TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

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Phantomwraith's review: Disco Devastator

I sometimes tour the local dollar stores in hopes of finding cheap, knock off transformers and oddity's. This has given me some rare, yet highly breakable gems. Most recently however the Dollar-Store gave me something exceptionally rare. A high quality knock off and one that is quite accurate to its brand name cousin. Multicolored and slightly garish to look at, his none the less become a very fond purchase on my shelf. I'm going to start out by reviewing the six Constructicon 'Rangers' and then move on to Disco Devastator himself. Please note that above and below names are simply made up, as I can't read Japanese and thus don't have a flaming clue what his real name is.


Name: Bonecrusher
Sub Group: Constructicon Ranger
Flavor: Grape

Alt Mode:
Starting in the mode he was packaged in, Boncrusher is cast heavily in Purple, with some hip and happening sixties techno stickers and metallic silver detailing on the tread guards. His cabin roof is black. As detail goes theres really not much to look at besides the smokestacks on his engine and seat, and tread molding, but this is a G1 knockoff. Whats gets me though is his accessories. They are exactly like the ones that come with G1 and G2 Bonecrusher. Devastators left forearm, which can be attached with a drill to the rear hitch, or the hood, a fist, a drill missile (cast in metallic silver) and a small, garishly green pistol. The forearm is construction yellow, with a purple trigger, and get this, the dang thing works, and not only that, it works well. This sucker catapulted that little drill a good four or five feet. Thats some serious spring action. Bonecrushers only drawback is the same one that punishes his brand name cousins, he has no wheels to roll on, so is rather static. He feels rather weighty and sturdy though, the only looseish feeling coming from the arms that form the hood. I wish I had a real Constructicon to compare his size to but he doesn't seem all that much bigger

Robot Mode:
Transforming Bonecrusher is a total breeze, and with only some minor trouble from the bucket you come out with the purple Pow-Er a really nice looking, if slightly off colored robot. A lot more construction yellow shows up in this mode, making up his head, his lower body, and his upper arms and fists. Metallic silver makes up his forearms for a little detail, which surprises me a bit. A new sticker on the bottom of his shovel appears, adding detail to his chest. His face is plain, however, with no color to distinguish it from the plate it rises from. A permanent marker can fix this. He holds his little gun well and can even hold the heavier drill weapon straight out. Keeping in mind he's a knockoff and just a limb at that, thats..well, rather good.



Name: Hook
Sub Group: Constucticon Ranger
Flavor: Blueberry

Alt Mode:
Hook is cast in matte blue, with techno stickers on his crane, and the cranes cab. Black is used for the truck windows and silver is used to detail the tires, hook, and midsection. His crane arm works here and cane rotate 360 degrees. All the wheels roll fine. Interestingly enough the lumps to attach Devastators head are still here so you can still put him in 'attack mode' including with his smaller gun (though this one isn't held as well) Theres really not much else to say about this mode.

Robot Mode:
When I transformed Hook, I got a small shock. The U ring and the arm attachment for Bonecrusher where both die-cast metal. Now I'm no expert on saving money but aren't you supposed to use cheap plastic to replace these parts? Somebody goofed. Anyway, once I was finished staring at the metal I was able to take in Hooks detailing and I was rather pleased. The silver of his trucks section looks wonderful on the legs, and he has a fire engine red body with black arms and gold detailing on his visor. You can clearly see the fist molds on his hands. Hooks joints are very tight, and his crane easily helps him support his weight. He doesn't hold his little gun so well in one hand but its fine in the other.



Name: Mixmaster
Sub Group: Constructicon Rangers
Flavor: Licorice

Alt Mode:
Mixmasters probably the most most un-eye catching of the six Constructicons. He's Black, flat black with some construction yellow on his mixing drum and rear wheel wells to break things up. Silver detailing shows up on the roof. He still comes with Devastators cannon, and it sits nice and snug on its holster with the smaller gun for backup. A techno sticker is wrapped around the drum for detail.

Robot Mode:
The Black is broken up nicely in this mode as silver Legs, red body and golden eyes are revealed. For a knockoff, the paint application is rather decent, though Mixmasters head is slightly tilted so he gets a weird expression. Above his head is a functional missile launcher that fires a silver double barreled missile he comes packaged with. Again, the springs are rather good on this launcher and a welcome addition. MixMasters arm joints are very tight, and hold his weapons very well. He's a definite score, even with his bland looking alt mode.



