Transformers War for Cybertron; Siege Deluxe Class Weaponizers (Cog, Sixgun and Brunt): The ultimate upgrade kits

Encase the fact that this review is looking at three completely different toys that only share a gimmick does not imply this, this is going to be a very wordy review, with many large paragraphs. It is highly recommended that this review be viewed on a computer or a tablet, rather than a mobile phone. 

One thing that many people were annoyed about when the Titan Class releases of Metroplex, Fortress Maximus and Trypticon came out was that they felt incomplete. Parts of it came from just how many accessories they came with in G1, but while many could look past missing radar dishes, or a base mode that does not look like Fortress Maximus' base mode (I certainly cannot), many were annoyed about missing objects. Metroplex originally came with two small Transformers called Scamper, a small car to interact with the play functions, a small, non-transforming tank, and Six-Gun a Transformer made of excess parts, such as some of the guns and tower pieces, with the Generations release only coming with Scamper. Similar story for Trypticon, though he was missing a futuristic tank that used to come with his G1 toy, and for Fortress Maximus, two small vehicles could combine into the Transformer Cog. While I am not sure if any third party company made a Cog and the tank for Fort Max and Trypticon, there were third party Six-Guns popping up since the Generations release. It is fair to say though that originally, all three of these things were accessories, and mixed at best ones at that, and normally they would not see a general release as a result (the tank especially as it did not have a robot mode). Maybe there was a way to make them being accessories into a feature though?

Enter the Weaponizers, a sub category of the Deluxe Class in Siege, which borrowed a name from Robots in Disguise 2015. It gave the tank a robot mode in the form of Brunt, and allowing Hasbro to get away without straying too far away from their origins, to the point where all three are still parts formers, transformers you have to take parts off to go between modes. These things have exploded in popularity with the fans thanks to how creative you can be with them, to the point where all three are going to get repaints as all but forgotten Powerdrivers. I guess it shows that the designers are bigger nerds then the fans are at times. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that we live in a world where the G1 craze is giving us a Red Wing, Galactic Man, and the Powerdrivers. How well do the originals work though?

Starting in their vehicle modes, we have one or two tank looking vehicles for Cog, an awkward looking airship for Six-gun, and a cool looking space tank for Brunt. I will get this out of the way now, if you are looking for whom I think the best one out of the three are, it is Brunt. All three of these go for the hard G1 accurate look, but these are three that I am perfectly fine with that because all three of them are absolute nobodies, who probably will not get toys again for another 34 years. From what I have seen, all three do look good alongside their respective Titans (I do not have any of them so I cannot speak from experience). While Cog and Brunt's vehicle modes are accurate, Six-Gun has a completely original alternate mode..., which looks ridiculous even for a space jet. Six-Gun has always had an air of overcompensation to his design, from once being made up of guns and buildings, to his new look that has a jet mode with two VTOL engines, eight rear thrusters two wing mounted guns, eight missile launchers, and four underside canons. It is bad in a good way, because as much of a NRA on steroids as this jet is, it is like a hyper charged flying tank, which is somewhat awesome. Brunt's sci-fi tank is more toned down by comparison (which is a shame because you would think overcompensating would be the Decepticon's MO), though he's still packing a giant canon, which does have a working turret swivel. For reasons I will get more into in Robot Mode, Brunt is the only one of the three Weaponizers that I have been tempted to get multiples of, as he remains just far enough in the ambiguous Decepticon camp to be unique without being an individual. I could see a tank battalion of Brunts guarding Tripticon from Autobot attacks thanks to this small but menacing looking purple tank. Cog on the other hand I find to be the weakest of the three in vehicle mode. The two vehicles look awkward, and the combined vehicle mode does not lock in together at all, making it feel like a useless gimmick, even though out of the three, he's the most G1 accurate thanks to having both a vehicle and robot mode to begin with.

Onward to the robot modes, and while all three do require varying amounts of parts forming, you do get three unique looking robot modes. Cog's tank legs thankfully stay connected in robot mode, so there's no issue with him pulling a movieverse Jazz when playing around with him (though that is something that you can do with both him and Brunt if you so choose. Brunt can even pull off a rocket torso mode because of this). Considering as all of them are designed to come apart, I am honestly surprised at how mobile the robot modes are, with no major sacrifices to articulation when compared to the other Deluxe Class releases of Siege, and better then Studio Series Deluxes (more on that one later). I love Brunt's robot mode, it has all the classic generic grunt soldier looks, and the tank pincer hands are a nice touch. Honestly, the body shape reminds me a lot of Beast Wars Scorponok, I honestly could see this mould making for a good pre beast wars look for him. Cog, like his alternate modes, is a faithful recreation of his G1 toy, while Six-Gun feel more toned down compared to his vehicle mode. It is honestly a shame, but that is because I love how ridiculous the vehicle mode is.

