The Energon Pub

[william-james88]

SERIOUSLY! What is this place that you go to, you have an obligation to tell us, so we can all move to that city and exploit this magical store

Ages Three And Up, located in Burnaby BC and actually a site sponsor here on Seibertron.com. Excellent place to shop, as they carry a decent in-storestock of a lot of current Takara imports, so I can actually go in and pick through to find the best paint apps.

You lucky sumbitch.

Dont be too envious, this comes with a price. Samsonator, from what I see online, the figure would have cost you about 340$ total, is that right?

[william-james88]

For those with Unite Warriors Devastator,

I'm curious if any of you have come across any QC issues with the figure. I just received my copy today and noticed a few issues immediately.

First of all Devastator's left forearm, which is composed of a missile pod, was loose at the wrist where it locks into place. The space was too wide so the hinge the wrist was on was loose. Thankfully, a few seconds under a blow dryer and some shaping alleviated that problem.

The left wrist is looser than the right one but it still locks for me.


Second, the elbow on my Hook are stuck and I'm afraid to force them to bend. Anyone have any suggestions? It goes without saying that I don't want to break my copy of this figure so soon.

Which elbow, he has two. The further one down (in the outside of the shell) was easy to unpeg. I understand that the inner elbow stuck to the shell were tricky to pose but not stuck. I just move them using the other elbow joint (which protrudes).

Thirdly, and this goes for all owners of Devy, I found a stress mark on one port near the crane where Devastator's head assembly should click into place.



A visit to Seibertron's gallery of SDCC Devastator helped me determine that port is in fact warped. This prevents Devy's head from sitting flush. Any thoughts or advice?

This one took me a while to figure out what you were referring to. And I realized why, its because his head sits flush with mine. I do not see any stress marks.

In the end, I quite like this figure as Devastator. Scrapper and Scavenger are my favourite individual constructicons since they actually feel like good decent voyager toys. The rest have a cheap quality too them. And Bonecrusher is a really crappy figure. I hate him as much as deluxe Breakdown (they have a similar dumb problem). Devastator is definitely better than the sum of his parts. A good toy, but I dont know if I would call him the year's best. I dont like the arm locking pegs (both the ones on the chest piece and the Longhaul forearms, which always unpeg) and I would have really liked the gun to peg in his hand. Was it so hard to put a small groove next to his thumb so that the gun peg could peg in there?! I would have also liked the ports to be the same on both arms. Its not hard to implement and could have added a small bit of diversity ala Predaking who can switch his arms around if you want.

Great legs though! Here he is combined (really hard to keep him all in the frame, so I didnt)

[Hellscream9999]

Devastator is definitely better than the sum of his parts. A good toy, but I dont know if I would call him the year's best.

Yeah, the best fig of the year for me has gotta be legends class Shockwave (yeah, I'm gonna be that guy )

[william-james88]

Devastator is definitely better than the sum of his parts. A good toy, but I dont know if I would call him the year's best.

Yeah, the best fig of the year for me has gotta be legends class Shockwave (yeah, I'm gonna be that guy )

Thats ok, I thnk its Blackjack. I dont have Shockwave yet and if I do like him, he would be a contestant for 2016, which is the year he was meant to be issued in (and probably the year I will find him at retail).

[Hellscream9999]

Devastator is definitely better than the sum of his parts. A good toy, but I dont know if I would call him the year's best.

Yeah, the best fig of the year for me has gotta be legends class Shockwave (yeah, I'm gonna be that guy )

Thats ok, I thnk its Blackjack. I dont have Shockwave yet and if I do like him, he would be a contestant for 2016, which is the year he was meant to be issued in (and probably the year I will find him at retail).

Yeah, I only do this because this way next year's 'figure of the year' can be Sky Reign

[chuckdawg1999]

Heard back from Robot Kingdom today, they refunded me part of the shipping. I guess they realized it wasn't going to get to me when it was supposed to.

[william-james88]

What's up with Scavenger having two different shades of purple on his treads?

I have him (UW Scavenger) in front of me now and there is no difference in shade. Might have been an early model that was fixed in production.

Takara's mixmaster is off a bit. Its like there were two parties seeing things differently. Should the update be ignored or no? They havent decided. They give the back cab proper deco with a weapon that would be facing forward if the vehicle was placed ala G1.


But the instructions and back of the package show it facing the Hasbro way. Which makes his gun fae backward and it is the only one to do that. For the symetry of the attack modes, (and the nice deco to that back cab), I am positioning him the G1 way at the moment. It looks nicer as a group shot.

Ok, so I have played with these guys for a few hours and here is my list of favourite to least favourite:

Scrapper
Hook (that combiner transformations is INSANE!)
Scavenger
Mixmaster (best headsculpt and cool head transformation)
Longhaul (the takara elbows are a bit wasted here)
Bonecrusher (not a fan of the headsculpt, deco, least interesting alt mode, and that pelvis transformation sucks balls, it can be super solid though which I hear isnt the case with hasbro)

I am also really impressed at how well Scrapper, Mixmaster and Hook roll.

