TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Additional Image:

Box Art:

Sir Auros' review of: Constructicon Maximus

Name: Constructicon Maximus
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Construction & Destruction
Sub-Group: Constructicons

Construction Maximus is a surprisingly adequate gestalt considering the parts it's made of. I won't rant on and on about the failings of Steamhammer, Duststorm, Bonecrusher, Wideload, or Sledge in this review since you could just click and read their individual reviews. This is all about the gestalt and whether it's worth buying the five awful to mediocre figures.

Robot Mode:
Wideload and Duststorm have some redemption by allowing C. Max. to bend either at the knees or at the elbows, but other than that the figure has as much articulation as the other Energon gestalts. It's better than a G1 gestalt and certainly much, much better than Devastator's, but it's nothing like the articulation found in the component figures. It's awkward and hard to balance...so it's actually exactly like the articulation found in the component parts. For a gestalt though, it's not bad. One thing that certainly hurts the poses available to the figure is the balancing act. I find it very difficult to get C. Max. in a pose that will stand on its own and actually look decent.

Adding to the posing problem is the figure's biggest flaw - the head. I think the head is poorly sculpted, lacks a free range of movement, and isn't connected well to the neck. I also think the eyes could have used a lighter color so that they could be distinguished better from the black of the head. The head affects the posing by being unable to rotate in either direction very much due in part to being very long and also having a shovel immediately beside it on the shoulder. I do like the shovel being there giving C. Max. an asymmetrical look, but the head is practically touching it and I think it would look much better if there were some space.

The limbs are fairly decent and the cranes' pinchers are serviceable hands, but the bulldozers' claws are pretty weak as three-fingered hands. I keep Sledge and Wideload as the arms on my C. Max. because Duststorm and Bonecrusher are usually blocked from sight that way by other figures standing in front of them on the shelf. Sledge and Wideload are greenish and match with Steamhammer you see. Maybe it's from having too many Devastators, but I wanted to see an all greenish Constructicon Maximus. You could form one by buying two Sledges and Wideloads, but I had to have the real deal even if it is kinda weak.

Transformation: 9 - Hey, it's a gestalt.
Durability: 9 - None of the component parts are liable to break and neither is the gestalt mode.
Fun: 7 - Ok for display, but could've been better with a more unified colorscheme. Still fun for playing with though.
Price: 7 - Pretty steep, especially considering it's four Basic figures and one Deluxe and you're only going to ever have them in this one mode since their individual modes are all awful.
Summary: 7 - It's my least favorite out of the Energon gestalts and if I could do it all over again, I wouldn't have even started collecting it since the individual robots that make it up just aren't any fun.