Name: Long-Haul
Sub Group: Constructicon Rangers
Flavor: Lime

Alt Mode:
Long-Haul is cast in Lime green, which is still kinda fitting for a dump truck I guess. His one techno sticker is on his hood, and some golden detailing is used on the molding for his dumper. Silver marks his undercarriage, and his weapons are cast in flat red. The weapon itself looks a bit ridiculous to me but after consulting a Constructicon information site it was the authentic one, right down to the cannons mounted on the 'wings'. Of the Six, Long-Haul gets my lowest marks in terms of durability. His four rear wheels are mounted on one axle, but not snug enough to keep them from leaning back and forth a bit. He still rolls fine, it just looks bad.

Robot Mode:
While I'm not a fan of Long-Hauls mode, it gets marks for accuracy to the original, and the fact that all its joints are nice and tight. Again, metallic silver details the legs nicely, and gold shows up in the eyes. Another pair of stickers add detail to his feet and some black makes itself known in the arms. He holds his weapons well, and even his head stays up. (A weakness in Bonecrusher.) Still, he rounds out the team and even hes of a decent quality for a knockoff.


Name: Scavenger
Sub Group: Constructicon Rangers
Flavor: Lemon

Alt mode:
Scavengers excavator mode is cast in construction yellow, with stickers applied (very carefully) to the bucket arm and sides. The Bucket arms stickers are purple, while more techno stickers decorate the sides. Devastators forearm attaches firmly to the side or hook in this mode and fires just as well as the other, save this ones cast in flat black with a yellow button. One of the tracks on mine is bent in slightly, but I have another mint thats just fine so this may have happened after I opened it. His bucket arm can still turn 360 degrees and has all it's original joints.

Robot Mode:
Scavenger is certainly a tall one in robot mode, and also..uhm...yeah, they REALLY needed to find a better place to attach that connector joint. Anyway, all lame jokes aside, some nice metallic silver is used to detail scavengers chest, with gold applications to the eyes and well, thats about it. He comes pretty close to looking a lot like G2 Scavenger. He still stands up just fine with his bucket, but unlike Boncrusher is unable to hold anything but his tiny gun. Ah well, I doubt he suffers from..never mind.



Name: Scrapper
Sub Group: Constructicon Rangers
Flavor:Cherry

Alt mode:
As the leader of the Constructicons, its not supriseing Scrappers cast in fire engine red, with a black cabin and blue utilized to detail the individual teeth on his bucket. His weapon or rather, wings, are cast in matching red, and have nice gold detailing to accent the intakes and wingtips. The bucket still moves nicely, he rolls well and his arms even stay in place. Moreover, that weird little mechanism that keeps his bucket from raising to high when his head is down is still here too.


Robot Mode:
Scrappers robot mode gets mixed opinions from me. On one hand, theres the golden eyes, the techno stickers on his chest and hips and the nice tight joints, and those metallic silver legs. On the other..his hand holes stink and he can't hold anything..ah well, he'll make a good foot. On to Devastator


Name: Disco Devastator
Function: Decepticon Groovialicius Combiner

Robot Mode:
"...Combining the six funkalicious Constructicons..."gives rise to the infamous Devastator. Who is made somewhat less infamous by his multicolored body. His eyes are glaring red, with a nicely detailed black helm and silver face. I have some small complaints about the parts holding him together. The leg parts being the biggest, their showing stress marks. It's very hard to get Scrapper and Mixmaster off of them and one of the pegs is to long, causing it to grind against Mixmasters face. Everything else seems fine enough, and Dev can even use a pair of rocket punches, or driller arms.


All in all, the Disco Devastator set is a nice little K.o, You need to buy each Constructicon separately, so hes about a six dollar cost but comes with everything the old G1 did, including functional launchers. I'm not sure if he's sold outside of Canada, but if you ever have the chance to pick these guys up, or don't want to pay 30-40 bucks for a set of tiny construction vehicles, Get these guys. Their a lot of fun on their own, or in a group. You will need to look up an info site on their attack modes and robot mode transformations though..curiously, those aren't even mentioned on the packages.


Transformation: 5 Nothing too hard but you gotta watch those brittle pieces.
Durability: 4 It's a knockoff, a tough knockoff as knockoffs go but still. Be careful.
Fun: 8 He's Devastator..in funky colors. What more do you need for hours of jokes and replays of the infamous plan to mind control kids through rock music. Grrroooovy
Price: 10 Hey at six bucks I am not complaining
Overall: 7 He's a fun little toy that occupy my shelf and gets smiles. Not something I want played with, but a cute little oddity.