And Cobotron, just wait till you see how you store Bonecrusher's weapon in vehicle mode, it brings that Takara 5 mm peg origin story to a full circle.

Oh and the Devastator shoulders turn out not to be ratcheted BUT there is a ratchet on the armpit joint which helps tremendously. Was that in the Hasbro version?

Also, what is up with that hole I keep seeing on longhaul's forehead? The figure doesnt have that:



Is it an optical illusion or something?

Still, this whole night of playing with Devastator was loads of fun!

[Hellscream9999]

on the armpit joint which helps tremendously. Was that in the Hasbro version?

I dunno, I don't routinely check hasbro's armpit's

[Samsonator]

SERIOUSLY! What is this place that you go to, you have an obligation to tell us, so we can all move to that city and exploit this magical store

Ages Three And Up, located in Burnaby BC and actually a site sponsor here on Seibertron.com. Excellent place to shop, as they carry a decent in-storestock of a lot of current Takara imports, so I can actually go in and pick through to find the best paint apps.

You lucky sumbitch.

Dont be too envious, this comes with a price. Samsonator, from what I see online, the figure would have cost you about 340$ total, is that right?

Yeah, about that... worth it to just walk in and grab one, though...

[william-james88]

on the armpit joint which helps tremendously. Was that in the Hasbro version?

I dunno, I don't routinely check hasbro's armpit's

I checked reviews and yeah, this is another change Takara made. He has armpit ratchets so that you can do extended arm poses without the risk of it falling.

All I can say to that is ...

Samsonator, from what I see online, the figure would have cost you about 340$ total, is that right?

Yeah, about that... worth it to just walk in and grab one, though...

[Autobot N]

Devastator is definitely better than the sum of his parts. A good toy, but I dont know if I would call him the year's best.

Yeah, the best fig of the year for me has gotta be legends class Shockwave (yeah, I'm gonna be that guy )

Thats ok, I thnk its Blackjack. I dont have Shockwave yet and if I do like him, he would be a contestant for 2016, which is the year he was meant to be issued in (and probably the year I will find him at retail).

Yeah, I only do this because this way next year's 'figure of the year' can be Sky Reign

I feel that the "Figure(s) of the Year" award goes to Superion. For all of my time as a Transformers fan (I started with FOC), I had always wanted modern Aerialbots who could combine, but I was never able to get them. Then Superion was revealed at Botcon last year and it blew my mind. From June to January, all I could think about was finally having my Superion. And it most certainly did not disappoint.

[william-james88]

To add to my thoughts on the direction of takara mixmster, they put the decepticon logo on the smaller cab. All the others have the decepticon logo in the front, even Scrapper who now has it on his shovel rather than the roof. So to have all the constructicons with both faction symbols and guns pointing forwards, mixmaster has to be positioned with the cement drum in the back.

[Nemesis Maximo]

To add to my thoughts on the direction of takara mixmster, they put the decepticon logo on the smaller cab. All the others have the decepticon logo in the front, even Scrapper who now has it on his shovel rather than the roof. So to have all the constructicons with both faction symbols and guns pointing forwards, mixmaster has to be positioned with the cement drum in the back.

Well, it makes sense given Takara's standard of cartoon accuracy. Part of me wishes they had been more decisive whether to make it a front or a rear discharge mixer, because there would be no confusion. Personally, I like the look of the front discharge better; but I wish they had given the rest of the Constructicons similarly updated alt modes.

[MemphisR56]

Something tells me I got the version I wanted... and NO tax at EMS shipping, AE came through for me!!!!!!!!!



Also, just noticed that Omega Supreme is in this drawing:

Look who's also hiding in plain sight in that image.

HAULER

[DedicatedGhostArt]

Nice William!!!

[MemphisR56]

It actually took me far too long to realise what's going on in that picture too. They're building Crystal City!

[Sabrblade]

It actually took me far too long to realise what's going on in that picture too. They're building Crystal City!

On Earth, even.

[thrysstan]

Good morning everyone,

this is my first post. i am from france.
i just received my TT devy a few days ago ! ordered it at amiami with ems (get 70$ of customs....sigh...)
however, it is great.
it is an awesome toy really !
i would like to buy the perfect effect upgrade kit kit with Prowl's head and i was wondering if the color from the hasbro version matches the TT version.
if anyone who has both could tell me if it matches it would be great.
thank you a lot to anyone for those threads i keep reading ! please continue !

[william-james88]

It is unquestionable that THE event of the year (2015) in Transfromers toys is Generations Devastator. Unlike almost every other Hasbro toy out there, Takara's version was not just a change in deco but a significant change in the articulation of the figures. Every single figure has extra/different parts to improve on articulation and there are even differences for Devastator as a whole. We could never know the extent until these were released and now that they are I can finally give an illustrated rundown of exactly what is new with Takara's take on Devastator. The pictures come from Seibertron, Dengeki Hobby, Alfes and myself (sorry for the shadows. I don't have a lightbox).

