The Transformers Classics line was best known for updating Generation 1 characters in modern forms blah blah blah. Everyone knows that, and while many are spoiled today with SS86 Optimus Prime or Siege Jetfire, we can't help but give credit to the old line for making awesome toys back in the day that can still hold up in some regard. That being said, on one side were the new molds for the trio of Voyagers and a handful of Deluxes, but on the other hand you have repaints of the Cybertron Legends molds as other characters, a G1 Soundwave reissue, two Hasbro Masterpiece figures, and new versions of the Constructicons that were repaints of the Energon Constructicon Maximus set. While this is far from the definitive CHUG Devastator in any display given that TFC Toys later popped up, then Combiner Wars, and soon SS86, one could use this for their Energon shelf. Let's see how Classics Devastator holds up, shall we?
Here we have the Constructicons in their vehicle modes, and we certainly have a lot to explain. So 1) yes there are five of them. 2) there are repeats of the front-end loaders. 3) there are no cement mixers, dump trucks, and bulldozers. 4) the excavator is larger than the others. 5) this was originally from Energon, just to remind anyone who'd whine that this looks nothing like that mediocre G1 toy (though that's not saying this set is perfect). And 6) Energon combiners had the budget of either 2 teams with 5 unique molds each or 3 teams with three unique molds each (and a repaint per limb per team), so HasTak went with the latter for profits.
Here we have the two uses of the Sledge/Bonecrusher mold. On the left is Scrapper, and on the right is another Bonecrusher. I guess a bulldozer the latter is usually associated with can be comparable to a front end loader. While they use the same mold, they did try distinguishing their decos, with Scrapper being mostly gray with green and bronze highlights while Bonecrusher has the more traditional Constructicon colors. They have two points of articulation at the shovel, which is perfect for pretending they're normal vehicles; their tires roll the best, too.
Transformation is fairly predictable for this mold. Flip the legs down, hinge the shovel to the back, and bring the arms in place. Their robot modes are halfway between official Transformer and unofficial, generic Construction Converter. The torsos are already blocky as hell given the way they need to integrate the combiner joint and be Scout-sized figures. Scrapper amusingly looks a lot like the Hunt for the Decepticons Night Ops Ratchet. They both have quite the backpacks that one would expect from simpler construction robot designs.
Their head sculpts are so tiny I couldn't get a good photo of either. Their articulation consists of swivels at the neck and waist, and ball joints at the shoulders, hips, and knees, while the elbows simply hinge and have no method of rotation. Their Energon weapons can form vague claws of sorts, though they almost make me wish they could be used as guns had it not been for the lack of 5mm handles for a hypothetical gun mode.
And here we have the crane duo, previously used on Duststorm and Wideload. On the left is Long Haul and on the right is Hightower. The latter is a new character that replaces Mixmaster AND Hook, though the Halloween-esque deco is unique from the usual Constructicon green seen on Long Haul. Once again, it's amusing how the deco that's closer to the usual palette of the G1 team isn't directly associated with the character who had a similar altmode. In terms of functionality, the molds can rotate their crane at the base, the arm can hinge up and down on a ratchet joint, and the arms can extend twice their length. The claw can attach to the crane arm without issues. One issue I have with Long Haul is the two-tone greens that make the figure look inconsistent between the plastic types used on parts such as the hinges holding the arms and the thighs versus the rest of the altmode, and both figures could use better stability with how exposed and floppy the middle portions can get, for example.
Transforming them is a whole lot more unusual. The legs are basic with the front sections splitting in half to become the feet, but the upper body is interesting with how the crane section becomes the arms, in addition to the head having to be on an assembly that balances the right forearm. As for the robot mode, this mold looks like it'd be a cool design in theory, though the budget that the Basic Class limitations dealt with made the toy feel rather wonky. The legs look fine beyond the asymmetry with the stabilizer on the right leg, but the upper body has a head that is much higher than it should be. As a result, the shoulders end up sagging lower, but look at the left arm! A crane for an arm could be a cool way to stand out, but the way they did it here looks pretty goofy. At least Hightower's right arm looks more broken up, color-wise, thanks to the green outline to make the black stand out more. Makes me wish there was black paint in some capacity for Long Haul.
Once again, the heads are difficult to get a good picture for, but the articulation consists of rotation at the neck, biceps, and waist, ball joints at the shoulders and hips, hinges for the right elbow and knees, and a ratchet for the left arm.
And here we have Scavenger, who is a Deluxe this time around. The vehicle mode looks mostly fine, though the treads do appear to be rather far forward than it should be. For some reason, my copy can't seem to get the hinge for the left arm to properly stay in place for vehicle mode, which might be a molding error my copy has. That being said, neither the shovel nor the carbon has any proper spots to tab into.
For comparison with an Energon counterpart that I DO own, here is Scavenger next to Steamhammer. You'd think there would be no major differences between the two, but there are a handful to go over:
-The shades of green are different
-The cabin has purple windows rather than green
-The Powerlinx logo is not on the sides of the vehicle
-There are more gray hinges and panels on Scavenger than on Steamhammer (same going for the shovel)
-The Energon version has its combiner ports in blue as with the other Maximus combiners while the Classics version has it in purple (with Universe/ROTF Superion having teal and Bruticus having orange).
