Transformers Studio Series Devastator Part 1; Constructicon Scrapmetal: Clamps' future after Futurama

In the midst of the kiddified G1 Cyberverse, and the G1 nostalgia pandering Generations line, Hasbro has been putting out a third line that's equally, though debatably, nostalgia pandering, Studio Series, a line dedicated to making sure you'll never forget about the live action movies. This is a line I've been trying to find time to review for a while now as the two I do have, being Blackout and Starscream from the first movie, for whatever one can say about the designs and the inspiration, are good toys, and that's something that parts of the fandom really hate to admit. As much as I really don't like Starscream's look in the movies, I personally like to call him Doritoscream, that Starscream was the best general retail Starscream toy to launch last year. Sorry to G1 purists, that's an objective fact, especially with its main competition being the Power of the Primes Combiner torso and gimmickformers in the Cyberverse line.

Even with a line focused on bringing movieverse characters up to modern toy engineering standards, there are some that I still thought they wouldn't try to do, one of them being a version of Devastator that had individual robot modes, something they only did (to my knowledge) at Legends scale for Revenge of the Fallen. The RotF release of the Constructicons existed to either be just Devastator or just their individual modes. Maybe Combiner Wars was enough of an encouragement that they think they can pull off releasing eight toys between 2019 and 2020, split between Deluxe and Voyager class, with many of them not having individual robot modes, and some looking drastically different between modes (I'm looking at you Mixmaster and your glorified Headmaster mode). I don't know how well this thing is going to turn out, but I figured I'd see where this goes. I have no idea when this will end, all I hope is that it will end with a complete Devastator, unlike Volcanicus and Abominus.

Starting off with Vehicle mode, and with the exception of a few gaps, this is a pretty good digger mode, and the best I've personally owned... but considering as the last Transformer I owned that had a digger for an alt mode was Energon Steamhammer, who's closer to Revenge of the Fallen Demolishor, the comparison is better saved for when we get Studio Series Scavenger. I would say they can't make it worse, but I still remember what those two are supposed to look like in robot mode, and that's part of the reason why I question who thought this would be possible. Back on topic, the colour and detail remind me of the Caterpillar branded construction machines (are those a thing outside of Australia?). I know that's not saying much because the industry standard for these kinds of vehicles seems to be yellow. There isn't much paint on this guy, and while I would have liked some silver on the roof vents and the railing around the back, I don't think this guy needs a lot of paint. It's sparse but applicable. Movement isn't the best though, because while the shovel arm moves exactly the amount it needs to move (for this mode), there's no rotation for the platform for the sake of transformation. That being said, I don't see any reason why it couldn't have been in there because with the exception of the shovel arm itself, the platform isn't connected to the treads, and the platform rotation would only really affect the shoulder/ upper torso assembly. It's a shame that they didn't go the extra mile with the vehicle mode.

To the combined mode and... oh boy... As evident from my previous reviews, both here and on the main site before this one existed, traditional multi-bot combiners tend to follow a strict path of mass distribution. For five bot teams, the leader is the largest, and becomes the central torso, while the four other members become arms or legs. For the original Constructicons, two bots become legs, two bots become arms (with a parts form elbow), and the remaining two members become the chest. For movie Devastator though, it's not that simple. The rear legs (and yes I say rear legs because in the movie he walked on all fours), and torso work almost like G1 Devi, two bots become legs, two become the torso, with the only difference being that Mixmaster becomes the head and neck, something that I'm honestly surprised more combiners don't do because of how hard some leaders find hiding their second heads to be. According to this teaser image in Scrapmetal's instruction book, Devastator is going to be made up of Scrapper and parts of Scavenger (though his main focus is upper torso so I'm not surprised if he also acts as the shoulders), his left arm though is going to consist of two bots alongside Scavenger. Scrapmetal is basically the elbow and left hand of Devastator and... I can see there being some problems in the future. Based on this being the only piece of Devastator I have at the moment, and how the character moved on screen, I'm really hoping the rear legs can support a lot of weight because this is not going to support anything. I wish the digger arm could turn around for this mode so that the scoop itself could act as a third finger for the hand, instead, it just ends up looking like a giant claw arm. It's hard to bring up more about it at the moment because it's just a hand. A fat looking hand, but a hand.

Ok, so the toy's not faithful to the concept, but I like the toy's look a lot better then I do this thing.

Going to robot mode, and considering the quality of the Decepticons at the time, this is one of the most normal looking robots from the movies, and there are enough original ideas for this guy to be a good robot in his own way. Hardware isn't great, nothing but ball joints for articulation here so if you're used to Siege's quality, you're going to be disappointed. As dumb as it sounds, I actually love the hands on this guy, they're basically Clamps' hands (please tell me people still know who that is, and they've seen Futurama). In terms of design choices though, I'm not a fan of the chicken legs, I just can't get anything decent out of them in terms of movement. This is another case where I wish the digger arm could spin because it would be a cool looking scorpion tail like joint, something that I think the Combiner Wars Scavenger could do.