, right?) he still has a surprisingly good amount of articulation. Both of his arms are able to move up and down with his forearms also having movement. You can strike a gun pose with this figure, a more dynamic one at that! Most G1 figures I’ve reviewed to date can simply raise their arm to fire a shot; Devastator has a little more mobility than that with his fists being able to move. What’s even cooler about his fists is the ability to SHOOT those suckers right out! They’re flying fists! You can also use all of those badass accessories (like the drill from Mixmaster) as interchangeable weapons. Just s0 much play value in the forearms alone!

One point of caution I will say is the Long Hall torso area. Long Haul’s legs are a critical part in this combined mode and unfortunately they are prone to slipping in position if you pick him up the wrong way or mistransform him to begin with. This can cause Devastator to bow and then lose his balance while standing. The last thing you want is your Devastator bowing right off the top shelf!

Overall, this final combined mode is really a piece of engineering genius. This toy came out in the 1980’s … can you imagine getting him for Christmas? I’ll say it again, even by today’s toy standards he can outsell the competition … which leads me to the Evolution of Devastator.

Be sure to click the pictures for larger views

With Devastator’s moveable fists, Devs has slightly more articulation than early G1 figures.

Pistol to the side …

One of the coolest features of Devastator is using all of those badass accessories the Constructicons came with as weapons!

Evolution:

So the evolution from G1 to the “Classics” TFC Hercules … damn where do I start? Looking at G1 Devastator purely on its own … it’s beautiful. This very well could have been the first masterpiece of its time. Then try putting it next to a combined TFC Hercules and you really, really start seeing what 25+ years of toy engineering know-how can do. Hercules stands over 12 inches tall (he feels like twice the height of Devs) and is beefed up! I’m in no way going to say I prefer one “Devastator” to the other … but let’s be honest in saying these two figures are completely different beasts and I believe that even if you’re not a fan of TFC Hercules, you can certainly appreciate the sheer size and intimidation this figure can command on a toy shelf. In my opinion, he’s not the best evolution from G1 to “Classics” as far as looks are considered, but for sheer size, intimidation, and the personality of Devastator, this figure is it; in other words he’s definitely my Classics representation of Devastator because of it.

I really hope the pictures can do this evolution justice, but please leave some questions or thoughts in the comments section so I can clarify anything I missed. Bottom line: this Evolution is a thing of beauty …

Final Combined Mode Comparison:

Biggest disappoint in the evolution? Arms. Hercules lacks a G1 feel with his treads being the forearms now instead of shoulders (fixable with the Rage of Hercules set).

The added articulation is amazing. You really are able to capture cartoon and comic images.

Overall rating 9/10:

The thing that makes Devastator so great is not only the beautiful combined mode, it’s the components that make up the whole as well. Some individual figures are weaker than others, but once you combine them all together either in alt mode, robot mode, or the badass final combined mode that is Devastator – it really becomes a masterpiece. Devastator is a figure that can withstand the test of time because he’s still fun and looks more than good while displayed on a collection shelf. Even when compared against modern day combiners, he’s still in the championship hunt. This figure is worth all of the hype that he’s had in the past, continues to have, and will have in the future.

Thank you to everyone who continues to read the G1 Journey. Along with Devastator I continue to add many new G1 figures to my collection. Please continue to stop by to read what it’s like to collect the figures that started it all … there’s some BIG figures coming in the future 😉