The Energon Pub

I received my pre-ordered Devastator yesterday and so far I am disappointed. It has QC issues. I called the store for an exchange and they told me that out of the 4 they sold so far 3 called because there were broken/missing parts.

A full review will be coming but here are my initial impressions:

I manipulated only 2 figures so far, Bonecrusher and Scavenger. Both have quality issues.

Scavenger: Just out of the box the vehicle looks weird. It is like he is mistransformed or some parts are not assembled properly. Transformation to robot mode is simple. Paint app is good, colors are nice, joints are mostly tight. The 2 plastic parts forming the right shoulder are not aligned properly. There was a metal pin missing on one feet so it felt down upon transformation.

Bonecrusher: Vehicle mode is nice. Transformation is simple, good paint, tight joints. Some tabs just don't hold at all. The worst part is the crouch area. The 2 legs are supposed to be connected together by a regular tab and 2 "hooked" ones but it does not work. I suspect this is more a design problem than a QC issues because even on test shots you can see the area is disconnected:



I did not want to manipulate the other bots before talking to the store about the issues. They told me they would exchange any defective part next week so rest of the review will follow soon.

.... ok so I transformed the other bots yesterday and assembled Devastator. Out of the 4 remaining Constructicons only one had quality issues: Hook. In vehicle mode a part that eventually becomes his foot/leg does not tab properly. Because of that the truck does not roll. Also the feet are not held by pins but by pressure inserts. The same foot that doesn't tab have a tendency to come off when transforming. The other 3 robots did not have any quality issues or defect.

For all Constructicons I would say transformations is simple and easy. The paint app is good and most articulations are solid. Hasbro just need to improve his QC, it's unacceptable for a toy this expensive. I rate the individual part 5/10 but would give 7/10 if the QC was good.

Now for the most important part: the combined mode. I was really surprised when I assembled everything. Once together the poor quality of the individual robots does not show at all. Thanks to multiple tabs and inserts everything holds together nicely. He is well articulated and stable. Esthetically he is really pleasing. The colors, the proportions everything is nice. I could only find 2 negatives:

- The right forearm is made of Scavenger chest. When you move it his head tends to pop out of the panel where its hidden. Might be a quality issue since he was the worst of the gang.

- Between the hip and the foot the legs are mostly yellow. It feels like a paint app would be needed, maybe around the knees. There is also 2 big holes just below the knees. Some colored inserts to fill those holes could have solved both problems. A 3rd party add on with knee inserts by Perfect Effect is on the way but at 59$ US its a bit expensive.

My rating for Devastator once combined is 8/10.


ps: It's the first time i make a review in English and i would like to receive comments

Some loose joints or slight misalignments aren't surprising, but a missing pin is a bigger problem.

Does anyone know: What's BBTS's return policy for stuff like this? If my Devy has missing pins or something like that, will they replace it?

GuyIncognito wrote:Some loose joints or slight misalignments aren't surprising, but a missing pin is a bigger problem.

Does anyone know: What's BBTS's return policy for stuff like this? If my Devy has missing pins or something like that, will they replace it?

Don't know about BBTS. Bought it from Toys on Fire and they told me they would replace any missing or broken parts.

Thormind wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:Some loose joints or slight misalignments aren't surprising, but a missing pin is a bigger problem.

Does anyone know: What's BBTS's return policy for stuff like this? If my Devy has missing pins or something like that, will they replace it?

Don't know about BBTS. Bought it from Toys on Fire and they told me they would replace any missing or broken parts.

I had an issue with a pin in my fierce attack figure. It was completely mangled...

BBTS gave me the option of getting a whole new figure or just the replacement pieces if I was comfortable swapping them out...I was missing a weapon on G2 sideswipe sent it out the next day.

BBTS's customer service rock (so far) for me. They should do you a solid. Just take pics of everything and send them a nice message and they'll get back to ya