Articulation

The new articulation is broken down with a stock image of the Hasbro version first so that you can see the change right after. You will see that the shots showing the Takara version have the Constructicons holding their own individual weapons, which are unique to each Constructicon. This inclusion is one of the main extra features of the Takara set.


Elbows on Longhaul

Hasbro



Takara






Elbows on Scrapper

Hasbro



Takara





The elbows do lock for combined mode so there is absolutely no stability issue either now or down the line due to their inclusion.


Extra inner arm piece for Hook

Hasbro



Takara



Hasbro's elbow is preserved, making it a double elbow.




Extra inner arm piece for Mixmaster

Hasbro



Takara





Hasbro's elbow is preserved, making it a double elbow.


They call him Master, Mixmaster


Different knee joint for Scavenger

Hasbro



Takara



You can see here how the ball joint is replaced by an extra piece connected on a mushroom peg. This makes the knee bend at the actual knee and not the lower thigh. It also provides a slight increase in articulation. This is also present on Bonecrusher.

Different knee joint for Bonecrusher

Hasbro




Takara



Notice how the pelvic area is tabbed in correctly. If you hear the click, it will be rock solid and not undo itself when playing with or posing the figure. This seems to be an issue Takara fixed (at least on my version). As shown with Scavenger, the knee joint is different. However, while the knee bends at the correct area, the final result looks about the same when the knee is bent at 90 degrees, which you can see below.

Takara



I am unaware if the different knee will help achieve any new poses that people have been wanting to do. For those interested, this is explored further in the conversation we had on the Seibertron forum.


Devastator

New Head





The head lets you switch from one look to the next.


Ratcheted armpits/shoulders

I don't know what to call this specific joint but this is the joint used when extending Devastator's arms outward. It is ratcheted now, by having the connector pieces of Scavenger and Bonecrusher ratcheted, and helps counter gravity when doing poses that extend Devastator's arms so that they do not fall.




Mixmaster's cab

Mixmaster's alt mode has been the most controversial element of Generations Devastator due to the orientation of the cement drum being reversed compared to the original (since it is supposed to resemble a bigger cement mixer). This means that the front of the Hasbro version has more paint apps than the cab found in the back. Takara doesn't seem to fully agree with this change as evident in the mount of paint applications they added to that back cab.

Hasbro



Takara





You will notice that Takara included a faction symbol on this cab. This is important since this would make it the only faction symbol not facing forward head on if Mixmaster was oriented the Hasbro way. Scrapper himself has his faction symbol facing forward by being in his shovel, unlike the Hasbro version, adding to the theme of the placement of the symbols. Also, the individual guns can be placed on the alt modes to give each vehicle an offensive edge. Mixmaster's is placed on that back cab which would have his gun facing away from the action if he were oriented like Hasbro intended.



The intended orientation becomes very evident in a group shot. Here is the SDCC version of Hasbro's Devastator:



Here is Takara's and you tell me what works best.

This:


Or this:


To conclude, here is a rundown of the major changes with Takara's Devastator (UW-04):

6 unique individual weapons
New parts for improved articulation on all Constructicons (knees, elbows or double elbows)
Purple hands for Devastator
New tooling for Devastator's head to switch from visor to visor-less look
Ratchets when extending Devastator's arms outward
Different choice and distribution of paint applications (especially on Bonecrusher's robot mode and Mixmaster's alt mode)
Painted rims

[SkyWarpt]

Can't wait mine flew in yesterday! Wife is holding it hostage till Christmas

[dragons]

Looks like slow news day..?

[Wolfman Jake]

Nice rundown of the Takara upgrades, Billy-J. This just cements for me further the wisdom of my choice to wait for the superior Takara version and pass on the more readily available Hasbro version. I just wish my shipment would get here already!

[Randomhero]

So the comparisons used for this is an inhand Takara devastator and stock photos of the hasbro? Is it even a real comparison if you have one in hand and use stock photos of another?

[SkyWarpt]

I'm glad I waited for the Takara, but am I the only one that likes the chest paint apps on the Hasbro better?

[Agamemnon]

Awesome rundown, WJ!! I really enjoyed reading it and am even more convinced that I did right by waiting for the Takara version. I also notice one more thing about Mixmaster you didn't mention (unless this is the additional forearm piece you meant). If you look at the Hasbro version:

The silver truck "fuel tank" is on the top of the arm, while on Takara's:


The "fuel tank" is purple and on the bottom of the forearm. This draws my attention to the fact that the Hasbro photo shows the left and right arms swapped. Is this the case for all Hasbro CW and SDCC Mismasters? Does this mean Hasbro had to misassemble the forearms to get them to work?