Transformation is a little comparable to the way the crane mold works, with a symmetrical leg transformation (though without the stabilizer for what will be the left arm), and a bit of an asymmetrical upper body transformation, mostly with the limbs. The resulting robot mode looks rather blocky for a modern figure, with a physique almost comparable to a G1 toy, yet with the left arm throwing off the rest of the aesthetics. It's a unique design trait, but I need clarification on how it's supposed to work; I like to keep the smaller side of the pin in the front to make the already weird shoulder less ugly, yet the arm ends up looking broken when viewed from the side. That would be easy to fix if you want to accept the visible screws as well as having the bucket's hollow side upside down. The combiner pegs will always look like huge tumors on the forearms. I like the way the treads are stuck on the back, though I find the bar behind the head unusual.
Speaking of the head, I was surprisingly able to get a mug shot out of this mf. Not only is there barely a size difference between it and the other limbs' heads, but it is ridiculously embedded between the treads, making neck rotation impossible. As for the rest of the articulation, there are swivels used for shoulder rotation, bicep rotation, and thigh rotation. Meanwhile, the right shoulder can hinge at 90 degrees in contrast to the left shoulder's 180-degree range. As for the elbows, the right arm is double-jointed while the left arm is single-jointed with a hinge for the bucket. The waist as well as the hips are on ratchets, the knees are on somewhat indented hinge joints, and I guess there is toe articulation.
For a robot-mode comparison, here he is next to Energon Steamhammer on the right. The difference in paint app placement, paint app colors, and the different plastic colors used on the limbs results in a toy that almost passes off as being a different toy, which is a practice we've seen Hasbro no doubt pull off in the past to make retailers think they're brand spanking new. It's been common in the old days when the plastic colors are barely altered to the point where repainting a green guy into another green guy is comparable to the many repaints we've seen of G1 Optimus Prime and Movieverse Bumblebee.
It should be mentioned that all copies of the mold are misassembled. Classics Scavenger does not have the tabs on the top yet the head is kept in place properly because of the treads reassembled in the right spot. Meanwhile, Energon Steamhammer has the tabs exposed on the top, and rotating the treads to be tabbed in place would mean not having the head in its proper place. Leaving it as it is isn't as severe as the incorrect leg articulation Storm Jet was left with.
And here we have the team standing together. They're a rather odd bunch, with the front loaders looking generic, the cranes being wonky in terms of proportions, and Scavenger looking a bit like a G1 brick with asymmetry.
Before we go further with the combination, I want to show how the torso modes look, and you can see how different the shovels are on the left side of the upper body as well as an altered deco for the head that vaguely tries to match G1 Devastator. What are the chances TFHypeGuy would look at these two and be like "erm ackshully the difference between these two is staggering ☝🤓"?
Combining the limbs onto the body is pretty simple, as you're essentially slightly transforming the vehicles and slapping them onto the ports. Obviously, the right side has more going on with the Energon claw tabbing onto the stabilizer for the arm claw as well as shifting the wheels elsewhere on the forearm. You get quite the asymmetry between the two limbs, with the balance between the cranes feeling rather undersized next to the front loaders. At least with the two Air Team limbs, their proportions as limbs beyond their different transformations. We'll get into an alternate configuration later down the review, but I'm not satisfied with how slapped-on the limbs are for Devastator Maximus. I feel like the G1 Constructicon scale, while not perfect, was at least better balanced given how everyone was the same size in addition to each member forming a component that makes sense relatively in regards to their size or design; Hook folding in half to form the bust of Devastator, Scrapper fitting proportionately as a leg if his proportions match the others, etc. The ROTF Constructicons use both an entirely different design philosophy as well as swapping vehicles and rearranging where the components in a way that makes sense for their version of Devastator. I don't know if Constructicon Maximus was a character they had in mind back when they had the choice of 2-teams-with-5-molds-each or 3-teams-with-3 molds-and-a repaint-per-limb-bot, but it felt like HasTak wanted to homage Devastator yet were probably trying not to use the exact same vehicles we saw from RID01 Landfill and Armada Scavenger.
His head sculpt is almost like a Bionicle mask mixed with a generic robo head design, but it's sadly embedded within the canopy like the back of G1 Megatron's head. The articulation is not too great, either, with there being no elbows, limited neck movement, hips that barely move forwards because of how the waist clashes with the lower legs now as thighs, and rotation near the knees. There are unofficial ways to give him elbow joints, but as it stands, not adding them yet keeping the knees feels strange.
As far as other uses are concerned, this is the original Constructicon Maximus on the left of this segment, with more color variety for the limbs as well as clear blue plastic instead of purple. TFKenkon also showcases alternate transformations that provide the arms proper elbow articulation, which is especially helpful for anyone who isn't a fan of having fewer points of articulation than is accepted even at the time. None of the molds were reused for any other combiners, such as Nexus Prime, which instead uses Barricade, the Destruction Team's helicopter and tank molds, and the Air Team's A-10 Thunderbolt and sorta-kinda F-22 Raptor molds. Also on the right is a pic representing Storm Jet using the limbs as he did near the end of the Energon series while trying to kill Bruticus Maximus.
Here he is with Superion Maximus, both of them being in their alternate fan configurations. I have Scrapper and Bonecrusher as the arms because their claws work best as hands in addition to the cranes being more proportionate as legs. I should have added the elbow joints on Devastator, but keep in mind that this photo was taken before I looked up more reviews from other fans who have looked at this set long before I have. Overall, Classics Devastator is not going to be anyone's definitive version of the character given the better representation we have from Hasbro and especially third-party interpretations with the G1 design, but I don't think that automatically means this set is trash. It doesn't hold up that great, but if you want a more Geewun version of Constructicon Maximus, then get this by all means. That being said, G1 Devastator did have this design in the Classics comics set after issue #80 of the original Marvel G1 run, so maybe he will fit in with that display with no problem. That being said, understanding that is something the average Geewunner wouldn't get if they never read the comics and only saw the cartoon without growing more brain cells.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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