The reason why all three parts form is the Weaponizer gimmick. What is it? The simple way to describe it is this: They act as upgrade kits for other Siege figures. By breaking down each of them into their component parts, you can attach the pieces to any other 5mm plug-compatible figure, and it is why all of Siege's figures have many weapon ports on them. Do you want Sideswipe to have two shoulder mount canons, a giant double barrel canon and tank treads on his feet, and still have guns to spare? Break Cog apart and plug those bits into him. Want Ironhide to fly, carry a giant gun in one hand, and have a rocket fist in the other? Give plug all of Six-Gun's parts on him. Want to give Refraktor an excavator look while carrying a blaster bigger than he is? Use Brunt's bits. You could buy multiples and make super modes of the three of them, or stick all of them together for an absolute abomination. I love this gimmick; it reminds me a lot of the Autobots in the Transformers Energon toy line, where the main combining gimmick gets better with each toy getting better with each new toy you get. It should be stated that these three do not really work on larger figures, mostly due to them being bigger, and having more awkward weapon ports (there is no central weapon port on Voyager Optimus, Megatron and Soundwave, just as an example). The gimmick also does not seem to play nicely with the look of Siege Chromia, but that is more of a case of loose ports (on mine at least) and a slimmed curve look they gave her. It is fun to experiment with the gimmick though, see what else can come from it, and I honestly hope we get more Weaponizers in this trilogy (mostly cause I doubt the Powerdashers are being added to my collection).

What I always enjoy about the Generations line is the amount of care that goes into characters that no one really cares about. These three are a lot of fun, and make other characters more entertaining to play with. The amount of creativity you can get from these three alone is impressive, almost like a version of Lego's Galidor that actually works and is interesting, and not one of the worst jokes in the company's history. It would be interesting to see this gimmick for larger characters, it could be a good way to release the Takara versions of Godbomber and Powermaster Optimus (that box set does not count due to it being almost impossible to get outside of America if you didn't want to spend a fortune on shipping). Another character with a potential for the gimmick Victory Leo, if those theories about Commander Class Jetfire being able to be retooled into Star Saber turn out to be true (I'd personally be happy with a Leader Class one). There is a lot of potential here that I would like to see explored more going forward, I would love more of these. I wish I could say mores coming, but SDCC was somewhat mediocre in reveals aside from Unicron. Up next will be Refraktor, and then Movieverse Devastator gets another foot.

Transformers War For Cybertron; Siege Deluxe Class Sideswipe and Red Alert: Before you ask, no I don't know cars well.

Sideswipe and Red Alert have been characters I can't help but feel I'm in the minority of when it comes to views on them. Both characters have their die-hard fans, and while I get why, neither of them ever clicked for me most of the time. I didn't find them memorable in Generation 1 and in terms of what I grew up with, the less said about the Unicron Trilogy Sideswipe, the better. Sideswipe had an interesting design in the movies, but the only interesting moment he had was cutting Sideways in half, and his Robots in Disguise 2015 appearance is really generic. While Red Alert hasn't had much of a presence on screens, I personally prefer his Unicron Trilogy incarnations (both Armada and Cybertron).

The main reason for this (aside from first exposure) is one nagging flaw I've had with Red Alert since Generation 1. Why does the fire department need a Lamborghini? Truth be told, I forgot it was meant to be the fire department, but that might be because I grew up exposed to the Need for Speed games, and the idea of a Lamborghini as a police car makes a bit more sense (even if it's still unnecessary). While yes, you can make the argument that making him an ambulance makes him more generic, I disagree because the off-road nature of his modes is unique compared to previous ambulances, not to mention "how many transformers turn into ambulances?" I can think of three characters, one's a Micromaster, one's a combiner limb, and the third constantly changes the style of ambulance anyway (at least in the modern-day).  It might be why the three main forms of Unicron Trilogy Red Alert has stuck with me as childhood grails. I bring all of this up as a way of making it clear that there is a strong chance of bias for me, it's something that can't really be helped.

What isn't a factor of childhood bias though is the biggest problem I have with these two, along with a lot of other characters in the Siege line. These do not look like Cybertronian cars. These two look like they took the G1 toy, and tried to make it look more like sci-fi cars, but being afraid of going too far. Do they look objectively bad? No, I think they look good when put into a completely objective perspective. They're good sizes, have a lot of paint on each of them (though I believe Red Alert has more overall), and they're fun cars to mess around with. But that being said, I wanted something riskier, something that doesn't look like it belongs on earth, and I don't get that from these two. Most of the Deluxe Class toys fit into that category honestly, but not many get a pass due to release rarity, and these two don't get that excuse.

To robot mode then, and taking gear out of the equation, look good in robot mode. They're nice updates to the G1 designs, with the only major issues being a backpack that's a bit too wide. To purists though, they are notably missing gear. Both toys come with two accessories, for Sideswipe, it's two handheld guns that can combine to form his shoulder-mounted cannon, and for Red Alert, it's a nicely sized rifle and a light bar that can combine to form the worlds least useful pickaxe. I wish that they both also came with the accessories of the other (minus the light bar for Sideswipe) to help the two of them look more complete. Both are a bit hollow in the arms and thighs, though it's something that I can easily overlook, and none of the games feels obnoxious to look at. They're not huge holes that kill the illusion. Articulation is your average affair for Siege Deluxes, though a QC issue I've heard about relates to Red Alert sometimes coming with a painted version of Sideswipe's head when he's meant to have a similar, but a slightly different head.

Even ignoring my bias for Red Alert, I can't help but feel that these two, while good, could have been better, with a lot of it coming from my views on their car modes. The robot modes are a nice update on the G1 looks, though could go for a bit more in terms of gear to use, while the car modes are boring retreads on the old looks (and to bring the bias back in for a moment, why does the Autobot security guy turn into a Lamborghini, a car not meant for transporting much of anything, let alone fire rescue gear) for the fire department?). I'm honestly hoping they don't milk this mould too much more, the G2 Sideswipe is all well and good, but do we really need a Tigertracks, Deep Cover, and a heavy retool into Sunstreaker? (Ok that last one I'd be for depending on what they do with it). It just feels safe, and I hope we'll see more risks coming out of the Siege deluxe class soon.

Before I go, something a little fun. Five robots are ready for review, and I'd like you to help pick who goes first, and the order to review them (and who to not bother with if someone doesn't get a vote. You can find a link to the poll here: https://www.strawpoll.me/18386486

Transformers Power of the Primes Deluxe Class Punch/ Counterpunch: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but as a Transformer... why is it not being used more often?

Time for another delve into the late G1 reimaginings of old characters that even a lot of die-hard fans don't really care about. It's safe to say that at the tail end of G1, Hasbro was trying to make anything it could stick in order to keep the attention of its fanbase. Headmasters, Targetmasters, a six-changer, more cassettes, gimmick, after gimmick, after gimmick, each with what could be seen as less effort than the last. "What do we do with these characters?" "Give them two Targetmasters!" "These Pretenders aren't working well, what do we do?" "Make a combiner out of them!" (I think Monstructer was a Pretender combiner... or was it one of the Micromaster combiners...). Regardless, one of the ideas to come out of it was a double spy, a Transformer that has two robot modes, an Autobot one, and a Decepticon one. Though he had a minor appearance in the G1 cartoon, Punch (the Autobot mode) and Counterpunch (the Decepticon mode) have faded away into obscurity, left to wander around life, sustained only by exclusives when a mould can handle two robot modes, which as you can imagine, didn't happen often. Come 2018, and Hasbro decided to make a brand new mould for him, and releasing him as one of three limited edition toys that represent the three parts of the Prime Wars Trilogy, with the other two being a western, stand-alone release of Takara's Blast Off, and a retooling of Titans Return Twinferno (originally known as Doublecross, though I'll admit the new name is cooler) as the third and final Monsterbot, Repugnus. How well does it hold up though?

Transformers Studio Series Devastator Part 2; Constructacon Rampage: Bonecrusher arguably got off easy

I say arguably because he got turned into a Minesweeper who only existed to be a cool fight for Optimus in the first movie, and die shortly after. I mean, at least he got legs.

Part 2 on the trek to see if Hasbro and Takara really can pull off a large Devastator with reasonably accurate robot modes continues with the introduction of the one combiner part that would make sense on a beast looking Combiner, Rampage. "Promoted from Predacon to Constructacon, your choice on if this is the one from Predaking or the Predacon from Beast Wars. At least this one had more of a presence then Scrapmetal did.

Starting in bulldozer mode, and we're not off to a good start as the Combiner sacrifices are on display here. There are a lot of awkward gaps in the main body of the bulldozer, and unlike Scrapmetal, there's no movement here other than the wheels, making it feel very basic. In terms of functionality, the Combiner Wars Bonecrusher has it beat, but that's likely due to the fact that the scoop on that toy (I don't know construction vehicles), actually needed to move for the sake of the robot mode. Rampage's alt mode does, however, look a lot better then Bonecrusher's does, however that perspective is skewed slightly due to relying on images and videos for comparisons, as I don't own a Combiner Wars Devastator (and this is also being reviewed when I'm out of the house because I was bored, but that's beside the point). The muted red is complimented nicely by the paint, with things like the silver scoop, the blue windows, and the realistic placement of black and silver helping give it more of a presence, compared to CW Bonecrusher's bombardment of lime green. At a good angle, Rampage's bulldozer mode makes for a nice display piece if you don't want him for Devastator, but for those who do...

In a further case of redefining Scramble City, Ravage becomes the left foot of Devastator, and one that looks to be able to support the weight, thanks to a pair of sturdy, but moveable ratchets in the ankle. My only concern as it currently stands though is the connection to Overload, and how strong it will be because it looks to be connected via a sliding rail, and a pair of tabs. The instructions to get to this mode are complicated for what you're actually doing, and it feels like joints mentioned in the instructions aren't actually there. It doesn't make the mode impossible to get to, just frustrating for what the end result turns out to be. The support stand included for Ravage's robot mode, while it can store in the bulldozer mode, can't connect to the foot mode, which is a shame as it would help with covering the gap that is most of the foot, due to it being the treads and scoop of the bulldozer. If there is a way to do it though, let me know.

To the robot mode, and while I like Scrapmetal's robot mode, this just skews too far into the monster direction that it's hard to take it seriously, and the design of the character for the movie is a huge hindrance on the toy itself. It's a shame to an extent because I do like the idea of Transformers that don't have human-like designs, so seeing something like this is at least unique. It makes you wonder what troubles this poor bastard went through to get where he is, what caused him to have these proportions? It looks nasty in the good kind of way, but unfortunately, you can't get any good poses out of him. The tail is stiff and blocky for the sake of Devastator, and the arms are limited to what's in the shoulders in terms of movement, meaning you can't even get a good jumping pose out of him because they can't even reach all the way up. Even moving kibble out of the way, you can't even get a T-pose out of him, he just ends up looking like he wants a hug. You can't even get the tread whips looking good due to their small size, I really wish he came with accessories to make those longer. It's also a shame that they didn't do anything for the scoop and the cockpit, as those are some of the largest pieces of kibble I've ever seen on a Transformer (that isn't their entire alt mode on their backs)


*There would be a screenshot here of where he was in the movie, but I can't find one, nor can I take one, that isn't a blurry mess. He was the one that fought Bumblebee in the final battle, with Bumblebee using Ravage's spine as a weapon against him*


While I can recommend Scrapmetal as a stand-alone toy, the only reasons I can think of to get Rampage is either because you want a somewhat nice looking red Bulldozer, or you want him to be Devastator's foot. He's just not good as a stand-alone Transformer, and I can't help but feel that the source is the biggest part of the problem, it's probably the main reason why most of the toylines adopt a "design toy first, do lore second" approach. I think this type of design could be interesting to revisit later when the combining requirement isn't needed and it can have more movement, but as it stands, for me, it's going to stay as either a bulldozer or a foot.

Transformers War for Cybertron Siege Leader Class Ultra Magnus & Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime: Someone remembered the S!

Generations. Plural. A term used to define a collection of individual items or people from a similar time period.

It is no secret that I've had an issue with the current form of the "CHUG" (an overarching fan-made term to describe the collection of toylines not explicitly tied to a media project, the term is an abbreviation of four toylines. Classics, Henkei, Universe and Generations, Generations being what lines like Siege, Prime Wars Trilogy, Thrilling 30, and other lines fall into) bracket of Transformers collection. The reason? The word Generations. It's a plural, meant to mean "more than one of something". But what are the toylines in Generations mostly consisting of? Generation 1 characters with designs either reminiscent of or even a modern copy of their Generation 1 designs. While this isn't a bad thing for characters who don't get releases often, seeing the big faces barely changing in design aesthetic is frustrating, especially when a design from after G1 could fit in very well to the current line.

I would include Optimus's one, but I can't find that one, or a good quality version of his box art that isn't a picture of the box...

Transformers War for Cybertron Siege Voyager Class Megatron: Relax G1 fans, there's no sign of green on this tank

It's just all over the exclusive repaint the mould got.

Baring a few rare exceptions, there are two specific characters you can confidently bank on being a part of any new line of Transformers. Optimus Prime, and Megatron, and though Prime's been trucking along (pun intended) since the beginning with major redesigns rarely happening further then being "some form of red and blue truck" (The only ones that come to mind right away being the Bat from Beast Wars, back when BW Optimus and Megatron were going to be continuations of the G1 characters), and Robots in Disguise 2001, where he was a red fire truck. Megatron on the other hand, due to a lot of people looking down on companies making toy guns look like real guns, has struggled to keep a consistent identity, with alt modes including space jets, a helicopter, a neon Batmobile that can fly, a giant hand, but a more consistent one has been some form of Tank, something that feels like it's been solidified in recent years, thanks to Combiner Wars and Titans Return, along with media like the High Moon Studios games, and the live action movies with Revenge of the Fallen. Siege looks to be continuing the trend, as Megs dons the space tank look once again. Sadly I'm still waiting for that Battlemaster, but how good of a toy is this new space tank?

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.